I haven’t made a new post in a bit. As life is getting set to take on a much busier season, I have tried to be more intentional in spending time with my family. Please hang in this new time with me. With a new baby to be here anytime, I have tried to ensure that I am doing more with my kids so we start the new season feeling loved. I will continue to try to make special time for each child even after baby comes. We will be doing virtual school and transitioning to life as a family of 6. A newborn means very little sleep so please forgive me for fewer posts. I will still be doing posts, it just may take longer!
Speaking of virtual learning, the first day of school is almost here for my kiddos! It will look much different to start and if they get to go back to their school building, even that will look different.Their first Zoom meetings to meet their teachers are scheduled, device pickup is scheduled. I feel a little stressed already filling the calendar with Zoom meetings for the kids. I’m trying to figure out how we will keep the room quiet for each child as they do their Zoom meeting and how it will work out in reality if both kids have a Zoom meeting at the same time. They aren’t quite old enough to be trusted to do the meetings on their own without supervision. We will do the best we can with the circumstances we are in. Speaking of, my husband surprised me and made the desks I wanted for the kiddos! I’ll have to take a picture of the finished product and put them on Instagram! The kids are VERY excited about them. Thinking about the start of school I also made a behavior color chart. I know it is used at my kids’ school so I am trying to set up some things to be consistent. I am also getting some small trinkets to make a treasure box to reward good behaviors. I never thought I’d do anything like that, but it has been fairly successful so far.
I mentioned I’ve tried to be more intentional with the kiddos. I have tried to follow their lead on what they want to do and do less structured learning. Pretty much anything can be turned into a way to learn! My daughter found some foam pumpkins I had leftover from a Fall Festival we did in our neighborhood a couple of years ago. I planned on us having another one so I saved all the Fall stuff, but it doesn’t look like it will happen this year. She found them and wanted to decorate one and wanted her brother to decorate one too. Y’all, we went with it! My husband came in and asked why we were decorating pumpkins when it was still summer. Good question, but we were having fun! It also got me in the mood for Fall!
I LOVE Fall. I love the slightly cooler temperatures, the smells, the colors, the new coffee flavors…I love getting together with family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is my happy time! I love the cooler evenings and getting to spend time sitting outside enjoying nature. I do live in Texas, so Friday night FOOTBALL is one of my faves as well. We do host a Bible study at our house on Friday nights so we don’t go often but we do often go for a walk shortly before Bible study and let the kids watch the bands warm up outside the stadium! That makes their evenings! This year I don’t know if we will get to do any of that, but Fall will still be here soon! Working on the pumpkins got me thinking about my LACK of Fall decor. I love Fall, yet I have 1 door sign, 1 big Styrofoam pumpkin, and 3 maybe 4 small sparkly pumpkins. I have ZERO indoor decor. I HAVE to remedy this! I mean, I’ll have so much time to do things! I’ll just be assisting my kiddos in learning, taking care of a new baby, and transitioning to a stay at home Mom, but yeah, plenty of time to do little projects!
We have some scrap wood from different projects we have done over the past few years stored in our garage. I’m thinking I will use some of that to make some little wooden pumpkin cutouts for outside and maybe even some for the house. I was thinking about doing that and then trying to figure out what else we might be able to do so I took to Pinterest. The following are some of the cute things I’m thinking about trying!
First on my list is Cinnamon Scented Pinecones! I LOVE walking into a store and smelling the scented pinecones. What’s better than having your own in your house! Especially if you have made it yourself! I looked at a couple of different pins for this one. There are a few different ways to make these. I have my essential oils though, so I think I will try this one. It’s important to remember that it is recommended to let the pinecones dry out first for about 1 week and then they have to sit in the concoction for a few days so it isn’t an overnight adventure. Give yourself plenty of time! Check them out here: https://www.creeklinehouse.com/diy-scented-pinecones/
Next up is a cute pumpkin made out of Mason jar rings! You can also just spray paint the rings if you prefer. Mason jar rings are pretty easy to get and not too expensive. Find a tutorial here: https://www.mysanityproject.com/index.php/2019/09/25/canning-ring-pumpkin/
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Y’all know I like cheap crafting because budgeting! My next find on Pinterest uses a pumpkin candy bucket. You can get these from the Dollar Tree for just $1! Did you know you can also find decorative ribbon and burlap ribbon there too! Visit here to make a cute pumpkin out of a plastic bucket! https://breadboozebacon.com/plastic-pumpkin-bucket-makeover/
Another cute idea is a wood slice pumpkin! The great thing about this tutorial is that it is reversible and the backside is a snowman so it is versatile and can be used more than 1 season! https://www.thecraftpatchblog.com/reversible-fall-and-christmas-wood/
Next up is pumpkin cutouts! This website sells the plans, but I think I can manage to make my own pumpkins. If you don’t think you can though, this would be a good one stop blog to get the plans for the cutouts and to paint them! https://www.meganplusfive.com/blog/diy-craft-kit-how-to-paint-your-standing-wood-pumpkin-cutouts
I am in love with this next wreath! It looks so simple to make but it is so cute. It’s my style, simple yet still elegant! I can picture it easily on my front door! https://2beesinapod.com/2017/08/16/fall-embroidery-hoop-wreath/
I only planned to highlight 5 of my favs, but that wreath is just too cute and simple! I had to add it! Hop on over to my Pinterest page to check out more cute and budget friendly Fall decor ideas! Find it here: https://www.pinterest.com/emmessymamalife/
Don’t forget to visit my Instagram page to check out our desk project pictures! https://www.instagram.com/em.messymamalife/
Feel free to drop your favorites in the comments! What is your favorite season?
