School has started, and the first day of Fall is here so from fashions, to decor, activities and more… we’re sharing some festive ways to usher in the new season!
Harvest Home
The change of seasons is so pretty and also a fun decor marker to transition into cooler weather…. so, from foliage and flowers, to harvest and Halloween, Balsam Hill is helping us get our homes ready for the Fall.
We love to start with color. We have fallen in love with the rich colors and textures of Balsam Hill’s wreaths and foliage. Like the Autumn Orchid Wreath boasting vibrant pomegranates, apples and berries mixed with hydrangeas and pinecones. Or the Sweet Pear Wreath with golden tones and eucalyptus leaves. These pair great on the porch with greenery or majestic mums in orange and red hues. Balsam Hill also has many arrangements in softer palettes like the Fairytale Pumpkin collection. Perfect for dining tables, or upon entry.
For Halloween, it seems like neighborhoods all over are upping their trick-or-treat game, so Balsam Hill is helping us get creative, and a little spooky when it comes to transforming our porch. Cast shadows with eerie Outdoor Illuminated Halloween Silhouettes — these are great for porch, lawn or even the rooftop featuring familiar and frightful characters. Or you can line your walkways with Solar Halloween Pathway Lights in the shape of Jack-o-Lanterns.
We love items that can transition through the season too. Which is why we adore the Lit Stackable Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns. You can stack them or arrange them separately and they also have a remote so you can control if they flicker like a candle or hold a steady stream of light. The goofy grins are fun but once Halloween is over, we just turn them around to the back where it is solid pumpkin and now we have a stackable trio that can welcome Thanksgiving too.
Similarly, the Outdoor Lit Wire Pumpkins provide for an easy and classic decor that can last the entire Fall season. You’re guaranteed to find the best look for your home in the extensive offerings from Balsam Hill.
Fall Fashions
While the weather may not be cooling off just yet, we want to be prepared and look good! This fall is about color.. whether it’s red, orange, blue or wine. It is that time of the year when the leaves are changing color, so take advantage of that and add some color into your outfit. We love getting our Fall Looks for the family at Macy’s. Layering is a must! Days often start out cool or cold and then it gets warmer by the afternoon. We love puffer jackets, because we can wear over a sweater, long sleeve shirt or plaid shirt. This is always a fun look for apple picking and the pumpkin patch too. We find that our kids are always taking off their jackets too, so we like this jacket, which folds into itself and can be put in their backpacks. If you’re looking to add some plaid to stay warm, we love this jacket from Ralph Lauren.
Whether you are headed to the football game, the apple orchard or getting ready for fall photos, Macy’s is a great option for your fall fashion needs. We love that we can go in store or shop online.
Smart Screen Time
School is underway so keeping skills sharp is a must, but learning can actually be something you kids ask you to do. Learning to read doesn’t have to feel like work, or school, rather it can be fun and game-like with the help of hands-on technology that magically comes alongside helping children through their journey. Osmo has created a personalized reading program developed with educators geared for kids 5-7 years old to build their skills and confidence.
We love Osmo because it combines hands-on learning with digital play and the new Reading Adventure series adds in automatic speech recognition technology to cover critical reading skills. For example, when my son was playing the game and he mispronounced a word, the game could tell and had him try again. Kids read physical story books, use an interactive crystal wand, and what they do gets translated into the digital world, like magic. I love that it also includes skill building games and activities, and adapts to meet the skill level of the child for a more dynamic, fun reading experience. Learning how to read is such a foundational key to all aspects of their learning journey, but if a child gets frustrated or discouraged it can affect this. That is why I love Osmo. It makes practicing reading and learning sight words fun. The kids beg me to play and I love that it is a positive form of screen time. We also couldn’t be more excited that Osmo named Levar Burton as their Chief Reading Officer. We grew up watching Reading Rainbow and it helped instill a love of reading. Burton will share insights and information with parents and educators on ways to inspire kids to increase their reading time. A champion of early childhood education, Burton will also make special appearances to engage with kids, families, and educators in an effort to reduce the literacy gap.
Autumn Activities DIY Crafts
Autumn is full of adventure from football games to apple picking, harvest parties and more, we share some simple DIY crafts families can do to celebrate the season and also create some keepsakes from all their activities.
How fun and amazingly easy are these fingerprint footballs? We freehand cut a football out of a piece of construction paper (we picked the color based on our favorites teams) and then we selected matching paint, but you can use any color. We dipped a Q-tip into the paint and then dotted the football. We did this until the paper was completely covered. For the laces we took white paint and made a horizontal line and then the kids dipped their thumbs in the white paint and fingerprinted 4-5 times crossing over the line to complete the laces.
We strung pony beads on pipe cleaners to make a pumpkin, and used a little math skills by counting to keep everything uniform. It’s fun little keepsake.
Popsicle stick farm trucks are a huge hit! We paint popsicle sticks, glue them together to form the truck bed and then in an open square to form the cab. This will become the frame to your child’s picture. You can put any picture you desire to make it look like they are driving the truck. Then you use whatever materials you desire from paper to wheels, pipe cleaners, glitter and more to make the tires and the cargo being carried in the back!
