Restock at The Straw Cellar

Just dropped off another batch of ornaments to the wonderful Straw Cellar in Wolfeboro, NH!  

The owner Carrie does an amazing job at creating the most beautiful little gift shop featuring lots of New England-made products.  Definitely stop in if you're ever in town!  

Give Back When You Can

Just a little reminder to give back when you are able, even if it's something small.  

Over the course of the summer we've been blessed with a lot of produce from our garden - we enjoyed it, shared with family and friends, and froze quite a bit for future use.  Last week we picked the last of the veggies and pulled out the rest of our vining plants to get ready for winter.  We ended up with quite a few squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes and rather than try to squeeze them into the freezer we opted to bring them to our local food pantry where we know the donation will be greatly appreciated.  

Giving back doesn't always have to mean volunteering a day of your time or making a large monetary donation - it can be giving back in small ways everyday to help your neighbor and those around you.  We all need to remember this more (myself included), and next year we'll make a point to share even more of our produce with the food pantry all summer long.  

Teal Pumpkin Project: Safe Trick-or-Treating for Everyone

This Halloween we're participating in the Teal Pumpkin Project to promote awareness and inclusion of all trick-or-treaters, no matter their dietary restrictions.  | This post contains affiliate links |

Unfortunately a lot of kids have food allergies, ranging from mild to potentially very dangerous.  These allergies can include dairy, chocolate, nuts, soy, gluten, artificial dyes, and more.  These kids either can't participate in trick-or-treat or have to throw out 95% of what they get - and when you're a kid that's really rough.  

By having a teal pumpkin out, you're letting kids and their parents know that your house is a safe place to trick-or-treat and you have non-food items available. These can be things like novelty pencils, erasers, stickers, bubbles, crayons, small toys, etc.  You can still give out the usual candy, but it's a good idea to keep the non-food items separate.  This is a great project to allow all kids a chance to feel included in trick-or-treat on Halloween. 

FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) has some wonderful resources on their website - including crowdsourcing maps to identify participating houses, printables you can use to proudly show your support and educate others, and fundraising opportunities to help fund food allergy research and awareness.  

Affiliate Product Links

| Teal Acrylic Paint |

Post originally published 10/30/15

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Not feeling crafty or no time to make your own? Purchase a ready-made Teal Pumpkin Project sign or flag to show your support and mark your house as allergy-friendly.

Cute Fall Maternity Photo with Pumpkin

Okay, throwing it back to our last pregnancy and still in love with this easy Fall-themed maternity picture my husband and I took with a pumpkin!  It's so simple but I think it came out so sweet.  This idea would also be perfect for a Fall pregnancy announcement too.  Fall is our favorite time of year, so I'm happy we could capture a classy Fall-themed "belly" picture.  

I promise I'll share some photos from when I was farther along at our Christmas maternity photo session too - some sweet, simple ideas for your "special delivery" to come!  

Shop Fall Fashion

Sneak Peek: Kids Book Rails

Making over our daughter's room has been slow-going to say the least.   We had a busy, wonderful summer and now I'm already deep into Christmas ornament orders so finding time to work on the whole makeover has been tricky. 

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In progress

Today I finally hung the book rails I made in this tiny nook and I think it will help make this space functional.  Now I need to make something to hold the large, heavy books on the floor - and finish the rest of the room - and then I will share the whole project!  ;)

Heading to The Country Store on Main

So excited to be sending an order of these Rustic Birch Vermont Ornaments to The Country Store on Main in gorgeous Stowe, VT! If you're skiing in the area this winter, be sure to check The Country Store out for gorgeous gift ideas.

Current Situation.. Busy ;)

Current situation:  etching and painting my way through 125+ of these beauties to finish some orders.  Whew.

No manicures for this mama.  

As of right now our ornaments will also be available this season at Straw Cellar, Country Store on Main, Daytrip Society, and Wyler's. Please support these wonderful shops that support small local businesses like myself.

The Healthy Snacks Influencers are Eating

Lisa Valinsky just put together a great list of The Healthy Snacks that 24 Influencers are Eating Right Now and it includes a snack from yours truly that's BIG in our house - in fact I think it currently makes up at least 25% of our toddler's diet (oops).  

So if you're looking for some great healthy snack ideas - definitely check it out!  You're sure to recognize some great bloggers on there too :)  

Credit:  Lisa Valinsky