Weekend Links

May all your wanderings be blessed!

Our Weekly Recap

:: Endless Gifts (Counting the Gifts from His Hands)

:: Gardening with Kids: Creating a Plant & Garden Nature Study Binder

:: Happy Birthday, Emahry!

:: How to Make (Practically) Free Homemade Vegetable Broth {Finished Friday} Come and link up the projects you finished this week.

 

Around the Web

:: Because this is the Truth about the real “Mother’s Day Card Mothers” @ A Holy Experience

 

:: A Little Beauty Goes a Long Way @ (in)courage

 

:: The road to simplicity is marked by complexity. But it’s still worth it. @ Simple Mom

"Pin"spiration

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:: Other pinners say this method for keeping berries fresh longer really works.

 

:: I love the recycle of scrap wood and milk jugs into this compact planting stand.

source: Coach House Crafting on a budget via Lauren on Pinterest
Click HERE to repin from the original source.

linking up to Jessie’s Saturday Linky Love Party.

 

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

 

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Weekend Links

May all your wanderings be blessed!

Our Weekly Recap

Endless Gifts (Counting the Gifts from His Hands)

Reflecting on the Past School Year {TIPsters}

Amelia’s 8 Month Photo (& month-by-month collage)

Painted Garden Markers {Finished Friday} Come link up the projects you finished this week!

Free Ebook: Homeschooling in Your Garden (it’s still free, but the price can change at any time, so get it quickly)

 

Around the Web

::  A Public School Teacher Talks Homeschooling @ Hip Homeschool Moms 

:: Getting Fit With Your Kids @ Heavenly Homemakers
"Pin"spiration

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:: This soap pouch has been added to my “things to-sew” list.

source: Whimsy Love via Jen Kenyon-Griesbaum on Pinterest
Click here to repin from the original source.

:: This DIY Rain Stick looks like a fun kid project. (Plus lots of other science discovery bottle ideas.)

source: Laguna Parent Participation Preschool via Karen Carrier on Pinterest
Click here to repin from the original source.

linking up to Jessie’s Saturday Linky Love Party.

 

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

 

Be sure to click the link in the first email to activate your subscription.

Weekend Links

May all your wanderings be blessed!

Giveaway Winner

Joanne M. won a copy of The 5 Love Languages of Children and A Perfect Pet for Peyton. Congratulations!

 

Our Weekly Recap

:: Endless Gifts

:: Free Food on the Table Meal Planning Service (sign up before May 1st to get this service free for life)

:: Top Ten Garden & Yard Deals

:: Meal Planning: Our Very Simple Menu

:: Finished Friday: DIY Prayer Pail (be sure to link up your finished projects, too)

Around the Web

:: The Deadliness of Self Indulgence @ Purposeful Wife

 

:: {Smaller Bloggers} Blogging Is Not About the Money @ Allume Blog

:: Don’t Like Fish? I’ll Bet You’ll Like These Salmon Cakes @ Keeper of the Home (We’ve been trying to add some fish into our simple meal plan, but so far one of our children hasn’t liked them. I’m hoping this recipe will help.)

"Pin"spiration

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:: Yesterday was a little chilly so I’m craving hot tea once again. This Chai Concentrate sounds delicious. I can even make my own healthy sweetened condensed milk to use in the concentrate.

 

source: the Kitchn via Joanne Mitchell on Pinterest 
Click here to repin from the original source

:: Right now having one hanging sock bag per bedroom works for us, but I think it would be a great idea for each of the kids to have their own personalized sock & undies bag as they get older.

 

source: noodlehead via Dianne Vohs on Pinterest
Click here to repin from the original source

 

:: I love this baseball bracelet! I definitely want to make one for Jonathan.

 

source: I Can Find the Time via Better Life Bags on Pinterest
Click here to repin from the original source

 

linking up at Simply Staci’s Saturday Stumbles

 

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

 

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Weekend Links

Be sure to share your projects for this past week on our Finished Friday linky.

 

May all your wanderings be blessed!

:: 15 Reasons Why Community is Important {Even if You’ve Been Hurt} @ A Holy Experience

:: 20 Chore Ideas for 7-Year-Old @ Money Saving Mom
"Pin"spiration

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:: I love these crocheted ponytail holders that Vanessa shows how to make.

source: Vanessa’s Values via me on Pinterest
Please click through to the original source before you pin.

:: I need to keep this list of brave (non-princess) books for girls handy.

source: Virginia Sole-Smith via Stefanie Smith on Pinterest
Please click through to the original source before you pin.

linking up at Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles

 

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

 

Be sure to click the link in the first email to activate your subscription.

Weekend Links

Be sure to share your projects for this past week on our Finished Friday linky.

 

May all your wanderings be blessed!

:: Finding Balance @ Creative Family Fun

:: When Life Gets in the Way @ Amy’s Finer Things

"Pin"spiration

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:: I love this family tree. Jill used her Silhouette Cameo, but you could purchase a leaf punch or even buy a ton of leaf stickers.

source: Homemade by Jill via Alison (Oopsey Daisy) on Pinterest
Please click through to the original source before you pin.

:: We might be adding a few milk bottle watering cans to our detergent bottle watering can this week. 

source: A Journey to a Dream via Allison Harding on Pinterest
Please click through to the original source before you pin.

linking up at Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles

 

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

 

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Sensory Activity: Cloud Dough {Finished Friday} come link up your finished projects

Scroll down to link up your Finished Friday post (decor, craft, recipe, homeschool project, etc.)

I came across the recipe for cloud dough on Pinterest a little while ago and knew that I wanted to make it for the kids soon.

The cloud dough was extremely easy to make and can be stored away to use again. But, more importantly, our kids LOVED it!

The recipe is so simple: just 8 parts flour to 1 part oil (I’ve read of people using either baby oil or canola oil, but I think just about any cooking oil would work). We had some baby oil on hand that we had been given (and never used) so this was the perfect project for making it useful.

I actually ran out of flour making this so our ratio was more like 6 parts flour to 1 part oil. The finished product still worked really well. Simply measure out the flour and oil and mix them together with your hands for a few minutes. That’s it!

Cloud dough feels like flour when you run your hands through it, but when you press it together it is moldable.

It’s great for stirring…

and whisking…

and serving up pretend meals.

Our kids have now played with the cloud dough almost every day for an entire week!

Check out all of my Pinterest to Real Life experiences in my Completed Pins board.

Today's Questions: Have you been spending more time outdoors this spring?

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)


<center><a href="http://a-heart4home.blogspot.com/search/label/Finished%20Friday"target="_blank" ><img border="0" src=" http://i443.photobucket.com/albums/qq160/aHeart4home/checkmarkgray2.jpg"/></a></center>

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Weekend Links

Be sure to share your projects from this past week on our Finished Friday linky.

 

May all your wanderings be blessed!

::  15 Chore Ideas for 4-Year-Olds @ Money Saving Mom

:: How to Make Almond Butter @ Heavenly Homemakers
"Pin"spiration

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:: I love these No-Sew Tea Towel Café Curtains.

source: Chez Fifi via Hope Barker on Pinterest
Please click through to the original source before you pin.

:: Our kids would have so much fun with this hallway play tent.

source: ikat bag via MaryEllen Bream on Pinterest
Please click through to the original source before you pin.

linking up at Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles

 

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

 

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Cherry Blossom Paintings {from Pinterest to Real Life}

Check out all of my Pinterest to Real Life experiences in my Completed Pins board.

I pinned this idea from Alpha Mom into my Spring board a few weeks ago.

Kristin saw my pin and the planning began. We decided to meet at her home to make cherry blossom paintings with our 9 children (well, actually 8 since the baby didn’t get anywhere near the paint).

We raided our craft paint and Kristin collected small bottles. (We decided the smaller bottles would be easier for the kids to handle than 2 liters.)

Last week, all of the littles filled Kristin’s table and painted away. First, they painted tree branches or whole trees with brown paint.

photo by Kristin

Then, they got busy stamping pink flowers with the bottom of the bottles. Our bottles didn’t make the center part of the flowers, but the kids didn’t seem to mind very much. Emahry chose to use a paint brush to go back and paint the centers (and some letters).

It was lots of fun seeing the kids’ personality differences come out while their were crafting. Some were exact and wanted their finished product to look like the original while others took the materials and went in their own unique direction.

photo by Kristin

Everyone had a great time creating!

Check out some more great Spring ideas and even more Kids’ Art Activities and Craft Projects.

Today’s Question: What crafty project have your kids done recently?

 

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Weekend Links

May all your wanderings be blessed!

::  50 Ways to Inspire Your Husband @ Mom Life Today

:: How to find true freedom with food @ Simple Mom
"Pin"spiration

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:: I can’t wait to try these tasty looking (banana sweetened) cookies.

source: Vanessa’s Values via me on Pinterest
Please click through to the original source before pinning.

:: I have the ingredients for cloud dough ready and waiting. I’m thinking about a cloud dough table on the patio.

source: Juggling with Kids via Karen Carrier on Pinterest
Please click through to the original source before pinning.

linking up at Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

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Saving Time on Pinterest

If you’ve join Pinterest, you’ve probably see how it can easily become a time sucker. I love Pinterest, but to help manage my time online I needed to minimize the inspiration overload of my Pinterest home page.


Many times I simply go on Pinterest to find something I’ve previously pinned. But instead of going straight to the board where my pin was housed, I’d wander through the pins of those I follow for a few minutes (or more) first.


Even if I go straight to my Pinterest profile page I can still get a little distracted. (Just look at all those pretty things!)



So, now, when I need to find something I’ve pinned I simply type the pinboard name into my browser and go straight to the appropriate board. This way I’m able to bypass all of the new pin distraction and get right to what I’m looking for.


To go straight to a specific board simply type pinterest.com/your personal Pinterest URL/your board name. Dashes are placed between words and in place of apostrophes in the board title and symbols are omitted. You can easily find the URLs by looking at the address after you’ve click through to a specific board.

Here are some examples of my boards and the direct URLs.

Blogging = pinterest.com/heart4home/blogging

Healthy Eating & Real Foods = pinterest.com/heart4home/healthy-eating-real-foods

Alphabet Activities = pinterest.com/heart4home/alphabet-activities

By going straight to the board I need, I’m able to avoid wasting time and find the information I need more quickly. This is one of the ways I make Pinterest work for me.

Today’s Question: How do you deal with or avoid time wasters online?

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Weekend Links

May all your wanderings be blessed!

::  “Just a Little Heart Attack” by Go Red for Women…I think every woman should watch this!

:: Khan Academy This looks amazing! There are videos for every type of math, plus lots of sciences, history and even art history by century. There are also exercises to work through to make sure you (or your children) understand.

 

:: The Importance of Being the Prodigal Parent @ (in)courage

"Pin"spiration

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:: I need to remember this tip the next time I cut an orange.

source: New Nostalgia via Sally Faulkner on Pinterest
Please click through the link to New Nostalgia before you pin.

:: I love this free ombre basket crochet pattern.

source: Crochet in Color via Amanda Lee on Pinterest
Please click through the link to Crochet in Color before you pin.

linking up at Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

 

Welcome to A Heart for Home! You can easily get

free updates through e-mail or our RSS feed.

Thanks for visiting and we hope you'll be back often!

Weekend Links

May all your wanderings be blessed!

:: Praying for the World Around Our Dinner Table @ Passionate Homemaking

:: We’re Not Trying to Do School at Home @ Holy Spirit-Led Homeschooling
"Pin"spiration

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:: I’ve added this word family printable to my “to print” list.

source: Patriots of the Republic Academy via Amanda Lee on Pinterest

:: I also want to make a set of story stones.

source: Creative Family Fun via Terri Thompson on Pinterest

   

linking up at Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

 

Welcome to A Heart for Home! You can easily get

free updates through e-mail or our RSS feed.

Thanks for visiting and we hope you'll be back often!

Weekend Links

May all your wanderings be blessed!

::  Check out this delicious Dairy Free Chocolate Mousse right here @ A Heart for Home. (Yes, that’s a shameless plug.)

:: Eat Well, Spend Less: Homemade Substitutes for Grocery Staples @ Simple Bites

:: Books & Toys: Is it Time to Downsize? @ Simple Kids

"Pin"spiration

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:: I love this reminder…

source: He & I via April Noah on Pinterest

:: Such an easy way to keep track of how much water you’re drinking.

source: I Won’t Stop Until I’m Tiny via Jessica Pabon Dunkle on Pinterest

linking up at Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

 

Welcome to A Heart for Home! You can easily get

free updates through e-mail or our RSS feed.

Thanks for visiting and we hope you'll be back often!