A Well-Feathered Nest

Link Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 12:17:00 +0000

Hello friends! It was supposed to be easy for me to leave this old blog sitting right here to allow folks continued access to all of the files i've shared along the way, but Dropbox had to go and kill their public folder feature. Because of the changes they have made, many of the links to files I've shared are no longer functioning. This is inconvenient for me and for you.

I am in the process of looking for and thinking through a good solution, but I'm also in the middle of my real-life busy season. This means that it might take me some time to get back to each and every post to correct the issues. For the mean time, I am aware of the issue, and I hope to get things all back in working order soon. I apologize for the troubles!

Meal Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 18:03:00 +0000

Ugh... Meal Planning is not one of my favorite topics. Thoughts of failure and inadequacy fill my mind whenever I begin to think about it. After almost 15 years of marriage I still struggle with it, but some tools and methods are finally helping me to do a better job. Trial and error have helped me to determine what works for me and my personality.

I've just finished turning all of my notebook scrawls and lists and charts into a printable set of meal planning tools to help me keep my ideas organized. It gives me a neat and clean place to keep all of my lists (Listers unite!), so I can remember what works for our family and where I found any recipes I may need. This really makes the planning process go much more smoothly and quickly. Since it's nice to share with others, I wanted to give you access to download the pages as I share a little about what's been working for me. Simply click on the image below to download the PDF file.

It contains a three week meal planning page that focuses on dinner plans with a little space for breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas. You'll also find pages for lists of dinners your family loves, recipes you'd like to try, and ideas for prepping meals in advance.

My peal planning style has developed over the years as I've learned what keeps me going. I have a totally different planning style when it comes to breakfast and lunch than when it comes to dinner. I have found that having a limited supply of basic choices for meals during the day makes life run smoothly. However, I don't want any list to boss me around for dinner--even if it's one I made.

I'm giving myself a little pep talk here as I buckle down to get back on track for weight loss. I know what works for me. It's just a matter of doing it. For breakfast, I like to throw something in my wonderful super duper skillet to saute along with some eggs. Although, I do have a few ideas for prepping breakfast on days when we leave the house or for my kiddos. I like to follow Whole 30/Clean Eating/Meal Prepping Instagrammers for inspiration for simple (but healthy) meals. They usually make it look so pretty...and yummy!

I do like to full-on prep meals for my lunches in containers for the fridge or freezer. This works best for my because I never know what my day will look like, and I can grab and go on days that we have to leave the house without thinking too much about it. Prepping mason jar salads also works well for lunch. I usually just try to make a batch of a meal or two that I especially like (protein/good carb/veggie) when I can sneak it in and before my stash runs out. Sprinkle in some left overs here and there, and I've got a plan for lunch.

For dinner, I've found that meal planning every two weeks using a three week planner works best for me. Sound crazy? I consider it vision-casting! I make out the plan for all of the days I know we'll be eating at home for the next three weeks, and I like to try to have all of the main ingredients on hand after I do that. This gives me the flexibility to switch things up as necessary (or according to my whims) while it frees me from the "What's for dinner?" moment each day. After two weeks, I look at what we've actually eaten and move any unused recipes to the next three week plan before adding more meals to it.

The lists are super helpful because I find that my ideas tend to fall out of my head before I can use them with so much going on as a mom and wife. I also needed to be able to keep track of where I can find the recipes--Pinterest, blogs, on my hard drive, books, etc. The main way I use Pinterest these days is to collect recipes, but it's difficult to find things with all of the pins I've collected over the years. I've created two boards to help with this: Recipes to Try and Regular Recipes. I'll go through my recent pins and decide on a couple of recipes to try soon. These get re-pinned to my "to try" board. If it's a keeper, then it gets moved to "Regular Recipes." This makes Pinterest easier to navigate for me.

My summer goals always include finding ways to get my systems cleaned-up, so things will run more smoothly when we jump back into our regular fall schedules. Getting all of my lists in order will help us eat healthier with less scrambling and help our budget out in the process! Anything that keeps my family out of the Zaxby's drive through is worth it.

If these tools look helpful to you, then click here to download the PDF file.

What's going on?

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 20:48:00 +0000

Did you miss me? Over the last year or so I have found myself entering a new season. It's a season that I know will be fleeting, and that has pushed blogging and associated tasks way down on my priority list.

For some time now I've been uncomfortable being one more voice in the blogosphere to espouse advice of any kind. There's so much being said, and I'm no expert on anything. My kiddos are getting older, and I find myself needing to be with them in a different way. It's not so much about keeping everyone fed and safe anymore as it is about being present, offering balance, and really fostering relationship.

I have a mere five years left with my oldest before we graduate him from our homeschool, and I've made the decision to change things up around here in order to give more of my time to our family in this season. My Etsy shop will stay open, but I won't be taking on any custom designs. This blog will primarily be a place for me to share links to things that I'm finding helpful or interesting from time to time and possibly to post about new items if I find myself adding to the shop.

I blinked, and I'll have a teenager in a few short weeks. I know another blink or two will find our boys out in the world on their own. I want to savor the time we have left. Thanks for understanding.

Saving Time in the Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 11:37:00 +0000

One place I have really had to learn to be intentional is in the kitchen. Having four people eating 3 meals from home every day really adds up quickly. The time spent cooking and cleaning up can quickly be overwhelming, especially in the midst of all of our other everyday tasks.

I've found that keeping a few things on hand in the freezer that can be used to whip up a quick meal with little cooking is extremely helpful on busy days. We all know there are tons of advantages to eating home-cooked meals as much as possible. Lately, I've been keeping my freezer stocked with cooked, shredded chicken that can be used in skillet meals, soups, chili, or even quesadillas or burritos. Using my crockpot means it takes hardly any time or effort, so it's easy to squeeze in during a busy week.

I like to buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts at Aldi when they have them as the special buy of the week. I bought some for $1.49/lb. this week! Other great places to buy them inexpensively are from warehouse clubs (we only have Sam's Club) or Harris Teeter. If you have a Harris Teeter in your area, they always have chicken breasts in the fresh meat counter for $1.99/lb as an E-VIC special.

I cook several pounds of chicken breasts in the crockpot at once to stock my freezer with seasoned shredded chicken. I usually cook around 5 pounds at a time, and I am a bit of a spice snob when it comes to cooking them. Usually, I'm OK with inexpensive spices, but I've found that I can tell a difference when it comes to this chicken. I love Penzey's black pepper, and their roasted garlic and onion powders. Here's what I've found works for me:

5-ish pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp roasted garlic powder

1 tsp roasted onion powder

I rub the seasoning on the chicken and place them in my crockpot to cook on low for around 8 hours. You could add a little olive oil to your rub if you'd like. You could also experiment with your own garlic and onion powders or even fresh to see how you like the flavor as well.

I let the chicken cool a bit. Then I shred it with two forks, and I package it in approximately 2 cup portions. From my last batch I got 3 baggies to freeze, and I use one large breast for some white chicken chili that night. I'll often heat up a bunch of veggies or beans or something in a skillet and add the cooked chicken for a quick made-up recipe.

Once you know what types of flavors your family likes, you can experiment with your own made-up skillet recipes. Do they like Asian flavors? Try zucchini and carrots with some soy or Teriyaki sauce. You can even add some cooked rice to the skillet. Do they like Tex-Mex flavors? Throw in some sauteed onions, a can of black beans, and a can of diced tomatoes or Rotel. Season it with some cumin and maybe even a little chipotle chili powder, and you have a yummy meal. My boys especially like this when I add some frozen corn near the end! I appreciate how having this pre-cooked chicken in the freezer saves me from the drive through, and my wallet does too!

New Years and Fresh Beginnings

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 11:30:00 +0000

I've always love the way that a new year seems to hold so much possibility. With a little rest over the holidays, I can usually spend some time planning for new routines and setting goals. It feels great to go into a new year prepared and refreshed. It's kind of like having a fresh beginning and a blank slate at the start of each new year.

My hopes are raised with the countdown to midnight, but all too often it dwindles as we sink back into mundane days filled with never-ending chores and too little daylight. This year, for some reason, I've been especially prone to dreaming of a sunny beach. January has been a bit nutso at our house largely due to an unfortunate loss of all of my files from the last two years. Their loss was only made more bitter as I've kicked myself for not being more organized and on the ball with backing things up. It's been a real exercise in thinking positive thoughts, remembering who is ultimately in control of all things, and reminding myself that there really more important things in life than a bunch of files.

It's also been nice to be distracted by getting myself more organized. I've been on a mission to use tech tools more in my organizational routines. In the past I've been mostly paralyzed by the thought of setting it all up--or even deciding how to set it all up. Look for a book review in the near future where I'll share what's working wonderfully for me right now. I'll never fully forsake pencil and paper, but it's nice to have a quick way to collect all my random thoughts and tasks in one place. Would you like to join me in planning intentionally this year?

With the new year before me, I always like to have a calendar to make my goals, hopes, and ideas a bit more visual. I whipped up a simple one that I wanted to share. I hope your new year has been off to a great start, and I look forward to sharing more printables with you all throughout 2016!

Download your 2016 calendar!

Download a FREE Event Planning Page!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 16:14:00 +0000

This time of year can begin to get crazy...fast. With all the decorating, special events, visiting friends and family, and holiday parties, I often find myself rushing around like a crazy person. This year, I have a couple of different events that I'm either in charge of planning or hosting in my home, and I needed a place to keep all of my thoughts about each of them together but separate. That's why I created this simple event planning page, and I wanted to share it with you all.

I hope this will help you to organize their parties or other events, so you can steal a few extra minutes with those you love in this season. Click the image below to download your PDF planning page!

Best-ever Pencil Sharpener in Purple!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 10:38:00 +0000

(I received a free purple pencil sharpener to review, but that has not affected the opinions I am about to share)

I've posted here before about my love for the pencil sharpeners from Classroom Friendly Supplies, and I still believe they are the best you can get. I especially appreciate when a company that makes an excellent product also acknowledges the value of bringing a little color to our everyday lives! The purple is surely going to bring some fun to classrooms and homeschools!

I first discovered these sharpeners through the recommendation of a friend of mine who is also a homeschool mom (of 6) and tutors additional children throughout the week. I've been using a green sharpener at home for the last couple of years, and I have a red one that's used by my weekly homeschool community. We've even placed bulk orders, so other moms in our group could purchase their own pencil sharpeners with the discount! My friend has been known to give them as gifts!

The Classroom Friendly Supplies sharpener took me a few minutes to figure out when it first arrived because it has features I'd never seen before. Thankfully, there are instructions on the site that show you exactly how to operate the sharpener. Pictures and video are included for those of us who need to see things to figure them out.

Once I saw how it worked, I fell in love with this sharpener. I love that there is a silver piece that pulls out and actually holds the pencil for you! This means you can use one hand to steady it as you turn the crank arm rather than having to bolt it down, although it does come with a clamp to attach it to a table or shelf. My kids carry it all over the house whenever they are working, so the portability is awesome. The pencil holder also means it's easy for my 7-year-old to use it on his own. Another fabulous feature is that the sharpener loosens dramatically when the pencil is sharp, so I can buy the expensive pencils without worrying that they will get eaten up by over-zealous little boys.

There may be a danger of little boys thinking the sharpened pencils are weapons because they are REALLY sharp. Unfortunately, this is more a hazard of little boys than of sharp pencils. They are amazing at finding potential weapons. I, personally, appreciate a super sharp point on a traditional pencil.

If you've been searching for a high quality, easy to use pencil sharpener for your classroom, office, or homeschool, this could be the one. If you are a lover of all things purple then today is your lucky day. You can now order a "popular purple" pencil sharpener in addition to the other fun colors!

Psalm 145:1-3 Printable

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 14:04:00 +0000

Do you work on Scripture memorization? Our church family is working on memorizing Psalm 145 together throughout the fall. We're beginning this week with the first three verses. To help keep the words in front of my face, I made this black and white printable page. If you'd like to download or print it, you can click the image below!

Are you planning for Halloween?

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 14:16:00 +0000

Jodie and Jen over at Eighteen25 have been hosting Spooktacular September this month to showcase a new Halloween project or idea each day. Today, you will find my guest post over there where I'm sharing some super-cute and simple printable Halloween party supplies. Head on over and check it out!

Priorities and Setting Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 17:40:00 +0000

I am not Superwoman. Just in case I had you fooled. I think I've always known that nobody can do it all, but for a long time I failed to realize that there's NO WAY I'll be able to do everything I want to do at any given time. I've been considering my personality type over the summer (thanks to Meyers-Briggs) and how it affects the way I work and how I interact with others. As and ISTJ, I am a perfectionist. Even when I try not to be, I'm still mentally a perfectionist. I'm definitely recovering in this area, but I have to keep a firm grasp on what's really important if I don't want to get too stressed out.

This is where considering my priorities for my daily life and setting clear goals that line up with those become very important. If I can remember that a sticky floor isn't of eternal importance, then I'm less likely to have a meltdown when I'm peeling my sock off the floor just one more time in the middle of trying to cook dinner.

I feel the pressure of holding all the "to dos" in my brain all of the time, so I've been working with lots of lists lately. I hope to open up my master "list book" with you all some time, but today I'm settling for sharing a weekly task list that I made. The "list book" is loosely based on the Getting Things Done system. Basically, I took what worked from that for me and made it into a giant book of lists that keep me from forgetting things that need to happen but aren't the most pressing. I am not a great multi-tasker, so the book helps me to overcome my tunnel vision.

In the last year I've found this post written by Tim Challies to be especially helpful in keeping my perspective and examining what may need to be added or subtracted from my life in this season. He writes about defining our areas of responsibility. It's especially helpful to me because it doesn't look just at what I have to do or what I hope to do. It helps me to look at my responsibilities from the perspective of the roles I've been given by God and how they matter for eternity. I have my list of roles and responsibilities in the front of my List Book, and I re-evaluate it periodically. Crystal Paine also writes about goal on her Money Saving Mom site, and she has great tips for setting and tracking your progress.

I also bought the Kindle version of Hands Free Life by Rachel Macy Stafford on impulse when it came out, and it's been a great read in the midst of examining priorities. This book steps on my perfectionist toes over and over, and it's been super-convicting. Teaching From Rest by Sarah MacKenzie is up next as I think about priorities for our homeschool. It's been quite a transition this year with Benjamin now reading solidly and Jonathan diving into Challenge A.

In the midst of all the craziness, my biggest help is to keep a master list of MUST DO tasks for each week in all of my areas of responsibility. I find it helpful to mentally dump this onto paper, so I made this grid to help me out. I can name the categories and jot down the most important tasks in each one. Then I can keep it on hand when I'm planning my schedule for the week and refer back to it when I feel like I may be veering off track or need to know what can be tossed from my longer lists.

If you'd like to try out the "Must-Do Task List" you can click on the picture above to download the PDF. I hope it will help someone else out there keep some sanity in the day-to-day craziness!

Hello There!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 09:00:00 +0000

Today is exciting because I'm being featured over at The Dating Divas! If you've clicked over from today's post, I welcome you to A Well-Feathered Nest! My blog has evolved over the years, but I love to write about my family, my home, and ideas for squeezing the most out of the mundane, everyday moments. I also love to share my printable creations with you.

Here's an example! Click the image below to

download the PDF file for this Father's Day print.

I began designing for The Dating Divas at the end of 2014. I've immensely enjoyed the opportunity to work with everyone over there. The assignments they send me each month have pushed my creative boundaries, and it's so much fun to see the end results.

I also offer many organizational printables, Harry Potter party decorations, and other prints in my Etsy Shop. What began as an obsession with creating charts and forms for myself and party printables for my boys grew into a business that helped us take the most amazing Disney/Universal vacation last year.

I'd love for you to check out my work!

If you haven't been over to The Dating Divas, you'll want to check out the giveaway I'm hosting over there!

FREE Printable: Weekly Meal Plan Sticky Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 20:57:00 +0000

Do you love sticky notes? I sure do! I had never really thought about printing onto sticky notes until one of my assignments from The Dating Divas included a request for a page of sticky notes. I just had to try it for myself, and now I can't believe all the possibilities that creates!

As my planner organization has evolved over the last year or so, I find myself using sticky notes ALL the time. I recently created these printable meal plan stickies for myself, and I LOVE them. I like to have a quick place to write down my dinner ideas for the week right along with my weekly plan, so I can account for nights when we have places to be or there are other things going on. This sticky note makes that easy and keeps me organized.

I'll be sharing more about my current planning set-up in the near future, but I wanted to go ahead and share this printable with you guys. All you have to do is print the page, place your 3x3 sticky notes inside of the square guides on the page, place the sheet back into the printer face down, and print the page again.

Balance and Planner Love

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 19:07:00 +0000

Our family has just finished up a tremendously busy season. We went from having an unusually calm fall to a totally CRAZY winter. My oldest son and husband enjoy participating in community theater. They weren't able to participate in A Christmas Carol this year because of the timing of our December vacation, but they jumped back in feet first with our city's production of Mary Poppins. As Mr. Banks and Michael Banks, this was definitely the most time-consuming project either of them has been involved with. It was an amazing thing to see on the stage.

By the end of March, we were up to our eyeballs in practical preparation for the coming school year, finishing up the current school year, and other bits and pieces of things that had been neglected during the crazy season.

I struggle for balance. I am a very project oriented person, so continually plugging away for weeks and weeks without seeing much big-picture progress is hard. I've spent the last several weeks attempting to give some order to the madness.

One of the projects I've taken on in the last several months is designing printables for The Dating Divas. Their stuff is all over Pinterest and the internet, so you may have seen a post of theirs at some point. I love their mission to help married couples keep their romance a top priority, and I've really enjoyed collaborating with the Divas to create some fun printable designs. These Mix CD envelopes, Popcorn Bar Decorations, and cute Our Story prints are among the items I've designed for them in the last several months.

In my quest for balance, I had to make some decisions about the shop. In the end, I opted to replace my planner designs with undated versions of each one. The main reason for this is that it takes massive amounts of time to update the dates on multiple planner formats each year. By offering undated versions, they will be usable for years to come, and I can free up time to work on new designs and projects like these fun new editable Responsibility Charts.

I would love to be able to keep the yearly planners going, but it's just not the best use of my time during this season. I've also been experimenting with changing up my personal planner system, and I think I've found something that works even better for me than my Arc book. I love the Arc for a lot of reasons, but it wasn't easy for me to carry around which meant I usually didn't have it with me. I'll be sharing what's working for me because I'm a little surprised that I've been converted. You might be able to spot where I'm headed if you've browsed through my shop lately or follow me on Instagram.

Happy 2015!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 03:29:00 +0000

It's so hard to believe that another year has come to an end. My family is desperately looking to get back in the routine of things after our big Disney/Universal vacation that ended just in time for Christmas festivities that seemed to run into new year's festivities and a major kids' room overhaul. But it's back to school this week, so I'm hopeful we might get most of the kinks worked out by the time spring is here. I've also been working on some projects the last couple of months that I'm excited to be able to share in the coming weeks.

You can still find organizational printables over in my shop, and I wanted to share this printable 12-month calendar just because it's always fun to have a pretty, new calendar to scribble on. I hope you enjoy it!

Book Review: Bitesize Biographies Samuel Rutherford

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 03:10:00 +0000

If you've been reading here very long, you'll know that our family has a bit of a thing for books. You might call us collectors, but we're always on the lookout for books that will feed us and encourage us. This is why I was excited to get a chance to review Bitesize Biographies Samuel Rutherford. I knew my husband would especially enjoy getting to know more about this hero of the faith, so I enlisted his help to share more about this book with you all.

Here's his review!

While the name of Samuel Rutherford is not well known by many in our day, those who do know of this choice servant of Christ typically associate him with his wonderful letters or the hymn, “The Sands of Time Are Sinking.” The letters of Rutherford in particular continue to refresh and strengthen Christians with new glimpses of Christ’s beauty and a contagious passion for His Name. They are full of longing for Christ, practical wisdom, and humility of spirit. Rutherford’s letters are perhaps his greatest legacy and gift to Christ’s Church.

Richard Hannula’s “Bitesize Biography” of Samuel Rutherford relates the story of the man behind the letters. The greatest strength of this clear and concise telling of Rutherford’s life is that Hannula allows his subject to do much of the speaking, drawing quotes from Rutherford’s letters, diaries, sermons, and other works. This is particularly appropriate for a biography of Rutherford, whose words are so-often saturated with his love for his Savior and Christ’s Church (Kirk), and have such power to inspire and edify.

In Samuel Rutherford, we are given enough of the historical context to appreciate the pivotal role Rutherford played in the Scottish Reformation, without being overburdened with detail. We learn of Rutherford’s conversion (“My heart is not my own; [Christ] hath run away to heaven with it.”), his appointment as Professor of Humanities at the University of Edinburgh , and the allegations that removed him from that office. Hannula helps us to experience the sweetness of Rutherford’s years as pastor in Anwoth, and what it was like to sit under his preaching. (“He was short, slight and preached in a high pitch voice – some describe it as ‘shrill’. But he vividly set Christ before his congregation…”) Using short excerpts from Rutherford’s sermons, we are drawn into the heart of this pastor for the people under his care, and hear his exhortations for the people to know the loveliness of Christ.

Similarly, we learn more of the heart of this man as we hear brief excerpts from his letters during his time of exile in Aberdeen. We feel his suffering as he longs to return to the people he so dearly loves, and yet also his resolve to bear the cross Christ has for him. “They are not worthy of Jesus who will not take a blow for their Master’s sake.” Hannula continues to walk us through Rutherford’s joyful reunion with the church in Anwoth, his appointment to St. Andrews, and his involvement in the Westminster Assembly. These chapters reveal how influential Rutherford became, and cause us to reflect on how a man who garnered such notoriety and respect could remain as humble before God and men as his writings from these periods show him to have been.

The final chapters of Samuel Rutherford go further to indicate how important this man was in the purposes of Christ for Scotland. As Rutherford strove and flourished in his work, so did true Christianity in Scotland. As Rutherford’s health weakened and he neared his life’s end, Scotland’s Christian commitments began to fade as well. We are encouraged to read of Rutherford’s dying days, however, because of his love and longings for the Lord Jesus. In the last chapter, Hannula serves us by giving us an assessment of Rutherford’s legacy, and leaves us wanting to read more of Rutherford’s writings. Most of all, this book helps us to long for the kind of deep love for Christ that characterized this Rutherford’s life.

Harry Potter Party: Potions and Common Room Details

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:09:00 +0000

I'm finally getting around to finishing up the Harry Potter Party posts!

When I decided to do the party, I knew there would have to be a potions display. There are so many fun things that can be done to decorate with potions very inexpensively! I spent months putting this together a little at a time. I really enjoyed wandering through thrift stores looking for just the right items for the common room and potions display. When I think 'Hogwarts' I think old and well-used. What better place than a thrift store to find these kinds of items?

I also spent some time collecting various bottles as we emptied them and maybe even doing a little roadside cleanup here and there. I did buy a some of the bottles that were just perfect for potions, and I picked up some corks to seal some of them up. Once I had collected enough bottles, I printed a few labels that I found online, but I designed most of these specifically for our display. You can find the ones I created in my shop. I simply printed them onto sticker paper and cut them out to adhere them to the bottles. Before the party, I let the boys help me decide what color each of the potions should be or what we might put in the bottles to serve as our ingredients.

You can find the POTIONS banner for free here along with the pages I printed to turn an old library copy of The Help into a spellbook for the display. The hourglass is from Hobby Lobby as is the chalkboard. The items I thrifted were the brass lantern, the silver(ish) tray, and the smallest bottles. We used tons of classic and older looking books to decorate this display and the common room because I have to think Hermoine would have kept it that way.

To make the rest of our living room feel more like the Gryffindor common room, I just decorated the surfaces with old-looking things: books, candles, and other itmes you'd find in the Wizarding World. You can find a printable version of the Hogwarts House Bunting in my shop. I also printed this Marauder's Map, and I'm sharing a download of the "No Unforgivable Charms Please" sign with you all.

I thrifted the candlesticks and a couple of brass containers to hold some of the wizarding school supplies. I tucked feathers in the containers, and we made quills out of a couple using ball point pens. Oversized (11 x 17) parchment paper was rolled up and tied with plain string to make scrolls. I printed the Quibbler covers and covered a regular magazine with them for a prop, and I also made the Daily Prophet. I printed the header sideways onto some large newsprint-type drawing paper. Then I rolled up a stack of the paper with the printed part on the outside to make it look like a whole newspaper.

Pulling all of the decorations for this party together was so much fun. I enjoyed thinking about what items and decorations could help to bring the books to life as we were reading together. In the end, I was very pleased with the results. I was still instinctively looking for interesting items when I was in the thrift store the other day, and I had to remind myself that I'm not collecting anymore. Unless we decide to have another Potter party again someday.

Don't forget to check out all of the posts about the details of our party!

Harry Potter Party: Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, Honeydukes, Herbology, and the Drinks

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 21:01:00 +0000

Today I'm sharing more details about our boys' Harry Potter birthday party, and I have to admit that the food was probably my favorite part. I looked at photos of Honeydukes in the Wizarding World for ages just hoping I could replicate a little bit of that atmosphere. My party planning began with a list of treats from the books and brainstorming what muggle-world candies might make good representation of each one. In the end, I did compromise a bit for the sake of budget knowing that most of the kids coming to the party would be clueless anyway.

The main centerpiece of the whole party was the Honeydukes Sweet Shoppe table. I had so much fun ~~obsessing~~ collecting ideas for the display. This whole thing was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing for us, so this was my chance to create a remotely pin-worthy display. I experimented with a lot of different ideas, and I really found Amy Atlas' displays and all of the similar ones out there now to be very inspiring. There are tons of ideas for candy buffets on Pinterest, too. So I had endless ideas to work with.

I loved that Honeydukes allowed me to pull in some fun decorations that I never get to use having only boys around here. The pink polka dot napkins were my favorite. We found those at Wal-Mart, of all places. Most of the candy was readily available at Target or the Dollar Tree, but I did have to hunt down a few items. Here's what I ended up with.

Jelly Slugs - Trolli night crawlers

Lemon Sherberts - Lemonheads

Tooth-flossing Stringmints - edible easter grass (This ended up being mostly for looks because it tasted nasty.)

Chocolate Frogs - made from Hershey's chocolate bunnies with this mold

Caramel Creams - muggle candy just because we like them and needed something else to fill the table

Licorice Wands - Twizzlers

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans - a mixture of a giant bag of Jelly Bellies from Target and some actual Bertie Bott's ordered from Amazon (to save on expense and so they wouldn't all be kind of nasty tasting)

Cry Babies - muggle candy just because we like them and needed something else to fill up the table

Drooble's Best Blowing Gum - I used regular gumballs we already had and resisted buying the blue gumballs available in the party aisle at Target

Fizzing Whizbees - Warhead gummy cubes

Lollipops - because I can only assume that even Wizards love a good lollipop

I really wanted some cute lollipops to decorate the table, but it was hard to find what I wanted in the town where we live. I did find the two biggest ones at Michael's, but I stopped into Party City when we were in Durham for a doctor's appointment, and they had tons of pretty candy. All of the smaller lollipops came from there. The blue ones were "It's a Boy!" ones, but I was able to easily remove the sticker.

The awesome cake was made by my mom!

Most of the dishes were found by rummaging through my cabinets. A few items were found at thrift stores, and the two on the outside in the back were purchased at the last minute at the Dollar Tree just to fill things in a bit. I looked forever for items to make a lollipop stand for the smaller ones. I had the hardest time finding what I wanted. In the end, I found the exact thing I needed at Hobby Lobby--only it was the display for a bunch of little pinwheels. So, I became the crazy lady and asked if I could have the display if I bought the last few pinwheels, and it totally worked. That saved me a couple of hours of work and several bucks!

The plates were from Target. The tablecloth is from Hobby Lobby. The little clear scoops were super cheap from The Container Store, and the small clear tongs were from the Dollar Tree. I made the candy labels and cut them from card stock, and I found a Honeydukes logo here. I printed it for the sign and smaller stickers for the tiny paper bags and to hold up the pennant. The pennant was sooo easy--made from felt triangles and a bit of string.

You can find the printable candy labels in my etsy shop here!

For the drinks, we had Gillywater (Sierra Mist) and Butterbeer made to order. I found tons of different recipes for Butterbeer, and I went with a mash-up of a couple of different ones. I wanted something that could be mixed up quickly. I had an idea that the kids might not loooove the Butterbeer, and I didn't want to waste a lot of stuff by mixing it up ahead of time. Here's the recipe.

1T butterscotch syrup

cover the bottom of the cup with Reddi Whip

fill to the top with cream soda

I found the Butterbeer sign here, and the plastic frame came from Michael's.

If I had more time and funds I could have gone all out for the ice cream display, but I committed to focus my efforts on the Honeydukes table. We had a couple of flavors of ice cream, cones or bowls, a few toppings, and some chocolate syrup. I'm sharing the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream sign with you!

The Herbology table served to add a couple of nutrients to the food spread. Plus, I like a little fruit with my ice cream, anyway. This was the last thing I pulled together, so it was fairly simple. I may have just been looking for a good excuse to plant some succulents.

You can catch up with all of my previous Harry Potter party posts, and there will be more to come!

Counting Down the Days

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 23:49:00 +0000

I wanted to share this printable Disney countdown page with you all. You really have to start planning a trip to Disney World so far in advance, that it can seem like it's taking forever for the big trip to come. This page is adapted from the one our family is using to keep track of the passing of time before we leave for our trip to Orlando.

We've been crazy busy over here getting the new school year underway. I had a few extra responsibilities dropped in my lap unexpectedly at the last minute, so my free time has been lacking for the last several weeks. Staying busy does tend to make the time pass a little more quickly, and it's nice for the kids (and me!) to see that it's getting closer every day. We've been watching lots of Disney movies (along with continuing to read through the Harry Potter books out loud) and I Have some activities planned to make the most of the fun before we even leave on our trip. I had a hard time finding activity ideas for my boys, so I hope to find time to share some of my ideas here as we move along.

This 100 day Disney countdown is in PDF format.

Click here to snag the download.

The Homeschool Build Your Bundle Sale is live!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:23:00 +0000

Today's the day when you get to see all of the amazing bundles that have been put together for this sale. Even if there isn't one that's perfect for you, you can build your own bundle!

(The links below are affiliate links.)

The first ever "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition sale is here!

For one week only (July 21-28) save up to 92% on bestselling homeschooling products, including MANY on Cathy Duffy's Top 100 list!

The bundles are AMAZING, including products such as Learning Language Arts Through Literature, A Child's Geography, Character Concepts, Picture Smart Bible, Math Mammoth, and more! There are SO many incredible products to choose from, all bundled up in grades/themes OR you can "Build Your Own!"

Our "Build Your Own" bundles offer you the opportunity to select a certain number of products with a retail price of $19.99 or less for up to 80% off! We have MANY items to choose from, including Cathy Duffy Top 100 Picks! When you purchase a combination of any 2 "Build Your Own" bundles, you will get the 3rd one at 50% off!

Buy more & save more! Purchase 2 "build your own" bundles and get the 3rd one 50% off! See site for details.

You will also find the following pre-assembled bundles with saving up to 92% off retail:
Tot/Pre-K Bundle, K-3 Bundle, 4-6 Elementary Bundle, Middle School Bundle, High School Bundle, Charlotte Mason Bundle, & the Homeschooling/Homemaking Mom Bundle!

Harry Potter Party: Platform 9 3/4 - the Entryway

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 10:48:00 +0000

We had some pretty strong feelings about some aspects of the entry to our Wizarding World. I collected tons of ideas for creating a Platform 9 3/4 entryway in hopes that I would find a shortcut for creating the effect I wanted. In the end, I stuck with the painted brick curtain that served as the entry to the Hogwarts Express Platform.

Most of the examples we found online had the Platform Sign posted above the curtain, but in my mind this is a huge "no no!" Platform 9 3/4 isn't ever visible to muggles, so we didn't want to post the sign outside. Instead, I printed simple signs for Platform 9 and Platform 10 similar to the ones visible in the movies. We posted those on each side of the door with the curtain.

I'm just keeping it real here because when I looked at this photo, I realized just how badly our house needs to be power washed. So, here I am sharing photos of the green-covered bricks by our back door with everyone on the internet. Life's too short to worry about what you might think about my moldy bricks. There's a reason I'm not a home blogger! The curtain would have been more impressive at our front door, but nobody ever comes to our front door.

In the end, I am so glad I took the time to paint the bricks on the curtain. It blended in with the real brick so much better than anything else ever would have. Because I put it off to the last minute and my goal was to keep from spending an insane amount of money on the party, I used items from around the house. I even got lucky because our neighbors put a tension rod out by the street for the garbage the same day I was painting the curtain!

I used a beige twin sheet that I already had. Some tutorials I came across used sponge-stamped bricks and a couple used taped lines and spray paint. I didn't have a rectangular sponge, and I decided it would be less stressful for me to try to keep tape straight and properly spaced than to risk messing up with a sponge stamp. I used some frog tape from our painting box, and I actually used a tape measure to try to get the tape lines pretty even and straight. It would have been faster to use spray paint, but I mixed together acrylic paints that I already had to get a good brick color. This ended up working well because I could tweak it a tad to get some varied color in the bricks. I used a kitchen sponge to daub the paint on over the taped lines.

I put down a drop cloth inside, and laid the sheet on top of that to paint it right in my living room. It took me four (yes, four) hours to finish taping and painting the curtain. Thankfully, we were able to listen to part of the Goblet of Fire on audio while I worked. That helped to keep the crazy almost-six-year-old occupied. It took FOR-EV-ER, but I loved how it turned out. The colors were perfect. I learned that red, a LITTLE bit of green and some yellow mixed together will get you a pretty good brick color.

I made some general measurements before I started taping to know how much of the sheet needed to be covered, and I cut the sheet after the paint had dried. The tension rod fit neatly into the seam at the top edge of the sheet once I trimmed the sheet and cut it down the middle, and I just left the edges raw.

It was difficult to get a good photo of the entryway because it's so small. I designed a Hogwarts Express Platform sign that I printed onto card stock, pieced together, and posted on the wall opposite the back door. I also used my favorite kraft builder's paper and string from the Dollar Tree to wrap some boxes to decorate the platform. A borrowed lantern, Hedwig, and Trevor welcomed everyone to the Wizarding World!

There are lost of Hogwarts banners for sale online, but I really didn't want to spend that much money on just one decoration for the party. I knew I would need a lot of little items to help create an atmosphere with decorations, so I came up with a plan to save some pennies for other things. I bought a 1/2 inch dowel, round ends that fit the dowel, a sheet of stiff, black felt, and some gold acrylic paint. All of these supplies were maybe $7 - $8 with a coupon.

To make the banner, I printed the Hogwarts crest onto white card stock, and cut closely around the edges. I measured and cut the dowel to a good width. The cut didn't have to be perfect because the ball ends covered that up. I hot glued the round ends to the dowel and painted it all gold. I measured and cut a triangle out of the short edge of the felt to make the pennant shape, and I hot glued the crest onto the center. I hot glued the top of the banner to the middle of the dowel, and I used plain old string to hang it over the doorway. It served its purpose, and now it's hanging in my kids' room--all for a couple of bucks and some time well-spent.

Be sure you check out the Overview Post for links to other Harry Potter party ideas!

Homeschool Build Your Bundle Sale Begins July 21st!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 13:15:00 +0000

Don't forget to check out this amazing bundle sale on all sorts of homeschool products when it goes live at midnight Monday morning!

(These are affiliate links)

The BIGGEST digital homeschooling

curriculum sale EVER is coming! Mark your calendars!

Save up to 92% on popular homeschooling curriculum!

ONE WEEK ONLY - July 21-28, 2014!

Click here to be reminded

Enter to win $100 towards your bundle

purchase

What is the "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition Sale?

The "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition is designed to contain the best educational digital products on the internet! Sprinkled throughout the bundles are well known publishers, including products on Cathy Duffy's Top 100 list!

Unlike overwhelming bundle sales with nearly a hundred ebooks, the "Build

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"Build Your Own" Bundles

Our "Build Your Own" bundles offer you the opportunity to select a certain number of products with a retail price of $19.99 or less for up to 80% off! We have MANY items to choose from, including Cathy Duffy Top 100 Picks!

When you purchase a combination of any 2 "Build Your Own" bundles, you will get the 3rd one at 50% off!

*Lots of ways to save!

When you purchase ANY 2 pre-assembled bundles you will get the 3rd

pre-assembled bundle of equal or lesser value for 50% off!

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When the sale goes live on July 21st, tell your friends about it

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The image will look like this:

Now, if you are like me, you might forget about the sale when it gets here!

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Pre-Sale Promotional Giveaway - Enter to win $100 towards the purchase

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CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

Harry Potter Party: The Invitations

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 18:50:00 +0000

For our Harry Potter party invitations, I was inspired by many ticket invitations I came across during my idea search. In the end, I created our ticket to be printed onto a parchment-style card stock. Originally, I though I might print them on plain white card stock, so I created a colored parchment-style background.

I now have custom printable invitations available in my Etsy shop. Click here to see them! I will customize a PDF with 3 tickets per page with all the details for your party or event. Then you can print as many as you need either on white card stock or on parchment or other specialty paper.

Amazing Homeschool Resource Bundle Sale - Coming Soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 15:58:00 +0000

This is just a heads-up for my fellow homeschool moms out there. I know we're all in the midst of planning for the new school year, so I wanted to share this upcoming sale with you. Next week the Build Your Bundle Sale will launch, and I think some of you will be amazed at the options available in this sale. There will be something for students of every age as well as an opportunity to put together your own bundle by choosing the products you want. Stay tuned for more details when the sale launches!

(Disclaimer: There are affiliate links below, so if you click through from this page and then purchase something from the sale next week, I will receive compensation for helping
you find your way to the sale.)

The first ever "Build Your Bundle"
- Homeschool Edition

sale is almost here!

You can enter to win $100 towards your purchase

to use when the sale goes live on 7-21-14! Enter now through 11:59PM EST

on 7-20-14. The winner will be announced the day the sale starts!

Be sure to look for the special coupon code you will get when you pin

the giveaway on Pinterest!

For one week only (July 21-28) save up to 92% on bestselling

homeschooling products, including MANY on Cathy Duffy's Top 100 list!

Not interested in entering the giveaway, but you want to be reminded

when the sale goes live?

They will send you a reminder email! Click

here and enter your email address and click "Remind Me!"

Take a Sneek Peek at Our Bundles:

Tots & Preschoolers Bundle

This Bundle includes products for little ones:

Character Training Resources

Handwriting Curriculum

Preschool & Toddler Activities

Bible Curriculum

Full Preschool Curriculum

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Kindergarten - 3rd Grade Bundle

The K-3 Bundle includes products in the following subjects:

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Math

Science

History

Handwriting

Character Training

Bible Resources

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Elementary: 4th-6th Bundle

The 4th-6th Bundle includes products in the following subjects:

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Language Arts

Geography

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Math

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Writing Guides

Handwriting andCopywork Resources

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Customizable Homeschool Planner

Middle School Bundle

This bundle features a full language arts curriculum from Cathy Duffy’s

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and two science curricula, one of which is also from Cathy

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A Complete Geography and History Curriculum

History Timeline/Book of Centuries

Renaissance and Reformation Notebooking Pages

Classical Music Curriculum

Creative Writing Course

Math Materials

Keyboarding Course

Bundle for High Schoolers

This bundle features:

New Testament Bible Curriculum

Introduction to Psychology

A full year of math curriculum

Resources for World History and Geography

Philosophy

Home Economics

College Prep Tools

Grammar

Creative Writing Course

Anatomy Science Unit study from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 picks,

and more!

You will receive enough materials for a full year of

high school!

Charlotte Mason Bundle

This bundle features a complete curriculum using the Charlotte Mason

Methods for:

Language Arts

Handwriting, and Reading

Geography

Nature Study

Artists Study

Poetry

And a variety of "extras" just for mom!

Learn all about Charlotte Mason and enjoy a special bonus (a $90

value all by itself) of great, classic audio books!

Bundle Just for Moms!

Save money, strengthen your marriage, and streamline your schedule using

our Mom Bundle. Find the encouragement you need and the insight to speak

to your child’s heart (even that difficult child!). Whip your home into

shape and train your children to do their chores effectively using a popular

book "chores program".

This bundle brims with useful tools to help you bring

calm to the chaos. Get them all for just $10!

"Build Your Own" Bundles

When you purchase a combination of any 2 "Build Your Own" bundles, you will get the 3rd one at 50% off!

The Owl Post - Hogwarts Acceptance Letter and Scavenger Hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 22:49:00 +0000

I began telling you all about our big Harry Potter birthday plans a few weeks ago. Now that the party has come and gone, I'm working on getting everything into a sharable format. I collected ideas for months, so it's taking a little sifting to remember where I found things and time to clean up files, but I'd like to share as many of the details with you as possible.

The first part of our plan was to surprise the boys with an Owl Post delivery. The letter didn't have to arrive on Jonathan's birthday because most wizards just get theirs some time in the summer--It just happened that Harry's birthday was in the summer. We chose to have the owl arrive a couple of weeks before their birthdays, so I could finish up the party planning without having to keep it hidden. If we hadn't done this, I definitely couldn't have added in so many details at the end. It just wouldn't have happened.

Justin took the boys out for an errand, and when they arrived home, Hedwig was waiting on the coffee table with an owl post letter addressed to Jonathan. When he opened it up, there was a letter inviting him to a "short term" at Hogwarts. It had post scripts telling him to invite his brother along and to visit their Disney friends while he's in the area. Instead of the list of supplies, he had a page with a clue included in his envelope. I was hoping for a big burst of excitement, but it was funny because they didn't realize the trip was real until several clues later.

There were clues that led them inside and out to find all of their birthday gifts from us. It was the Universal and Disney park maps found in their underwear drawer that finally convinced them there really would be a trip. The final clue explained that, since the trip is still a while off, they would be having a Hogwarts birthday party a few weeks later. I'm so glad we did that because it was fun having them help to plan and finish up the decorations.

The main things I had to do for this part of the plan were to create the Hogwarts letter, first clue page, and envelope then print our clues and place them into some tiny envelopes. I put together my letter mostly by using different fonts and consulting the Sorcerer's Stone for the wording. There are tons of examples online, but I'm sharing a couple of things that might help make the process easier. These are PNG files of the letterhead and the footer I created that can be inserted into any word processing document. You can use these, add your own wording for the body of the letter, and customize it however you'd like.

Click here to download the letterhead for the main page of the letter.

Click here to download the letterhead for additional pages.

Click here to download the footer.

If first made my envelope by using a template I put together. I traced mine onto some parchment paper to make it look more authentic. I folded the flaps and secured it with scrapbook adhesive. I then measured the width of the finished envelope and adjusted my letter accordingly. I increased the margin on the right, so I could trim the page to about a 6 inch width. I printed the letter pages onto the same parchment paper, trimmed the width, and folded them to fit into the envelope.

You can click here to download the envelope template.

Once the letter was all packaged, I used a real wax seal to close it all up. For an easier and less spendy alternative, you can find printable wax seals here. Just print them, cut them out, and affix them to the flap of your envelope. You'll just need to address your envelope for your special person, then it will be ready for the Owl Post.

Are you planning a Harry Potter party?

Have you ever given someone a Hogwarts letter?

There are lots of details about the birthday party on the way!

Daily Planning Schedule - FREE Printable

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal @ A Well-Feathered Nest) — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 20:17:00 +0000

I've been thinking a lot about what our school schedule will look like as I prepare Jonathan for Challenge during this last year in Foundations and as I transition Benjamin into doing more formal learning. The thought of it is a bit daunting. I panicked a little this weekend as I realized that July is almost here, and our official summer break will be over before I know it. So, today I took some time to work out some of my thoughts on paper.

We have been a Classical Conversations family from the very beginning, but I have also tried to implement as many of Charlotte Mason's ideas as possible in these younger years. We take some, and adapt some while skipping those that don't fit with our goals. It's enough to make a CM purist gasp out loud! I stumbled across this post about scheduling and creating margin in our children's days. Christy does a great job of walking through her scheduling thought process for Ambleside Online. While this doesn't fit our homeschool perfectly, I have struggled with some of the same frustrations she overcame, and my aim is to focus on being more intentional with our time in the coming year.

Bring on the graphs and lists and colored pencils. I am such a pen and paper planner. I plopped down with my graph paper notebook today to work out my lists, move things around, and come up with a schedule for the three of us that I think will work. I plan to shift a bit to keep the lessons shorter and more focused. This is scary because I'm allergic to strict time schedules. It's a commitment issue.

Of course, you know I had to make myself a planning page to document the final product, so I thought someone else out there might find it useful. This is a daily scheduler that begins at 7:15am and ends at 9:15pm. It has space to schedule up to three people on one page, or you could use one or more of the columns for notes or even different schedules for different days of the week.

I always feel better when I've gotten my thoughts down onto paper. If I can catch some of the other things that are rolling around in my mind, I'll be doing well.

Click here to get your copy of the Daily Schedule form!