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Home Projects

Gardening With Kids

When I was a young child, we had gardens where we would plant flowers and vegetables. I remember my childhood as the barefoot days since we would run barefoot in our large yard playing outside all day from sun up to sun down.  There were no screens. Our souls were nurtured by being outside playing all day and watching things grow around us. A small pool, sandbox, a garden, a playset, and a tree fort were all we needed. We weren’t being rushed here or there.

We can bring these simpler times back to our children by gardening with them. Here are some simple ideas to get you started since I am still a beginner gardener.

 

  1. Get raised gardens for planting just a few vegetables.  We put ours up in our back deck so animals would not get into them here even though bugs tried to get to them. We just started with two raised gardens from Coscos and then went from there. We only planted a few veggies, waited a few months, and then we had our onions, green beans, and carrots! I do think raised gardens are nice since you don’t have to bend too far, and I know I just keep getting more stiff as the years go on.  Raised gardens are nice for those of you who want to try it out and not hurt your back! Please note that the soil for organic gardening beds is costly, so be prepared for this when you make your purchase. I didn’t take this into consideration.

2. This part was my favorite, but plant some new flowers together and watch them grow! I absolutely love hydrangeas, so we took many trips to the garden center to pick up various kinds of hydrangeas! We enjoyed planting these together and seeing them grow.  I recommend lots of water for hydrangeas and some shade so they don’t get too much heat.  This past summer was brutal with heat and not enough rain, so I had to be extra diligent in watering them. I’m hoping they will continue to do well. Continue to include your children in your gardening.  Give them the chore of watering the flowers and taking care of the garden as well.

3. Lastly, I can’t say enough about hydroponic gardening for you and your family.  I came (by accident) on an Aerogarden online on Amazon one day when looking through the latest new innovations.  I put it in my Amazon cart and just left it there for a year.  I kept thinking of getting one, and I was getting tired of salads that tasted gross.  (wilted leaves, funny taste) I had my glowing green smoothie almost every day which I loved, but I wanted to each more fresh greens not in a smoothie.

I decided why not try it out! I ended up loving it so much that I now have 4 Aerogardens and 1 Gardyn.  This has encouraged healthier eating for our family since we have 1 salad now a day! When I try salad from the store, I cringe as I taste the pesticides on it and the wilted leaves.  It’s so much nicer to have fresh and tasty salads straight from these organic, pesticide-free, herbicide-free, fungicide-free, and non GMO plants.  That’s a mouthful to write out, but now I know why I wasn’t enjoying my salads before! I love it fresh! I just snip away with my scissors and place it right on my plate to eat.  My son is starting to enjoy getting his greens each day now, and he likes to watch all of them grow! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to enjoy salad from the store the same way now. I will be growing more arugula and strawberries in my next Gardyn harvest.  I will post that in an upcoming article.  I am very excited to see that since strawberries and arugula are my favorite combination! In time, I know my son will enjoy more fresh greens as we continue to provide him with healthier greens.

Continue gardening with your children. I’d love to hear about some gardening you are doing with your children!

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Event Planning

Hosting a Kid Painting Party

Today, I am going to share with you some ideas and photos from our latest painting party!

Have you ever thrown a painting party? This one was definitely fun to do in the early summer since we were able to throw up our tent and tables, set up a photo backdrop with balloons for photos, and set up some paints and canvases.  It was definitely fun, and I will be throwing another painting party this upcoming summer as well for more of our neighbors and friends.  I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, since I never did one before.  I think it turned out perfectly, and the kids had a blast.  I wanted to provide another memorable experience for my son to spend time with his friends as the school year came to a close.  I think this definitely did!

Here are some things I did that made it turn out well.

  1. Set up the tent as far ahead as you can with the tables so it’s ready to go.  We were able to set it up a day in advance, so it was easier to be more present as the party went on. Don’t have a tent or tables? Borrow some from friends!
  2. Also, set up the decor and paints/canvases for each child so they are ready to go a few hours before the party begins.  Use easy squeezable paints for the smaller kids in case they aren’t quite ready for paintbrushes.  Also, provide different sized paint brushes so everyone can choose brushes that fit what they are painting.
  3. Make it easy.  Give out pizza and ice water during the party in case kids get hungry or thirsty. Hand out ice-cream as it warm-ups more outside. This worked fine this day.  Focus more of your attention on helping the kids paint and watching them enjoy their painting. Stay present in the moment.
  4. Provide multiple canvases for the kids in case they want to do a smaller painting and a larger one plus provide those scratch out black papers so they can do that as well if interested.
  5. Have an easel set up for the little ones with hand-painting for them.
  6. I just got my painting backdrop on Amazon (maybe 20 dollars or so) and set it up.  It looks like it’s a lot of work, but it really isn’t.  Try out a backdrop and a stand or borrow one from a friend if you never have tried it.  I think it makes a big difference with taking photos.
  7. As I have said over and over again in these event planning articles, be present in the moment.  Take in each event you plan and enjoy your loved ones! Also, don’t forget the painting smocks since paint will get on their clothing.  Even if it’s washable paint, it’s better to be safe than sorry.  Remind everyone to wear clothes to paint in just in case!

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Event Planning

Building Memories With Birthday Celebrations (Early Elementary School Years)

I knew this would happen.  That I would blink and these four birthdays would already have passed.  If you read my last article on building memories with birthday celebrations, you would have seen our 2nd birthday theme, “Time Flies” with planes.  I knew this would happen.  I took another trip down memory lane today reminiscing about these last 4 years of birthday celebrations.  Each one celebrated that year and my son’s life in a special way.  Each one was very memorable and enjoyable.  I’m grateful for each birthday celebration that allowed us to celebrate all of our grows and glows for that year with loved ones.

So cheers to another 4 birthday celebrations! May we continue to be present in each one and enjoy these moments of our children’s lives.

 

5th Birthday Party Theme: Space with Buzz Lightyear (at a local State Museum)

I have to admit that this was one of my favorite birthday parties we did because who doesn’t love The Toy Story? My son dressed up as Buzz Lightyear of course, and we enjoyed a scavenger hunt around the museum, the kid play area of the museum, and the planetarium.  It was an action packed day with friends and family at the museum, and there are so many cute ways of displaying the food with this theme! (I kind of got carried away with the food displays!) You are probably wondering how I hauled all of this into the museum.  They had rolling carts that they brought out to our car out front, and we were able to wheel it all in.  It was tricky though making sure we had everything, but I kept collecting it in a large box that fit in the back of our SUV.  Everything went smoothly, and this theme was so much fun!

6th Birthday Party Theme: Minions (at home during the beginning of the pandemic)

This birthday was a tough one, since this is when everything changed shortly afterwards.  My son didn’t get to finish his kindergarten year, but with this tough year came the opportunity for me to teach him how to both read and write even if I was doing it while teaching my students online at the same time.  It was definitely challenging.  His birthday came right as things were shutting down around us.  Thank God for the Minions! I’m grateful we were able to still meet together before everything changed so quickly.

So you may be wondering what I enjoyed the most about planning this birthday? This is when I started having fun making my own balloon garlands! This would have never started if there wasn’t a helium shortage, but I’m glad I started since balloon garlands make every celebration even more fun.  I also have to admit that I loved making these cute little minion bananas.  They are so cute!

This was also the year that my son did his first drawing decoration for one of his parties, and he wanted to do it all on his own without me even asking.

Let your kids help in planning their party.  They will enjoy spending time with you! We opened up our garage, and spent more of our time outside.

As you can see, we had to improvise to allow people outside. We were supposed to have the party at Hershey Chocolate World this year, but they closed down. It was still fun though despite the quick change!

 

7th Birthday Party Theme: Paleontologist/Fossils/Science (at a local Science Center)

After everything that year with the closing of schools and being isolated, I wanted to make this next birthday really meaningful.  It was my most favorite birthday party celebration we had since my son absolutely loves science, and the paleontologist fossil digging learning experience was so meaningful! The kids were digging for fossils, putting together a large wooden dinosaur, doing watercolor painting with dinosaur pictures, and we brought in a hydrophobic sand activity from Steve Spangler.  By the way, we loved all of Steve Spangler’s science activities.  I highly recommend them! We also brought in one of his bag tunnel science activities.  Everything turned out so well even if we were all in masks this time.  It was a very memorable event, and the kids again had a blast learning something new too! Anytime you can squeeze in learning at a birthday party, I would say to do it!

We got him a science lab jacket he wore for his special day! I had fun with the science themed party decor as well.  I was able to find some good ones with this theme, and all of the science activities were so much fun.

We had so many science activities going on that I didn’t take too many photos of the decor.  You can see here though I got these cute science cups for the kids, and a science gift bag filled with science related toys.

Interested in doing of the science activities from Steve Spangler? Find the hydrophobic sand activity we did and his other ones HERE.

 

8th Birthday Party Theme: Hershey Characters/Chocolate Factory (at Hershey Chocolate World)

Chocolate! This birthday theme is special to us since we made many trips to Hershey to their amusement park, hotel, and spa during the pandemic.  More on Hershey in another blog article though!

This was another hands-on activity based birthday.  The kids were able to see a 3D movie with Hershey characters, design their own candy bars together in the chocolate bar making experience, go on the Hershey Chocolate factory ride, and paint with edible paint on the tables.  The Hershey characters also visited us in our private party room.  Yes, this birthday party was probably the most expensive one we did.  I’m glad we were able to do this one!

We also surprised my son with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge after his birthday celebration.  Check out my article on that coming up here!

We enjoyed these hands-on activities during this birthday celebration with lots of friends from school, other friends, and family!

Making Chocolate Bars

Edible Painting

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Event Planning

Building Memories With Birthday Celebrations (Toddler/Preschool Years)

Today, I am going to take a trip down memory lane to my son’s toddler and preschool years, and share with you some of my son’s early birthday parties.  I hope they prove to be helpful as you explore birthday themes and ideas for your precious little one.

Enjoy every moment since it goes by too quickly! Have fun planning these parties. We chose to do these parties with mostly family and cousins.  We did invite some of his close preschool friends later on at the My Gym party venue and local park venue which was special as well.  Do what works the best for your family and loved ones. Will they remember these birthdays? They won’t remember the decorations or the special touches, but they will remember how much you loved them and the quality time you spent with them.

 

2nd Birthday Party Theme: Planes “Time Flies” (at Home)

I made a few labels, got some plane party decor, ordered this beautiful cake, made a Time Flies banner with his baby photos, put planes on wrapping paper, made a little runway for airplanes on the island, and put together this little airplane box.  Even though this looks simple, I was commuting to work almost 45 minutes away at this point and putting in at least 40 hours a week of teaching while designing the curriculum.  It was busy, so I needed those months of prep time, or nothing would be done! It was simple to plan, but that is how I was able to do it.  I did not have a house cleaner either, so it was a lot to clean! If you find yourself working a lot of hours and commuting, it can be done! Just be sure to give yourself around 4 months to plan, so you can check off a few items each month leading up to it.  Planning ahead can make it possible, so don’t give up. It can be simple.  Remember, it is more about building memories than anything else.

The cousins had a blast playing together in the finished basement with all of the toys and the indoor slide.  I made it a priority to blow up as many balloons as I could (blue and white), so the kids were definitely preoccupied with that as well.  I had mini ice-cream cones that were so small and cute! It was a nice day, and everyone had a lot of fun!

3rd Birthday Party Theme: Construction Vehicles (at My Gym)

My Gym was an amazing birthday venue.  Imagine 13 or so kids lined up at a table all wearing construction hats with their names on it digging into cake! The kids were laughing and having so much fun together the entire time.  There was a bubble time where they were all running through the bubbles then a time to swing and even zipline through the room! It was very special, and I know it made my son’s year to be able to have his birthday here! I have so many photos of him, his cousins, and his preschool friends playing in the balls, jumping up and down, laughing, and enjoying this party.

I didn’t do too much planning either as you can see from these photos.  I just made gift bags for the kids with their names on it.  I also got them all yellow construction hats and wrote their name on it with a sharpie.  Besides that, I just had a personalized banner made and planned out his cake, the food, and wrote out his interests on the birthday chalkboard. I also had his shirt made from a seller on Etsy. Simple. Easy.

4th Birthday Party Theme: Tractors (at a local playground)

One of our traditions we do is each birthday is bringing breakfast in bed with candles on the morning of our birthday! As you can see, this one was another fun early morning surprise! Lots of balloons and pancakes to be thankful for!

We had this birthday outside at a park; unfortunately, it was very cold and windy so that never happened again! I decided no outdoor birthdays in March, but then the pandemic came so we did another one outside! Here are some fun things for this birthday.

I found this print and just printed it out from online and gave it to Giant.  Did you know they will print anything you want on a cake? The exact image was printed on the cake edible and everything.  Much less money than some of his early birthday cakes you saw above! My favorite thing I did for this birthday was the dirt dessert with the farm animals and gummy worms.  I also set up a sandbox in the basement, but with corn! I know it sounds crazy, but we got hours and hours of fun out of that.  I put farm animals and tractors to play with in the corn. We also saw all the tractors at a local farm show of course! Finally, we set up an inflatable at the park and the kids rode around on the tractor toy.

Stay tuned since I will be also sharing the next four years of birthday ideas! Remember that you are building special memories with your child and investing into their life and your relationship with them.  Even when things get harder in their middle school years, you will have the strong foundation of love and time that you invested into these early years.  Keep on building this strong bond with your child.

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Event Planning

Those Early Precious Celebrations

Let me you tell you  momma that these early special celebrations are so important.  They may become more and more blurry in your mind as the years go on, but they are so precious.  I was blessed enough to enjoy these early celebrations before the pandemic and before life got so complicated.  I’m sorry if you were unable to do these special early celebrations due the pandemic, and I hope you can make up for lost time in case you were unable to do these events in your life.  Check out my other event planning posts if these may not apply to you now in your life, or pass them along to a friend who may benefit from any help with these types of events.

Today, I am sharing with you my Gender Reveal Party, my baby shower, and my son’s first birthday party.  I wanted to make these extra special and memorable.  They didn’t cost too much, but they were still very special to me. I’m grateful for each celebration with friends and loved ones.

 

Event 1

Gender Reveal Party: Hershey Harvest Restaurant Private Room

We opened the balloons and out came blue! It was such a special event.  Since we were in Hershey, I did Hershey chocolate bars coloring in the “he” part with blue.  I also had a cake cutting with blue from Couture Cakery.  We were thrilled to be new parents and wanted to make this time extra special since we had struggles with conceiving. More on that in my podcast.  One of the most special items at this event was my husband’s CD of instrumental music he composed for our baby. He wrote the songs then had them put on to a CD.   This CD is on sold on Amazon HERE if you are interested in listening to some of these songs! Here are some things we did for that special event.

 

 

Event 2

Baby Shower: Peter Rabbit

 

This was a very precious and sweet time in my life, and the Peter Rabbit mural I hung in my son’s nursery from Murals Your Way just made the most sense for the baby shower theme.  I did blue and white large hydrangeas, cupcakes from Couture Cakery, and cute little Peter Rabbit garden foods with labels. It was a celebration of my son’s first year of life as well and a celebration of my husband and I being parents for the first time.  I had to write a little Shutterfly pregnancy photo booklet, so I typed up month by month what happened and took pictures from each month. I had the pregnancy Shutterfly book at the shower as well to remember all the twists and turns of each month.

 

 

 

Event 3

1st Birthday Celebration: Cat in the Hat

 

Reading to my son was extremely important to me, not just since I have my Master’s in Education in Curriculum and Reading.  I knew I was laying the foundation for my son’s learning for the rest of his life.  Reading became a top priority for me.  I would read to my son in the morning, before his nap, and before bed.  This is why I loved Dr. Seuss since there was so much fun with rhythm and rhyme in his stories. I was able to achieve the Dr. Seuss themed look very easily through some finds on Etsy, a local cake artist, and some ink with my own personal printer.  It was super easy to plan between his nursing and during his napping schedule. I made it a small memorable get together which was affordable and easy to throw together even with a baby at home and nursing around the clock. We didn’t want to just celebrate this milestone as just a birthday, but we wanted to celebrate all that we were able to enjoy this first year as new parents.  I designed a book for my son that I wrote that highlighted some of the highs and lows of each month.  I also put together a photo garland of monthly photos I took along the way.  Whatever it is that was memorable to you during this 1st year, definitely celebrate it and take time to reflect since we all know that this year goes by too quickly.

 

It has been a pleasure going down memory lane with you and sharing these special early celebrations.  I would encourage you to enjoy these moments with your little ones since time goes by so quickly.  Be present in each moment and memory you make.

I hope that some of these ideas were fun to explore for you as you look forward to planning some events or helping a friend with one of their events!  Cheers!

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Faith

How It All Started

Getting Creative with Carolyn was always inside of me those challenging years of my teaching career and through life’s changes.  It was inside of me 20 years ago at Grove City College when I sat on the lawn in front of the chapel to study literature or when I sat down to play the piano in the chapel by myself.  It was inside of me when I was designing curriculum for my Master’s degree, and I was happy and content to finish another thirty page paper.  It was inside of me when I started designing a Language Arts program for a charter school. It was inside of me when I taught 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, and I looked into the eyes of each of my students with excitement thinking about all the creative and engaging activities we could do that school year.  It seemed to rise within me over and over again while I was teaching and designing curriculum. It was inside of me when I was baking, shopping for new decor, and playing with my son.  I knew it was what inspired me and those around me.

I discovered that what was inside of me was the strength and joy I had found in my faith which inspired Getting Creative with Carolyn.

I found myself getting bursts of energy that would reenergize me every time I was able to design or create something meaningful, positive, and beneficial. It didn’t matter how difficult my day became or how burnt out I was becoming with my full-time career because when I was able to create or design something, I felt refreshed again.

My faith and relationship with Christ refreshed me.

The 4C’s

I knew deep down what I needed the most at that point in my life and what I had needed all along, and that was what would become to be the 4 C’s for me in my life: creativity, community, connection, and care.

The same sky in our life can change in an instant so I do believe that we should live it the way that honors God and brings him glory.

The Problem With Adapting

We tend to adapt to new situations, even those that can become toxic to us.  In 1 year, I went from teaching 120 adolescent students to 240 adolescent students online.  In that same year, I went from writing curriculum for one grade level to writing curriculum for online learning and leading a team of teachers.  In the next year, I went from teaching 1 grade level to 2 grade levels and then writing curriculum for 2 grade levels.  All of these extra hours I put into my work were making my home life and health suffer, and I felt used up and depleted even though I was making a positive impact.  Even before this, I was constantly adapting and stretched way too thin.  Unfortunately, through all of this change, I felt like I was hitting a wall and could not move forward into the person I needed to be.

It had been years and years and years of getting pulled too thin in too many directions, and it continued to ravage negatively on my health, my energy level, and my mental health. Resting didn’t seem like a possibility, and I knew that for many other people, rest did not seem possible.  When I finally tried to sleep or rest, I found myself tossing and turning then waking up exhausted with insomnia due to high stress levels.  Both my body and mind became physically and mentally burnt out.  I knew there must be something I could be doing that could help to nurture my soul.

Moving Forward

This is when Getting Creative with Carolyn needed a place to truly grow so that I could continue to grow. I decided to make the difficult decision of taking off the rest of the school year to take a career break and focus on my writing. I needed a break after almost 20 years of going on 120 percent of myself. I needed to rest.

If I needed the 4 C’s in my life, I knew those around me needed it just as much as me.

I am sure many of you understand what I am talking about.

There is so much pressure to perform. However, it is time to take a rest from all of our work and enjoy what we already have.

What Refreshes You?

When I sit down to play the piano, I become refreshed again.  When I apply an innovative idea to create something, I became reenergized.  When I organize something in my home, I feel like I am living more intentionally and helping our family.  When I find an educational toy for my son that helps him grow, I feel like I am helping him grow. When I design with coastal décor, it helps my soul rest while giving our family a place to truly call home. When I pray and reflect on God’s word, it refreshes me. When I cultivate community with others, I feel at home. What gives your soul rest? I hope that you find it this season in your life.

Stay tuned-I would love to pursue these topics further in my podcast.

4 C’s 

Creativity

Community

Connection

Care=soul rest

 

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Home Projects

What Next?

Often, we end up with a home that we don’t entirely love.  We didn’t design it, and there are things we would change with the layout.  Don’t worry since you don’t need to spend a lot of money to fix these issues.  We really wanted to build our home.  We started the design process, but costs were too high to get what we really wanted at the time.  We weren’t sure what to do next, until this model home just fell on our lap.  We were told we could have it if we wanted it before it was listed.  It was a blessing that fell on our laps since it was less that the home build, but it had many of the features we wanted.  There were projects though to do, but we could could do those in our time with what worked for our finances.

Here were some dilemmas and how we figured out each one.  I hope they are helpful to you as you figure out what to do next in your home!

Dilemma 1: Trying to Figure out the Correct Placement of Furniture/TV in Living Room

Solution:

-L shaped couch facing the large window/mountains

-Building out above the fireplace with a hidden area to hide the TV cords

-Wrapping the area above the fireplace in shiplap, mounting the Frame TV with a digital ocean art piece over the fireplace

More Details: Our home was originally staged to have the couch against the window with 2 chairs on the opposing wall. The TV would would then go on the wall and have a glare on it.  Putting a large black TV in this area was definitely not inviting. This made it so that every time you walked into the living room, people would not see the mountain view since the larger couch was blocking the window.  This would not work. With the delays in getting furniture, it was a tedious process to get any type of L shaped couch, so we set up what we could, and we waited like so many people have had to do for a year.  The couch was still not available, so we canceled that order and ordered a new couch.  Fortunately, after almost a half of a year of continuing to wait, we were able to purchase a modular L shaped couch. I placed it where it would face the large windows and maximize the views in the best way. We also had no where to hide the cords, so building out above the fireplace with a home for the cords would work best.  Covering it with shiplap gave it the feel we wanted, and we are so grateful we purchased the Frame TV since we are able to change out the art to any type of coastal art we like.  It is also so much more peaceful to walk into the room and see the digital art instead of a black TV. Definitely a win-win.

Dilemma 2: White flat walls everywhere, no color

Solution: A coastal palette bringing in sea green, white, and natural light oak colors with use of shiplap and a barn door

More Details:

This was the first project we did in our new home.  We hired a local construction company to come in and hang white Shiplap throughout living room and then paint using the waterscape color by Sherwin Williams on either side of fireplace.  We are very thankful for how the shiplap addition. The pop of color was perfect, so we also had them create a barn door in place of the white basement door.  We ended up having them paint the barn door also using the waterscape color by Sherwin Williams. The entire space was transformed into a peaceful coastal retreat. Unfortunately, our floors are still medium-dark hardwood.  They are not white oak, but we don’t want to remove the floors yet since it’s a brand-new floor already.  This will be a future project after we need new flooring.

 

Dilemma 3: In need of more natural light oak tones/natural textures

Solution: Hanging the natural rattan Serena and Lily pendants, purchasing Pottery Barn  chairs, adding in the Serena and Lily bamboo coffee table with white tray, adding in more greenery throughout the room with palm leaves, adding in orchids, adding in 2 white/bamboo counter-height  chairs from Serena and Lily and 4 table height white/bamboo chairs by Serena and Lily  

Dilemma 4: An all-white dining room with no contrast to the beautiful white coffered ceiling

Solution: Adding in a white simple board and batten from the ground to a little over halfway up the wall, painting the middle area Waterscape by Sherwin Williams, keeping the coffered ceiling white

More Details: At first I wasn’t sure I wanted to add the same waterscape color here as well in the dining room, and sometimes I question if this was the best choice.  I really wanted to do banquette seating, but it just didn’t work out in our space.  The dining table and chairs I already have are a yellowy ivory, so they seem off in the space as well.  I was able to sell our yellowy dining table for almost 1000, and use that money to help purchase our new white dining table from Serena and Lily.  I wanted to see some contrast in seating so I added in the bench seating from Serena and Lily with their white chairs.

 

 

Dilemma 5: A gray island with a gray top and black hardware in the kitchen

Solution: This was quite beautiful to begin with, but I wanted to do a coastal palette instead of a modern farmhouse style with grey and white.  I decided I would try to do these small changes: changing out the gray island top for a white quartz top with gold veining, replacing the grey island with a shiplap one painted Waterscape by Sherwin Williams, replacing the black hardware with a champagne gold finish. I will update this once it is done!

More Details:

We did not want to gut a brand new kitchen from a model home.  It was already new and beautiful, but it needed some color.  We thought about adding a new stove and custom hood vent wrapped in shiplap, but we decided to wait on this since the gas oven we really liked would be out of stock for quite some time.  So we committed to just simply changing the black hardware to champagne gold and then also just redoing the island.  Making it have a white quart top with gold veining would brighten up the space and look sharper against the painted waterscape shiplap wrapping the island.  This project will be done this winter, so I will update you once it is completed!

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Decorating

How to Cozy Up In Your Home More

Fresh salty air, miles and miles of white sand dunes, the peaceful crashing of waves, and sunlight glistening on the water… There is something so inviting, mysterious, and peaceful about the coast. It is the colors, the textures, and the stillness residing at the coast that inspire and invite me to bring this design into my home. This is when I found myself settled with the paint color by Sherwin Williams called waterscape that transformed my space into what I wanted to feel in my home: calm and peace.

My husband and I came to a crossroads in our life most recently.  We had to decide whether a move to the beach or to the mountains would be the best choice for our family at this season in our lives.  We ultimately decided that buying a home in the mountains beside our families would be the best choice, so that our son would continue to grow up closer to family. We ended up purchasing a new build home in the mountains that was all white inside with black finishes and a modern farmhouse style.  It wasn’t exactly the coastal style we were looking for, but it was still beautiful, nonetheless. 

A lot of people buy homes that aren’t quite their style, but they still buy them due to this very reason.  They may want to be closer to family, or it may one that just worked out the best in today’s shifting economy of bidding wars.

Even though we didn’t buy a beach home, I decided that I would still decorate my home with coastal décor for a light, airy, and peaceful feel.  Even if the home had a modern farmhouse style with black finishes, it was still a blank canvas we could transform project by project to more of a coastal style.

I hope that the small projects and changes that we have done in our new home will help to inspire you to transform your home to the style and mood that you hope to achieve.

Thanks for joining me in this journey from modern farmhouse to coastal style. 

Who said a home in the mountains can’t have a restful coastal design?

  1. Style the way your soul thrives.
  2. Choose a paint color that speaks to you and makes you feel at home regardless of what the trends are at that point.
  3. It doesn’t matter where you live, style the way that makes you happy! If you live at the coast and you prefer the mountains, style that way! If you live in the mountains and you prefer the coast, style that way.
  4. What brings your soul rest? Music? Include a music room!  Books? Include a library! Have an empty hallway or space you don’t know what to do with? Include what you value in that space.
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Education

Fostering a Love For Music


My choir teacher was an amazing music teacher who fostered a love of music in me.  She told me, “Keep music in your home, and life will always be a song.” I would think about those words often when I was starting to build my home.  I didn’t realize how important music would become in my home.

This is something I think we should all consider even if we are not musical.  How have you been fostering a love for music in your home?

It comes naturally to my husband and I since we both have been playing instruments since we were young children.  Ever since I was four years old, I have been enjoying playing the piano as a hobby, and my husband enjoys the saxophone.  Perhaps, you have never played an instrument before.  It’s never too late to start! Our prior violin teacher was teaching a women in her fifties how to play the violin along with the elementary school aged kids.  It was really exciting to see how anyone can learn at any age!

I have had many parents ask me ways to inspire their child to play music or appreciate classical music. I think kids love music already so much that this is not a difficult thing to do. There are many ideas I have to do this that has helped with my son. I’ll list some of those ideas below. Enjoy!

Visit Your Local Orchestra

I won’t ever forget when we went to the orchestra since I was in my third trimester in a winter storm. My son kicked more than he had ever kicked that evening as the music played on and on. He was definitely dancing in there and enjoying the music! Don’t stop there though! Continue to see the orchestra as time goes on with their kid friendly programs! There are wonderful kid friendly programs that your local orchestra offers.  If you haven’t done this yet, check it out! We have been visiting the orchestra now every other month.

Play Music Together

I play the piano, and my husband plays the saxophone and many other instruments. We try to play together at least once a week. We have allowed our son to join in whether it is with a fake instrument or a real one as we play throughout the years. He’s learned how to hear a song and play it now, and we encourage him to just play even if he’s not always reading notes. We were able to use the piano I grew up playing for a long time before I was able to purchase my own piano for our home.  Whether you are using an old piano or a keyboard, just have some fun together as a family even if your child is just playing three or four notes over and over again.

Start Music Lessons Early

Start your child young with music and playing an instrument since they can pick it up easily at this stage. We started my son with playing around on the piano at age 3 and then violin lessons one week alternating with piano lessons at age 4, and now that he is 8 he still is enjoying both those instruments. He has weekly lessons in violin now that he is 8.

Play Instrumental Music

Play instrumental music when doing homework each day after school. My son will turn on the Pandora Study Classical Music Station automatically now especially when doing his math facts each day after school. I highly recommend The Piano Guys since they have always been my favorite instrumental music. We find that songs with words are too distracting during homework time, so we same those songs for other times of playing.

Try a Lego Piano Build

Have Quiet Time With Music/Audiobook

Is your child done napping? Do a quiet time in its place with classical/instrumental music combined with an audiobook (without a screen). We use an old CD player and old CDs.  I purchase audiobooks and CDs so he can access them and put them in when he wants to listen to them.  I did this because I would prefer that he not get sucked into an iPad for his quiet time.  We don’t allow iPads unless we are traveling in the car and watching a movie on a long car trip.

My son loves listening to Adventures in Odyssey.  We have many CDs on this.  We have done that for years now, and he enjoys playing these during this time. If you haven’t done a quiet time before, start with maybe 25 minutes then work up to 40 minutes.  As they get older, they will want more time as they get engaged in independent play time that is unstructured.  Kids need that unstructured play time where they aren’t running around or going to various events.  They need that at home time, so we always try to make this quiet time a priority.  Not sure how to start yours out? I used to start mine out with a story and cuddle time for 15 minutes then I would have him go to his quiet time play.  I try to do this now, but my son doesn’t always want a story first since he just wants to go play! Do what works for you. Ours is usually between 1:30-2:30 on non-school days or later if we are out running errands.

Play With Toy Instruments

Have a bin of toy musical instruments out for your kids in their playroom. Some of them may just be clappers that make noise! My son loved to play with those and dance. He also made his own homemade instruments when younger. We used these toy instruments (mostly from Target) when my son was younger. Do those activities to get them interested in playing music even if it is just rice making the noise! As they get older, have instruments out in your home. Their natural curiosity will gravitate them to these instruments when you make music a priority in your home.

Pair Music with Reading

I recently got Story Orchestra books for my son. They are so fun since they are musical stories that will inspire more of a love for music combined with text. While you or your child reads the story, you press the sound button on each page that plays music that goes with the mood of the story at that time. Over almost 20 years of teaching writing, I would design Rockin’ and Rolling With Literature activities as well with the text. I also made CDs of instrumental music that connected to each chapter of the novel we were reading so I could pair it that way during reader’s theater. I always would pair writing time with playing instrumental music in the background as well. Pairing music and text together in a meaningful way makes a huge difference in a child’s love for reading!

Enjoy Movie Soundtracks and Themed Parties

You know when it is so cold outside and wet that you are stuck inside? Throw a themed party each winter based around a movie that has an amazing soundtrack! I threw one for my son’s class last winter in our home around The Polar Express movie. I’m doing one this winter on The Nutcracker! Play up the theme with decor and listen to the soundtrack leading up to the party. The kids will love the theme, party, and the movie.

Try a Record Player

Get a record player and let your kids use it! We got one our music room, and we enjoy playing soundtracks on it. We have a Victrola record player, and my son enjoys using it from time to time.

Make a Music Room

Do you have a room that isn’t really being used? Make it a music room. We have our grand piano, keyboard, and instruments in that room. It was also an office at one time, but we decided to make it a more dedicated music studio space. Make it more inviting. I’m putting a Christmas tree with musical ornaments in our music room so it is more inviting for these winter months. If there is one thing you can do when it is cold and dreary outside, it is playing music. We tend to spend most time outside in the spring and summer so make this room special, and you will use it more during the winter!

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Try Music Apps

My husband has been teaching himself how to play the guitar with the Simply Guitar app.  We also used the Piano Maestro App to help our son feel more comfortable with the piano when he was four.  They can be very helpful.

 

As you can see, there are so many wonderful ways to foster a love for music in your home. I hope you found some of these ideas useful as you build a home that values creativity and music!

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Event Planning

A Longwood Christmas

Get inspired

Do you need to get inspired for the Christmas season or lift your holiday spirits?

Each year, we travel to Kennett Square outside of Philadelphia to visit A Longwood Christmas. The trees outside are all lit up, there is often a breathtaking tablescape, and the fountain display is just as magical as the music plays during the light show display. Everything is so beautiful inside as well, and the trees are all decorated in a unique and beautiful way which shouts, “Christmas is here!”. Talk about the most amazing decorating ever for Christmas!! You will be inspired to go home and decorate your home after visiting! Want to see A Longwood Christmas? Here are some tips to make your trip worthwhile.

1. Book your timed ticket reservation around or before Thanksgiving. They do sell out quickly. Be sure to book your 1906 restaurant reservation as well so it’s all planned out in advance.

2. I’ve gone around 2-3 times to Longwood each year since my son was a baby. I recommend that you visit around 11:00 or so and walk for around 2 or so hours, but then schedule a break in walking. Our break is a late lunch at their 1906 restaurant! I highly recommend that you do a late lunch at their 1906 Restaurant so you have a break from walking and can enjoy their amazing food. They give you potted bread to start with in a flower pot, and we enjoy ending our meal with their macarons and chocolates that arrive in a cute wood box! I always get their mushroom soup. Their menu is amazing!

3. I’ve found that it can often rain or snow when there so dress warmly in winter clothing and warm hats. It’s also been very windy at times, so bring a larger umbrella.  Definitely wear your most comfortable shoes since there is a lot of walking. Even if the weather is rainy, there is plenty of inside displays to see! There are mobility scooters to help if you are having trouble walking. Bring your stroller if you have small children who may need a break from walking or wear your Ergo. I’ve done both when there when was son was younger. Use the bathroom down the stairs from the 1906 Restaurant. It’s less crowded, and there is a baby changing station there too.

4. They are also building a new section of the conservatory which will be gorgeous. Some parts are under construction. This won’t affect your visit. There is plenty of parking. Park to the far left facing the building so you can leave more smoothly. There are lots of photo opportunities in various parts of the gardens or inside, so bring your camera and have fun taking photos.

5. There are plenty of outdoor and indoor concerts at the gardens. Most fill up very quickly, so if you want to plan to attend a concert, plan over 5 months ahead for those events. Their indoor pipe organ is on display, and there is a showcase on it. Check this out as well!

6. Invite your family to the gardens. There is also an indoor children’s garden to walk around in with small passageways which make it feel like a secret garden. I loved that book growing up.

It’s definitely a place to build memories. I’ve enjoyed visiting the gardens in the summer, spring, and fall as well. We recently also saw the light installation there with the fall leaves on their Italian lake. There are numerous ponds, a bell tower to go inside of, a waterfall, and a huge fountain display among other things. So much to see!

Let me know if you end up visiting and what you think!

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Decorating

Wall Decals/Wall Mural Ideas

Hello, welcome to some ideas for wall murals or wall decals.  Putting up wall murals and wall decals ends up becoming a starting point for me when I design.  I enjoy and appreciate inspirational sayings and beautiful murals. I hope you find some of these ideas helpful as you seek to use more of these in your home.

So to start off, you should know that I was the one in my family who would write inspirational sayings all over the wall in my bedroom with that bubble paint.  Remember those?  Yes, I probably made it every difficult for the next family as they attempted to peel it all off the walls.  I would write sayings which inspired me all over my walls. I was happy each day reading it all. I didn’t know back then in the 80s and 90s about all the inspirational wall decals I would use now. Putting up these wall decals reminds me of what I did as a young girl. It takes me back to the days when I was filling out journal after journal after journal with all of my poetry and ideas.

Are you interested in trying out a wall decal or wall mural in your home? I’ve done a few over the years in my home, and they have been enjoyed in various ways.

Here are some ideas I did over the past few years which may help to inspire you as you plan yours!

Wall Mural/Wall Decal Ideas

1. When I was researching decor for my son’s nursery, I came across Murals Your Way.  Wow, what an incredible place to see so many amazing murals.  I ended up with one large Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit mural from Murals Your Way in my son’s nursery. It was just perfect and so sweet. I based my baby shower off of his Peter Rabbit theme as well. I would say this was my inspiration for the room for sure.  Sometimes, it just takes that special mural to bring together your vision for your room.

2. During the pandemic when I taught my son how to read and write and I had almost 300 students online, I made my wall of my office a white board. I used a sticky white board wall decal that took up most of the wall. This was useful for lessons. I also placed a white board decal on my tables in my classroom so students could write on the tables when collaborating when we were face to face. If only more walls would be white board walls, right?!

3. When we moved into our new home, I wanted to bring the mountains into our son’s bedroom.  I decided to put this mountain mural from Amazon up; however, it does come piece by piece so it has divides in it. I could have probably not overlapped it in those areas.  That was the mistake we made putting this one up.  When you do put up a mural, request help from a friend since they can get tricky.  It’s beautiful though, so I decided to keep it.

4. I started thinking about inspirational Bible verses and faith filled sayings that are important to our family.  It reminded me of those days when I would write on the walls in my bedroom with bubble paint, but this was much better!  Putting faith filled sayings up in our home is meaningful to our faith.  If you have an inspirational saying that is important to you, I’m sure you could find it somewhere and place it on your walls.  I believe we need to remember what matters to us. These reminders are important for us in our spiritual growth.

 

5. You can also do a mural of your child’s name and place it in their bedroom.

6. I also redid my child’s playroom with these murals below.  They were easy to put up, and it was much easier than painting the room at the time.

7.  I found this hello decal as well, and thought it was a nice way to welcome guests. It took under a minute to set up.  Sometimes, it is the little changes that make a huge difference in a home.

What murals or wall decals are you thinking of putting up in your home?

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Event Planning

Legoland Trip Ideas

Thanks for stopping by! If you are considering a visit to Legoland, let me help you as you plan your trip so you can make the most of it!

We stayed at the Legoland Hotel which made the entire experience more unforgettable and magical for my son. Even though the hotel is pricey, we enjoyed staying there in the kingdom themed room. There are also other themed rooms such as the pirate themed room, the Lego friend room, and the Ninjago themed room.  We chose the kingdom themed room with the king bed and the double bunk bed. I would not have done it any other way since I think it made the entire experience more magical. We had 2 days at the park which is what I would recommend so you can let your child enjoy the entire park. We had a late checkout as well which was nice so we could enjoy another Lego movie and relax before traveling home.

Here is what we liked about the hotel!

Legoland Hotel Positives

1. There was a fun disco elevator with music which was so neat! We laughed and danced each time we went up and down the elevator. This was an unexpected creative idea that I appreciated at the hotel.

2. There was a giant Lego castle in the entry area where kids can play with Legos together, and you can put your feet up and get a drink if you want.

3. There was a Lego creator building workshop area in the hotel with free guided building and friendly staff instructors teaching the kids how to build step by step! Be sure to sign up for this workshop when you arrive or the following day so you don’t miss it.

4. The breakfast buffet was included in the visit with a lot of choices for picky eaters.

5. There was streaming of all of the Lego movies in the room with a TV for the bunk area and a TV for the king bed area of the room. That made it nice since our son could watch his Lego movie and build in his area of his room while we watched a Hallmark movie and relaxed.

6. There were Capri Suns and Hot Cocoa Keurigs which I thought were nice to have for kids instead of just bottled water. My son wasn’t thirsty since he had lots to drink in the room.

7. When asking my son what he liked about the hotel, it was the arcade. He enjoys any arcade of any size, so this one suited him just fine, and he had a lot of fun! The arcade was on the smaller size though, but at my son’s age, he is not too picky.

8. Plus, who doesn’t like the  Lego soap?! I enjoyed the smiling Lego characters as well in the restaurant at the hotel. Who knew you could make the Lego characters smile?! This was a playful way for the hotel to bring more excitement to children.

Obviously, nothing is perfect. I would recommend that they have a snack area in each room stocked with popcorn and other goodies to eat. I also would recommend that the arcade area be much larger. I think they should have also had more play zones. At Great Wolf Lodge, there is a mining area and maze area in addition to a bowling and mini-golf area. I think with what Legoland charges, they should have created more play activities inside their hotel like Great Wolf Lodge does in addition to their waterslide. More on Great Wolf Lodge in another article!

Now, on to the Legoland Park. Everything was so fun to see! There were some fun rides for elementary ages kids plus the shops were nice. Here are some positives for their park!

Legoland Park Positives

1. The Legoland shops were so much fun since you could see the various Legos that you don’t always see in the stores. I went to town buying Christmas presents here! It was a nice shopping experience. However, as you know, Legos add up!

2. There was a Lego building area where you could build Lego cars and race them. We spent a good hour here just building cars and racing them with new friends. My son enjoyed this so much that when we got home he organized his wheels in a separate bin and made 7 new cars that week after school.

3. There was an inside Lego factory ride which we went on a few times. It reminded us of the Hershey Chocolate Factory ride, but this one was different since there was no track. It made you feel like you were floating through the factory.

4. There were a lot of kid-friendly interactive rides which made it more meaningful for kids. The firefighter ride had the rider get out of the fire truck and put out a fire. The Legoland Miniworld looked very realistic and was built very thoughtfully. It had a race with Lego turkeys and places for kids to have the mini Lego characters go fishing or dancing. There was also a ride that went up with a rope for pulling yourself up and down. I appreciated how children could interact with each ride instead of just experiencing it.

5. There was a driving area for kids with a license plate station. What kid doesn’t like to drive their own little Lego car? Of course my son had to choose the yellow car, and no he didn’t get his license since he ran into other cars. Not quite ready to drive! The license center was playful to have though.

6. I enjoyed seeing the cute Lego flowers and Lego trees throughout the park with the Lego characters. For those of you who enjoy playing with Legos with your children, it does seem to make you feel like you are inside a little Lego world when you are there at the park.

Overall, it was worth the trip. I’ll be putting this one in a Shutterfly photo book! I wouldn’t even mind going one more time in the summer to enjoy their water park fun and cinema since we missed that.

After a busy summer playing and swimming, my son was able to rekindle his love for Legos with this trip. He’s been playing with Legos nonstop during his free time since we went! Definitely a win-win.

I hope some of these ideas help you as you plan your trip to Legoland. Have fun!

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