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Homespun Aesthetic

Sharing my love for the beauty of handmade

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Blissfully Balanced Beginnings – 5 Day FREE ecourse for WAHMs

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If you haven’t noticed, Homespun Aesthetic has been a bit quiet in the blogosphere lately. That’s because I’ve started an incredibly exciting new adventure with my bff Leah from Crunchy Farm Baby. We are reaching out to Work At Home Mamas to bring you tips, advice, and consultations all about finding the perfect balance when working at home and raising kids. Sound like you? Awesome! Please head on over to our new site kassandleah.com for more info on our new eCourse, Blissfully Balanced Beginnings, which runs December 8-12. Subscribe to our mailing list to enroll in the course and for an invitation to join our awesome group of WAHMs on Facebook whom you can bounce ideas off of, learn from, and dish with.

if you're a work at home mama and could use a little help finding balance and organization when it comes to being both mom and a mompreneur, head over to the site and subscribe for access to our FREE 5 day ecourse starting December 8th! www.kassandleah.com

We are putting the finishing touches on our first ever TOTALLY FREE eCourse all about getting started on the path to whipping your many mom lives in shape and in sync (*NSync?). And we want you to join us!

This course is right for you if you:

~ Ever feel super frazzled and can’t seem to focus on which of the thirty billion activities you could/should be doing right now.

~ Are a mom. Nuff said.

~ Run a full-time business from home, work part-time from home, or dream of someday working from home.

~ Really love girl talk, and coffee, and ice cream, and having a group of like-minded women to bounce ideas off of and get motivated by!

~ Know that you would really benefit from having someone kick your ass in gear when it comes to planning things out, and help you find the best way to do that.

 

Some of the things we are going to be covering in Blissfully Balanced Beginnings:

* How to effectively plan and schedule a family’s day to incorporate everyone’s needs AND your business’s needs

* The best ways to keep your littles busy and occupied without hiring the almighty technological babysitter.

* Super amazing business tips to keep your work organized, flexible, and on track to being phreaking phenomenal (yeah, we went there – phabulous, right?)

* Saving time and money AND feeding your family healthy meals by menu planning.

* Incredible ways to take care of yourself (YES, YOU ARE IMPORTANT TOO!) and turning up the heat in the bedroom.  Sexy, steamy #realtalk happenin’ in here, ladies!

 

Sounds like loads of fun right?  So, [head on over here] to sign up for the free course, which will run December 8-12, 2014, and make sure to follow the instructions in the email to join our Facebook community where we can chat, get to know one another, and dish about our favorite things before the course begins on December 8!

Can’t wait to see you!

<3 Kass and Leah

Dig Your Toes in and Stay a While – My basic toddler learning area

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Even though my oldest daughter won’t be starting kindergarten for another year and a half I know that I want to get her off to a great start by teaching her some basic principles at home. Rather than send her to preschool this year I decided to take on the task of doing special learning through play activities and use it as a good test as to whether or not I’m truly able to merge running a business at home, being a parent, and the incredible undertaking of homeschooling. After months of hesitation about whether I could juggle something like that, where would I make dedicated space for it and narrowed down a small list of supplies and classroom elements, I’ve finally put together a modest little learning area for my girls.

Basic lerning through play corner for toddlers

The first issue was where to put this space. Our house is on the smaller side and since baby still co-sleeps with us we have one bedroom that was being used for all my craft and sewing stuff. With a little rearranging and organizing I was able to free up a whole wall and corner to store all the learning related materials.

There is a calendar that I picked up from the dollar store that I then laminated the pieces to and made it reusable. Natalia loves moving the numbers for the next month and she practices them while she’s doing it. Hidden learning…WIN!

We also set up a bulletin board to display whatever we are currently working on. This photo was when we were starting colors. There was a rainbow strip for each one to add each day. Below is a magnetic dry erase board. This serves as a place for Natalia to draw, free write, practice specific letter/number activities and also to use her magnetic letter set. This set is brilliant and even though we’ve had ours for over two years, they’ve held up amazingly well. I got them from Crunchy Farm Baby on Etsy..go check them out and get yourself a set. She even has lowercase letter, numbers and other varieties.

There’s various art supplies and a little reading spot even that has been put to use on most days. I think my very favorite part of this little spot is the rug though. It’s a natural rug made of 100% wool, and you guys know how I am about natural products. 😉 The grey and white pinstripe is just enough pattern to complement virtually any space in my house but isn’t overbearing or loud. You know, like your grandma’s floral rug that’s been in her dining room for as long as you can remember. It’s soft to step on without socks and is even pretty easy to clean. Trust me, my girls almost immediately spilled something on that thing. A little warm water, blotting of a wet towel and some natural cleaning spray took it right out.

 

One thing I’ll say from having this area set up the past few months is that homeschooling moms are total superheroes. It’s an overwhelming thing to take on and I hugely applaud you for doing so. As for us, we’re still is testing mode. 😉

How Do You Like to #GetCreative?

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Well, I know I haven’t been spending a whole lot of time really sharing the projects Iv’e been working on. And sadly, that’s because I haven’t been working on much outside of our business. I mean, with all the daily “to-do”s for that I don’t even have time to *think* about free time, let alone ever get to actually experience it.  I’m beginning to this this concept of free time vanishes into a myth the second you have kids. I’m hoping it’ll manage to reappear once they hit school age. 😉

So, considering that I don’t get a lot of time for my creative endeavors I find it extra hard to take on new projects or start learning new crafting methods. But lately I found this website, Creative Bug, that offers over 300 video workshops. Yep, video, cause if you’re anything like me you’re a visual creative and being able to actually see things is how I process them and how I’m able to re-create things for my own use. The website not only includes actual tutorials and some patterns but also offers videos for the basics. “Glitter 101”, “How to Read a Sewing Pattern” and this adorable Travel kit are just a few of the videos available to learn from.

Here’s a few of the Creative Bug projects on my to do list:

Fabric Fishing Game

Paper Flower Bouquet

Crocheted Hexi Cowl

..now to find that elusive “free time” thing we talked about…

Check out Creative Bug and tell me in the comments below which project you would do first!

Happy crafting!

 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Year Round Yard Maintenance

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It is important to keep your lawn and any other greenery looking good throughout the year. During the spring and summer months, keeping your grass and bushes trimmed makes your house or any other type of property you own look presentable. If you own a business or maintain a college campus, a properly landscaped lawn can make a great first impression on potential clients and students.

Yard Maintenance Is Needed Year-Round

Properly caring for your yard is a year-long process. In the spring, you want to make sure that you are caring for the lawn and pruning any branches or flowers that may have died in the past year to prepare for new growth. During the summer and fall, it is a good idea to mow the grass and take care of weeds to ensure that they don’t take over your entire yard. During the winter months, it is always a good idea to check for branches that could snap under the weight of too much snow or ice.

Proper Maintenance Makes Neighbors Happy

A lawn that is not cared for can look sloppy and unsightly. This can create a situation where buyers of surrounding properties decide to look elsewhere or don’t offer as much for a property in the neighborhood. Property values may fall because buyers don’t think others in the neighborhood put time or effort into maintaining their properties in general. On the other hand, keeping the grass cut and keeping flowers or trees on the property well maintained can add value to your own home or commercial property.

You Don’t Have to Do the Work Yourself

The good news is that you don’t have to do the work yourself. You can hire a Reno landscaping service such as Action Lawn & Landscape to take care of all of your outdoor needs. Whether you need a branch cut down, a bush trimmed or the lawn mowed once a week, there will always be someone to make sure it gets done in a timely manner. 

Whether you have a large lawn or just a few bushes, it is important to keep your residential or commercial property well taken care of. Doing so makes the property look better, keep its value and ensure that it meets your high standards of care.