When I find something that has worked for my family I’m always eager to share it, and what better way to do that than by giving it as a gift! Sure laundry soap isn’t your typical present, but paired with a set of wool dryer balls it’s a thoughtful gift anyone whose been knee deep in dirty clothes can appreciate! 

As for the recipe, I have a large family and more than one of us has sensitive skin. In an effort to save money and combat rashes I’ve tried a fair share of detergents, after making a few adjustments to this soap recipe - namely omitting the baking soda and regularly switching between Fels Naptha and Zote soap, we’ve finally settled on the perfect combination!

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this practical gift!

Do you have a book lover on your gift list and never know what to get them? Bookplates are a quick and easy project that make an excellent gift! Paired with a nice pen, bookmark, and book light they're perfect for the bibliophile in your life!

Looking for a clever artsy costume for this Halloween? Why not become a self portrait of everyone's favorite tortured artist, Vincent van Gogh?

I actually got this idea from a picture on Buzzfeed and thought since I have a red-headed Vincent in the house I had to give it a try! Unfortunately, working with a boy who just wanted to go outside meant this was a rushed job, but the basic technique is still there and I hope you can see how it can be used to create other looks. (For example you could use shades of brown accented with bright orange to create a werewolf, or shades of grey and blue for an extra creepy vampire.)

There are still two weeks before Halloween, that’s plenty of time to get creative and celebrate the holiday with a tasty treat your entire family, dogs included, will die for! Hope you enjoy this collection of 20 devilish delicacies!

Here’s a better image of the different designs I decorated the leaves with, feel free to your them in your own project!


This really is a simple craft and an easy way to add some fall décor to your home!

Be sure to visit Crafty Hangouts for more hot glue gun projects!

When it comes to superheroes we're a Batman family! Or maybe I should say we’re fans of ALL the Batman characters. Since last Christmas when she spied Harley Quinn in one of her brother’s comics, my daughter has been asking to be her for Halloween. Though I really wanted to get creative with all the colors in these paint sets (especially the shimmers – they’d be perfect for the character Poison Ivy) it is HER Halloween costume!

Disclosure: For this review I received, from Longfield Gardens, bulbs of the lovely flowers you see above and I can’t wait to have them growing in my garden this coming spring! All opinions expressed are my own.

This year I came to a gardening realization – I expect too much of my plants, especially the pretty ones. We have plenty of room to grow just about anything we want yet I feel like each planting should earn its keep by producing either a vegetable or an herb. I know, it is completely irrational and this year, when we actually had some herbs take off with beautiful blooms, I realized simple flowers were what we’d been missing.

Nothing pulls a look together as well as a banner and with the help of Jen Goode I was able to complete our Halloween display using a page from her Halloween Printables set.



Let’s just be honest, I never seem to have a color cartridge in my printer and when I do it gets used within a day or two. For that reason I tend to shy away from online printable sites, which is a shame because they can make so many projects so much easier. Thankfully, nearly half of the designs Jen created as part of her Halloween set are black and white. (Erin quietly cheers in her grayscale world!) For now I’ve made the doll-sized banner and used it to round out our holiday scene, but there are a couple more projects on my to-do list. The BOO Sign and Poem for instance, you’ll want to be sure to visit her site to see the activity attached to that one-you’ll get a kick out of it for sure!

Here’s how I made the banner featured above.