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Homespun Aesthetic

Sharing my love for the beauty of handmade

Our Life

Turning Set Backs into Mini Apple Pies

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You know those instances where it seems like nothing is going right? I’ve had a lot of those in my lifetime, but my most recent string of setbacks led to what could possibly be one of the tastiest little morsels I’ve ever put in my mouth.

As our garden has been producing a ton of food lately, I’ve had canning and stocking up for winter on the brain. After all, we live in Idaho and you never know how much snow you’re going to get here or how long it will stick around. What I do know is that I really don’t like having to pull on multiple layers and venture out into the snowy abyss in my frozen car, especially for some food item that is only for fulfilling a craving. Natalia has been on an applesauce kick lately. I mean, the kid can eat a full container of it in a day or two and still be begging for more. I’ve made my slow cooker applesauce plenty of times for her and figured I’d pick up a bag of apples to get some canned and ready for food storage.

I tossed my apples, brown sugar and cinnamon sticks into my tiny little slow cooker and proceeded to make applesauce. After it was finished cooking I started mashing it only to realize that the liquid from the apples had overpowered the amount of apple I’m able to fit in the tiny crock pot. I was frustrated and after a tasting, hubby said it would make a really great pie filling. Okay, so I’ll salvage it and make a pie, I’m thinking.

As luck would have it, there were no pie crusts to be found in either the fridge or freezer. Not wanting to make a trip to the store, hubby suggested I make my own pie crust. Not something I have done before, (& a little bit daunting in my mind since I’m a crust fanatic) I found this pie crust recipe from Inspired Taste via pinterest and dove right in. It wasn’t until the dough was made that I read the line about refrigerating for a minimum of one hour, maximum of two days. At this point, it’s already almost 11 so there’s no way I’m staying up another 2 hours to refrigerate and bake.

The next day I start rolling out the crust dough, pretty thrilled with myself and feeling a bit domestic. No joke, I get the entire two crusts (top and bottom) rolled out and ready before it dawns on me that I don’t even own a pie plate.

After a little bit of thinking I made the choice to use a cupcake tin since it was really the only think I had other than a square brownie pan. I used a small glass bowl and cut out circles about an inch larger around than the cupcake openings. After squishing the crust down in there (and it sticking to my counter every time I rolled it out) I finally filled each pie and created a crust for the top. I was able to make about 18 little mini pies with the same materials I would have used to make one regular pie.

I was (and still am) pretty proud of myself for coming up with alternative at every setback. I know it may seem like a small victory for some of you veteran cooks out there, but I’m by no means a baker or a chef.

mini apple pies

I can’t help but wish that fall would hurry up and get here already so I can make some more of these. I do have to warn anyone that makes them–Don’t be alarmed if you realize you’ve eaten a whole tray of them in a night. It happens to some of us and we don’t pass judgement around here, especially if there’s dessert involved. 😉

What’s your favorite way to have apples or have you ever had what seemed like a failure turn into a complete success?

DIY Light Tunnel For Your Kiddos

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You know those lazy days you spend just lounging around your house? Well, although we’re not usually lounging at home, we do have a nice amount of downtime since we run our businesses from home. Pair that with an anxious toddler and you’ve got the perfect mixture for a tantrum unless you can find a way to keep them entertained.
I especially love when I get a random strike of genius for a fun toddler approved activity. In this case, my hubby and I spent absolutely no money and about an hour of our time to create something Natalia could keep entertained with for a solid 2 months.
light tunnel
Before you begin making your own light tunnel, you’ll need to gather a few things. 
 
-A large box. We actually used the box that the baby’s car seat was -packaged in. Open the top and bottom to create a “tunnel”.
-A knife or screwdriver for punching holes in the box.
-A strand of Christmas lights.
Using the knife or screwdriver, make holes in one side of the box. You can choose to do a completely random design or have them be even spaced in lines. We chose lines just because I figured it would be easier to navigate the strand of lights that way. Once you have all the holes you want, simply stuff the bulbs of the lights into each hole.Okay, okay. You’re probably thinking this doesn’t look like much, right?
To a 2 year old, it’s a thing of absolute magic. 
If you can convince your daddy to join you, all the better. 😉
Of course, we didn’t stop at just the tunnel. The tunnel was added to an existing homemade playhouse that Jake also made from boxes. We happened to get our post office order in the next day which consists of boxes and boxes of envelopes, boxes, and other packaging material.
You can see the larger “play house-like” section on the right side of this photo. You can also see where the tunnel was added. Jake then took the boxes (of boxes) and created a maze from the other entrance of the playhouse. It spanned our entire living room.
It really just goes to show how a few household items can create a magical memory for your children. (Not to mention save your sanity a bit by providing them with entertainment so you can do other things.)

My Hubby, the Super Hero

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In my mind, my hubby is definitely great in so may ways. There is one specific skill that he possesses that has been almost lifesaving lately. No, it’s not superhuman strength, x-ray vision r the ability to fly. What I love most about this guy the past couple weeks is his insane ability to sleep anywhere. Our toddler, Natalia, has really been having a hard time getting ready for and going to bed at night. She fights her diaper change pretty badly and then has problems sleeping in her own room. Mind you, she’s been in her own room for a year now. I think she sees the baby in our room with us and sleeping in our bed and gets a little -dare I say, jealous? Or maybe it just makes her feel lonely to be in her room alone. After all, she dearly loves her little sister and never ever passes up an opportunity to shower her with hugs, kisses and “Hello”s.

We recently began letting her sleep in our room again. Even then, she has issues with staying in one spot all night. Just last night she started by falling asleep in my bed along with the baby and me. Jake saw we were already asleep and comfortable and decided to try to catch some sleep in Natalia’s bed, which is our old (pretty uncomfortable for us) queen sized bed. Natalia woke at about 1 this morning just after I nursed Kaliah and got her back to sleep. After a quick and easy diaper change, she had a meltdown and Jake moved to our room to help get Natalia back to bed. He ended up asleep at the foot of then bed this time. After a while, Natalia had another meltdown because she didn’t want Daddy in the bed (after screaming so much earlier for him to come in there). He then ended up sleeping on the toddler mattress on the floor in our room (where she had been sleeping the past few nights) and some time around 5:00 this morning, I heard Natalia roll off the foot of my bed and into the toddler bed with Jake. He ended up sharing it with her since she wanted him to stay. At around 7:00 this morning, he was finally able to slip away and get some much needed rest in our nice bed. 
Oh, how I envy that he can be in uncomfortable conditions yet still manage to get some sleep. and all for the sake of our adorable little girl yet totally saving my exhausted, new mommy sanity at the same time. What a guy, huh?

They Grow Up So Quickly..

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Over the past week my hubby and I have been putting all of our time into our new business venture selling essential oils and supplies. We have been putting in hours and hours worth of work into building a website, writing descriptions, pricing out costs and taking photos of our new products. Although we’ve managed to get an amazing amount of work accomplished this week, I have felt like there hasn’t been enough time with our little girl. With our second little girl due in only four weeks, I really want to spend as much quality time with her as possible to help with the transition from a family of three to one of four.

I generally take charge of getting Natalia down for both her naps and bedtime and Jake handles anything she needs during the night which usually ends with him sleeping in her bed. Even though it has been taking an hour plus to get her down for a nap and sometimes up to two hours at night, I remind myself to slow down and cherish those last cuddling moments. As easy as it may be to get frustrated that Natalia insists I lay there with her until she falls asleep, there is only going to be so much longer that she will beg to have me in there with her before she reaches a point that she is too much of a big girl to cuddle with her mommy to fall asleep.

With the busyness of this week, I did find myself trying to sneak out of her room after getting her tucked in because I knew I had a ton of work that needed to be done. But just as I would reach the door, she gently pats the pillow next to her indicating that she wants me to lay next to her. What kind of mama would I be if I denied her that small request? In the end, it just isn’t worth it to get a few more minutes of work done to leave her feeling alone, upset and fighting sleep. The more she fights going to bed, I would just have to make multiple trips into her room to comfort her anyways so why not just lay there and enjoy a few moments of relaxation for myself as well as help her get to sleep and feel secure?

The other night while I was laying in there with her she spent a solid twenty minutes rubbing and kissing my belly. I think she is finally starting to understand that she will have a little sister soon and it’s so adorable to see her starting to show some affection and excitement about it. There was even one instance where she laid her head very gently on my belly and started making a whirring/thumping sound that sounded pretty close to when our midwife checks the baby’s heart beat at our appointments. Talk about a heartwarming moment.

I’m going to miss her needing me and being my baby but I am more than excited to have her be our big helper and a loving big sister.

How did your children adjust to a younger sibling?