Sustainable & Creative Living
It’s a new year and that means it’s also back to the grindstone, as mom always says. With Christmas and New Years, it feels like months since I’ve been on a normal schedule with J. The past 6 months I’ve been consumed with letter of the week crafts and activities, finishing letter z the week before Christmas. We took the next 2 weeks off but we’re back at it and coming in strong this new year with phone number practice. This is what you need to know about [Read more…]
Grilled fruit is a tasty summer dessert that’s simple and easy for anyone to make at a moment’s notice. Peaches happen to be one of my favorite grilling fruits because of how easy they are to prepare and because they’re so sweet and delicious. The other day I had a peach and blueberry smoothie and it gave me the idea for grilling blueberries along with [Read more…]
Depending on how familiar you are with cloth diapering, you might be thinking, “What exactly is a prefold diaper?” Simply put, it’s a 3 panel, rectangular piece of fabric that contains multiple layers of either cotton, bamboo, hemp, or flannel— traditionally with an extra layer in the middle for extra absorbency. They’re folded and fastened to baby inside of a waterproof diaper cover.
Before I even got pregnant with my son I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers. My mom used them with me and my sisters, and because there are significant age gaps between us, I still remember diaper laundry, safety pins, and plastic pants all around the house. Let me assure you that this sometimes referred to as “old fashion” way of diapering has come along way in recent years. [Read more…]
Last Christmas when I was shopping for gifts, I saw this adorable little trinket that said “follow your dreams” on it. It’s the kind of cute little thing I’m always buying for one of my girls. I picked it up, examined it, thought for a moment, and put it back down. I wasn’t in the mood to promote my kids following their dreams if they didn’t involve them living within a fairly close proximity to me or the rest of their family.
I’m the kind of person who likes to have a plan. More importantly, I like things to go as planned! I imagine most people probably do too. Of course, I know this isn’t always reality. Owning and running a service business for almost 30 years—not to mention raising 3 kids—has definitely taught me this.
Still, every time I start my next big project I get a low-level gnawing feeling that maybe my plans won’t go as planned. I never let that feeling stop me from moving forward. I’d never get anywhere if I did, but I’m trying to be more comfortable these days with the uncertainty that comes with the unknown of new projects and new stages in life.
As a kid, some of my fondest memories are from when my mom and I would do art projects together. She would gather her crafting supplies and we’d sit at the dining room table for hours painting, coloring, gluing, and making everything sparkle. Mostly I remember making holiday decorations and crafts—painting Christmas ornaments (which we still do) were our specialty. And now that my son is getting to an age where he likes to color and paint, we can finally start using the Creative Kids Art Station I designed for him. [Read more…]
One of the best compliments Nate and I received in regards to our wedding was how great our ceremony was. We tried with every aspect of the wedding to make it our own, but we really spent a lot of time on the ceremony. Neither one of us are religious or very traditional so we knew it was going to be different.
Typically the ceremony is perceived as the part of the wedding guests just want to get through as fast as possible to get to the reception. But we really wanted ours to reflect us as a couple and to be special. We didn’t want it to just be over in 10 minutes and no one remembers it. So we broke it down to every part of the typical ceremony and planned every piece of it, down to the words and music.
A struggle I face on a weekly basis is trying to prevent tossing out my fruits and veggies that have either wilted or gotten moldy too soon. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be costly, especially if you’re buying organic – so I’ve started making a real effort to not just toss at first glance. Instead, I’ve been making a conscious effort to use wilted veggies like celery, spinach, and kale. But in order to prevent real waste I also needed to figure out a way to [Read more…]
This is my all-time favorite salad! It can be served in the summer, spring, fall, or winter. I’m making it in honor of Father’s Day for my husband because I got this recipe from his late Mother many years ago. To be exact, it was 1983. She gave me the recipe so I could bring this dish to a family Fourth of July party. I still have (and use) the original piece of scrap paper that she wrote the recipe on.
I grew up in a house where the holidays were always a big deal. There were a lot of decorations, big family gatherings, and food…lots and lots of food, but there was really only one thing my sisters and I looked forward to: [Read more…]
