Oliver's First Birthday Invitation--Free Printable

I wanted to share the invitation I made for Oliver's First Birthday party (seen here) with y'all today.  I created it over at Picmonkey, I just love that site and all their photo editing options! 

I made the invitation using bold circus style stripes with the classic circus colors of red, aqua, and yellow that I designed his party around. Of course, under the "Where" section I put our address...it's ok to leave that stuff off of the inter webs, right?  Riiiight!

If you are throwing a circus party any time soon and would like to use this invitation just click on the picture above for the free blank printable and save it to your desktop.  You can then upload it to Picmonkey or Photoshop or any other photo editing software you are handy with and add in your child's name and all the vital party info in any font of your choosing! I printed all our invitations out over at Vistaprints...the are so easy peasy to work with :-)

I also created these fun labels for Oliver's goodie bags over on Picmonkey too!  You can do so much on that site...LOVE! For these labels, I uploaded them to Avery and printed them off on round Avery labels similar to what I did for Eloise's First Birthday party here.

Okie dokie, hope you are having a swell day!

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO,

TUTORIAL: Teacher Appreciation Gift And FREE Printable!

Need an easy gift to show those teachers you know how much they are appreciated this week?  You know, for Teacher Appreciation Week all week long (May 6-10, 2013)!

I thought a fun gift for Noah's teacher and his classroom teacher's helper would be a fun jar full of goodies with a cute printable attached telling them how much we like them.  This way they could use the goodies inside at their leisure and once they are done they have a cute little jar to use for whatever they want later.

If you want, you can just copy and paste this printable (below) onto your desktop and print "scale to fit". That should give you 4 tags for the smaller pint-size mason jars that can be cut with a 2 inch circle punch and then two larger tags that you will need to cut by hand but will fit a larger quart-size mason jar.

Teacher Appreciation Gift

mason jars

spray paint

miniature toy dog figurines

hot glue, e-6000, or strong glue dots

burlap strips or twine

free printable (found above)

First thing you want to do is take the lid(s) off your jars and spray paint just the outside of them whatever color you want.

Next, take your toy dog figurines and spray paint them as well.  Aren't these little guys just soooo cute!

Once both the lid and the dogs are dry, use your adhesive of choice and glue, hot glue, or glue dot them onto the lid of the jars.

So easy, right?

Fill each jar with whatever little goodies you think your teacher would like.  Noah's teacher happens to use those fun Mr. Sketch scented markers to grade their papers so I thought I would get her a new supply of them.  And then what person on earth doesn't like chocolate? ;-) I filled the rest of her jar with chocolates and I also filled the teacher's helper gift full of chocolates too!  Of course, each teacher will also get a gift card cause I just think they all deserve a lunch/coffee out on the town for their hard work all year long.

Then, hot glue the burlap strip around the middle of each jar and glue the printable onto that....

Or take some twine and wrap it around the center of the jar a few times and hot glue the printable to it!

So simple and versatile...I love gifts that keep on giving!

And really, who wouldn't want a sweet little puppy looking up at you from your desk all day long!

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO,

An Experience Christmas Advent {Free Printable}

I know it's December 6 (already!  Happy Birthday Dad!) but I wanted to share our Christmas Advent with you this year because my littles have been loving it...and I figured if my kids love it then your kids may too.  If you haven't started an Advent this season Do Not Worry!  You still have plenty of time to jump in and if your kids are anywhere near mine in age (5, 3, 1) than they probably won't know that you are starting a few days late anyways and I'm sure they will still love the daily activity of it all, heck I do!

I know I've shown you our Christmas Advent house before, but for those that are new to the blog here is a peek at what it looks like.  It's a simple little house containing small 2 x 2 inch doors leading to little compartments behind each one.  Last year I filled our house with candy which the kids loved but it was just a bit of a candy overload for me as their momma.  Especially since they wanted to eat the candy at 7 in the morning.  So this year I decided to do an "Experience" Christmas Advent where we would forget the candy and instead I would place little pieces of paper inside each door printed with something for them to do each day.  I saw this idea on Pinterest a while ago and I thought it was so neat that I had to make up my own!  

PS.  Have you joined Pinterest yet?  It's sooo awesome, inspiration galore...you have got to join!  My Pinterest boards can be found here if you want to follow!

Here's a little look at my printed "Experience" Christmas Advent above.  I came up with 24 ideas for days 1-24 in December and then on Day 25, Christmas Day, the kids will get to unwrap the little baby Jesus that belongs to their Nativity set since he really is the best gift of all!   

If you would like to print one out for your family just click here:  Christmas Advent 2011

You could always change some of them to suit your family's needs better, I realize not everyone may have our family's traditions.  But maybe some of these you'll find you like and will want to add to what you already do.  Some other ideas I had that didn't make this list that we will also do include:

Write a Letter to a Soldier Overseas (with mom and dad's help of course!)

Send a box of goodies to a Soldier Overseas

Sing Carols at a Nursing Home

Shovel the Sidewalk for a Neighbor

Bring a Tray of Goodies to a Hospital (for the staff or the patients)

Make Popcorn or Cranberry Garland for the Tree

Make Homemade Marshmallows

Decorate a Gingerbread House

I cut each Experience into strips with a paper cutter and then used a calendar to match them to a day that I thought fit best since we have to work around the kids' school and activities schedule.  I also placed "Visit a Nativity" and "Drive Around to See Christmas Lights" and similar ones like those on weekend days since we have more time to do those types of activities on the weekends.  

Then I stuffed each door with an Experience and Voilà! our Christmas Advent was ready to party!

I made sure December 1st had the slip of paper with "Read Elf on the Shelf" as I thought this would be the perfect kick-off to reading the story and having our Elf (named Stocking by the kids) start magically appearing in our house. 

If you don't know about Elf on the Shelf you can read more about it here.  It is basically a little Elf that appears in your house in a different spot each day and watches over your children.  He or she reports back to Santa every night when they sleep to tell him the Good and the Bad of the day.  Then Santa writes it all down and decides on Christmas Eve if you belong on the Naughty or Nice list.  I saw a commercial on CBS saying that there is going to be an Elf on the Shelf movie this Friday so I think I'll switch a couple slips of paper around so that will be our 'Christmas Movie Night" Activity!

I put the "Sprinkle Food for Santa's Reindeer" slip of paper in the December 24 compartment.  For this one I'll make my usual mix I make every year for the kids...

Reindeer Food

1 cup dry Oatmeal 

1 Tbsp Green Sugar Sprinkles 

1 Tbsp Red Sugar Spinkles

Mix all ingredients together in a mason jar or ziploc bag.  Let your kids sprinkle handfuls on the driveway or lawn on the night before Christmas to give Santa's reindeer a snack to eat while they wait for Santa to do his job! 

I hope you try out our Christmas Advent, it really is so much fun to do. 

And as always, if you have any questions just let me know!

XOXO,

Children's Scavenger Hunt {A Free Printable}

Here's another fun idea I created earlier this summer for my little ones to help us (or me) enjoy all the laps around the block we take every single day.  Don't get me wrong, I love walking the block but sometimes, just sometimes, it can get a little bang my head against the wall, ya feeling me?  One kid wants to go left, the other is screaming to go right and the baby is trying her hardest to Houdini it out of her stroller straps.

Do you need something fun like this to add a new dimension to your everyday-everyday?   

I kinda thought you might.

Print the Scavenger Hunt Here!

When you print the Scavenger Hunt out you will get FOUR cards per sheet.  I print mine on a heavy cardstock.   Take a scissors or a paper cutter and cut them apart.  Then just give your kids a crayon, a little marker or even stickers and let them search high and low finding each picture on the card.

We always find lots of American flags on our walks.  It's so fun to hear Penelope yell out when she's spotted one, 'Mare-can Fwag!  Mare-can Fwag!'  Finding them just might be the highlight of her day.  

Partway through you just may need to sit down in someone's driveway and scan your card to see what you have left to find...this is hard work peeps!

Oooh, Oooh!  Flowers...12 o'clock!  Check and done!!

When you've found every single last item you know it's time to let your baby sister have at the card...she is so excited over the prospect of getting some card play...time to get a little slobbery dude!

Enjoy!!

XOXO,

Make Your Own Postcards {Free Printable}

Now that preschool is out for summer I have been trying to come up with some fun things to do with the kids when they are in need of just a little bit more structure.   You know Momma can never compare to all that jam packed class time.  Messy art projects by the minute, crafts, story time, outdoor play, you name it and they have me beat no matter how hard I try!  

Noah loved preschool so much that on the days he wasn't in school he would ask to do school-like things such as set our table and 'do' snack time like they have in school complete with filling a little pitcher (read: my small pyrex measuring cup) with milk or water so that he could pour 2 little glasses for he and Penny.  He would try to teach us their snack song (I think I've finally got it down!) and then he would want me to ask him what he had for breakfast, like his teachers did, which he would in turn feign a complete loss of memory from only a mere two hours before just to make his answers seem more real and school-like, hah :-)  Acting!  Channeling a little Master Thespian à la Jon Lovitz) 

I designed some simple postcards for the kids to decorate in hopes of sending a few every so often to Grandma and Grandpa.  I think we will try to use them as a 'what we've been doing this summer' type of mailing so they can document some of the things they will be doing...summer camp, swim lessons, beach time, caring for the garden, etc.  

The postcards are blank on one side so that the kids can color or draw as they wish and then the other side has some simple air mail markings as well as a place for the child to write his name, and if they are old enough, their address as well as the info for who the postcard will go too.

The postcards are 4 x 6 inches and there are two per 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper.  Print on heavy card stock so that they stand up to the postal service sorting machines!

To print the postcards click here!

Then just grab lots of colorful crayons...

And draw circles, tell story or make a silly face.

Maybe even draw out your family...Noah even included our doggie!

What a proud little artist I have!

Now, don't forget to sign your name and put a stamp on it...that's the best part!  Stamps are just very expensive stickers, no?

When your done you will have a nice little pile of one-of-a-kind postcards to mail to friends and family!

I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as we are!!

Happy Monday!

XOXO,

Mason Jar Lid Matching Game {Free Printable}

Hey all!  I just wanted to share the fun matching game that I had featured on Ucreate Kids!  There are TWO free printables included too...although Valentine's themed with hearts, it still makes a fun and easy-to-make learning game for your kids!  So without further ado...here it is!

::  ::  ::

Some great things about this particular game matching game are that you can really customize it to your child.  I have included printables that will allow you to choose what degree of difficulty you want for you child.  You can make it a numbers game, a colors game or for an older child a game in letters and word recognition.  The options are a-plenty!!

Valentine's Themed Memory Game

24 mason jar lids

modge podge

foam brush

heart-shaped printables

scissors

First, go ahead and download your printable of choice for the game, you'll need to print two sheets total...

To print just right click on the picture above and save it to your computer!

To print this one just right click on your computer and save to your computer.

Next up, grab your jar lids.  I thought mason jar lids would be perfect cause this way the pieces won't get bent or torn apart like the store bought game tends to get plus the lids are smooth and won't cut little fingers or hands.  {Holla for a long-lasting children's game!!}  I found these cute red-checkered ones at Walmart for just a couple of dollars each, perfect for V-Day don't ya think!?!  You could also just buy plain ones or find thrifted ones and then paint them, your call.  

Next, cut out your heart shapes and grab your modge podge.  

Apply a thin coat of modge podge to the inside portion of the lid and place one of your heart shapes on top, pressing down lightly. Wait 15-20 minutes for the modge podge to dry and then apply a second thin coat to the top of the heart.  This helps seal it so that the heart won't peel off! 

Then, wait another 20 minutes or so for all that modge podge to dry and you'll be ready for a fun round of memory with the kids!

Okay...so who's going to go first?

For our game, I printed both sheets and made a memory game that could challenge my four-year old too.

But if you flip them all face up you can play a much easier toddler version and just match colors, so many options I tell ya!

'PAIR!'

Isn't this fun? 

Now go make a "Memory" with your family!  :-)

Enjoy!