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Simple things Sunday – Taking a Rest

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Simple things Sunday is about slowing down and capturing life’s everyday details. Taking joy in the simple things is the focus and Sunday is the day we gather together to reflect on our experiences from the week and share our photos with each other. #SimpleThingsSunday

Sharing another quick photo from our magical trip to Disneyland. I haven’t taken the camera out much this week. With all the photos I took on our trip last week we all needed a little rest from the pictures. Taking a break is never a bad thing. Stepping away from the camera for a few days, or a week or more is OK. After I take a little break from taking photos I always come back refreshed, with a new perspective, ready to photograph life’s details again. The break is not only good for me, but for my kids too! I take a lot of pictures and if not careful, they can get sick of my camera in their face. Typically after an outing where I’ve taken a lot of photos, these little breaks are just what we all need. Just as I encourage you to capture life’s simple moments, I’d also invite you to put that camera away once in a while. Forget about the missed moments — because there will be more tomorrow. Embrace making the memories and take a rest from recording them once in a while.

What simple moments did you celebrate this week?

-Share your photos with us on Instagram, Twitter, G+, even Pinterest by using the hashtag #SimpleThingsSunday. Stacy on Instagram // Rebecca on Instagram

Want to capture magical photos of everyday moments? Join me in my upcoming Photography Workshop, Capture Life 2014! Class starts October 2nd and in this 12-week online workshop you’ll learn to add a touch of magic to your everyday moments, and really bring your photographs to life. I can help you tell better stories with the pictures you take and improve your technical photography skills along the way. For more information about registration and to watch a short promo video go here: Capture Life 2014 Photography Workshop.

–Post your photos on the Simple as That Facebook wall anytime! I‘d love to see what’s going on in your world!

-You can also link up here on the blog each weekend starting Saturday nights at 10pm CST! What is Simple things Sunday? This weekly photo share is all about taking time to photograph the everyday details that make your life unique, beautiful, and special. We gather here each Sunday to share our photos, to enjoy the beauty found in the ordinary and to be reminded of just how important the simple things truly are. Read all about STS here.

September Friday Book Finds

Friday, September 26, 2014

Each Friday on the Simple as That Facebook page I share some of my favorite books finds. Books our family knows and loves or books that we hope to read!

I love to read and I love hearing what books others have read and enjoyed! It’s such a great way to discover new authors and fill my list of books to read. My Friday Book Find posts feature ALL kinds of books – kids books, craft books, read-aloud stories, wholesome adult fiction – it’s a random mix of everything!

Here’s a quick roundup of some of my Friday Book Finds. I hope you find a new favorite in this list and if you have a well-loved book to share please leave the title in the comments or stop by the Simple as That Facebook page each Friday to tell us what you’re reading!

The Ordinary Princess

This book is completely darling! Not only is the story compelling, it’s message of celebrating ones uniqueness and being true to yourself no matter what the world says, makes this book a must read for any Mom/Daughter. I first read The Ordinary Princess with my oldest daughter when she was 8-9 years old and I have it in our home library ready to read with my younger girls. It’s one of our most beloved books!

The Giver

I’m currently enjoying this book with my middle schooler, they’re reading it in her grade 7 English class and we can’t wait to go see the movie together!

1001 Things to Spot

As a Mom, these 1001 Things to Spot books have been a lifesaver at the Dr’s office, on road trips, at church…you name it! They are one of my go-to quiet activities for my kiddos who range in age from 4 years up to 12, they all enjoy them! They’re even great for preschoolers who can’t read yet! I think we have almost every book in the collection and ours are well warn because they’ve gotten so much use!

I Like Myself

I fell in love with this book from the first time I read it to my oldest daughter as a preschooler! I immediately bought a copy for our home library and it is now VERY well worn! It’s one of my favorite kids books, and not just because of it’s wonderful message of self-acceptance. The adorable illustrations and silly rhymes make it so fun to read aloud!

My Mom Snaps

I’ve shared this darling book before, but it’s worth mentioning again for this weeks Friday Book Find! My Mom Snaps is a hit for kids and snap-happy mom’s alike! It’s a sweet little book that makes the perfect gift for the photo lover in your life.

Beautiful Oops

I heard so many great things about this cute book that I had to order our very own copy and we have not been disapoointed! It’s one of my kids newest favorites. They love the cute interactive elements in the book and I love the beautiful message!

Press Here

This weeks Friday Book Find :: Press Here by Herve Tullet. We recently added this fun book to the kids collection and it was an instant hit from the day it arrived!

If you enjoyed this book list you might also enjoy some of these roundups!

50 Fabulous Children’s books for Fall

24 Cute and Cuddly Owl Books

50 Fabulous Christmas Books for Kids

Top 10 Most Loved Craft Books for Kids

Retro Inspired Printable Halloween Gift Tags

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Add some retro flair to Halloween gifts, party favors or memory keeping projects with these printable tags. Don’t forget to scroll down for 7 more coordinating Halloween printables!

Hooray for another roundup of #FabFreebies! Have I mentioned how fun it is to team up with these amazing bloggers each month and share 8 FREE coordinating printables! This month we’re sharing some festive Halloween printables with you! Links to all the printables are included below!

I’m sharing this set of retro inspired Halloween gift tags. They’re perfect for adding a personal touch to Halloween gifts or party favours. Attach one of these gift tags using ribbon or twine and jot a quick note on the back! Click here to download these Retro Inspired Halloween Gift Tags.

Now, for even more FREE Halloween fun, check out these fabulous bloggers printables!

1. Kiki & Company: Every house needs a little “BOO” for Halloween. Use this garland to give any little area a little festive flair!

2. Simple As That: Add some retro flair to Halloween gifts, party favors or memory keeping projects with these printable tags.

3. Eighteen25: Your Halloween Table will look spooktacular when you put these Eat, Drink and Be Scary Prints to use!

4. Paging Supermom: Use this “Monster Meal” oatmeal can wrapper to create a fun gift for neighbors and friends.

5. Whipperberry: This frightfully geometric sign is ready to frame for your mantle or entry table.

6. The Idea Room: Print this spooky “Spells and Enchantments” book cover to create a spell book for your Halloween decor.

7. The Crafting Chicks: Halloween Scattergories! Get those brains working with a fun Halloween twist!

8. Thirty Handmade Days: Surprise friends with this cute “You’ve been boo’ed” packet of Halloween printables!

Finding Joy in Photography

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

I’m so pleased to welcome Bree Hester of Baked Bree to the blog today as part of the inspiring Simply Photography series. I just love what Bree has to share on how to overcome creative block and shoot for you!

The funny thing is that I take pictures every day. I take pictures of food – every day. And I love it. Really, truly, love it. And even though the kids are usually just out of frame, I rarely turn the camera a little to the left and snap any pictures of them. I don’t shoot for myself any more and I really miss it.

The camera is already in my hand. These are the moments that I really want to capture. Doing homework, reading to each other, little hands in a bowl of Goldfish, riding their bikes, snuggling on the couch, even the fighting. I want to remember it all.

Part of it is that they aren’t as willing to be in front of the camera as they once were. They are more aware. As they get older they are a little more self-conscious, and getting the realness that I am after is a challenge.

And the other part is that shooting can sometimes feel like work. Shooting when it is your job can make something that once brought you an immense amount of joy take on a different meaning entirely. I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong, but there are times when I miss just taking pictures for the sheer pleasure of taking pictures.

But these two things also give me the push that I need creatively. This is what makes me a better photographer. Shooting for myself on my own terms. It’s hard and rewarding, and there are times when I really feel like I don’t even have a good image in me. This is the life of an artist.

What helps me break out of this funk, is a personal project. Something that is just for you. It can be about anything, but something with focus helps me fall in love with photography all over again. It works everytime.

This summer I did a personal project about seeing my new home for the first time. The places I discovered and the things that made it feel like it could be home. No one will probably see it other than me, and that makes me love it even more.

Push and stretch yourself. Work and keep going. The only way to do that is by pressing the shutter over and over again. Practicing your craft.

And then magic happens. Camera in hand. Beautiful light. Sweet moments. Real life. And you have the memory forever. This is why I take pictures.

Bree Hester lives in Cape Cod, MA with her husband and 3 kids. You can find her in her kitchen at bakedbree.com or helping overwhelmed moms let go of perfect, lighten up their bodies and lives, by putting themselves back on the to-do list at breehester.com.

25+ Simple Do-it-Yourself Halloween Costume Ideas

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Are you starting to think about Halloween costumes yet? I don’t know about you, but some of our favourite costumes over the years have been the simple, handmade ones. I’ve been pinning some of my favourite quick and easy DIY costumes on Pinterest and I wanted to share a few of my favourites with you!

Follow Rebecca – Simple as That Blog’s board Simple Halloween Costumes on Pinterest.

DIY handmade costumes can be fun, but sometimes simplifying, means going with store-bought costumes. If there just isn’t time for DIY this year, here’s a fun roundup 25 Cute Halloween you can buy, from baby to tween and for almost every budget!

Simple things Sunday – Magical

Sunday, September 21, 2014

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen this photo, but I think it sums up our trip to Disneyland this past week perfectly! It truly was magical and I can’t wait to share more about the fun we had as a family. We just got home so I’ve got all kinds of laundry to catch up on so I’ll say bye for now! Can’t wait to see your STS photos. 🙂

What simple moments did you celebrate this week?

-Share your photos with us on Instagram, Twitter, G+, even Pinterest by using the hashtag #SimpleThingsSunday. Stacy on Instagram // Rebecca on Instagram

14 Fancy Fonts for Fall

Thursday, September 18, 2014

I’ve got another fun font roundup for you to kick off the Fall season! Scroll down for all the links to these 14 Fancy Fonts for Fall! The fantastic news is, they’re all FREE!

What do you use fonts for?

I use fonts all the time when I’m designing free printables and adding text to my photos. Fonts are one of the most fundamental design tools and they can add so much to whatever it is you’re creating!

I use Photoshop in all my design work, but I always recommend Photoshop Elements to those looking to start out in design and photo editing. It’s an amazing program! Another great option if you want to start creating with fonts is to try out PicMonkey. Picmonkey is a free online photo editor. You can use it to fix your photos, add beautiful filters and text and it’s really easy to use!

For more of my favorite font finds, check out these posts:

16 Spooky Fonts for Halloween

14 Fun Fonts for Summer

14 Fresh Fonts for Spring

18 Elegant Fonts for Easter

14 Favorite Dingbat Fonts

12 Best Fonts for Back to School

I link up here.

Disney Themed Journaling and Filler Cards | Free Printables

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

We’re on our way to Disneyland for the first time ever this week and we couldn’t be more excited! Before we left I wanted to put together a quick and easy way for the kids to collect character autographs at the park and today I wanted to share what I came up with.

I always like to have a supply of generic, 3×4 and 4×6 project life cards on-hand for scrapbooking and they come in handy for a lot of other things too! These are a few of my favourite cards to keep in stock:

4×6 Grid Cards | 3 x 4 Lined Cards | 4 X 6 Ledger Cards | 3 x 4 Ledger Cards

They go with any core kit or mini kit, they’re great for jotting down favorite quotes, recording little journaling tidbits or having your child draw a quick picture on. Well, I think I’ve found yet another use for these handy cards!

I’ll be bringing a stack of them to Disneyland with us for the kids to get the character’s autographs on. I’ve gathered a handful of cards for each of the kids, they’re housed in a DIY library pocket secured with a binder clip. All the supplies we need fit in a ziploc bag! When the kids want an autograph they can take their stack of cards (secured with the binder clip) and get their favourite characters autographs.

The best part is, when we get home I’ll be able to quickly compile the autographs, along with our trip photos and memorabilia into a fun album!

I designed some fun Disney themed journaling and filler cards that will make a nice addition to the pages I create from our trip. These aren’t just great for memory keeping, you could even use them as gift tags like I did here. I’ll be sharing how I put these cards to use in my scrapbook album when we get home so stay tuned!

These Disney themed journaling + filler cards, are available for FREE to all Simple as That subscribers. You can sign up for email updates here or subscribe to the Simple as That monthly newsletter here. Once you’ve done one of those things, simply click on the links below to download your free set of cards in the color set you’d like!

Click here to download blue/orange/grey Disney Card Set

Click here to download red/black/yellow Disney Card Set

If you enjoyed this free download please take a moment to share with your friends on Facebook or Pinterest! Thanks so much and enjoy!

EXCLUSIVE DISNEYLAND DISCOUNT

Travel during September to get Adults at Kids’ Prices on 3-Day and longer Park Hopper® Tickets, or take your kids in October during Fall Break! Either way, you’re in for a treat.

Get Away Today is also offering all Simple as That readers exclusive hotel discounts PLUS $10 off a Southern California vacation package which can be combined with any current specials they’re running! This is amazing and you aren’t going to find prices like this anywhere else!!

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Simple things Sunday – Surprise!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

We’re getting ready to leave for Disneyland, so I’m going to keep this post extra brief! It’s been a busy and exciting week and because we’ll be travelling, we’re going to hold off on having a link up next Sunday. I hope you’ve all had a great week! Thank you as always to all of you who continue to share your simple moments with us!

We’re excited to celebrate our first EVER trip to Disneyland this week! In case you didn’t catch the way we surprised the kids and their fun reaction you can see it here! 🙂

What simple moments did you celebrate this week? -Share your photos with us on Instagram, Twitter, G+, even Pinterest by using the hashtag #SimpleThingsSunday. Stacy on Instagram // Rebecca on Instagram

Surprise! We’re Going to Disneyland!

Friday, September 12, 2014

If you’re looking for deals on your next Disneyland vacation, click the image below for the best prices on hotels, tickets and Disney vacation packages!

Yesterday was such a memorable day at our house! When the kids got home from school we surprised them with the news that we’re going to Disneyland and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how well that went over!

I’ve been sitting on this little surprise for a number of weeks now and letting the kids in on it was one of the funnest things EVER! We enlisted the help of the fabulous team at Celebration Shirts to make this surprise a little extra special! Check out the AWESOME custom shirts we ordered from them to wear while we’re at Disney!

To share our surprise with the kids I put their shirts in gift bags with cute Disney themed tags (stay tuned for the free printable for these coming soon!) and let them open them up yesterday after school. I snapped photos while my husband took a video of the whole thing and it was absolutely adorable! My six year old daughter’s reaction was priceless! Here’s a little video clip….

Did you hear our four year old at the end of the video saying, “These shirts are AWESOME!” Well, they totally are! I’m so pleased with the beautiful job that Celebration Shirts did putting together these custom designed, retro logo T’s for us and we can’t wait to wear them on our trip!! I’ll be sharing more details about our shirts soon! In the meantime, if you’re planning a family celebration of any kind and you need some AWESOME custom t-shirts, Celebration shirts!

Use code SIMPLEASTHAT for 10% off your Celebration Shirt order!

This will be mine and the kids first visit to Disneyland EVER and we can hardly wait! It’s hard to say who’s more excited, me or them, really!

EXCLUSIVE DISNEYLAND DISCOUNT

Travel during September to get Adults at Kids’ Prices on 3-Day and longer Park Hopper® Tickets, or take your kids in October during Fall Break! Either way, you’re in for a treat.

USE COUPON CODE —> SIMPLEASTHAT

Looking for more Disney Inspiration and Tips? Check out these posts

Tips for Making the Most of your First Disneyland Vacation