Get active, try a craft, or make a delicious recipe.
We’d love to hear how your experience went if you tried something of ours! You can always comment with your questions or how it went on a post or connect with us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest.
CONTRIBUTORS
Fresh & Fast Family Fun Starts Here!
With six kids between ages 2-7, it’s gotta be fast and easy. We understand that you’re flying by the seat of your pants, and balancing priorities. We aim to inspire you to do-it-yourself, get outdoors and add simple homemade recipes that make family life fun and fresh. We’ve tried it – and it works.
Our blog is written by the contributors mentioned above. It started with Andrea, a suburban stay-at-home mom who enjoys all crafty mediums from felt to peeler beads; Holly, a rural farm mom who loves being outdoors, gardening and healthy food and Melanie, a busy working urban mom who loves whipping up new recipes and playing with the latest techy gadgets.
Smashing a computer long ago in grade nine yielded a beautiful friendship. It’s been one of those friendships that has lasted more than a decade. We’ve lasted from ICQ to FaceTime, from not-speaking-to-you-ever-again to hey-there, and from letter writing to blogs. The old adage about friends becoming your family certain rings true.
We’ve always had plenty to share. As teenagers, we got grounded from the phone abundantly, so we creatively purchased ourselves walkie-talkies with the right distance range and would gab on to each other on them every night. (At the time, that was cutting edge electronics).
We founded our first blog in the 90s via HTML, and blogged through teenage angst, flinging pudding (don’t ask), and poetry. It was the days of Tripod, Geocities and Pegasus mail. We have these brilliant phone calls each week where we talk about parenting, crafts, and life in general. Think about our posts as conversations come to life. If we survive these little kid years, we might even do a podcast someday.
Melanie has recently joined our team of awesomeness. She is the missing piece of the trifecta. She is a busy working mom who lives in the heart of Toronto. She’s mom to Mr. S, the 7-year old with a heart as geeky as his mom’s and Miss A, the sweet little girl who has William’s Syndrome, a genetic condition. You can learn more about Melanie’s trials, tribulations and advocacy as the mom of a special little girl at www.mommydo.ca.
Andrea
Hi! I’m Andrea, momma to Miss O (2012) and and Little J (2014). We live in suburbia just outside of Toronto (Burlington, Ontario) where I was born and raised along with the hubby. I’m a thrifty, crafty geek who enjoys all mediums from felt to sewing to perler beads. In the past I’ve dabbled in scrapbooking, jewelry-making, hand-sewing felt projects and more. You name it, I bet I’ve tried it! My latest venture is into the Cricut world. In my free time (when I’m not crafting or working on websites), you will find me at the local mall scouring for deals with Tim Hortons in hand or redecorating my house….again.
I have the attention span equal to that of my children. All things DIY have to be simple and able to be completed in a day. I just don’t have the patience nor the desire to spend months working on a quilt or a weekend refinishing my hardwood floors. My kids keep me on my toes and as such, don’t allow me the freedom to spend an entire day sewing something fancy so it needs to be completed between their bedtime and mine. I change my mind as often as I do my hair so my crafty medium of choice tends to change month to month.
I’m currently learning how to sew, creating more quick recipes, thinking up new and fun ways to entertain my kids and drooling over the newest Cricut.
Holly
In 2009, my husband and I got married, then two weeks later shucked off our Ontarian urban life and made a run for the mountains. We’ve been here in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies ever since. We renovated a 1950’s mill home in our spare time from top to bottom (a little project we like to call HoboChic) over 6 years, and soaked up mountain life.
More recently, we took an even bigger leap of faith and changed jobs & locations again. We have moved on to our biggest project to date – a 1950s farmhouse and 12 acres of land that need a lot of love (and elbow grease) just out of Mayerthorpe, Alberta. This is an incredible change for two suburban Ontario kids, as we discover how to produce food for our family and adjust to rural, country life.
I have been blessed with two beautiful children – Mr J (2011) and Miss P (2013) and one active border collie, Milton. I work full-time at the local Recreation department. In my free moments, I am exploring, geocaching, canning, and gardening (when there’s no snow!). I’m a passionate advocate for growing your own food, and getting children outdoors in nature. We’re an active family who loves swimming, skating, skiing, hockey and camping (just to name a few).
Melanie
Hi, I am Melanie, a busy working mom revelling in the perfect imperfection of the modern world. Born in Northern Ontario, I now live in Toronto with my husband, 2 children Mr S (2009) and Miss A (2012), and Sir Squeaks-A-Lot, the guinea pig. I love hot tea, the latest gadgets, craft beer, sweater-weather and the unexpected beauty in life. At night, I dream about an organized home and self-ironing shirts. My favourite topics to write about are: food from scratch, tech for grownups and kids, special needs parenting, holiday traditions and trying new things.
Sarah
I am a busy mom to 3 kids, so my days are typically filled with tea parties & story books, singing & dancing, crafts (for as long as a 3yo’s attention span will allow) & cuddles. All the while trying to keep up with laundry & cleaning & meals (we have PB&J sandwiches for dinner more often than I’ll ever admit). The days (& weeks & months) seem to speed past so I try to soak up as much as I can each day.
Born and raised in Ontario, my whole life changed in 2011 when I moved to Nova Scotia. Just over a year later I started dating my partner, and soon after we started our family. We have Allie (2013), Emily (2015), and Lindsay (2017) – and I certainly cannot forget our 16 year old black lab, Rocky, who is our biggest baby.
In my spare time I absolutely love baking, enjoy sewing (my machine may be collecting dust at the moment), and write to several pen-pals around the world. I love all sorts of crafts, especially papercrafts – from scrapbooking to cardmaking to paper loop wreaths. I also have a long lost love of photography which quickly fell by the wayside when I started having children, and I am working on making that a priority again.