DIY Doll House turned Haunted Mansion

I saw this on pinterest a while ago and thought we should try it out ourselves.  I love thrifting, so I just kept an eye out when I was at goodwill.  I found this doll house for about $4 on a teacher discount day! I also hit up Michael's arts and crafts to find some doll house accessories.  I already had black matte spray paint and some regular orange and purple acrylic paint.  I would definitely suggest prepping the plastic better than I did - see also; I did nothing to prep the plastic.  The first scratches took the paint right off, but we're delicate with the house so it's not a big deal, I figured any scapes or imperfections would just add character.  The kids painted the windows and added the accessories wherever they felt they fit best.  I, of course - being the control freakI am, went back and touched up the rooftops and pumpkin windows might still go back and add vines and details because my crazy is real.  I told a friend next year I'd be making my Haunted Mansion where I can go full extra.

Anyway, I think it was a fun interactive way to get kids off screens and excited about the holidays.  I will probably seriously add to the fairy village every year.  S. My oldest even added moss and orbeez to make a haunted pond to the front of the house.  It's adorable to see their imagination create alternate realities and personal experiences.  If you create one yourself tag me I'd love to see it @hawksandhoney and #hawksandhoneyHalloween

Taped the lights and the doorbell works!

spray.

allow to dry.

let kids paint, after explaining some expectations.

glue any embellishments onto the house.

all done.

side one details.

side two.

more details.

so, how did we do?

     

Celebrating the Spring Equinox 2018

I always seem to find myself at the last moment whipping together a way to celebrate all the holidays.  I knew the Spring Equinox was coming up but up until that morning I had no idea how I wanted to celebrate with my kiddos.  It was actually their first day back at school since spring break, ironic really, and I wasn't sure what we would even have time for.  But on my way home from work I stopped at the store and picked up a bouquet of flowers, two small herbs and some spring treats.  I rarely buy candy and some treats are only allowed on certain holidays like these candy covered almonds.  Spring Equinox only and sometimes on Easter at their Nonnie's house.

Luckily, we had some flower crown bases to start with from the Renaissance Festival and from birthday gifts so I was just adding fresh flowers to wire crowns we already had using hemp sting I already had at home as well.

 I left the stems on the flowers to give me something to tie to the crown, and had the girls place them out where they wanted them, then I just wrapped the hemp around and around until all the flowers were attached,

Vera snapped this one of me and I actually love it.

As for our plants we have super invasive grass so we just dig holes and trim back the grass/weeds as the plants grow.  For the Equinox we added thyme.

mint.

 and we watered our parsley which has been taking over!

 and our sage.

and since I was picking up Spring treats I opted for these organic coconut cookies, as I'm trying to avoid gluten and processed sugars.  but more on that in another post.

What are your favorite ways to celebrate Spring?

 

D.I.Y. Rosemary + Rose Smudge Sticks

As the weather cools down here in phoenix, it's a good time for garden projects and small harvests.  If you missed the full moon last night, that's okay you can always create rituals, not just on full or new moon.

I rarely buy flowers because it makes me so sad they are cut just to die they don't get a full life on their plant, but when someone gifts us flowers we make the most of it!  I hang them to dry to be used in various crafts but in this case, a soft rose not fully dried rose will allow for tighter rolling and wrapping.

As you can see these roses are sad but not totally dried.  This is the perfect stage for a rose smudge stick and I just pull the petals seperately to use.

Gather the bundle together and fold some rose petals around the bundle then wrap in string, the tighter the better.

It was also fun because my daughter learned how to tie knots for this project.  hello, fine motor skills.

Lay flat to dry and light under extreme care and supervision, allow to cool on ceramic or fire resistant surface after burning. 

And if you do make these near a full moon, set some intentions and place them under the moon light with crystals to charge all that lunar energy.