Fall is the season of changing leaves, beauty in nature all around us and ample opportunities to create lasting memories with family. Living on a farm encourages a life in the present. Many factors cause this from the responsibilities that our farm entails to the space and nature that surrounds us and calls us through its beauty and calm whispers. I am really focusing on that ever constant need to be present and slow down time with my children. It seems when I can succeed at being present I can savor so much more of what life is truly about. I hope you will continue to follow along with me in this journey as I share our story of fall memory making and my Up-cycled Watercolor Fall Tree Art tutorial.

As a mom and artist, savoring all the special moments life offers always involves some creativity in my neck of the woods! Lately, I have been combating the busyness of life’s demands with intentional quality time with my loved ones. We have taken time out before school to take the little ones for homemade donuts! See more of that here.

Princesses like donuts with colorful sprinkles don't ya know?!??

A post shared by Stefanie at Simple Acres (@simpleacresblog) on Oct 3, 2016 at 12:55am PDT

We have went downtown to our local farmers markets tasting delicious seasonal produce and flavored vinaigrette and enjoyed small town cuisine and pumpkin patch fun!

We had a girls day. Among all the stressful things life offers …being present takes intention and effort… At least that's what I tell myself. So this week I took my kids to the local donut store, we went to the farmers market one night and today I had a girls day with my mom and daughter. These moments are what matter to me…quality time matters to me. And I'm fighting and sometimes failing for more of it!???❤️ What are you doing lately to savor life more?

A post shared by Stefanie at Simple Acres (@simpleacresblog) on Oct 1, 2016 at 4:51pm PDT

We are taking in the beautiful and warming colors God paints in the nature around us and it ALL FEELS SO GOOD! These simple activities in life are OUR SMILE WORTHY moments that I pray leave a lasting imprint on my children’s hearts.

Taking in all these things I wanted to create an art project we could all do that is a reminder of the beautiful season we are in our lives! My Up-cycled Watercolor Fall Tree Art is simple and something you can do while relaxing outside with a yummy snack. We ate Goldfish crackers and painted in our yard on our picnic table together as we reflected and had fun as a family.

Here is the free printable (tree-sketch) for you to use to either print onto paper or you can place it behind a watercolor paper on a window where light is shining in and trace the tree.

Up-Cycled Watercolor Fall Tree Tutorial

Materials

• free printable tree-sketch
• watercolor paint, brush and paper
• an old book or music sheets
• scissors
• glue stick
• yummy snacks

Directions

1. Once you have printed and traced your tree onto watercolor paper allow you kids to paint it how ever they wish.

2. Enjoy the moments and take in the season with simple snacks like these Goldfish crackers and fresh local apples we enjoyed. As a mom and Registered Dietitian I like that Goldfish crackers are always baked with 100% real cheese and have no artificial flavors or preservatives.

3. Snack a little more and paint a little more.

4. Attach the up-cycled watercolor book sheet leaves to the tree with a glue stick. *For a full video and tutorial scroll down.

Here is a full video that shows our Fall fun and this tutorial in full detail.

Smiles come in simple ways here at Simple Acres. We find them in the goofy things the kids say, the simple moments on the farm when we play “bull rider” like this little guy, when we laugh at our parenting imperfections and when we choose to love each other through the chaos and imperfection.

Smile worthy moments do not HAVE TO be created they just need to be allowed through slowing down and savoring them….and that my friends is the life journey I am on and slowly growing better and better (with a few hiccups along the way) at one small moment at a time.

Did you know that Goldfish brand sponsors a monthly themed social-entry contest? It is so FUN! The theme for October is SPOOKY. Use #GoldfishTalesPromotion when you share on twitter or instagram to enter. Head over to the Goldfish brand page to get all the details on their Goldfish tales campaign and the AWESOME PRIZES you could win here.

I hope my Up-cycled Watercolor Fall Tree Art finds you enjoying your Fall season and encourages you to slow down for a few moments and savor your family a little more. Dovidenia. XO

Here is some other Fall articles you will enjoy:

Simple Apple Pie Minis

Fall Pumpkin Makeover

Potato and Kale Soup with Sausage Meatballs

Fall things in my shop now:

Fall Watercolor Wreath

I have fall home decor in the Etsy shop! Who loves to decorate for Fall? It's my most favorite thing to do and I love creating things with watercolor!??? Find me on Etsy at Simple Acres

A post shared by Stefanie at Simple Acres (@simpleacresblog) on Sep 15, 2016 at 1:33am PDT

My favorite Fall find this week (affiliate link):

The post Up-cycled Watercolor Fall Tree Art appeared first on Simple Acres Blog.

I am in pure bliss! I am running through fallen leaves, going to Fall festivals with my kids, eating caramel apples and baking something pumpkin inspired almost weekly! Fall is my heaven, my obsession and my favorite time of year. The crisp morning and evening air, the cozy cuisine and the layering of warm and comfortable fall clothes is some of what makes this season my favorite. Today I am excited to share some of my favorite fall hoodies, jackets and cardigans thanks to NYFifth Apparel .

I am not the ultimate “fashionista” but I do LOVE cute and comfortable clothes! I am a sweatshirt and jeans kinda girl with really comfy boots. I am pretty low maintenance, with simple taste although sometimes I like to wear something more unique and quirky!

I am impressed by NYFifth’s affordable prices and unique styles and designs PLUS you can do custom screen printing and embroidery on your purchases too! ( I will be remembering that for something I have coming your way in the future.)

Here are the favorites I found that quench my simplistic, country quirky, wife of a hunter, mom to 3 wild kids, blogger on a farm taste:

For jackets I found this longer jacket that makes me think of drinking steamy hot cocoa on a brisk day while I WATCH my man cut wood. Ha! I am looking stunning as ever of course.

Cozy cardigans is an item of clothing I love to wear. To me it is like wearing your coziest blanket as a top AND you get to look amazing in it! Again, comfort will win my heart every time. I am going to wear this one with a plaid collared shirt or a white cream shear and flowy top with cute cowgirl boots!

A few weeks out of the year I am a “hunters widow”. This hoodie is quirky, a conversation piece and I see no rule or age limit for wearing antlers! I love deer and elk ENOUGH SAID! While the hubby is away hunting the wife will play! Shhhh.

For a simple sweatshirt to wear that is comfy and affordable I found this one with a cute embroidered elk. I loved the details on the hood strings.

If you want to be the designer and add custom screen printing or embroidery they have simple plain varieties that are perfect for creating your own style.

Once I started shopping on NYFifth site I slightly became obsessed with many of their deer options so I had to include these sweaters just in case I had any other country lovers, deer hunters, deer hunter widows in the crowd! This deer sweatshirt is kind of retro in style which I dig.

Lastly, this deer sweater with it’s lower cut in the back is another item I HAVE NO CHOICE but to put in my cart. It’s a need folks (wink).

There you have it friends, a roundup of my favorite Fall hoodies, cardigans and jackets. May your cider be warm, your pumpkin spice EVERYTHING be fabulous and your cozy attire make you snug as a bug in Fall! Dovidenia. XO

The post Favorite Fall Hoodies, Jackets and Cardigans appeared first on Simple Acres Blog.