DIY

I've gotten into canning and food preservation in the past few years.  As a child I remember my mother's gigantic garden, with rows upon rows of vegetables.  She canned green beans, corn, carrots, tomatoes, peaches, pears, applesauce, jams and...

Whether you typically celebrate Thanksgiving at your home or visit family and friends, it's no secret that hosting Thanksgiving dinner can be a stressful undertaking. Attempting to clean (and maintain) a house with children, prepping food, and worrying about...

I love to decorate for holidays. However, I’m a total procrastinator. I don’t get decorations up until right before the holiday, and then they stick around far too long. How long is ‘too long’? Well, as I’m preparing for...

Three years ago, I made the first New Year's resolution I’ve ever kept. Essentially, I challenged myself to create something new every day. These didn’t need to be tangible items. Sometimes it was art. Often it was in the...

Raise your hand if you love cookies! OK good, that’s all of us. There are so many topics that divide us as parents…breastfeeding, epidurals, vaccinations, screen time, politics…the list goes on and on. I absolutely love that this blog...

The MAGIC of the holidays... what does that even mean?  Maybe you're one of those people who loves to go above and beyond when it comes to making Christmas magical. Maybe you're just trying to find easy, cheap ways to keep...

Want to save money & have clean clothes? Try out the homemade laundry detergent I use for my family of eight! Any questions I can answer for you? With a family of eight, we've probably been through it all!  

I like to think of these dwindling warm days we’ve been having lately as the Summertime Squeeze: Like a fast-dripping ice cream cone on a 100 degree day, we try to savor every bit of these beautiful days as...

At my house, two of my three kids have food allergies. We try to manage meals and treats with a severe egg allergy, a milk allergy, and a wheat sensitivity. There’s no doubt that when you have food allergies...

It's April, and I've been told spring is coming. I've spent the entire 31 years of my life residing in Iowa and every year, without fail, spring really does come, and I'm sure it will this year... eventually. It...