Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids!

If you are looking for some easy and fun crafts for kids check these out. I did these with my children today, and they were a lot of fun!

              The first is a thankful tree (okay we had actually started these already, but we added to it today)...First I picked up these little leaf gift tags at the Target dollar spot.

Then each of my children told me things that that they were thankful for and I wrote it down on a leaf.

                                   

 We then hung them on a little LED lit tree in a vase. I already had these in a vase for decoration. You can really hang it on any type of tree, but I thought it would look neat on these. Last year I bought them on clearance right after Christmas and have kept my house decorated with them all year.

Definitely a pretty cool project and something that gets your children think about all the blessings in their life.

The next little craft we did was hand print turkeys. We were making 4 turkeys, so I prepped and cut 4 big brown circles, 4 smaller white circles, 8 orange feet,  and 4 little beaks. We also used washable paint in fall colors, glue sticks, and google eyes...

 We put it all together and they came out looking like this. The below picture is the one my 2 year old by himself (I helped him with the paint), but my (almost)7 year old really enjoyed the craft as well.

 

So, I hope you got some cool ideas.....I will be posting more Thanksgiving crafts for kids as we do them!

 

Etsy fashion front page AND wholesale order AND treasuries, Oh My.

                    So, yesterday,  YeSterday, YESterDAY was Huge for Sweet Home Boutique! As I was checking my Etsy Shop stats for the hundredth time yesterday  I saw an extraordinary amount of hits on this yellow dress to my shop

                         I had just been featured in a treasury with this dress, so I at first thought that treasury had made it to the first page of Etsy. After looking into that I realized that was not it. Then I thought it had gone viral, and I desperately wanted to know what site sent this dress viral. I went on Google analytics to look at my stats, and lo and behold all the traffic was coming from an Etsy Fashion Email. I did not subscribe to this email (I do now) so I went on the forums asking if someone couple link me with the email....and ta da HERE it is!

                        Now anyone who sells on Etsy knows that this is huge. There are over 16,000,000 products for sale on ETSY, so to make it to the front page of something is amazing! The theme of the e-mail was Citrine and out of 25,000 yellow dresses to feature mine was chosen. Not only did this bring a TON of traffic to my shop (I had almost 1000 views on my shop yesterday). I was also featured on (2) treasuries, and got an offer to do wholesale with a company of THIS dress!

                        Now with all of that! I am one amazed mama! Now it's back to homeschooling for me, and finishing attaching 8 mickey mouse ears to 4 hats...Have a great DAY and be BLESSED

       -Rachel
                  

                               

  

Great day

            It's been a great day finishing up some orders. Every Thursday my older 3 children spend the day at a home school co-op where they take Science, Art, Ballet, Spanish, Etiquette, Chorus, Bible, and a lot more. It is pretty much a godsend because it allows my children to learn from other mamas, and make friends with other homeschoolers, while I get a bit of a break. It is a win win situation that I look forward to every week.

            While my children we are school I finished up one of my Mickey/Minnie orders from a local friend..

my gorgeous 2 year old modeled it for me :-)

                                

Amazing mother in law and a mustache box house.

If you have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, I am so sorry. It absolutely looks horrible there and we have family in Jersey who are without power right now, praying everything gets back to normal soon!

Fortunately we were not affected by the Hurricane here in South Carolina other than some rain. We have been going out our days as usual, but are trying to recover from some lingering sickness.


 My Sickness Battle Plan--SPRAY EVERYTHING

My background is that I did not have a mother when I was growing up from age 11 on. I have always very much wanted a mommy (especially in my teenage years)...God heard my heart, and gave me a mama who also happens to be my mother-in-law. She is a huge support to me in everything. She loves to sew also and sent my this gigantic box of flannel and fleece

I can't wait to make a super warm dress for my girls with the strawberry fabric!

 

Last week she also sent this huge box of patterns...Now I have patterns to use all of the fabric with.
Fleece Pajama's for my children? YES

I also got inspired by the big huge box that the fabric came in...You can can packing often inspires me...http://sweethome-rachel.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-life-gives-you-lemons.html


Big Giant Box

                                                       

 

 When life gives you big giant boxes why not make little mustache houses with a cardboard mailbox

 

decorating the mustache box (house)

almost done..

finishing touches....this one even has windows and a flower garden thanks to my girls.



 

And Done!

 

So, what about you? Do you have a mother- in-law, mother, or other person in your life who is a huge support to you, and to what you love? I feel so blessed with her

Managing a household with 5 small children and an ETSY shop.

Today I wanted to talk a little about how I manage my many interests and hobbies while (trying) to take care of my five little children, husband, and home.

I get asked a lot about it, and wanted to share some tips I have learned over the last couple of years. I have by no means perfected it because, well, life happens.

Not only do I run my Etsy shop, but also lead a women's Bible study at my home once week, which means time prepping for that, and CLEANING! I also am pretty into couponing because it is just worth it to be. I am sure I save at least 50-60% off of my big shopping trips using them. With 5 small children 2 of which are in diapers it is well worth my time in prepping for that.

  I also home school, and play taxi for my children to do a home school co-op, gymnastics, soccer, and church

SO-what are my tips I have learned?

#1....GET and STAY organized. It is amazing the amount of time you save when you have a place for everything and everything in it's place.

#2....TEACH your children from the ground up to contribute to the work load. It is vital for them to know that they are an important part of keeping the household running. At my children's ages they do about half off the housework, and as they get older It will be more like 80%.  Judge their threshold, and do not overwork, and be sure to heap on a lot of praise.

#3....KEEP your children on a regular schedule. We have nap time at our house (rest time for the older ones) from 12-3 almost everyday, and that is when I work. They also have a bedtime usually before 8:00pm (We aim for 7:30)

#4...ALWAYS put GOD first in EVERYTHING that you do. I am certain that when I am walking in HIS will I can do ALL things, but away from him and his presence I am useless, and my labor is in vain.

#5 LOVE your husband, and RESPECT him. Your marriage is the root that nourishes your whole family. Keep it strong. Make sure you are on the same page with him, and remember YOU are his HELPmeet, and not there to bring on more stress...It is VERY important that my husband is satisfied and happy to as much as my ability.

#6 SET your household up in such a way that it supports both your children and your ETSY shop. When we moved to this house we had an upstairs built that was intended as a sewing room, and play room. I know this is definalty not feasible for everyone, but customize your space to support your family and your craft. This is pretty much a perfect set up for us because I can work and my kids can play or watch videos. (or sew, my daughters 5&6 have a sewing machine, and a big container of fabric that I gave them They love to make up outfits and stitch them together along side me)

 

                                                      upstairs  Before

                                                   (one section of the upstairs)After

And that is all I have for now, but I just wanted to give some pointers on what I have learned. Have great day!