Monday, December 25, 2017
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Up to Seattle Center to see the Christmas decorations at Winterfest,
hear the beautiful music from a high school orchestra,
and engineer the Santa train in the Armory:
Friday, December 15, 2017
Here are some simple ideas to jazz up your Christmas gifts this holiday season. They aren't professional-level wrapping techniques, which makes them doable for any of us mortals; they use materials that are easy to source; and they still add a snazzy touch to your presented presents.
The first and easiest way is to buy interesting ribbon.
Even a simple bow will look fancy if the ribbon is.
Try cloth, raffia, and patterns. Don't worry
about being too matchy-matchy to the paper
as long as the color scheme works together.
To tie a nice bow: Cross the ribbon strand you're using
right over left, then left over right.
Repeat as needed for knots or double knots,
always switching sides for what's on top.
I say this because I recently overheard some teen girls
who didn't know how to tie a bow that lies flat,
and I really, really wanted to help!
To tie a nice bow: Cross the ribbon strand you're using
right over left, then left over right.
Repeat as needed for knots or double knots,
always switching sides for what's on top.
I say this because I recently overheard some teen girls
who didn't know how to tie a bow that lies flat,
and I really, really wanted to help!
Another easy option is to use multiple colors of the same ribbon.
This works well if you have plain ribbon to make it look more interesting.
You can wrap all the colors around the entire gift,
or you can choose to tie the contrasting colors only around the knot at the end.
Curl the ends to make a nice poof of color.
I find you can get curly ribbon to stay put in a nice round shape
if you interweave the ringlets a bit, tucking any errant strands
under the ribbon crossing the package as needed.
If they aren't staying nicely, you can always affix parts in place.
Combine the two steps above by using multiple strands
of an interesting ribbon, such as this shimmering cloth variety.
Bonus: The recipient can reuse cloth ribbon if desired.
Thursday, December 14, 2017
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First, a look back: 6-month-old Mikko's baby tree.
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2 and a half years old
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3-and-a-half-year-old Mikko with his now bigger tree.
Friday, November 24, 2017
It's time for my annual roundup of coupons and deals sent to me by my affiliate partners. These are companies I support and recommend and whose savings I'd like to pass along to you for your holiday shopping! If you shop through my links, it costs you nothing extra and I get a little reward from the company to support my blogging. Thank you!
Wild Dill: Natural, fair-trade clothes & toys for babies & children
'Tis the season for Black Friday/Cyber Monday celebration! This year Wild Dill is going all out with a 40% off deal on some of our most popular toys and all clothing through this secret Black Friday sale link.
Wild Dill is an online boutique specializing in organic, fair-trade, natural and Made in USA gifts for babies & kids. Shop indie brands making beautiful heirloom items, perfect for holiday gift giving.
Shop here for all Black Friday Deals!
It's time for my annual roundup of coupons and deals sent to me by my affiliate partners. These are companies I support and recommend and whose savings I'd like to pass along to you for your holiday shopping! If you shop through my links, it costs you nothing extra and I get a little reward from the company to support my blogging. Thank you!
Truth in the Tinsel: Advent activity ebook for families
If your family practices the Christian faith and is looking for a kid-friendly guided Advent resource for December, try out Truth in the Tinsel!This is "an Advent experience for little hands," because it offers a faith-based activity and Bible reading each day to reinforce the reason for the season and lead children into a celebration of Christmas and Jesus' birth.
Truth in the Tinsel is regularly only $9.99 as an ebook download (also available in German and Spanish if you're studying a language with your kids), and you can print out sweet ornaments for your kids to color for $4.99 or whimsical Advent Christmas trees designed for large-scale printing for $6. A bundle of the ebook, printable ornaments and Advent trees is a discounted $19. This year, you can also decorate a holiday party in style with these ornament-swap party decorations for $25. I love the charming designs!
Plus, you can get 15% off any items, including the bundle, in this incredible Black Friday deal below:
Enter code TINSEL2017 for 15% off
your entire cart from 11/24-11/27!
Hope you and your families have a joyful week celebrating this thankful season and a delightful kickstart to the holidays!
Thursday, November 23, 2017
It's time for my annual roundup of coupons and deals sent to me by my affiliate partners. These are companies I support and recommend and whose savings I'd like to pass along to you for your holiday shopping! If you shop through my links, it costs you nothing extra and I get a little reward from the company to support my blogging. Thank you!
Educents: Homeschooling resources, supplies, & toys
The sale is now on at Educents! Head to these three pages:
- Educents Black Friday Sale — The main sale page with doorbusters galore
- Educents Gift Guides — Gifts for every child on your list!
- Educents Top Deals — All of the deals on the site, sorted by percentages off
Plus, remember to use your coupon:
Get 10% off sitewide
with code HOLIDAY
through December 15.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
It's time for my annual roundup of coupons and deals sent to me by my affiliate partners. These are companies I support and recommend and whose savings I'd like to pass along to you for your holiday shopping! If you shop through my links, it costs you nothing extra and I get a little reward from the company to support my blogging. Thank you!
KiwiCo: Science & art project subscriptions for ages 3 to teen
KiwiCo offers four different hands-on subscription models for little kids on up through big ones. And you can try it out for your kids or gift a subscription at a substantial savings right now:
Get 60% off the first month
of any KiwiCo subscription.
Expires Nov. 28.
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
It's time for my annual roundup of coupons and deals sent to me by my affiliate partners. These are companies I support and recommend and whose savings I'd like to pass along to you for your holiday shopping! If you shop through my links, it costs you nothing extra and I get a little reward from the company to support my blogging. Thank you!
Tea Collection: Charming clothing for children
Beginning Tuesday, November 21, through Saturday, November 25, Tea Collection's Black Friday Event is ON with more styles than ever before.
They've got all kinds of great outfits on sale for $15 and under! But hurry — deals this good will get gobbled up fast.
Shop now for the best selection!
It's time for my annual roundup of coupons and deals sent to me by my affiliate partners. These are companies I support and recommend and whose savings I'd like to pass along to you for your holiday shopping! If you shop through my links, it costs you nothing extra and I get a little reward from the company to support my blogging. Thank you!
Green Kid Crafts' Black Friday deals start now!
Use coupon code BLACK17 to take 70% off the first month of any subscription.
And coupon code BFGET40 will get you a whooping 40% off any single Discovery Box!
To view their subscription options and Discovery Boxes and Kits, go here to start saving!
Sunday, November 19, 2017
with our little pumpkins.
Friday, November 10, 2017
Annual reminder: As you buy the items on your holiday list this year, keep your favorite bloggers in mind!
If you're shopping online at Amazon.com, you can shop through your favorite writers' affiliate links and give them a little holiday gift, too!
Buying through an affiliate link works just the same for you as shopping by going directly to the Amazon site. You don't pay any more than you would otherwise, but the store itself funnels a few cents over to the blogger as a thanks for the referral.
Do you know bloggers who are struggling this season to make ends meet? Are there writers you'd love to reward for being particularly timely and touching in what they share with readers? Do you just want to spread the holiday love and cheer?
Then make it a point to shop through an affiliate link this season and throughout the year!
To make it easy for you, we have a linky list of bloggers' Amazon affiliate links.
If you're a blogger, sign up with your links!
To help you remember to shop through an affiliate link, bookmark a few! Simply drag two or three favorites into your bookmarks bar, and name them "Amazon." Now anytime you want to go to Amazon, click on one, and you'll be set to give that blogger a little tip for being awesome!
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
We've got Owlette, a Power Ranger, and a Halo dude.
Mikko's never played Halo, but he found the helmet at a thrift shop
and rightly thought it was cool.
Alrik's pose is on point.
Sam's a princess, and I'm Spider-man.
The helmet lights up!
He couldn't believe the windfall of strangers giving you candy.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
We had a kiddo turn three years old this month. (Three! Years! Old! Wasn't it yesterday that Karsten was born precipitously & unexpectedly into my arms?)
But here he is, blowing out his three candles with aplomb:
To celebrate, we made some spooooky BRAINS cupcakes for our little zombies. We used this kit, but you could achieve the same effect at home by following our simple decorating instructions with some pink frosting. Here's the video showing how:
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
I debated for several days on whether to step in with my own "Me, too" on Facebook. Of course, I could just write the two words and leave it at that, but I'm a writer, and by rights, I tend to overshare. I thought mostly of a story I didn't — still don't — feel comfortable sharing, and settled eventually on a story of a smaller act of male aggression and overstepping into my space when I was out with my young children and feeling vulnerable.
I received a comment on my post from a random dude on Facebook whom I don't remember friending, so it was probably for some Facebook game or other (I really should learn to add such people to a restricted list), who told me I was misinterpreting the situation. To avoid having to defend myself again and again, I won't repeat my initial story or his comment here, just the gist of the he-said/she-said dynamic. I said, I felt threatened by a stranger in public. He said, That guy sounds like he was just being nice, and you overreacted. Facebook dude also threw in some weird angle from my recent post at a reptile expo about how I trust snakes more than people, which kind of … um … maybe?
I'm Lauren Wayne, writer and natural parent. I embrace attached parenting with an emphasis toward green living. 
