About Nicole

Nicole can be found blogging at her lifestyle blog Gidget Goes Home, and is the former editor of Simple Homemade. She loves to read, sew, make ice cream, take pictures, watch baseball, and go for walks by the beach with her hubby and three little kiddos. She loves anything handmade and is affectionately known as a bit of a hippie among family and friends.

by Nicole on May 8, 2013 • 12 Comments DIY Your Home

DIY mini mei-tai baby doll carrier

There’s just something so sweet about a toddler and her baby doll (or his, for that matter; my son loves his doll and animals, too).

When we were first preparing to bring home baby number two, I decided to make a baby carrier for my daughter who was just over two at the time. I had loved wearing her in my handmade mei-tai, a gift from my sister-in-law, and decided to draft a simpler version for her to use with her favorite doll, Molly the Dolly.

Now my third baby is almost two, and just approaching that perfect age for baby-doll-wearing. She loves going in the Ergo with mommy and thus was sweetly excited to put on this mini mei-tai and carry her own baby around.

This is a simple project– easily completed in two naptimes for me.
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by Nicole on July 23, 2012 • 31 Comments Family Bonding Your Family

Ten ways to use your creativity for good

Written by Nicole Bennett of Gidget Goes Home.

It seems like summer brings a big sigh of relaxation and a feeling of extra time to do, make, create and enjoy. Everyone seems to be creating bucket lists and planning out all the fun things they want to do as a family.

But we can do even more than come up with fun ways to fill our summer days. We can use our creative minds purposefully to focus on using less resources and blessing others. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with projects (Pinterest-overload, anyone?) so here are just ten easy ideas and activities for using our creativity for good this summer.
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by Nicole on June 11, 2010 • 51 Comments Family Bonding Your Family

Adoption: lessons learned

As I’m writing this post, my son, who we recently adopted, is almost eight weeks old — which is to say, I’m definitely not an expert on this subject. It all happened pretty quickly for us, which is pretty rare in adoption. I haven’t read many books (yet), but I’ve been thrown into one of the most emotional, exciting experiences of my life.

So far, I’ve already learned some important life lessons, both about adoption itself (open, in our case), and one of the most important parenting lessons of my life as a mama, one that applies to both my children (even my biological one).

Here’s what adoption has taught me.
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