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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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October 17, 2014

Mini Rock Pumpkin Family

Our oldest daughter celebrates her 15th birthday very close to Halloween. In fact, we brought her home from the hospital on Halloween with little pumpkin booties! Every year, we have a birthday party for her usually involving some Halloween fun. She loves to “dress up” and swears she will never stop “trick or treating”, and I think I believe her. When she was 5 painting pumpkins was the high light of the party.

Rock-Pumpkin-Craft-by-redheadcandecorate.com_-1024x768


Now a days, Mom has to work a little bit harder to keep the party rolling. Dad too. From “haunted halls” to toilet paper “mummies” and bonfires…we do it up and make memories we will cherish for years to come. However, today I decided to share a cute and EASY Halloween project for all ages. Okay, so maybe your teen will run for the hills when she sees you collecting rocks, and twigs,
but I bet you could find some younger tykes, or even older folks that would enjoy this…

“Mini Painted Rock Pumpkin Family” craft idea:

Mini Paint Rock Pumpkin Family…a fun craft to do with the kiddos or grand kiddos! redheadcandecorate.com

Now, you may think that this is just some silly craft this redheaded blogger came up with. Well, to be truthful…you could be right.
If you really, really look though, you’ll see how cute it really can be with some imagination. First, you’ll notice me in the middle with big eye lashes. Wishful thinking I guess. Then there’s Pop next to me. Very out of character because my husband is the sweetest man I know.
Then there’s little sister to his right, who is full of mischief. The birthday girl is next to Mama and she is happier than ever because it’s her birthday. The littlest pumpkin, that’s Sylvia, our cat. The night wouldn’t be complete with out s’mores. Oh, and the decor…spot on of course.

Complete with:
Adirondack chair-from our daughter’s doll house
scarecrow-from my holiday decorations
yellow Mum-from this years Mum plant
stumps-cut from a branch in our yard
fire pit-rocks, branches (please explain to little ones that this is a fake fire)
smores-real food, just cut up small

I set everything up on a cookie sheet, and found the hay at my local cider mill (shh!). The pumpkins are rocks from our landscaping painted with orange craft paint and permanent markers. I am displaying our “Mini Pumpkin Family” on a shelf in our kitchen.

Rock Pumpkin Craft by redheadcandecorate.com

So, I’m hoping I put you in the mood for some s’mores and a real bonfire.
I have you covered on all counts.
You could stay in and make s’mores inside like my youngest daughter did…

Skillet S’mores

Skillet Smores Dip
Or you could think about making a real fire pit in your back yard…

“Easy DIY Fire Pit Kit“

Very easy and fast fire pit kit with grill idea from redheadcandecorate.com.

I’ll even hook you up with a tutorial on fancy “Painted Roasting Marshmallow Sticks“:

DIY Painted Roasting Marshmallow Sticks-something you can use over and over, or give as a cute hostess gift! ~redheadcandecorate.com

I hope you enjoy the rest of October.
See you next month!
Love, Julie
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7 Comments Filed Under: Crafts, Family, Good Ideas, Kids Tagged With: crafting with kids, crafts, kids

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Comments

  1. Claire @ A Little Claireification says

    October 17, 2014 at 8:25 AM

    Those rock pumpkins are so cute, Julie! Reminds me of Charlie Brown trick or treating: “I got a rock”.
    And that DIY Fire Pit – wowza! Thanks for the ideas! xo

    Reply
  2. Katherines Corner says

    October 17, 2014 at 8:45 AM

    Oh my goodness these are so cute. I invite you to share at my Thursday Favorite Things blog hop ( you can link up through Sat) xo

    Reply
  3. Lauren says

    October 17, 2014 at 3:41 PM

    Oh how cute!!! Such details! The s’mores look amazing…can’t wait to give it a try. Also really love the painted sticks for roasting.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      October 17, 2014 at 5:04 PM

      Thanks, Lauren!

      Reply
  4. Kathy says

    October 19, 2014 at 2:48 PM

    I love all the pumpkins! They are adorable.

    Kathy

    Reply
    • Julie says

      October 21, 2014 at 5:47 PM

      Me too, Kathy..thank you!

      Reply
  5. Phyllis Brown says

    July 27, 2015 at 12:31 PM

    Love all your sites and ideas

    Reply

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Yesterday on the way home from school I had the ra Yesterday on the way home from school I had the radio tuned to my daughter's favorite station and a song that was playing had a line in it that really stood out to me. It made reference to a 'season of the sticks' which I think its safe to say must mean winter. I thought that was such an accurate, albeiet kind of depressing, picture of this time of the year.

While we definitely have more than our fair share of evergreen trees here in Oregon, we also have plenty of trees and bushes that are reduced to sticks during the cold months. But, this morning as I looked out my kitchen window, greedily sipping from my mug of coffee, I marveled at the beauty of the winter sunrise. The sky was all pinks and oranges with frost on the rooftops and a little bit of fog. And, I realized that part of why it was so amazing is because I could see it more clearly through the sticks. The bare branches allowed me a view that I wouldn't be able to see if those same branches were covered in leaves. Being stripped down to almost nothing revealed something magnificent.

We have seasons of the sticks in our lives too, don't we? Times when we feel as though we've been stripped bare and left exposed. It's easy to think that this is a place where all is ugly and dark. And yet, just like the winter sunrise was more visible because of the bare branches, the vulnerability we feel in the winter season of our souls allows us to get a glimpse of beauty that we wouldn't see otherwise. In the lush, warm seasons it's so easy to become comfortable. But in the bare, cold seasons we recognize just how much we need to rely on the One who placed the stars in the heavens and is sovereign over all.

If you feel like your soul has been stripped bare and you've been left exposed and vulnerable, may I encourage you today to ask the Lord to help you to see the beauty in this 'season of the sticks'.

“Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." Psalm 143:7
I just went to make my mid-morning protein shake a I just went to make my mid-morning protein shake and grabbed a banana out of the freezer and was about to put it into my shake before I realized it was a frozen egg roll. Sooooo that's how my day is going so far! 🤪How about you?

It's honestly fairly representative of my state of mind these days as I can't seem to make the date on the calendar match the date in my spirit because it feels like it should be January 45th. Every year this month drags on and every year it seems to surprise me for some reason. In addition, my heart just feels heavy as I witness a lot of darkness and sadness around me. So, I'm choosing to control what I can control by making my house feel as cozy as possible, relishing the sunshine whenever it dares to peek through the clouds, gathering inspiration for warmer weather projects and, most importantly, resting in the comfort of the sovereignty of my Father.

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that everyone he has made may know his work..." Job 37:5-7
What if you could do something at the beginning of What if you could do something at the beginning of your day that would be a gift to yourself later on? That’s what we’re talking about on this week’s Tip Tuesday! #tiptuesday
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Yesterday was stormy and cold but today the sunshi Yesterday was stormy and cold but today the sunshine is breaking through the fog and my house just seems happier. We definitely needed to see that light streaming in through the windows and it’s a gift I don’t take for granted.

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It’s time for TIP TUESDAY! This week, I’m offe It’s time for TIP TUESDAY! This week, I’m offering a gentle reminder from my own parenting experience after feeling my heart pricked with conviction about what was waiting for my daughter every day after school. I hope it will encourage you! 🌿#tiptuesday
The day after Christmas I found myself laundering The day after Christmas I found myself laundering and folding all of the linens we used the previous night as we hosted my husband's side of the family for dinner and other festivities. As I laid out each cloth napkin and folded them one by one, I couldn't help but be struck by what a simple, yet meaningful, task it was. It's such an honor and privilege to be the hostess and, at this stage of my life, I realize that this has almost one hundred percent become my role now. Our parents are in their 70's and have either downsized significantly or simply don't have the energy to take on hosting duties for a large group. I could resent this. I could feel overwhelmed by it. But, instead, I'm choosing to embrace it knowing that, someday, I too will pass the hosting torch and I hope that I will be welcomed with love and attentiveness. So, I fold the linen napkins, taking pleasure in the way all of the creases line up and how neat and tidy they look in the drawer of my dining room buffet. These seemingly simple chores are part of the lifeblood of homemaking and my attitude towards them can either be one of gratefulness or grumbly-ness (yes, I'm making up words now). 

And I’m choosing gratefulness. 

“This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.” (Elisabeth Elliot⁣)
Welcome to Tip Tuesday! I’m so excited to be kic Welcome to Tip Tuesday! I’m so excited to be kicking off the year with a brand new series! Each weekly installment will feature a tip for everything from your home to faith to parenting to family life and so much more. My goal for 2023 is to have far more personal interaction with this community while continuing on with the mission of weaving together all things heart and home. I hope you enjoy this first tip and I’d love to hear from you about whether or not you decorate for winter! 
#tiptuesday #organizing #winterdecorating
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. H “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” 

Here’s to beginnings. Happy new year friends! May you experience the majesty and sovereignty of the Lord in 2023 like never before! ✨
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