Crafting Along

I <3 hippie skirts!

Long, flowy, breezy, hippie skirts.

However, as a mama of two little ones, I find it hard to wear them.

They constantly get pulled down, or hiked up, or used as a tent for a small child.

Too much hassle, for everyday wear.

I needed a way to make them stay where they should.

 So I came up with this.

I chopped off the top tier of the skirt and sewed the bottom of the skirt to a pair of cut-off jeans.

I suppose what I now have could be called a hippie skort...

All the awesomeness of a skirt that I love, with the security of knowing I can stay modest that I need.

Can't wait till we have another nice day so I can wear it!

Each week I joined several linky parties!  What a fun way to share and learn! 

Monday's Kid Corner, Hey Mom, Look What I Did!, Montessori Monday, Made by Little Hands, Homemade Mondays, Mama Moments Monday {Link Up}, Little Wonders' Days,  Mom's Monday Mingle,  Hip Homeschool Hop, Tuesday Tots, (tot school tuesday), The Tuesday Baby Link-Up, Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}, Teach Me Tuesday, TOO Cute Tuesday, Open Call Tuesday, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Waldorf Wednesday, It's Playtime, Mom's Library, We Made That Linky, What I Learned Wednesday, Super Link Party, Artsy Play Wednesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday' Adorned From Above, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Kid's Co-Op, Link and Learn, Thrifty Thursday,  needle and thREAD, Made U Look, Natural Living Link-Up, For the Kids Friday, Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday, Read. Explore. Learn., Preschool and Kindergarten Corner, Friday's Nature Table, Creative Friday, Friday Flair Link Party, Shine on Fridays, Friday Favs, Do Something Crafty, Sharing Saturday, Share It Saturday, Country Kids, Link and Learn, sharing creative, ideas {all weekend}, Show and Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase

And Each week I co-host two such parties:  The All Year Round Blog Carnival and Eco-Kids Tuesday Link-Up!

Wonderfull (Full of Wonder) Wednesday

Looking for the wonder in everyday life! 

I'd love for you to join me on this journey. 

If you find wonder along the way, please leave a link in the comments,

so others can share in your wonder

It is a wonderfull thing to have a Birthday Buddy.  All my life my siblings had "birthday buddies".. other family members that shared their birthday month.  They had shared birthday parties and kinda took pride in sharing birthday months.  I had no such person.  So year, after year, I was kinda bummed about that.

Until....

God sent me a very special birthday buddy of my very own...

born on the same day (though different year) as me!

The Hubs is my very own birthday buddy and has been for... eight years now!!!

And the baby sister celebrated her 1/2 Birthday the same day!!

Eco Kids Tuesday Link-Up

Today we made upcycled bird feeders!

We were reading one of our favorite books, Crinkleroot's Nature Almanac, and saw that it had directions on how to make a bird feeder to attract birds to your yard.

I just happened to have the supplies we needed.

We painted milk cartons...

We made a hole close to the bottom and glued on a paper plate...

Punched a hole and stung a string to hang it up...

And let them dry.

Then we filled it with seed and hang out for the birds to find and enjoy.

Now onto the Eco-Kids Tuesday Link-Up!  Welcome!!  We had so many great posts shared with us last week at Eco-Kids Tuesday! I enjoyed each and every one of them.  It is getting harder and harder each week to pick just a few features!  Here are three of my favorites.

Kitchen Counter Chronicles shared her ABCs of Raising Eco-Friendly Kids! 

So many, many good ideas!!!  Be sure to check it out! 

Maro's Kindergarten Blog also made milk carton bird feeders!

Be sure to translate to English if you want directions. 

I like seeing it written in Greek..when I was... oh eight or nine, we did a little homeschool Greek language study and I can recognize some of the Greek alphabet!

Happy Whimsical Hearts shared their seed pod painting!  Having painted, using all sorts of natural items (flowers, ferns..), with our playschool children, I really enjoyed this!

Thanks to ALL of you for sharing such wonderful ideas!  If you were featured please feel free to grab a button for your blog.  And please keep linking up great all your Eco-Kid ideas!

Now on to the party!!!  I hope that you'll share some great family-friendly posts that are also friendly for the environment. Some ideas include:

•  Nature Activities
• Outdoor Activities
• Crafts made with re-purposed or recycled materials
• Sewing and DIY home projects
• Science Experiments
• Posts on environmental issues for kids or families
• Non-toxic living
• Homeopathic Remedies

Eco-Kids Tuesdays is co-hosted by Organic Aspirations and Like Mama~Like Daughter this means that anything you link-up shows up on both blogs!

Feel free to link up several of your posts.

There are only a few rules:

Please follow both co-hostess' blogs, and visit some of the other posts and give them some encouragement!  Please stick to posts and photos not giveaways or items for sale.

By linking up, you are agreeing that Organic Aspirations or Like Mama~Like Daughter can feature your photos next week with a link back to your site.  

Please link back to my site using this button (once I get it fixed !!) OR simply text linking within your post!

Inspired By Finn Discount Code

Squirrely has been teething for a few weeks. The lovely drool soaked everything and the constant gnawing on everything gives it away. However, thanks to her amber teething necklace, she has still been her usual, happy self.

I love these things, and they are spreading like wildfire. I have one, My girls have one, my mama has one.  My sister and her children have them.  Most of my friends have them now. Everyone always asks about Squirrely's pretty beads, and when I explain amber to them, they are always amazed. So amazed in fact, that every time one of my Inspired By Finn discount codes expires, I have more people asking me when I am going to do another. So here it is! Inspired By Finn has been so kind in giving me yet another 25% off discount code. They are so easy to work with and always answer my questions quickly. The have a great selection and restock every week. They also sell gemstones jewelry for other ailments as well. Whatever discomfort you may have, they have something that can help you. Be sure to check them out here:

INSPIRED BY FINN STORE

For 25% off you entire purchase use my code: HW25



An Enchanted Childhood ~ January 7th-11th ~ The Gingerbread Baby

Every winter we read several of Jan Brett's beautifully illustrated books.  This week we read

The Gingerbread Baby and our new book, The Gingerbread Friends.

We had two projects related to our books.

Painting and decorating foam cut-outs...

And making "gingerbread" playdough!

We sing a song as each child takes a turn stirring.

NanaKerri does the cooking while we sing more songs.

The children LOVE kneading the warm, wonderful smelling playdough.

This girl does not stop pretending!  She is acting out the Gingerbread Friends' story!

One day the children chose to "just paint" which, to us, is of more value than any "adult planned activity"!

We are short on words today mostly due to sick babies and tired mamas and busy nanas...

but we leave you with this little look at the free play time after breakfast that leads into Table Time...

 Yes, this little guy does indeed have a cloth basket on his head. EVERY day.

Sharing at:

Sharing Creative Ideas

Share it Saturday

January 2013 Sharing Time

Link and Learn

Sharing Saturday

Hey Mom, Look What I Did
Montessori Monday
Little Wonders Days
Made by Little Hands
The Children's Bookhelf

{this moment}

{this moment}  - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.  A photo capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Thrifty Thursday--Our Papa-Made Wooden Dollhouse

I've had a lot of people comment about the dollhouse my girls got for Christmas.

They are indeed loving it!

And I am loving watching them play together.

I also love that Papa made it for them.

I had found several I liked online, but they were all so pricey.

So I drew up plans and he did the rest of the work.

He is awesome like that.

It took several hours, spread out over a few days.

But he got it done and it turned out great.

Very Waldorfy and open on all sides for lots of angles of play.

Now onto the Thrifty Thursday Link-Up!

My friend Lindsey, from Apple of Mama's Eye, and I love to save money!!  We love a good DIY project, thrift store shopping, making, growing, stretching ourselves to learn to make and do more at home!  So please join us with your DIY, $$ Saving, Simple Living Ideas!!