Month: January 2017

A Dream Kitchen For Kai

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We’ve been having a long, sad month here in the Craftsman house. Everyone needed a distraction and after a couple days of using Pinterest as my distraction, I gave myself a kick in the pants and started planning out my next project. A project makes everybody feel better right?

Kai is getting a play kitchen. She loved her cousin’s and she been hiding her blocks in cabinets every chance she gets. I think I’ve looked at every play kitchen on the market and most of the DIY ones, too. I’ve been picking out features I like and going back and forth on paint colors. I even bought a Kreg Jig to do a little fancy cabinetry work. 

We’re headed out to buy wood Sunday, and I can’t wait. I suspect you’ll all be hearing a lot about this kitchen the next couple weeks. In the mean time, what are your favorite play kitchen features?

Halfway to Spring

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I started doing a little bit of prep work this week for Candlemas, or as it is affectionately known in my house, Half Winter. 

February 2 marks the halfway point between winter and spring. It is celebrated as Candlemas or St. Brigit’s Day by Catholics, Imbolc by many pagans, and Groundhog’s Day by many Americans. We celebrate with a bit from each, making candles and eating cream heavy foods while talking about what the groundhog has predicted for the weather. 


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A Non-Toxic and Minimalist Toddler List

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Having a minimalist toddler is a lot more difficult than a minimalist baby. Toddlers want things beyond a full belly, a clean diaper, and a warm place to sleep. Toddlers are exploring, learning, and destroying machines! They have opinions on what they wear and eat and play with.

I can only tell you how we’ve approached living minimally with a toddler, because every toddler is different. I hope that it will still be helpful for you.

Our Minimalist and Non-Toxic Toddler List

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The Forest Noise Detox Plan

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We spent a week at my grandmother’s house. This was wonderful as Kai got to spend time with her great grandmother, and my and her aunts, uncles, and cousins, many of whom she had never met before.

It also posed a few challenges. Two other small people live at GG’s house, which meant that there was a lot of sharing to be done. Food, space, arms, laps, and most contentiously, toys.  And those toys made noise.

All of the noise.


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#300daysofwild so far…

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If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you probably know we took an impromptu road trip to my grandmother’s house. She contracted pneumonia and the prognosis originally did not look good. Thankfully, she is home and almost completely recovered now.

Impromptu travel has lots of challenges, especially when you find out you are leaving and leave within thirty minutes, all with a toddler in tow! Thankfully, since all of our clothes are folded and put away these days (thank you, Konmari!) it was simple to find what I needed and throw it in a bag.

Every other part of the trip was less simple. Continue reading →