I’ve always loved decorating for holidays, but have never enjoyed it as much as I do now that I have kiddos who ooh and ahh over every little detail. I certainly care about making seasonal decorations look pretty, but as a mom I’m more interested in fostering creativity and a love for crafting. That means our home is inevitably decorated with lots of special decorations made by tiny hands, which might not be the prettiest to look at, but are much more special than the paper or plastic decorations you can find at the store.

Besides, it’s their home too!

Now that Lucy (age four) is old enough to want to craft and help decorate, I’ve been looking for preschool crafts that Lucy would enjoy, but would also look nice hanging up in our home. Now you might not think TP-roll monsters look that nice, but hey, I thought they were pretty cool! And it’s safe to say Lucy is obsessed with them.

Here are our favorite fall craft ideas I have saved to my Fall Pinterest board, and if you’re looking for more fun ideas, check out my Kiddo Activities board too!

• Pressed Leaf Owls via Wunderbare Enkel
• Pressed Leaf Turkey via Baby Center Blog

• Haunted House Cut-Out via Sarah Jane
• TP-Roll Monsters via Happy Hooligans
  

• Hanging TP-Roll Bats via Buggy and Buddy
• Cotton-Swap Skeletons via Polish the Stars

Besides how cute they are, I also love that these projects use materials you can find on nature walks, in your household supplies, and also present great opportunities to learn about color blending and to develop fine motor skills. Just don’t forget a drop cloth!

Allow me to introduce you to my new favorite sweater! As many sweaters as I see during this sweater-obsessed time of year, you’d think it’s be easy to find a favorite. But it’s so tricky to find the perfect combination of cozy, but not frumpy. Big, but not too chunkifying (new word to describe when a chunky sweater makes you feel chubba). Patterned, but not Cosbyish (or elvish). Vintage-inspired, but not straight out of a time capsule. But finally— FINALLY— I found a lovely sweater that fits all my criteria. A sweater that epitomizes warm fuzzies and makes me bemoan beautiful 65 degree days. I’m so ready for some consistently crisp weather to nicely accompany walks through town with a good friend and a hot latte.

So how many sweaters do you have to try before you find your favorite? Maybe you never met a sweater you didn’t love. Or maybe, just maybe, you’d have to travel up north to enjoy a little sweater weather. Well, we’d be glad to welcome you! Maybe you could join me on my next hunt— Finding the perfect cardigan.

O U T F I T   D E T A I L S :

sweater / trousers / shoes

There are two things I need from my breakfast. I need it to be a healthful meal that will fuel my mornings with no 10:00 crash, but I also need a little indulgence so I don’t feel deprived (and then indulge big time later). When I was pregnant (each time), all I wanted was sugary breakfast cereal. But I vowed to cut out sugary cereal from my breakfast routine after the kiddos were born. Not only was it horrible for losing the baby weight, but it didn’t fuel me with the energy I needed to start my mornings with two young whipper-snappers bouncing around the house.

This past year I’ve traded my love of sugary cereal for a love of yogurt bowls in the morning. Usually I’ll mix in seasonal fruit and muesli, but recently I’ve been making my own refined-sugar-free granola mixes for more of a delicious crunch with plain, low fat Greek yogurt. It’s the perfect blend of healthful and indulgent, as just a little bit goes a long way. Little swaps like this make big impacts my longterm health goals.

Now that Horizon Organic offers flavored creamers, I can make another good swap in my morning routine. I recently tried their french vanilla creamer for the first time and enjoyed it along with my homemade granola and yogurt.

I’ve been making my own granola for a few years now, and I gotta say— It’s my favorite homemade granola by far! Don’t leave it sit out for too long, or it might just disappear.

Chocolate Crunch Granola

2016-09-15 22:33:00

Refined-sugar free and full of delicious and healthful whole food ingredients!

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Cook Time

50 min

Total Time

2 hr

Cook Time

50 min

Total Time

2 hr

4928 calories

558 g

19 g

266 g

132 g

126 g

1062 g

1306 g

133 g

0 g

122 g

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

1062g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 4928

Calories from Fat 2270

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 266g

409%

Saturated Fat 126g

628%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 49g

Monounsaturated Fat 73g

Cholesterol 19mg

6%

Sodium 1306mg

54%

Total Carbohydrates 558g

186%

Dietary Fiber 98g

392%

Sugars 133g

Protein 132g

Vitamin A

40%

Vitamin C

5%

Calcium

108%

Iron

223%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Does this look wrong?

Dry Mix

1. 3 Cups of old fashioned oats (gluten free options are available)
2. 1 Cup of sliced almonds
3. 1/3 Cup of milled flax seed
4. 1/2 Cup of dried fruit (I prefer cherries)

Wet Mix

1. 2/3 Cup of either maple syrup, honey, or date syrup
2. 1/2 Cup of melted coconut oil
3. 1/3 Cup of cocoa powder
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
6. optional mix in at the end: 1/2 Cup of mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Chop your dried fruit and mix it with the oats to avoid their clumping together. Then combine the rest of the dry mix into a large mixing bowl. Combine the wet mix together thoroughly, pour over the dry mix, and fold it in. Spread the mixture into a jelly roll pan and bake for 50 minutes at 250 degrees F.
3. Allow the pan to cool for 30 minutes before loosening the granola from the pan. There will be big chunks, so you may break them up or leave them clumped together depending on your preference. Add mini chocolate chips at this point if you'd like your granola to be extra indulgent.

Notes

1. Allow the granola to rest for around 2 hours before storing it in an air tight container.

beta

calories

4928

fat

266g

protein

132g

carbs

558g

more

Making Nice in the Midwest https://makingniceinthemidwest.com/

This recipe is so easy! If you have kids, I’m sure they’d love to help. Simply mix the first set of ingredients together in a mixing bowl, then the second set in a large measuring cup. Pour the wet over the dry, mix, then spread out in a pan.

Pro tip: Mix your chopped fruit in with the oatmeal before adding anything else. It will help keep the fruit from clumping up.

After baking, break up the granola (which will be formed into glorious clumps after cooling) and add mix-ins like mini chocolate chips or unsweetened coconut flakes.

I sprinkled my granola over nonfat Greek yogurt and added a couple of end-of-season strawberries. So good! Lucy and Juniper were literally crying for more. Ha!

If you’d like to check out Horizon Organic’s flavored creamers, you can find them at Target and save 20% on your creamer purchase by using the Target Cartwheel app. While you’re there, be sure to check out their always on-point seasonal decor! We grabbed some plastic pumpkins to mix in with real ones we got at the pumpkin patch, because I figured reusing them year after year would make them more cost effective.

Side note: I totally give my kids snacks to keep them placated during our Target shopping trips! Then I can browse the aisles with a little less distraction. This time around the girls shared Market Pantry fruit snacks.

I hope you all try out this recipe! I promise it will not disappoint. I’m planning on making a huge batch for the holidays to give with our family gift baskets. Last year was a movie night basket with coconut oil, popping corn, cardboard popcorn containers, sweets, and a DVD. This year I think we’ll do a brunch theme for everyone! (Who doesn’t love brunch?!)

Don’t forget to check out the Cartwheel app to save 20% on International Delight Simply Pure, Horizon, Silk and So Delicious creamers at Target until October 22nd. See ya there!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of WhiteWave Foods. The opinions and text are all mine.