Leaf Puppet Craft

Looking for a fun Fall craft to do? This is a neat activity to do with kids using pretty Fall leaves! Oh, and it's easy too! We did this with a 2, 4 and 6 year old (and Grandma's help) Check out what we did...

Collect leaves and press them in a flat book for a couple of days.

Cut whatever size you want of the Peel and Stick on a roll from Wal-Mart. It's basically contact paper.

Cut the stems off of the leaves and place them on the sticky paper. Make sure the leaves are far enough from the edges and other leaves so you can press the top layer and bottom layer together.

Cut a bottom layer as close to the same size as possible. Lay it flat on the table stick side up of course :)

Take the leaves on the sticky stuff, and place them on the sticky paper.

Cut out the leaves with a centimeter edge of sticky paper.

Time to create the puppet! Glue eyes, a stick nose, and twine mouth on your puppet.

My son was not into craft time, so he did his own thing :) ~Julia

Vintage Coloring Pages for Fall

Free: 5 adorable pictures, salvaged from a vintage coloring book! Print and enjoy. 

Download them HERE

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

Lots of ideas! Click HERE

I love decorating pumpkins! From paint, templates, drills, embellishments, and colored lighting, the possibilities are endlessly adorable! We're getting close to the date that is safe to start carving; don't do it too early if you want your pumpkin to survive until October 31st. Depending on what part of the country you live in, and what the temperatures are like this time of year, you may want to wait till closer to a week out. 

Check out these great tips on pumpkin preservation from HGTV:

• Mold and dehydration are the two main contributors to pumpkin rot. Prevent both by covering the carved areas and interior of pumpkin with petroleum jelly. This will keep the pumpkin from drying out and will slow the growth of mold.
• Another option is to add a small amount of bleach to a spray bottle filled with water. Spray the pumpkin daily with the bleach mixture; the bleach fights mold while the water keeps the pumpkin from drying out too quickly.

How to keep squirrels away: I have spent countless years, at war with the squirrels that seek to devour my freshly carved pumpkins. My kids have been horrified to find their lovely creations destroyed the next day. Try the options above, but add some cayenne pepper to the petroleum jelly and cover the outsides as well. The bleach may help keep squirrels away as well, if sprayed daily as they suggest to fight mold. You may also try ammonia water on the inside and outside. Other ideas I have read include sitting fake animals near your pumpkins, moth balls and deer repellent. Squirrels can be persistent little buggers and it may take trying a few different options.

Check out this collection of some of my favorite pumpkin carving ideas! Happy pumpkin carving! Now, to decide which ones to use...

Despicable Me Pumpkin How-To

Pumpkin Painting Ideas

Ninja Turtles! Use different colored glow sticks.

Easy Spider Man Design

Use a drill to create holes!

140 Free Pumpkin Carving Patterns

Disney Family Fun Free Templates

Cartoon Jr Free Templates: Princesses and More


Trendiest Pumpkin on the Block: Another way to carve chevron!

BHG: Monster Pumpkin Ideas!

Fall Subway Art

4x6 White Border

Ahhh, Fall is here! Crisp, colorful leaves, hot apple cider, hay rides, pumpkins, football. Let the Fall decorating commence. Don't you just love these easy to frame, Subway Art style pictures? Here's one for you (in several styles and sizes)! Just click on the image and save to your computer! Print and frame. Can it get any easier than that? 

4x6 Drop Shadow

4x6 Museum Matte

5x7 White Border

5x7 Drop Shadow

5x7 Museum Matte

8x10 White Border 

8x10 Drop Shadow 

8x10 Museum Matte

Change is Good

I LOVE Change! Did you hear me? Seriously, I love it! Changing my hairstyle, a new color of paint on the wall, fresh sheets on a bed, rearranging  the furniture, swapping out something old for something new (or something new for something old). I realized today for the first time, that my favorite season is... the changing of the season! I love living in Michigan where we experience four very unique and wonderful seasons of change. Just when you're getting tired of one thing, wallah: something new! The changing of seasons got me thinking, how at a very young age I learned to embrace change as an exciting opportunity for a fresh start. I've moved enough in my life to thank the Lord for blessing me with this kind of an outlook.  

Now, I know not everyone is as excited about change as I am. Many people appreciate things that are familiar, comfortable and safe. Don't get me wrong, I'm also a HUGE fan of commitment to the important things: one spouse, one church family, kids, responsibilities, etc. I'm all about peace in the home, routines and structure. But there is no talking me out of the fact that change can be very refreshing. 

The kind of change I am most psyched about? Growth! I love seeing growth in a persons life that is so evident, you have to notice! I love seeing the process of change that takes place, from the old to the new, when someone begins living their life for Christ. Just as exciting, is seeing a person that has been saved for years, continue to grow and mature. I want growth in my life to be evident. I don't want to get stuck or complacent. Change is good.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Ephesians 4:22-24 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Colossians 2:6-7 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.