Kalena Langford

I recently (and very in the moment) put together a quick craft to go with the book, “Because of an Acorn.” I sat down at the table one morning and read the book to my kids. Then I pulled out blank paper and jars of cut up paper organized by color so we could “paint with paper.” By that, I mean that we made collages. In all honesty, I thought the kids might really want to make acorns. But their creative minds started drawing other Fall-ish things from the book (and beyond). So, I am the one who made the paper collage acorn in the photos here. And thoroughly enjoyed doing so, I’ll add.

The best part of making paper collages is that it can be tailored to different difficulty levels, so it’s great for multiple ages. It’s also soooo inexpensive. All the pieces of paper we used were scraps from previous projects. You could also cut up old magazines, newspaper, etc.

We chose to freehand our designs. The kids did trees, pumpkins, and a rabbit. 😊🐇 But I’m sure it would work great to find some simple pictures of what you want online then print them to use.

We used white card stock as our base, and the paper scraps were a mix of card stock, tissue paper, and construction paper. Gold construction paper is what I used as the main portion of my acorn.

Hoping to do more and more simple book/craft combos. My biggest hindrance is me. For some reason, I think it’s going to take a long time to plan and pull everything out. But it really, really doesn’t. And it never needs to be perfectly staged or anything like that. Just do it. Hear that, Kalena? Just do it!

Fall is trickling its way into Target. I must admit, I do embrace the season early. But in more of a subtle way, if that makes sense. Like save the pumpkins and Halloween decor for a little closer to the actual turn of the seasons. I tried to mimic that here… Other than the pretty glass and chipwood pumpkins, I think this is more of a gentle way to dive into Fall early. And, I love the underlying boho feel.

*A few of the items linked are “coming soon,” so save for the near future if you love em!

Faux rusted eucalyptus wreath

Stoneware mug

Stoneware espresso brown pitcher

Natural brush with loop

Brass finish hexagon lantern

Small mushroom figure

Staggered metal taper candelabra

Large geo pattern vase

Apples still life framed wall art

Yellow glass pumpkin

Tall chipwood pumpkin

Orange glass pumpkin

Rattan round basket

Heritage plaid throw with fringe

1. Modern Ball Blue Table Lamp
2. 8” x 10” Flora Framed Blue Canvas Art
3. 16” x 12” Sailboats Framed Canvas Art
4. 30” x 50” Woven Rug Wall Hanging
5. 14” x 20” Textured Lumbar Pillow with Tassels
6. Floral Reversible Lumbar Throw Pillow
7. Potomac Indigo Rug
8. Printed Teal Quilt
9. Printed Cotton Percale Sheet Set

I went with a cheesy title to match the cheesy Valentines I’m showing you here. Honestly, I’m super proud of these. I saw a few seed Valentines floating around Instagram and loved some I saw with silly sayings stamped out like this to match the plant. So, I made my own. As far as I know, they’re original. The one on the yellow paper is a bit of a stretch, but I still like it!

Zinnias are such a FUN and easy flower to grow, so this is the perfect, long lasting Valentine to gift kids and gal pals alike! And they’re not candy, which is something I appreciate.

I used stamps and some leftover linen-y card stock paper, but if you’re in a big hurry or don’t want to take the time to stamp it out, it would still be super cute to write or print some on whatever paper you have!

I’ve been using Portrait mode on my iPhone a lot more for some reason. And that’s resulted in several pictures I super love. Here are several from December:

Making an “About Me” book (complete with a hat 😍) at our homeschool co-op day

I’d say I can’t believe I haven’t printed and framed this yet, but I totally can believe it. Planning on changing that soon. When I do print, I use Walgreens sometimes, but my very favorite place to get prints and more from is Parabo Press (use code WSNSCS for $10 off your first order).

Meet Soggy Soggy. He likes us because we feed the fish, and they feed him.

Asked to go fishing. Caught 13, I think.

All her pose. And all her choice of bow. I love both.

A Christmas art walk in his beloved, but very oversized Braves jacket

At that same art walk, but with slightly less enthusiasm and slightly more sass

🎡 at Acadian Village (A couple of our multi-year favorites: Slouch beanie and Primary lightweight puffer)

Some spontaneous Christmas crafting

A yellow kitty cat hat as a gift made this a happy girlie.

Claiming her seat

Christmas Day excitement

😋

It’s the pen, for me. 😂💙

Burger date night with my bud

We’ve spent the vast amount of the last few months at home, and I’ve found a renewed appreciation for Walmart Pickup. I know it’s not for everyone, but our new local (we recently moved) Walmart is about 7 minutes from our home, and I’ve found that if I schedule Pickup for 8 or 9am, it takes about 5 minutes or less to get my order once I’m there. This is not the same experience I had previously (several years ago).

So for those that also appreciate or at least utilize the convenience of Walmart Pickup, but despise not choosing your own produce and such or checking your eggs before you purchase them, etc…. There’s an EASY way to report damaged items and receive a refund for them. I’ve used it for overripe produce, cracked eggs, and a product past expiration. I don’t plan to abuse it and would expect that there’s some sort of system in place to prevent that. But I have been happy to discover an easy way to ensure that I don’t waste money.

This report is done in the WalMart app right where you order groceries. Here are the steps once you launch the Walmart app:

1) Select Shop my store. 2) Choose the hamburger menu. 3) Go to Account. 4) Select Your orders. 5) Choose the appropriate order. 6) Click Start a return (in Have an item issue? box). 7) Select the item you wish to return/report for a refund. 7) Select the reason you’re returning/reporting for a refund. 8) Click Submit request.

You should immediately receive notice in the app that you’ll receive a refund (when appropriate). And when bad or damaged food is involved, it has always informed me there’s no need to return the item (would be weird and not worth it if you were required to, of course).

That’s it. It probably took you longer to read through this than it would to actually report an item. That’s pretty good, especially for Walmart. 😏

I opened a new package of (3) bows and put one on Rowyn this morning before we left to go eat lunch. I had the others in my hand. She crawled back to me, grabbed one and tried to put it on her head herself then gave it to me fully expecting me to put it on her head. So I did. Then we proceeded the same way with the last one. She was happy as could be once I got them all on her. I guess if there’s a bow around, it’s to be worn. I mean, a crown of bows is quite a statement. 🎀👑

Looks like I took this picture this evening, but this was before sunrise this morning since that’s when he awoke. 😴 And that’s his morning smile. Always.

Looks like he’s jamming to some tunes on the headphones he found in a box I was unpacking a few days ago. Nope. Just needed to wear them first thing this AM. While eating breakfast.

That was just the beginning today. He’s been so enjoyable. As usual. But I guess a little extra. Which is fun. And certainly amusing.

We did a quick Mother’s Day craft with stuff we had on hand. I got the idea from Pinterest. The original craft used foam for the “blooms” and leaves, which I’m sure would be a little more durable (and not show the bleed through of glue). But I didn’t have any, so I just grabbed the card stock. Amazingly, both my 3-year-old and 13-month-old let me quickly trace their hands! My expectations were low, but highly exceeded. Brigsby carefully painted the popsicle stick “stems” while I cut out handprint “flowers” and leaves (I just quickly drew them with a pencil). Although it’d be super easy to finish quickly, we actually didn’t get it all done in one day. Brigsby probably spent about 20 minutes painting (crafts aren’t typically his jam, but he connects with painting here and there), then was ready to move on. So, I set everything aside and finished up today. I love how they turned out! 2 are for my mother-in-law, 2 are for me, and 1 is for my husband because Brigsby wanted to make him one too. 💙 If I had planned ahead (story of my life, but I’m working on that), I would’ve done a few more to gift to my MIL because the little wrapped bouquet is so fun! Maybe we’ll make some more later. This would be a great keepsake craft, birthday gift, Spring/Summer activity, etc. Definitely not Mother’s Day specific. But that’s how I found the idea, and I’m glad I did!

PS - I might have had as much fun taking pictures of them as I did putting them together. 🙂🙃