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Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

DIY, Holidays!

Hocus Pocus

10.27.2015

Halloween Trick or Treat Decorations

Let me paint you a little picture. It’s 6:00AM, Monday morning, the week of Halloween. There’s a slight chill outside, as if Halloween is just setting in. Fog can be seen maneuvering it’s way around your front yard. Your alarm goes off, you struggle to get out of bed. After all, it is Monday morning. You make your way to the end of the bed where you have your work outfit already laid out, and attempt to get dressed in the dark. Your husband is sleeping quietly in bed, and you wouldn’t want to wake him from his peaceful slumber, so you keep the lights off. When that proves to be a challenge, you take whats left of your outfit into the bathroom where you close the door and turn on the light. And then it happens.

Halloween Trick or Treat Decorations Black and White

You sit down to use the amenities in the bathroom, while simultaneously picking up your shirt. You almost have your arms inside, when BAM! A big black spider flies off your shirt onto the floor. You’re mid-flow. You can’t get up to kill said spider, so you have to watch the massive beast crawl around on the floor, towards your tiny toes.  You pick up your feet and start to have a panic attack. After all, that spider could eat your cat, it’s that big. You must save yourself. You struggle to complete the task at hand, while trying to find something to kill the bear-like sized spider. You can literally see it getting larger by the second. At this point, you’re scared that when you kill it you’ll be covered in spider-guts. This is going to be ugly.

Halloween Trick or Treat Decorations BannerWhen you finally get your bearings, and that little sucker is flushed down the toilet, you can finally take a breath. You open the door to the bedroom where your husband assumes you have literally just flushed your own head down the toilet from all the commotion. You try to explain to him that when a spider is the size of your fist, there is little you can do to prevent a hysterical meltdown.

Halloween Trick or Treat Decorations - DIY Candle

It is Monday after all. And Halloween week. The only spiders I like crawling in my house are big, green, and glittery thank you very much. And even those are questionable. I think I owe the Halloween Gods a little appreciation, because apparently they’re spiting me with real spiders. So in honor of them, I shall add a few more green glittery spiders to my house. Hopefully that will ward off the real ones for a while.

Halloween Trick or Treat Decorations Sparkly SpiderI put together this little corner of our living room with black and white decorations with a little green flair. If you’d like to print your own Trick or Treat banner, you can find it here. I used a sequined ribbon to turn a simple white pillar candle into my added flair, and printed this Halloween Subway Art here.

Halloween Trick or Treat Decorations DIY

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Lifestyle

Gossip Girl is Over.

10.26.2015

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(The most “Gossip Girl” finale-like photo I have)

Gossip Girl is over. For me. For the rest of the world, it’s been over for three years. I’m late getting on the train, I know.

But I’m going to admit something that will definitely give you the power to judge me. I’m fine with it, I’ve come to peace with it. I just finished watching the entire series. And I’m sad. I can’t believe it’s over. My life is changed forever. I almost shed a tear. Or a million tears. It was quite possibly the best finale I’ve ever seen from a show. I am tempted to start it over and watch it from the beginning. Again. I was going to move on…you know…to another show, like Gilmore Girls or One Tree Hill. But I just can’t move on quite yet. I need some time to process these feelings. I need time to grieve. I need a glass of wine. Stat.

In the meantime, I guess life will keep moving on. While Serena and Dan will remain forever at their wedding and Blair and Chuck will stare longingly into each other’s eyes for the rest of time, I will have to continue trekking away doing my mindless activities. Life is just not fair.

Because I’ve been so busy lately (not watching Gossip Girl), I haven’t been writing much. So now that can all change. Hopefully I’ll be around a lot more this week, I do have plenty of Halloween DIY’s to show you. Including my pretty amazing costume. Can you guess what it will be?!

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DIY, Holidays!

Dollar Tree Fall Table Arrangement

10.22.2015

Dollar Tree Fall Table Arrangement

Once you get on the Fall train, you just can’t get off until after the new year. You make stops in Thanksgiving town, Elf on the Shelf town, Christmas town, and then you’re right on your way to New Years Eve town. Until January, you just can’t catch a break. But at least I’ll have a lot of stamps in my holiday train passport. Since I had to trade in my real passport when I got married (and subsequently lost all my stamps). It was a sad, sad day. The day that my husband suddenly became a more well-traveled man than me, and you better believe he doesn’t let me forget it. This is the same husband that didn’t even own a passport until he met me.

Letting that go (taking a deep breath)….and back onto the Fall train. I love decorating, but I don’t like decorating with a high budget. I mean, I probably would like decorating with a high budget…but until I win the lottery, I don’t see myself getting experience in expensive taste.

Dollar Tree Fall Table Arrangement

So I did what any other middle-class, budget-attentive woman would do. I went to the Dollar Tree and splurged on six items. It was a very serious commitment. I had a little spray paint at home, but if you don’t, you’ll need a can of cream color spray paint (which Wal-Mart sells for about $1).

I bought three small ceramic pumpkins, one string of fall leaves, and two medium-sized orange pumpkins (which I then promptly painted cream – because seriously, they were very ugly pre-paint job). String the leaves around the pumpkins, and you’re done. It may not look like anything high-end, but it’s cheap, easy, and festive. The best part is that you don’t have to splurge on another six items at DT for Thanksgiving. This arrangement can carry you right on through Thanksgiving. You’re welcome.

Dollar Tree Fall Table Arrangement

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DIY

diy wood slice coasters

10.20.2015

DIY Wood CoastersSince it’s officially been fall for almost a month now, I guess I should get on board. I will admit that I did try a PSL the other day (since they changed the recipe and all), and I have to be honest. I didn’t love it. I didn’t really even like it. I’m starting to wonder if I’m even American.

DIY Wood Slice Coasters

But, in honor of said season, I figured I’d put together a little fall craft. And I say that lightly, because I’m not entirely convinced that this is a fall craft. I figure wood slices aren’t really a summer thing…so we’ll go with fall. If it works, it works. Stop judging.

Being from the Midwest, I have a lot of family members that have cabins ‘up north.’ And if you didn’t read that as, “cabins up nort,” you’re clearly not from Wisconsin. More power to you. Seriously. The Yooper accent is a bit much, even for me. Every time I visit back home, I pick up a little of it. Especially when drinking. Okay mostly just when drinking.

DIY Wood Slice CoastersOne of my aunts is building a new cabin in the woods up north. I had seen wood projects around the block (or on Pinterest), and thought about making her some photo coasters as a little cabin-warming present. On wood, of course. I couldn’t find a tutorial online that was as easy as I like ’em to be, so I made up my own…

You can buy the wood slices at Michael’s, or you can cut them on your own. This would depend on how much of a lumberjack you are. Obviously, I bought mine. I know that may come as a shock to you, since I’m so outdoorsy – but I was short on time.

Print photos on regular printer paper. Trim your photos to fit each wood slice. Using a thin coat of Modge Podge on the bottom of each photo, stick it to the wood slice, being careful to push out any air pockets. Wait for that to dry, and then apply another thin coat to the top. After that is dry as well, you should apply at least another 2 layers to the top. You want to make sure it has a good seal, so the photos don’t bubble when wet. If you want to tie them together with the same tag (or one like it), you can find it here.

Overall, I think they turned out pretty neat. Since I’ll probably never see the cabin myself, at least I can know that she’s protecting her table surfaces with these coasters. Seriously, what’s more important than that?

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About Me

About Me

Hi Mamas! My name is Shauna, a 30-something (big emphasis on the 'something') new mama and wife living in Southern California. I've become a Stay At Home Mom to Sawyer, and I would do it forever if I could! I'm originally from Wisconsin and am a total Cheesehead! I'm here to share DIY's, travel tips, and baby stuff I'm sure!

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stayinghomesawyer

Save for later. PS: This is my husbands rendition Save for later.

PS: This is my husbands rendition of a “Sexy Willy Wonka.” You know, because being Aladdin, Flynn Ryder, Prince Charming…he couldn’t just be a regular guy for one year. 🤣🤣
Don’t spend today wishing for tomorrow. Find five Don’t spend today wishing for tomorrow. Find five things every night that you’re thankful for, and BE thankful for them. So much of our lives are spent waiting for the next best thing when in reality, it’s sitting right in front of us.
If there’s anything I’ve learned in this life, it’ If there’s anything I’ve learned in this life, it’s to SLOW DOWN.

So much of life is spent going, going, going. Waiting for the next stage. Telling ourselves, “Once we get through this, things will be easier.” Once the kids are older. Once life settles down. Once we have more time. But what if we’re missing the whole point? Because the moments we’re so eager to get through ARE the moments.

Today is the important stuff. The ordinary days. The messy days. The little conversations, the giggles, the routines, the chaos, the moments that don’t feel significant while we’re living them. We spend so much time wishing for the next chapter that we forget we’re already living one we’ll someday wish we could go back to.

So slow down.

Be here.
Pay attention.
Let the moment take as long as it needs to.

Because someday, these will be the days we miss.

**And if you know us personally, you know why I had to jump on this social media trend**
This is your permission slip to let the crafts be This is your permission slip to let the crafts be messy. 

They don’t need to match your house. They don’t need to be Pinterest-worthy. They don’t need to be made with a neutral color palette and a Cricut. They just need to be theirs.

Because someday I’m probably going to miss the paper scraps, the glue everywhere, the questionable color combinations, and the little masterpieces I had no idea what to do with. Let them make the ugly craft. Let them make a mess. Let them create something that looks nothing like what you had in mind.

Childhood doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing to be beautiful.
When you stop to think about the fact that one day When you stop to think about the fact that one day all of her toys will be someone else’s toys, she’ll be heading off to college, and all I’ll be left with are these videos…
This is NOT a post to bash moms that are happy the This is NOT a post to bash moms that are happy their kids are going back to school. My neighbors and I commiserate all summer long about how long the days are, how frustrating the kids can be, how much they’re fighting, etc. 

But my days are always like that, and even though it’s exhausting and overwhelming at times, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Even if I only have ONE moment like this a day, it’s one moment a day I could miss out on if they were in a traditional school. 

So here’s to whatever choice you are making in regards to your kids education. What’s best for YOU is most important. And what’s best for us is this.
I honestly never thought I’d be the mom saying yes I honestly never thought I’d be the mom saying yes
 to slime... but here we are.

The difference? This isn’t just a container of slime
 to squish around. The Slime Prank Lab by @CrunchLabs
turns it into an activity. We spent the afternoon mixing the slime, experimenting with different textures, and (of course) testing out the ridiculously funny booger and fart pranks. 🤣

My girls were completely entertained, and I loved watching them create, experiment, and laugh together. It feels like pure fun for the kids, but there’s actually some pretty cool science and engineering behind it all, plus Mark Rober walks you through even more with the QR code inside the kit.

Who in your family would be the first prank target? 
#sponsored #crunchlabs @moosetoys_
I’m about as outdoorsy as an overwater bungalow in I’m about as outdoorsy as an overwater bungalow in Tahiti can be.

#tahiti
A core memory I didn’t know I’d be making… This w A core memory I didn’t know I’d be making…

This weekend at church, my daughter got to light the candles for the first time. At the end of the service, when she went up on her own to extinguish them, proud tears dropped from my eyes. And as I looked around at others, I noticed I wasn’t the only one. 

If you had asked me in my early to mid twenties, I wouldn’t have imagined how much this community, this faith, and these little traditions would come to mean to our family. There was a season of my life, long before I became a mom, where I drifted away from actively going to church. Now, getting to watch my girls grow up surrounded by faith, love, and a church family who knows them and celebrates them feels like such a gift.
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