FAMILY – Whole Heartily

Our New Thanksgiving Family Tradition

Have you ever intentionally created a family tradition? I haven’t, until now!

My family and I grew up watching the Charlie Brown/Peanuts holiday specials around this time every year with our parents; they all have a special place in my heart, but none more than It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas!

Continuing on with these good feelings and memories, embellishing it to make it our own, here is our new Thanksgiving tradition:

The Friday before Thanksgiving we will gather and/or create buttered toast, popcorn, pretzels and jelly beans, all the food the kid’s feast on in Thanksgiving Charlie Brown. We will snack on these treats while we watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!

It’s simple, yet fun and heartfelt like any family tradition should be! Create happy feelings and the happy memories will follow! Feel free to use this idea for your own family tradition, or take it and change it to make it your own!

Our New Halloween Family Tradition

Have you ever intentionally created a family tradition? I haven’t, until now!

Continuing on with these good feelings and memories, embellishing it to make it our own, here is our new Halloween tradition:

The night before Halloween (or a few nights before), we will carve our pumpkins and light them for the first time. After, we’ll sip on cold or warm apple cider (depending on the weather) and watch It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

Homemade Apple Cider Recipe

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back friends! Autumn is my favorite season and while pumpkin spice has its charms, I prefer apple cider!

My family and I are starting a new Halloween tradition this year that includes drinking apple cider (check back on Friday for more details) and I thought it would be special to create our own!

Please feel free to use this recipe to create some delicious apple cider for you and yours! This cider is sweet and spiced; I used all Honeycrisp apples, but you can experiment with the combination of apples to change the flavor!

HOMEMADE APPLE CIDER

INGREDIENTS

10 medium apples, quartered
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons of ground cloves
4 – 6 tablespoons of sugar
Water

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the apples, cinnamon, cloves and sugar into a crockpot, then add enough water to cover the apples.
Cover the crockpot and cook the contents on low for 6 hours.
Once the 6 hours have passed, use a spoon to gently crush the apples, then allow them to cook for 1 more hour.
Once cooked, turn off the heat and allow the contents to cool slightly.
Slowly ladle and strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a large pot or pitcher, then strain it a second time; discard the solids.
Enjoy warm or cold!

Family Friendly Halloween Children’s Books – Ages 5 and Under

Welcome to the boo-tiful month of October my friends!

To inspire you and your little ones into the Halloween mood, I’ve curated a list of Halloween-themed books for ages five and under! These selections are festive, without frights or scares that could upset a younger audience.

There are a handful of books on this list with a reading age that start under the age of five and peak at the age of 7 or 8.

If you have a favorite Halloween book for children ages 5 and under that you do not see here, please let me know! I would love to add it to this list!

My AncestryDNA experience

Have you tried AncestryDNA or something similar? I finally treated myself to a basic AncestryDNA kit this Mother’s Day past, and it has been very enlightening, slightly surprising, and fun!

Unbeknownst to me, I am a whole lotta Scottish! I expected English and Irish, I’ve been told about relatives from those regions my whole life, but I suppose I missed the mention of any Scottish ancestors. I felt the need to create a family tree before, but now I am very enthusiastic about finding out more about our ancestors; where they came from, who they were!

So let me take you through the process…

Once purchased, they mail you a package. I strongly suggest activating your kit as soon as you open it and find the activation number. If you don’t activate your kit before sending it in, you may never get your results back!

Before you start collecting your saliva sample, make sure you don’t eat or drink anything at least 30 minutes before drooling into the test tube. Follow the instructions within the kit to submit your sample.

Once you mail it out, you can follow your progress on the AncestryDNA application or on the website, whichever is easier. They’ll send you notifications every step of the way until your results are in!

I’d love to hear about your experience with DNA testing! What were your results? How did the whole experience make you feel?

Please let me know if you have any questions!

DIY – Felt Cookies

What child (or inner child) doesn’t love preparing toy food in a play kitchen?

I had a play kitchen when I was a little girl and loved baking cookies for myself, my sister and my parents. Now that I’m grown and have a daughter of my own, I want to make her some handcrafted play food so she can enjoy making meals for everyone during play, or while we cook in the kitchen next to her!

Please feel free to use these patterns to create some play food for you and yours! This pattern will make one circle cookie, one heart cookie, one star cookie, one triangle cookie, one square cookie and one rectangle cookie, each with frosting. I made one extra of each cookie shape so Zoey will have two of each. You can duplicate it as much as you want to make multiple pieces of each food!

SUPPLIES

FeltCookies Download

Cookie patterns (see above)
Paper scissors
Pale tan felt material
Pale blue felt material
Pale brown felt material
Dark brown felt material
Pale pink felt material
White felt material
Pale yellow felt material
Scissors
Pins
Embroidery floss (pale tan, pale blue, light brown, dark brown, pale pink, white)
Sewing needle

INSTRUCTIONS

Print out the cookie pattern I’ve provided, then cut the patterns from the paper.
Pin the patterns on the appropriate colored felt, then use sewing scissors to cut the felt.
Align and pin the pale blue circle of frosting to one half of the circle of pale tan felt, then thread pale blue embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the circle cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the pale pink heart of frosting to one half of the heart of pale tan felt, then thread pale pink embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the heart cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the pale yellow star of frosting to one half of the star of pale tan felt, then thread pale yellow embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the star cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the white triangle of frosting to one half of the triangle of pale tan felt, then thread white embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the triangle cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the dark brown square of frosting to one half of the square of pale tan felt, then thread dark brown embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the square cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the pale brown rectangle of frosting to one half of the rectangle of pale tan felt, then thread pale brown embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the rectangle cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Enjoy!

DIY – Felt Pizza

What child (or inner child) doesn’t love preparing toy food in a play kitchen?

I had a play kitchen when I was a little girl and loved preparing pizza for myself, my sister and my parents. Now that I’m grown and have a daughter of my own, I want to make her some handcrafted play food so she can enjoy making meals for everyone during play, or while we cook in the kitchen next to her!

Please feel free to use these patterns to create some play food for you and yours! This pattern will make four slices of pizza with sauce and cheese. Toppings include 4 slices of bell pepper, 4 slices of mushroom, 12 slices of pepperoni, and 6 slices of olives. You can duplicate it as much as you want to make multiple pieces of each food!

SUPPLIES

FeltPizza Download

Pizza patterns (see above)
Paper scissors
Light tan felt material
Red felt material
Dark red felt material
White felt material
Off-white felt material
Green felt material
Black felt material
Stuffing
Sewing pins
Sewing scissors
Sewing needle
Embroidery floss (light tan, red, dark red, white, off-white, green, and black)

INSTRUCTIONS

Print out the pizza patterns I’ve provided and cut them from the paper.
Place the patterns on the appropriate colored felt and pin them in place, then use sewing scissors to cut out the felt pieces.
Align and pin the two halves of pizza crust together and thread light tan embroidery floss onto your sewing needle. Then, with a pencil, lightly sketch a curved line along and about 1/2 inch in from the arc of the crust.
Starting to one side of the pizza slice’s point, whipstitch along that edge and the top arc of the crust, stopping at the far end of the arc and setting that thread aside for a moment.
From the open edge of the pizza slice, use a running stitch along the pencil line to seal off the crust, concealing the first and ending knot between the layers, then use a little stuffing to inflate.
Pick up the previous thread and continue stitching down the remaining side of the pizza slice, concealing the end knot in between the layers.
Repeat steps 3 through 6 to create the three other pizza slices.
Align and pin the two halves of pizza sauce together and thread red embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your pizza sauce using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Repeat steps 8 and 9 to create the three other pizza sauces.
Align and pin the two halves of cheese together and thread off-white embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your cheese using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Repeat steps 11 and 12 to create the three other cheeses.
Align and pin the two halves of bell pepper together and thread green embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer and then inner edges of your bell pepper using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Repeat steps 14 and 15 to create the rest of the bell pepper pieces.
Align and pin the two halves of mushroom together and thread white embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your mushroom using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Repeat steps 17 and 18 to create the rest of the mushroom pieces.
Align and pin the two halves of pepperoni together and thread dark red embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your pepperoni using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Repeat steps 20 and 21 to create the rest of the pepperoni pieces.
Align and pin the two halves of olive together and thread black embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer and then inner edges of your olive using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Repeat steps 23 and 24 to create the rest of the olive pieces.
Enjoy!

DIY – Felt Sandwich

What child (or inner child) doesn’t love preparing toy food in a play kitchen?

I had a play kitchen when I was a little girl and loved preparing sandwiches for myself, my sister and my parents. Now that I’m grown and have a daughter of my own, I want to make her some handcrafted play food so she can enjoy making meals for everyone during play, or while we cook in the kitchen next to her!

Please feel free to use these patterns to create some play food for you and yours! This pattern will make two slices of bread, a slice of American cheese, a slice of Swiss cheese, a slice of provolone cheese, a slice of deli meat, a lettuce leaf, two slices of tomato, two onion rings, two slices of pickle, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, peanut butter and jelly. I made an extra slice of deli meat and an extra (darker) leaf of lettuce. You can duplicate it as much as you want to make multiple pieces of each food!

SUPPLIES

SandwichPatterns Download

Sandwich patterns (see above)
Paper scissors
Light tan felt material
Light brown felt material
Green felt material
Vibrant green felt material
Pale pink felt material
Purple felt material
Red felt material
Dark red felt material
White felt material
Off-white felt material
Yellow felt material
Dark yellow felt material
Vibrant yellow felt material
Stuffing
Sewing pins
Sewing scissors
Sewing needle
Embroidery floss (light brown, green, light green, vibrant green, pale pink, purple, red, dark red, white, off-white, yellow, dark yellow and vibrant yellow)
Hot glue gun

INSTRUCTIONS

Print out the sandwich patterns I’ve provided and cut them from the paper.
Place the patterns on the appropriate colored felt and pin them in place, then use sewing scissors to cut out the felt pieces.
Align the two pieces of bread crust onto one another and thread your sewing needle with light brown embroidery floss. Whipstitch one of the shorter sides together, then pull open the strips to reveal what will be the dip in the top center of the bread.
Align the joined point of the bread crusts to the dip in the top of one half of the bread slice and begin to whipstitch around and down one side to attach. When you reach the bottom center, stop and tie it off. Begin at the top dip again and whipstitch down the other side of the bread until the two halves of crust meet, then tie it off. Within the piece of bread, join the two ends of the bread crust together and stitch them for reinforcement.
Lay the other half of the bread slice over the bread crust and whipstitch all the way around the bread, stopping 2/3 of the way around to insert stuffing, then complete the bread slice and conceal the knot between layers.
Repeat steps 3 through 5 to create the second slice of bread.
Align and pin the two halves of American cheese together and thread dark yellow embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your American cheese using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the two halves of Swiss cheese together and thread yellow embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges and inside the holes of your Swiss cheese using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the two halves of provolone cheese together and thread off-white embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your provolone cheese using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the two halves of deli meat together and thread pale pink embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your deli meat using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Thread your sewing needle with light green embroidery floss and create the veins on each half of the the lettuce using a backstitch. Check before you begin to make ensure your stitches and knots will be concealed between the two halves.
Align and pin the two halves of lettuce together and thread green embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your lettuce using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the two red halves of tomato (with the dark red base in between them) together and thread red embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your tomato using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Use small dabs from the hot glue gun to secure down the inner ridges of the tomato.
Repeat steps 18 through 20 to create the second tomato slice.
Align and pin the two different onion rings together and thread white embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around and over the white ring of the onion using a whipstitch and concealing the first and ending knots between the layers.
Repeat steps 22 and 24 to create the second onion ring.
Align and pin the two halves of the pickle (with the dark green base in between them) together and thread vibrant green embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the vibrant green of your pickle using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the two halves of ketchup together and thread dark red embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your ketchup using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the two halves of mayonnaise together and thread white embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your mayonnaise using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the two halves of mustard together and thread vibrant yellow embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your mustard using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the two halves of peanut butter together and thread light brown embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your peanut butter using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the two halves of grape jelly together and thread purple embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the edges of your grape jelly using a whipstitch, concealing the first knot and ending knot in between the layers.
Enjoy!

DIY – Felt Pancakes

What child (or inner child) doesn’t love preparing toy food in a play kitchen?

I had a play kitchen when I was a little girl and loved preparing pancakes for myself, my sister and my parents. Now that I’m grown and have a daughter of my own, I want to make her some handcrafted play food so she can enjoy making meals for everyone during play, or while we cook in the kitchen next to her!

Please feel free to use these patterns to create some play food for you and yours! This pattern will make one pancake, one dollop of syrup and one pat of butter. I made two extra pancakes for a stack of three underneath the syrup and butter. You can duplicate it as much as you want to make multiple pieces of each food!

SUPPLIES

PancakeButterSyrup Download

Pancake patterns (see above)
Paper scissors
Light tan felt material
Dark tan felt material
Light brown felt material
Yellow felt material
Stuffing
Sewing pins
Sewing scissors
Sewing needle
Embroidery floss (light tan, dark tan, light brown and yellow)

INSTRUCTIONS

Print out the pancakes pattern I’ve provided, then cut the patterns from the paper.
Pin the patterns on the appropriate colored felt, then use sewing scissors to cut the felt.
Thread a sewing needle with yellow embroidery floss and pin the two layers of yellow butter to one layer of the syrup.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the butter, attaching it to the syrup, then tie it off underneath the syrup layer.
Thread a sewing needle with light brown embroidery floss and pin the second brown syrup layer over the stitching on the back of the first.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the syrup, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Thread a sewing needle with dark tan embroidery floss and pin each dark tan toasted circle of pancake to a lighter tan larger circle.
For each half of the pancake, completely sew the darker tan circle onto the lighter tan circle using a whipstitch, then tie it off underneath the lighter tan circle.
Thread a sewing needle with light tan embroidery floss and pin the two halves of the pancake together with the stitches concealed between the two halves.
Begin sewing the two halves together with a whipstitch. About 3/4 of the way around the pancake, stop sewing and gently stuff the pancake. Once you’re satisfied with the fullness of the pancake, complete stitching around the pancake and concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Enjoy!

DIY – Felt Bacon and Eggs

What child (or inner child) doesn’t love preparing toy food in a play kitchen?

I had a play kitchen when I was a little girl and loved preparing eggs and bacon for myself, my sister and my parents. Now that I’m grown and have a daughter of my own, I want to make her some handcrafted play food so she can enjoy making meals for everyone during play, or while we cook in the kitchen next to her!

Please feel free to use these patterns to create some play food for you and yours! This pattern will make two eggs and two pieces of bacon. You can duplicate it as much as you want to make multiple pieces of each food!

SUPPLIES

EggsandBacon Download

Eggs and bacon patterns (see above)
Paper scissors
White felt material
Yellow felt material
Dark red felt material
Pale pink felt material
2 pinches of stuffing
Sewing pins
Sewing scissors
Sewing needle
Embroidery floss (white, yellow, dark red, and pale pink)

INSTRUCTIONS

Print out the eggs and bacon pattern I’ve provided, then cut the patterns from the paper.
Pin the patterns on the appropriate colored felt, then use sewing scissors to cut the felt.
Thread a sewing needle with yellow embroidery floss and pin the egg yolk to a piece of the egg white.
Begin sewing the yellow yolk onto the egg white felt using a whipstitch. When you reach 2/3 of the way around the yolk, stop and place a small pinch of stuffing underneath it, then complete the circle and tie it off underneath the egg white layer.
Thread a sewing needle with white embroidery floss and pin the second egg white layer over the stitching on the back of the first.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the two layers of egg white, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Thread a sewing needle with pale pink embroidery floss and pin two pieces of marbling onto one side of two different bacon strips.
Begin sewing the pale pink marbling onto the dark red felt bacon using a whipstitch. When completed with each streak, tie it off underneath the bacon layer.
Thread a sewing needle with dark red embroidery floss and pin the second bacon layer over the stitching on the back of the first.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the two layers of bacon, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Enjoy!