Today I was in the mood for a margarita, but with an autumn twist. Something spiced and refreshing. There was a sangria we made a few years ago that I loved. It had apples, pears, and cinnamon. I wanted everything in that, but in a margarita. I ran to the grocery store, picked up some apple cider and pear juice, returned home, and shook up an autumn margarita. Like the…
What do I love more than a quick craft? A craft that uses all the same supplies I already have. And these next two crafts use the same exact supplies, but we reimagined our process to create two beautiful works of art. First, the handprint turkey. We have a lot of family, and this year, I am feeling more crafty. You get a handmade Halloween card, and you get a…
Where do you put all of those LEGO manuals? Sometimes your creations fall apart and you need to figure out how to put them back together. For the most part, I can do it from memory or figure out how it should go back together. However, sometimes, I need to check that manual. But where are all the manuals?! More often than not it’s in the trash or misplaced. Growing…
A previous version of this post for How We Make The Best Apple Pie was published in October 2012. We took new photos, reworded the written content, included our YouTube video, and adjusted the recipe. AKA we gave this post a major facelift. Apple Pie is one of my favorite desserts to make in autumn. The warm spices, soft and slightly crunchy baked apples, and a flaky pie crust is just…
Another Halloween is upon us! When brainstorming for our Halloween costumes this year, Fatima and I looked to our kids. What did they do this year, what did they watch, what were they obsessed with? We had short list: Cars, Paw Patrol, Super Mario. Spoiler alert, we went with Super Mario costumes. Cars was easy to remove from the list. Too involved. We seriously considered Paw Patrol. We looked at…
Oh so spooky! I had two predictions for the Halloween and Christmas seasons: 1. Bats and Spiders would be trendy for Halloween and 2. Gingerbread would be trendy for Christmas. I see bat and spider decorations and pajamas everywhere! Even Dunkin Donuts made a blowup of their spider donut. Let’s see where Christmas takes us. I already see Pottery Barn’s collection filled with all things gingerbread. In an effort to…
Last year, we did a lot of pumpkin crafts for Halloween. This year, I am trying to diversify with monsters, bats, and other creepy things. The ghost handprints were a huge hit with the kids, so we made these Frankenstein handprints in more Halloween cards. We had another rainy weekend, so we spent the day building LEGOs, reading, and crafting. Liam and I were doing some Halloween crafts while Blair…
We’ve done a lot of crafting this season, and here’s another one for you to do with the kids in your life. Liam and I had a ton of fun making these puffy ghosts and puffy bats. We used a lot of craft supplies we already had in stock. There were a ton of cotton balls and black pompoms left over from our summer of crafts. Making the Puffy Ghosts…
In the enchanting world of childhood play, few things capture the imagination quite like toy trains. For generations, miniature locomotives, inspired by iconic figures like Thomas and Friends, and the timeless craftsmanship of Brio wooden trains, have whisked young minds away on captivating journeys through their wildest dreams. For Halloween, we had a spooky train time building session! Join us through these series of videos as we embark on a…
What did I buy on July 1st? This LEGO Hocus Pocus Cottage. I had been waiting a little over a year for this set. When I saw it was teased/leaked I hoped it would be chosen. When I saw it was officially chosen as one of the Ideas sets, I was thrilled. LEGO gave insiders early access to buy this set, and I ordered it bright and early. It’s been…
I love that my kids love the fun and cooky crafts I give them. We try to do crafts all year, but spooky season gives us a special opportunity to get crafty. This weekend, we made these Halloween suncatchers. Growing up, I lived for the holiday window stickers. When Autumn began, I loved going to the store to pick out a new Halloween-themed sticker sheet. When we would take out…
Growing up, I made so many crafts for the holidays. Tissue ghosts for Halloween, cards for Valentine’s Day, and ornaments for Christmas. And thirty-something years later, I’m still crafting! Parents love handmade gifts. And you know what? Grandparents absolutely love handmade gifts from their grandkids. I will shower my parents with handmade gifts from my kids for as long as they’ll agree to make them. The first thing we’re making…
The last time we had floating candles in our house, we were throwing a Harry Potter-themed Halloween party. That was one of my favorite parties to-date. For spooky season, we’re trying some out of the box floating candles and having a lot of fun along the way. This year, we bought this set of floating candles on Amazon. Lilies and Loafers has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small…
A previous version of this post for Paper Bats: DIY Halloween was published in October 2013. We took new photos and updated some of the written content. Bats are everywhere! Need a quick idea to set up your Halloween entertainment space? Make some paper bats to adorn your walls and ceilings. I can’t take the credit on this one. Our friend, and Lilies and Loafers blogger, Ashley, did this last…
Our weekend in Paris kicked off our week-long adventure through France. Our next stop is where we would be spending the rest of our week basking in the sun (and heat!) of Nice. We had an amazing time. Like our Paris itinerary, I filled our days with tourist attractions, but made sure to take it at a slower pace and throw in relaxation all around. Here are some things to…
We recently traveled to France and spent a short time in Paris before heading to Nice for the remainder of our week. While we wished we had some more time in Paris, I built a just-right itinerary to hit all the spots in the short time we had available to us. This is how we saw a piece of Paris in thirty six hours. The idea of this trip has…