fun fall leaf pictures

We made these a few days ago and our little girls loved them and it gave us something fun to hang up showing the changing leaves.  First we went on a little walk and everyone collected leaves, fall flowers, seeds, or small twigs. We brought them home, laid them out on the table and everyone started creating.  We found that it works best if you start to draw your creation and then put a dab of glue on the paper and then stick the leaves, flower petals, or twigs on the paper.  You can them finish drawing details if you would like.  Simple and really fun!

transform your pumpkin

What guest wouldn't love to serve themselves from this fun pumpkin punch bowl. Hollow out a pumpkin, scraping the side well to remove all the seeds and pulp before filling. Fill with cider and sliced apples. Serve in canning jars with a cinnamon stick.

This is such a fun way to serve chip at a fall get together with friends and family. So simple and so impressive that you will have your guest talking.

These are some of my favorite ideas to do with pumpkins that can use all season long. I found both ideas at Better Homes and Garden. They also have some more amazing ideas.

Now get creative we would love to see what you can do.



a little black bench

I found the bench on the side of the street for free, light blue velour cushions and all.  I wondered for a while what to do with it.  I needed something fairly durable and kid and pet friendly which the cushions were not.  I finally decided to make a wood seat out of 2x4 boards and paint it all black.  It cleans up easy, holds a lot and looks great in the back yard.

family photo booth

This is a great way to capture real and silly moments together as a family.  Find a little area to create a booth,  pin up blankets, put up a shade canopy, or designate a area under the tree.   We set out a few funny hats, glasses, and props.  Take four pictures and then format them into photo strips in your favorite program (publisher, photoshop, etc).  Print them out on photo paper and cut them into strips.  We then hung them up on a ribbon with clothes pins to display them and then everyone could grab them as they go.

   

This is a great way for everyone to take home a memory of a family reunion with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents that they may not get to see very often.  This could also easily be adapted to a birthday party, a wedding, or any other kind of party.   

summer party anyone?

                                                     

       Summer is a great time to have a party. Being outside with friends and family enjoying the weather and the sunshine. Well I found this awesome blog full of the funnest ideas for parties. Kara over at Kara's Party Ideas has ideas for any party that you can think of. I totally fell in love with all the ideas. She got me so inspired that I am throwing a party myself.

  

The details are so fun and really got my brain working. I can't wait for the party. So fun for a birthday party as well, but who needs a reason to have a party. Happy Party Planing!

my favorite summer container

You can find these oversized buckets anywhere. I generally shop Wal-Mart simply because it's hard to beat their price. As of recently I have seen them in some super fun colors. Not your ordinary tote, lots more character and just enough personality that they can add to your ambiance. Consider filling it with ice to chill drinks at a bbq or summer picnic. Great for water relays, filling with water balloons, or storing balls or other outside toys that have no place to call home. I keep two of them in my garage: one for balls and one for frisbees, jump ropes, water guns etc. Easy enough for the kids to pull around and definitely easy enough for them to do a quick clean up. That's always nice:) I also use a smaller version in my kids' closets for their shoes. Each child has a bucket of their own. Sooo much nicer than shoes all over the closet and bedroom floor. In the picture of my boys closet the baskets on the shelf hold their socks. Good-bye chaotic sock drawer.

easy play yard projects

This year as we got the kids play area ready for a summer of fun we fixed up or added a few "this makes our boring old play area totally awesome" projects.

MINI MAILBOX:
When we replaced our old mailbox, the old one found it's home in the back yard play area.  It receives real notes and letters for the kids and lots of pretend leaf and pine cone letters too.

TOTALLY TUBE:
This tube is a drain pipe from the local Home Depot sprinkler system aisle.  The cost was around $6.00.  Before I could even get it attached to the play hut it was being filled with balls and cars racing to the bottom and was being used as a cool whisper-a-phone.  The kids begged me to give them a few more days to play with it where ever they wanted before I attached it to the play hut.  At the rate they are creating new ideas for it's many uses it may never have a permanent home.

I SPY TUBE:
By hanging an old piece of PVC pipe on a string from the roof, it can be used to spy things in any direction.

COOL CURTAINS:
Simple curtains give a little extra shade, privacy and cozyness to the play hut.  One queen size sheet ripped into thirds and then cut to length was enough to make a curtain for each side.  The hem and casing can be sewn or created with fabric glue.  They hang on a laundry line string with s-hooks on the end and eye bolts in the wood.




Have some fun in the backyard!

backyard fairy garden

At the beginning of the year we like to look for fun days to mark on our calendar through out the year.  Coming up on June 24th is one of our favorite backyard activities.  It is fairy day!  This is our day to create a little magic fairy garden that appears that some tiny creature is living there.

This is last years flower fairy garden we created in a round pot.  There is so much room for creativity.  We built a little house out of the end of a post with a little roof nailed on top and then covered with moss.   We planted some small flowers like alyssum and lobelia .  We glued on some more moss and grapevine sticks and added  some other little trinkets, butterflies, and glass rocks from the dollar store (this was a great place to find supplies for this project) or things that we found around the house.  We made a little table and a bench with wood scraps.  Ours was pretty simply but you could get as detailed and creative as you would like.  With a little water this will last all summer.  We found that Polly Pocket was the perfect size to play in our fairy garden.   Your could create a woodland fairy house under a shady tree or a secret fairy house that seems that no one would find it unless they looked closely.  There are so many fun ideas our girls love to image and create it.

turkey pesto panini

One of our favorite summer meals begins with basil from the herb garden in our back yard.  We have grown it for a few years, and have found it is easy to grow and we love the pesto we can make from it.

Pesto:

1/2 cup pine nuts or almonds

4 cups fresh basil leaves  (can also use some parsley)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 garlic clove

salt and pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

If using pine nuts, toast them in a 350 degree oven for 6-8 minutes.

Place all the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor, and process until finely chopped.  Gradually  pour the in the olive oil while the processor is running.  Remove from the processor, and cover the surface of the pesto with plastic wrap to keep from turning brown.

Turkey Pesto Panini:

sourdough bread

sliced turkey

swiss cheese, sliced

pesto

Spread pesto on the bread and top with the turkey and cheese to create the sandwich.  Brush the outside of the sandwich with olive oil and cook in a pannini maker or indoor grill until warmed through and cheese is melted.

Top sandwich with:

lettuce

tomato slices

red onion slices

balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

paint with water

This is one most simple backyard activities but it still keeps our kiddos entertained while I fix dinner or get a small project done. I remember loving this when I was a littler girl. Our girls love to try different types and sizes of brushes. This is almost mess free, can be done on any small patio, deck, for sidewalk.  They love to pretend to paint their fingernails or use ice cubes and a very hot summer day.

fun outdoor chalkboard

I found this at Creative Crate last year and have been trying to figure out a way to make this work in our yard.  We don't have a fence right now but I really love this idea.  This is a great way to use sidewalk chalk without it being all over your front walkway.  Stacie has a little explanation on how she did it.  Very cute.

kids picnic table

It is that time of year when all the backyard toys and gear come out of storage.  For us that means pulling out the kids picnic table that is stored flat against the wall in the shed.  We found the idea for this table including full printable instructions at Family Fun and it is a genius design! 

Here is why we love it:

--The entire table is made from one sheet of 4-8 plywood. 

--The pieces just fit together to create the table(no nails, screws, etc.) and can then come apart to store flat for storage. 

--It is portable.  There are two small pieces that will hold all the table parts together so that it can be carried to the neighborhood BBQ.   

--It is small and simple for children but it is big enough that adults can sit at it too. 

--It is durable and designed to hold up.  This one has been around for 8 years of picnics, tea parties, art projects, mud pies, garage sales(warning: people will want to buy it) and neighborhood BBQs.  Considering that we made it from a used, low quality plywood just to see if we could build it, it has done it's duty well.

Needless to say we have created several more since this one and will be painting a new smooth higher quality one in the next few weeks  even though we are not sure if we are ready to give this old one up yet. 

Tip: When we made additional tables, we chose not to cut the carrying handle hole in the table top because we found it was easy enough to carry without it and we didn't want the hole in the table. 

 

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