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No-sew Blanket This no-sew blanket is a perfect easy craft to do with a friend or by yourself while you watch a movie. Supplies: Fleece - 2 large pieces, however large you like, see below for sizes Scissors Measuring board - optional Step 1: Choose 2 coordinated pieces of fleece . We choose this gorgeous watercolor fleece fabric (currently out of stock) and a matching minty green to be the back. **I suggest using 1.5 yards to create a child-size blanket. 1 yard makes a good-sized blanket too, but would only work for a smaller child or baby. Of course, you could always go bigger and make a 2 yard blanket which would be good for an adult size blanket. For fleece here are some good places to start shopping - here , here , and here . Step 2: Layer the two pieces of fabric together and trim your edges to even them up, remove any fabric info and to make sure they line up correctly. Step 3: Cut out a 4 x 4-inch square from each corner of your blanket. Step 4: Cut strips – about 4 inches long and 1 inch apart, along all four sides of your blanket. Kind of like a fringe. Step 5: Fold your “fringe” back at the base and snip a small cut in the middle of each fringe piece. Maybe 1/2 inch, just big enough to loop your fabric through in the following step. Step 6: Fold back both layers of the fringe and loop through the snip. Step 7: Pull your fringe loop tight. My daughter calls these little fortune cookies. They help your blanket lay flatter and then you don’t have knots around the edges. Kids are great helpers for this part. My daughter and I sat across the table from each other and just talked while we worked on this blanket.

Do you get your kids gifts for Valentine's Day? If so, we're sharing some of our favorite Valentine's Day Gift Ideas for Kids! Valentine's Day Gift Guide for Kids Lego Roses // Kisses Plush Toy // Valentine Joke Book // Valentine Cookie Set // Valentine Dragon Squishmallow // Heart Box Craft Kit // V is for Video Game Shirt // Strawberry Slime // Caramel Kisses Baking Set // Love you to the Moon Bracelet // Robot Toy // Valentine Mad Libs // Valentine Puzzle  // Initial Necklace // Wearable Blanket // Unicorn Purse Makeup Kit  // Hearts Card Gam e // Headphones  // Heart Pop It // Doodle Tiles Kit // Love Monster Squishmallow // Soft Arrow Bow Set // Valentine Eye Spy Book // Heart Prism Ligh t Craft Kit For more Valentine-inspired fun, check out Printable Valentine Cards for Kids Watercolor Cookies

As we move into the new year there will inevitably be new trends that pop up. We are taking a look back at trends we noticed from 2024, that we are keeping in 2025. Beauty Trends Red light therapy - items like this facial massager that offer multiple color therapies as well as heat and massage, are great for lymph drainage, reducing fine lines, as well as increasing muscle tone and product absorption. Satin pillowcases - satin pillowcases aren't a new thing, but they made a comeback in 2024 and we are keeping them around for our skin and hair! Hydrating masks - keep your skin hydrated with this overnight hydro mask that turns white as the nutrients are absorbed into your skin. We're still obsessed with this. Pimple patches - No more picking at our skin, pimple patches can be cute or demure and help prevent scarring from skin damage. We like the discrete Mighty Patches or the cute StarFace patches . Home trends Air purifiers - help keep your home air clean by removing dust, smoke, and pollutants in minutes for better air health. Dopamine decor - Out with the beige mom aesthetic, we are creating spaces that bring us joy and are full of life. Find your style and embrace it in your home. Cozy wear - Being comfy in my own home, say less. Does anyone else immediately change when they come home? Whether it's my favorite pajamas, cloud shoes , buttery soft leggings , or a cozy blanket , I'm bringing comfort into the new year with me. Smart Homes - Adding things like the Echo Dot to create a smart home where you can dim lights with voice commands, listen to your favorite music, or ask questions. Smart homes are making things easier and I'm here for it. Being more sustainable - Whether it's through laundry sheets , reusable beeswax wraps , or creating a kitchen scrap garden, we're making small changes that we hope will have a big impact to our world. Food trends Chopped salads - Chopped salads went viral in 2024. With the help of gadgets like this vegetable chopper , we intend to keep chopped salads around for a while. They are easy and healthy and perfect to meal prep for lunches. Coffee at Home - Unless I'm having a really busy day, I focus on making my coffee at home. I know the savings aren't going to pay for a vacation or buy me a house but I enjoy making my personalized coffee at home. Would you like to see more coffee recipes? Cucumber salads - We are going to be keeping around all these bright and crisp cucumber salads that trended in 2024. Fun with food - whether it's cooking from a new cookbook, making your own pasta or bread, or trying new cuisines, we're going to keep having fun with food in 2025. Lifestyle Trends Hygee - learning it's okay to slow down and embrace and enjoy life's simple pleasures. We shared 10 ways to hygee this winter last winter and we're sticking to it again this winter. Micro-learning - Adding more books , podcasts, or classes to learn throughout the year instead of always doom scrolling. Mental health - embracing mental health, being aware of our boundaries, and realizing it's okay to say no to things if you are feeling burned out or overwhelmed. Saying yes to things you know would be good for you. Also, embracing self-care (see cozy, hygee, and beauty trends above) What trends will you be keeping in 2025?

My friend gave me this potato soup recipe years and years ago. I tweaked it a little over the years, however, it still remains one of our rainy-day favorites. I use heavy cream in my recipe, but you could substitute it for milk if you have it. I usually use whatever cheeses I have on hand. I usually have cheddar, swiss, and mozzarella cheeses in my fridge so that's become my base recipe. In the past, I've used a variety of different cheese combinations. That's the great thing about cooking. You can totally make changes to a recipe to suit your likes or use up things you have in your fridge. Three Cheese Potato Soup Ingredients: 1 onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced smoked sausage, sliced olive oil 2.5 cups chicken broth 4-5 medium potatoes 2.5 cups heavy cream or milk 1 cup cheddar cheese 1 cup mozzarella cheese 1 cup Swiss cheese Directions: 1. Start a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil and cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Boil in salted water for about 10 mins or until tender. 2. Meanwhile, in a large pot sauté onions, garlic, and sausages in olive oil over medium heat until the onion is slightly browned and soft. 3. Stir in chicken broth. Dump in drained potatoes and mash with a potato masher until smooth, some lumps are okay. 4. Add in salt and pepper to taste (I've added smoked paprika before) and stir in heavy cream or milk. 5. Stir in cheeses, leaving a little for topping. 6. Feel free to adjust the milk and chicken stock if the soup is too thick. 7. Once it's heated through, scoop it into bowls, top it with cheese, and serve. These Soup Bowls are my favorite for presenting cute soups and stews! Shop them here: I like to serve my potato soup with a big German pretzel or some crusty bread and a cold beer!

I'm a creative person at heart and that carries on into the kitchen. I like creating and cooking new and novel meals for my family whenever I have time. Recently, I decided to try my hand at homemade pappardelle. I had a craving for luscious noodles and a rich beef ragu sauce with lots of parmesan cheese (check back soon for the sauce recipe). So, "for fun" I decided to try my hand at making my own pasta. It can't be that hard I thought, and they weren't, and let me tell you, they were delicious. You don't need any fancy tools for this recipe, just a clean counter, rolling pin, and knife. This is more time consuming so make sure to save it for a weekend night when you have more time to devote. I would say it took 15 minutes to create the dough, 20 minutes for it to sit, and then about 30 more minutes to roll it out. Overall, set aside at least an hour or even 1.5 hours of time to create this pasta. It's totally worth it though! Homemade Pappardelle *makes 8 servings Ingredients: 4 eggs 3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 teaspoon salt small bowl of cold water plastic wrap Directions: On a clean counter, create a large mound with your flour, make a hole in the middle, and add your eggs, olive oil, and salt right into the hole. Make your bowl of cold water and set it nearby to have while you make your dough. Slowly, with a fork, start adding in flour little by little into your eggy middle. Once the side of my flour pile broke, but I just scooped it all together and started using my hands to mix it. It will look kind of fluffy and jagged. Keep working it together. Add about a tablespoon or two of the cold water to your mixture until it starts to form a dough. I think I added about 6 tablespoons to this batch. Using your hands, create a ball with the dough, kneading it until it's smooth and slightly elastic feeling, about 10 minutes. It should look like this below. If it's too sticky add a little flour until it's more like a playdough texture. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or covered in a bowl, and let sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature. Once it's sat, take a knife or bench/dough scraper and cut the dough in 4 pieces like a pie. Place the unused dough back in the plastic wrap until you are ready for it. On a clean, floured surface (I used the counter) use your hands to slightly press down the dough and use the rolling pin to roll it out. Make sure to keep dough, counter, and rolling pin floured to keep it from sticking. Roll out your dough slightly thinner than you think because it will puff up a bit when cooking. I just eyeballed this part. Once you have it rolled out as thin as you like it, take a knife and cut strips about 1 inch wide and about 12 inches long. It's okay if they aren't perfect that makes it more homemade. Add a little bit of flour to a bowl, baking pan, or space on your counter, grab the noodles in the middle and drag them in the flour to lightly coat them. Swirl noodles into "nest" on a cutting board or baking sheet until ready. Repeat the same process with the remaining 3 mounds of dough. * I've found that each "nest" makes about 2 servings of pasta. Lastly cook or store your pasta (see below) and serve with your favorite sauce! Cook: To cook the pappardelle, boil a large pot of water. Cook for 3-5 minutes (depending on thickness) in boiling water until al dente. You can finish off the noodles in your sauce of choice. Store: I usually cook my pasta the same day, but you can store it, covered, in the refrigerator for a few days or lay it flat on a baking sheet in the freezer for a few hours, and then transfer it to a plastic bag for storing in the freezer. I think I doubled the cooking time when I froze my last batch, but test the doneness to your liking.

We aren't big on lofty New Year's resolutions. The truth is, we have made them in the past, things like "loose 30 pounds", and after a few weeks we stop going to the gym and lose all momentum. Last year, we decided to keep it light and fun and do 24 fun things in 2024. There is a science behind having small wins to celebrate as well. We decided to do it again this year! We created these free printable new year bingo cards ! We will fill it with random things like "try 5 new pasta shapes" and "create a secret handshake" and see if we can get BINGO by the end of the year. We made several color versions and one that just says "New Year bingo" for you to choose from. Just save the one you want below and print it on regular printer paper. I filled the page with mine so I had room to write in the boxes but you could print them smaller if you want and write tiny on them. Download Pink 2025 Bingo Card // Pink Free Space Bingo Card Download Purple Bingo Card // Free Space Purple Bingo Card Download Green 2025 Bingo Card // Free Space Green Bingo Card Download New Year Bingo Card You can print it off on regular printer paper size and put it on your fridge or pin board. Color them in as you achieve each fun thing. To start you off, we are sharing 100 things to do in 2024. Hopefully, this will jump-start some fun ideas for you! Obviously, you can do a few serious ones, unique ones, and ones specific to you and your goals for the year! Just have fun with it! Here are 100 things to do in the new year! Learn a party trick Try new pasta shapes - choose how many you want to try! Learn to play an instrument - ukulele sounds fun to me! Get a different hairstyle/haircut Try a new recipe Take a day trip - Go the next city over or see what's within 1-2 hours of you and make a day of it! Go to a live sporting event Read a new book - go outside of your genre for even more fun! Visit a natural attraction - look up what is near you and start there! Plan a party - it can be a birthday, holiday, or just for fun like "paint and pasta" Listen to a new musical artist Try a new cocktail - lavender haze is a good place to start Complete a puzzle - we did a 3d puzzle last year! Go on a trip somewhere new - can't travel this year, then plan it for next year. I would love to go out of the country this year! Do a new activity - geocaching, bingo, axe throwing, crochet, so many choices! Explore your city - play tourist, try out the best yelp restaurant, and visit a fun local spot! Thrift a "new" outfit Try a new restaurant - branch out and try a new culture too if you're brave Volunteer your time - find something that inspires you Visit a forest and do some forest bathing Go to a museum - Check for free days or fun events before you go Go swimming - try a new pool, lake, or beach! Watch the sunrise Play/learn a new game - chess, board games , shuffleboard, tennis Treat somebody for no reason - it can be a stranger or someone you know Host a dinner Visit a National Park Take a tour - beer tour, ghost tour, segway tour, what sounds fun! Teach somebody something you know Take a class - cake decorating, pottery, glass blowing, whatever you like Watch the sunset Grow a new plant or plant a garden Go on a boat - paddle boat, ferry, dinner boat tour Have a picnic Do something physical - yoga and walking are great low-impact places to start Go camping - don't forget your camping gear Visit a botanical garden Start a good habit - drink a glass of water every morning, floss daily, or leave work at 5 pm. Play something with a team - I think it would be fun to do a trivia night at a local restaurant Bake your own bread Write someone a letter/card Go to a live concert Stay overnight somewhere unique - a winery, treehouse, tiny house, ice hotel Painting trend - thrift a painting and add your own touches. I did this at Halloween and had so much fun! Visit a local market - craft, produce, etc Get a massage - it can be from a significant other or book a treatment Start a journal - this can be specific like a dream, book, or travel journal Make something crafty Take an online course Print your photos - turn one into a fun photo shadow box Declutter a room/space in your house Learn a new dance - tiktok dances are great for this Plan a movie/dinner themed nigh t. Redecorate a room in your house - paint it, rearrange the furniture, buy a functional piece See a live show - comedy, musical, ballet, etc Go on a walk Listen to a podcast Go on a hike Ride a Ferris wheel Go to an art gallery Ditch one bad habit - just one thing you'd like to stop doing Learn to make fancy coffee at home Try a weekly food theme like Meatless Monday or Stir-Fridays! Watch a documentary Do some self-care - I plan to focus on skincare this year Compliment strangers - If you see something you like tell them Start a gratitude jar - as the year goes on write down things you are grateful for, pull out your jar at the end of the year, and reflect Start a recipe box or journal - collect those favorite family recipes too! Go to a poetry slam - or perform at one! Create a death binder - sounds morbid but it's nice to have all your important documents in one place in case of emergency Learn to make a balloon animal or origami frog! Visit a drive-in theater Make a fun food - zombie brain sushi and Cheshire cat tails are both fun! Have a star-gazing night or watch a space event Build a sandcastle or fairy house Complete a challenge - reading challenge, 365 photo challenge, running challenge Go fruit picking - berries, apples, peaches, find a local farm and plan a trip Make a vision board - this is good for those bigger goals Have a fondue night - cheese, chocolate, or gravy Sing karaoke Conquer a fear - did we mention singing karaoke? Eat at a food truck - tacos, ice cream, Japanese sandwiches, there are so many fun ones! Create a blind taste test - bottled water, salsa, whiskey, whatever you want! Create a gift for someone - Book bouquet or Boo Basket Visit a neighbor - I like to take our cookies, older neighbors always have the best stories or if you have kids, see if any neighbors have kids your age and plan a playdate Host a trivia/ game night Start a book club (or join one) Go to a local festival - food, book, music, flower, craft, see what your city has! Be more present - put your phone down more, engage in conversations, find the glimmers Have breakfast in bed Plan one way you can budget weekly/monthly- limit movie outings, cancel one subscription service, limit lunch out - make it achievable and try to stick to it See how many dogs you can pet - keep track on your phone, always ask first Make a birdfeeder - I would love to befriend a crow! Take a sunset picture every time you see one - share your year in sunsets at the end of the year, the 1 second a day app would be fun for this Learn to solve a Rubix cube Discover a new author Forgive someone - this one could be hard but do it for yourself Open the window every morning - get some sunlight and fresh air to start your day off Curate a playlist - even better, share it with a friend think mixed tape vibes! Create a secret handshake!

Light painting with sparklers is so pretty and fun to do! Many people get frustrated trying to capture good sparkler photos so I'm going to try to help break it down and teach you how to photograph sparklers using your smartphone! How to Photograph Sparklers with Your Phone Decide if you want some color and details in the background of your photograph or want your photos to be darker. It's a personal preference and honestly, it can change depending on your mood or the holiday/event you are photographing. Taking photos right after dusk will allow your photos to have more background details in them, while waiting until it's later will cause the background to be darker. While I'm not a professional photographer, I do enjoy photography as a hobby and love playing around with settings to see what I can come up with. Let's get started. Camera Mode "Manual" mode or "Pro" camera mode works best when trying to capture sparklers with your phone. I have an Android phone so my instructions may be slightly different than yours, but the concept is the same. Once you're in the camera app, go to "more" to change your camera mode and then select "pro" to change your settings. My settings are along the bottom and I can click each one to change them. Keep your ISO low, mine is set to 100, to keep your background from being too grainy. Sometimes I don't mind the grainy background but a lower ISO makes your image sharper. In a digital camera, I change my f-stop, but in my smartphone, I don't change it. If you can or choose to change my photos are set to f1.8. I didn't change mine from the settings when I switched to "pro", so you might not have to either. Phone Settings What we are going to be playing around with is the "speed" setting or shutter speed setting. If you're new to photography, shutter speed basically tells your camera how long to "stay open" to capture light. For most sparkler photos, I found settings between 1/6 second and 8 seconds work the best, but let's break it down more. To capture a pretty picture of the sparkler, you'll want a setting more like 1/6 or 1 second. If you want to draw shapes and create long lines of light using your sparklers, you'll need to increase your shutter speed to more like 4-8 seconds. Sparkler Photography Now, let's look at some examples and what shutter speed I used to capture them. Shutter speed - 1/6 second I wanted this one to be her holding the sparkler and that was my focus. I didn't mind the dark background. Shutter speed - 1 second This photo was taken after the first one. You can see by increasing the shutter speed, it captured more light, and therefore the sparkler is brighter, you can see your subject more, and the background has some color in the sky. Shutter speed - 1/6 second I changed the angle a little bit and shortened the shutter speed again. Sparklers are unpredictable and this time I captured a little sparkler flair that was a fun surprise! I always recommend taking a few of the same shots because every time it's going to be a little bit different. Writing with Sparklers Writing with sparklers is fun to do by yourself or with other people. Each person can be assigned a word or number to "write" with sparklers. Or you can strike a fun pose and have a second person run around you creating the light trails or designs. When writing with sparklers and having a long shutter speed, you'll create blurry images if you aren't careful. Set your phone against something to help stabilize it or use a phone tripod. All of my photos below were created without a tripod. Shutter speed - 8 seconds Having a long shutter speed allowed me to have the time to do light writing with sparklers to write the word, love. Shutter speed - 8 seconds The kids enjoyed playing around and drew wings behind each other. Shutter speed - 4 seconds You can see the differences between this and the previous photo. We learned through trial and error that 4 seconds wasn't quite long enough to finish the design they had in mind. This was taken a few years ago but you can see the idea behind writing dates or numbers for your photos. This is fun to do while ringing in the New Year ! Here are some other fun examples of playing around with light writing and creating shapes and designs. If you're doing a design with a second person, the faster that person moves, and doesn't stay still in one spot, the less you will see them. These tips will also work with smaller ground fireworks as well. Bigger fireworks are a different post for another day.

"Roaring 20's tossing pennies in the pool!" "There's glitter on the floor after the party!" These are the vibes I want to bring when ringing in the new year this year. "Meet me at Midnight' is such a mood for a New Year's Eve party and what better way to celebrate New Year's Eve than with a Taylor themed part y with champagne, stars, and confetti everywhere! Star and moon balloons // moon pinata  // Meet me at midnight banner  // moon and star garland //  champagne candy // disco ice bucket  // disco ball party lights // confetti poppers  // disco ball headband  // coupe glasses // cheers light up sign // star headband // sparklers // new year hats   // starry night plates   // cupcake new year toppers // confetti balloons Here are some other fun party ideas to celebrate the New Year! How to photograph and light paint with sparklers with your phone! Create a new year bingo with these free printables. You serve up some bubble drinks in your coupe glasses or make this Lavender Haze cocktail ! "I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day"

Oregon has so much to offer - family fun, seafood, quirky towns, coastal gems, and so much more! It makes a great trip in the Fall. We are sharing our 4 full days in Oregon (plus travel days) including a day trip to the Oregon coast, as well an evening in St. Helens where you can celebrate the movie Halloweentown by taking pictures by the giant pumpkin and take part in the events. Here's how we planned our Oregon Trip with kids during Fall! Oregon Trip with Kids Highlights: White Stag Sign Oregon Trail Museum Aerial Tram Powell's Books Haystock Rock and Cannon Beach Fun at Seaside Lewis and Clark Multonmah Falls Japanese Gardens International Rose Garden OSMI Peculiarium Halloweentown Day 0 - Travel day, Portland Fly into Portland. Once you check into your hotel, head to Old Chinatown for dinner and then as the sun goes down you can take pictures with the white stag sign . Day 1 - Portland Head out early and drive to Oregon City to visit the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center . This is an interactive museum; kids can even make old-fashioned dolls and candles while they learn about life on the Oregon Trail. After a bit, head back into Portland and take a ride up the Aerial Tram . You get cool views of the city as well as Mt Hood and Mt St Helen. The fares at the time of this post are $8.50 for a round-trip ticket. Stop for lunch at Growler Guys if you want some local beer and good burgers. Grab some Voodoo Donuts and take a selfie by the "Keep Portland Weird" sign which is literally right across the street. Head over to Powell's Books for the afternoon . Powell's Books is a bookstore is a whole city block and several stories high, so you could honestly spend days browsing. They even have a rare book room where you can get special passes and go check out their oldest and most coveted books for sale. Once you've stocked up your TBR pile, head over to Old Town Pizza and Brewing . This is a haunted pizzeria with spooky vibes. Maybe you'll see Nina, the resident ghost. Adults can tour the old tunnels underneath the restaurant (21+). Day 2 - Drive to Oregon Coast Drive out for a day at the Oregon Coast. We drove straight to Cannon Beach and enjoyed tidepooling around Haystack Rock looking for hermit crabs, sea stars, and anemones. When we were there it was so foggy and different than any beach I had ever been to. It was so ethereal! There is public parking at 163 Grower St. Head to Wayfarer for lunch for a selection that includes fried razor clams, oyster sandwiches, Dungeness crab sandwiches, and clam chowder. After lunch, go up the coast a little further and stop at Seaside. You can check out the  Lewis and Clark Salt Cairn  for some history and learning. The Seaside Aquarium is a small but fun stop for kids and you can even feed seals and stick your hands in touch pools! We stopped at Seaside Candyman for saltwater taffy. They have over 170 different flavors of saltwater taffy and some silly mirrors to get the kids giggling. We took our blanket down to the beach and walked in the edge of the water, read some books, and ate some salt water taffy. We marveled at the wide beach with low clouds. Be sure to take a picture by the statue of Lewis and Clark at the End of the Trail monument . Find a spot for dinner on Broadway Street and end the night with some games at Funland Arcade before you drive back to Portland. Day 3 - Portland Nature - Multnomah Falls, Japanese Gardens, Cathedral Park, and International Rose Garden. Start the day off by driving to Multnomah Falls . It's just outside Portland and not a very long drive but the view is amazing. You can do the short hike up to the bridge. There is no permit to visit the falls in the Fall. There is also a restaurant and shop there. If you didn't get food at the Falls, head back to Portland for a light bite to eat at Elephant Delicatessen at 115 NW 22nd Avenue, Portland, OR. They have a varity of salads, sandwhiches, soups, and deli side dishes. They also have fun gifts to browse. Head to the Japanese Gardens for some zen. The Koi fish pond was a favorite with our group and the volunteers are very knowledgeable. There are so many pretty spots to stop and admire. They also have Umami Cafe where you can get Japanese tea but you need to make reservations ahead of time as they fill up fast. Please note, the Gardens are closed on Tuesdays. Stop by Cathedral Park to take a stroll and admire St. John's Bridge. In my Opinion this is the prettiest bridge in Portland and this park is believed to be one of the landing spots of Lewis and Clark. Lastly, head to the International Rose Test Garden . It's free to visit and there are over 10,000 rose bushes planted there. It was created in the early 1900's as a safe haven for European roses during WWI to protect them from bombings. Portland has a lot of delicious choices for food. We went to Backwoods Brewing for dinner. Day 4 - Donuts, Museums, St. Helens and Halloweentown As soon as you wake up, head to Blue Star Donuts before they sell out! You can preorder for pickup. Once you're fueled for the day, head to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and explore and play for the morning. We grabbed a yummy lunch at Shalom Y'all which is a Meditterian spot with bright and fresh flavors. We had a quick stop at Freakybuttrue Pecularium (maybe 45 mins) where we posed with Krampus and Big Foot. For the evening, we drove to the quaint riverside town of St. Helen's where we saw the Twilight Swan House (this is an AirB&B but we did not stay here) and where some of Halloweentown is filmed. We got to pose by the courthouse and big pumpkin. Because Halloweentown was filmed here the town goes all out with The Spirit of Halloweentown activities and events. We only got a small taste of it because we were there on a weeknight. It's free to walk around the event and take pictures by the signs or pumpkin but if you want to meet/greet celebrities or do something like the haunted house, you need tickets. You can read more about our visit to Halloweentown here . We drove back to Portland that night and headed back home the next morning. What would you be most excited to check out in Oregon. For more Fall fun check out: Witchy Books for Fall Crockpot Chicken Chili DIY Cheesecloth Ghosts

We made some Puffy Sidewalk Chalk Paint with the kids as a way to spend some time outdoors creating art on the sidewalk in front of our house! Puffy Sidewalk Chalk Paint Supplies: 1/3 cup flour 1/3 cup water 1 tsp liquid dish soap (I used Dawn) 1/2 stick of sidewalk chalk, crushed 8oz squeeze bottles Plastic baggie for crushing chalk Hammer for crushing chalk Small bowl for mixing ingredients Knife and cutting board for cutting chalk Funnel Scissors (some of the paint was too thick for the holes in the bottle so I cut the tip off a little to make the hole bigger.) Note: This recipe is for making 1 color of chalk. Repeat this recipe as many times for as many colors of chalk as you want. Directions: Cut your sidewalk chalk in half and place it in a plastic baggie. On a hard surface like the sidewalk, use the hammer to crush the piece of sidewalk chalk into a powder. 3. In a bowl, mix together the flour, water, soap, and chalk powder. Stir until well combined. 4. Using a funnel, pour the mixture into squeezable containers. 5. Repeat steps as many times as needed to create several different chalk colors. Have fun creating art! The kids loved writing and drawing with our new paint. Shop Puffy Sidewalk Chalk Supplies:

It was recently my birthday (yay, me!) and now I'm fully regretting not throwing a Taylor Swift-themed birthday party with my friends. We listen to Taylor a lot in this house and I'm always down for a fun party! Would it be too late to throw a party with Taylor Swift, singing at the top of your lungs, and heart-shaped glasses as the theme? Regardless of if I end up pulling my life together enough to do a party, I wanted to share with you my ideas for a Taylor-themed bash! This would be the perfect opportunity to have a 1989 TV album listening party! You could go all out in a specific Taylor album-themed party, but this party inspiration board is for an all-around Eras Themed Party. Eras Tour Tapestry // Disco Balloons // Bracelet Making Kit // TS Guitar Banner and Cupcake Topper s // Inflatable Guitars // Pastel Rainbow Party Plates // Champagne Problems Banner // Number 13 temporary hand tattoos // Holographic Garland // Instax Camera // Butterfly Drink Markers // All Too Well Wine Label // TS Birthday Banner // Heart Glasses // Karaoke Machine // Disco Cups // Confetti Poppers // Fake Microphones Shop our newest Taylor Swift-themed gift guide! We've got TTPD inspired gifts for the tortured poets! Looking for more Taylor Swift ideas for your party?! We've got cookies, drinks, gifts, and crafts that would add that special touch to your Eras party! Make sure you bring your Swiftie a fun gift! Shop our Swiftie Gift Guide for ideas! You've gotta have the Chai Cookies that Taylor Swift made during her secret sessions for 1989! Let's talk cocktails. We were inspired by Midnights to create this Lavender Haze cocktail . It has a soft lavender color with a frothy egg finish to look like her lavender haze clouds. Want something non-alcoholic, this Lavender Lemonade is just the thing. Floral and refreshing, it's the right balance of sweet and tart! Make an Eras Tour shadow box to display your concert or party pictures! You could frame some of the party pictures you take with your Instax camera. Make the friendship bracelets and then make this Lover House Bracelet Holder to store and display them in! Have so much fun at your Taylor Swift Party!

It's no secret to my close friends, that I'm a HUGE Swiftie! Most of the time, if you get in my car, Taylor Swift is playing, and I'm not sorry about it. My daughter and I were lucky enough to be able to attend night 2 of The Eras Tour! It was the best time and we traded so many friendship bracelets. When we came home, we created this DIY Lover/Folklore House Friendship Bracelet Holder to store all my daughter's Friendship Bracelets from the show. Supplies: Clear birdhouse (this one or this one) Lover House printable (Just search for this on Google) Friendship Bracelet printable Eras tour printable Moss Hot glue gun Scissors Glue dots pencil Directions: 1. Print your Lover House background and lay your birdhouse over the house and draw an outline of where you want to cut. NOTE: First, using Word, I cropped my Lover house to the edges of the house. Then, I resized the house to as big as I could get the actual house on the paper by opening it as a Word document, putting it on the landscape, and then using the ruler at the bottom to see how big I needed to print the image, based on the size of my birdhouse. For example, if the bottom of the birdhouse is 6 in, resize the width of your birdhouse to 6 inches and the height will auto-adjust to keep the house to scale. The dimensions of the house aren't quite the same as the birdhouse (the pitch is steeper) so you'll have to cut the top corners of the 1989 and Lover rooms but it doesn't really affect the overall look. Also, since the pitch of the roof is much steeper on the birdhouse so you'll probably have to include some of the sky at the top instead of cutting right along the roof outline. You can barely notice once it's all put together. 2. Once you've cut out your house background to fit how you like, use glue dots to glue the paper inside the birdhouse. I had to add a little tip of the night sky around the Lover House to the top of my house because the dimensions of the Lover House don't exactly match the dimensions of the birdhouse but you can't tell once it's all put together. (See the tip of extra sky I tapped in the top of the room by my fingers below) 3. Print the friendship saying printable and the eras tour printable (linked below) and cut to fit inside your birdhouse on the front and sides. I laid my birdhouse down on top of the paper and then outlined it and cut it to fit inside. Resize as needed to fit your particular birdhouse. Glue those inside your birdhouse using glue dots. *I created the Friendship lyric printable using a font called Taylor Swift based on her handwriting and created the Eras Tour stars to match the colors in the Eras Tour collage of images. Friendship Bracelet Lyric Printable Eras Tour Stars Printable 4. Now add a touch of Folklore! I measured and cut this moss mat to fit on the roof of my house. I glued it down with hot glue. Now, you can fill your Lover/Folklore house with your friendship bracelets, tickets, or other mementos from your Eras Tour concert! We had so much fun making our friendship bracelets for the concert! We went the opening weekend, so we were nervous that people wouldn't be trading them, but we traded with SO many nice people and had such a blast doing it! I highly recommend making bracelets for your concert night too! For our friendship bracelets, we mostly used colorful beads and these alphabet beads to spell out song or album names. We also used these glow-in-the-dark alphabet beads for some of our bracelets! We added charms to several of ours. One of our favorite bracelets that we made multiple ones of was this "Karma is a cat" bracelet with these cat charms on them! I hope you guys have as much fun making this project as I did! Do you have plans to go to The Eras Tour? Let me know in the comments! Shop Friendship Bracelet Supplies: beads alphabet beads If you're in a Lavender Haze mood, check out our Lavender Haze Cocktail recipe, the Lavender Lemonade, a refreshing mocktail, to sip on while you are crafting! And keep the craft party going with our Eras Tour Confetti Shadow Box DIY and DIY Friendship Bracelet Glasses Throw your own Taylor Swift Party with these fun ideas! Check out my party post.