Simplicity at its finest

Sometimes the most rewarding crafts are the simplest.

When mr is gone for work, my mom IL likes to send little care boxes - things to keep us busy while he's away and surprises for the kids (and me).  In one box she placed all the tools for pinecone bird feeders - including the giant pinecones (which was good, since the ones that fall in our backyard are kind of puny).

It struck me that I had never done this simple craft with my kids before.  And fall is really the best time for it.

We made our bird feeders the way they've been made for... decades?  Centuries?  I'm really not sure, but surely for a VERY LONG TIME, anyway.  

We smeared peanut butter all over the pinecone.

We rolled the pinecone in birdseed.

We let them sit for a little while to kind of harden.

I cut some twine and tied the twine to the stem of the pinecone in a pretty little bow.

 You really can't get a whole lot easier than that.  The kids especially liked smearing the peanut butter - of course.  And, not surprisingly I suppose, but disappointingly, I can't find my photos of them hanging on our porch.
I thought they made very sweet little decorations on into winter last year.  The kids would wake up and check the feeders - to see if any seed was gone or if perhaps they could catch a bird in the act.

We only saw a few birds try them out, but it was fun, and the kids were pretty proud of their creations.

Which only serves as yet another reminder to me that sometimes it's really best to go back to basics.

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Back then. And coming up...

Left you hanging a little last week, didn't I?  Didn't really mean to take a week's break, but apparently wifi is a fickle little thing in the backwoods of Wisconsin.  Last week was the dreaded (by us residents) EAA convention and my family - 12 of us, including the kiddos - went on vacay to a cabin up north.  It seemed the perfect way to get out of the congestion.  This year we even rented our house to some people who own an aircraft company and needed a place to stay - it was complete insanity getting ready for them, since they didn't call us until the week before and mr happened to be in Peru... mass mayhem ensued.  Cleaning, laundry, more cleaning, lots and lots and lots more laundry, dishes, new rugs, cleaning, more cleaning and food prep/packing for our cabin trip took up pretty much all my waking hours.

I expected to start the much anticipated "Gift it" series (from my sister's laptop), but as the wifi there was somewhat uncooperative, and as we were kept quite busy with a little swimming,

jumping,

(Ezra wasted no time in jumping in the lake.  HILARIOUS watching him run down the incline in the bulky life jacket.)

kayaking, 

 row boats,

(and trying to tow the row boat WITH the kayaks...)

fishing,

(my nephew caught a seaweed fish!)

(Zoe caught the biggest fish of the week!  This isn't it... this is one of the other 3 she caught!  She was a very successful fisherman this time around.)

go-karts,

(which I couldn't ride...)


campfires, 45 minute trips into "town", old fashioned ice cream parlors, horse back riding,

and lots of mosquitos...

that, well, things didn't go quite as planned in regards to blogging.  Fortunately, this year I was NOT blinded, mr got to stay the whole time and therefore did not leave town with my car keys, and there was no devious tortilla chip blocking the needed vin number in my car window.  Mini did NOT vomit or walk around in unbalanced circles, and we did NOT get dive bombed by a bat in the middle of the night.  Also, there was air conditioning.  Which, by the looks of me, I was very grateful for.


And now, you must endure more photos.  Because I took them, and therefore someone has to look at them.

We took a "longish" hike through a forest to a river (which yielded most of yesterday's pictures):

(we found wild raspberries!  And a beaver dam!)

(honestly, the bugs and bees were awful and we were kind of glad to be done...)

and a shorter hike on the way home where we visited the highest elevation in Wisconsin, Timm's Hill.  Can't pass that opportunity up:

We saw a whole lot of wildlife - Which the kids were gaga over -

(deer, moths, honeybees, kingfisher, sandhill crane, loons, ducks... you name it!)

The view across the lake was stellar...

Even on those cloudy days.  Even on those days that were much colder and rainier than we had anticipated or desired.

And especially at the closing.

This brings me to the present.  And at present I am prepping for the amazing return of one series involving handmade gifts... (see what I did there?)
That's right!  It's August!  And time for:

Oooo, it's gonna be good.  Remember peeps, this is the series that promises to grant you the motivation AND inspiration you need to MAKE any gifts for ANY occasion you might encounter this year.  Weddings?  Check.  Teachers?  Check.  Valentines?  Birthdays?  Christmas?  Babies?  Graduations?  Bar mitzvahs?  Check!!  (well, actually, I'm not sure about the last one.  Anyone want to sign up to cover bar mitzvahs?)

You can have a totally handmade year!  Starts tomorrow.  Don't miss out!

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A Last Hurrah.

Well, that's it.  It's over.   Done.  Finite.  

I'm talking about summer of course.  (Was there a summer this year?)

The fours officially start 4K on Tuesday.  That means they're actually IN SCHOOL because 4K is part of the school system in our area.  Unlike last year, in 3K, which was only three days a week and had no school district support.  It's a little unnerving to have a kid who's starting some honest to goodness schooling and I'm more nervous than him to make sure we don't miss out on anything we're supposed to do...

If your kids have already started school, or are about to, you may want an easy little summer-like activity to take the edge of your farewell to the season.  And this may be right up your alley.

I admit, this activity is old.  Look at those little munchkins.  They're tiny.  In fact, we did this almost exactly a year ago.  It's amazing to see how much kids change in such a short time, eh?

(I know... I even write like I'm from Wisconsin.)

Here is everything you need for this fun and easy activity:

I think I enjoy this version even better than using straight up chalk.  It doesn't rub colored dust off all over their bodies, ensuring some awesome colored foot prints on my tile floors and a march right to the bathtub after play time.

Another plus?  Easy cleanup - and not just the kids.  

Here you can see that when you paint with the water/chalk, it doesn't look like much.  Slightly colored water, that's all.  But after it dries, that's when it really shines.

Even my chalk depictions of the kids look tiny and dated.  

Happy Labor Day, by the way!

*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!