Tag: DIY

DIY Clay Bead Bracelet: A Perfect Craft for Kids

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Our daughter, Riley, loves to craft and is looking for ways to stay busy, especially at her brother’s baseball games. A couple years ago, she met another girl on one of the teams who would make things and sell them to people during games. This inspired Riley and she wanted to do the same! We thought bracelets would be perfect for her since it’s easy to put together and would keep her entertained at home and at the games.

One day while I was scrolling through Amazon, I saw these Clay Bead Spinners and thought this would be perfect for her if it really worked… I was definitely skeptical at first but decided to buy it. When we got it, we were amazed at how well it worked! We were able to complete a bracelet in 5 minutes if we kept the machine on without making any changes to the bracelet. Our boys were even fascinated by it and made a couple themselves! Here are a couple tips when using it.

1) The machine randomly throws on beads on the needle, so if you’re going for a colored pattern bracelet, you probably won’t want to use this. If you’re a go with the flow type of person, this is perfect for you! You’ll want to choose colors that go well together! In the end, it still creates something very cute and colorful.

2) Add more clay beads in the dish! This will help the clay beads fall onto the needle and make the process of making a bracelet go a little bit faster.

3) Finding the right speed and rotation of the spinner can make all the difference. You can adjust the speed of the spinner, along with having it rotate clock-wise or counter clock-wise.

Here are the materials you’ll need:

It’s a tool that is great to use when you’re having a movie/craft night and perfect for littles who love creating something for friends and family! If you or your kids love giving bracelets as gifts, take a look at this post on Boutique-Style Packaging Ideas + Printable.

Best Supplies for a Fun Lemonade Stand

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Looking for things to do while your kids are home for the summer? A lemonade stand is a great way to keep them busy and can be a great educational experience while they’re out of school! We have done three lemonade stands and learned the best times and best places to host a lemonade stand. Today, I’m sharing some of our tips, supplies, and our favorite cookie recipes to help you and your kiddos have a successful lemonade stand!

Lemonade Stand Tips

  1. We’ve discovered the best time to host a lemonade stand is when our neighborhood is having some type of event, like a neighborhood garage sale. These usually draw in shoppers who are already looking to spend some money, and are supportive in helping out kids with their small business venture!
  2. Location is key! We are in the back of the neighborhood, and we know that there’s going to be less “foot” traffic, which means less buyers. If it’s feasible for you, bring your lemonade stand to the front of the neighborhood for better visibility. We have brought all of our supplies in a wagon (or the car depending on how we’re feeling) with us so we don’t have to go back and forth between the house and the front of the neighborhood.
  3. Market to your friends and family to draw in a crowd! In case things get slow, it’s always a great idea to let friends and family know you’re hosting a lemonade stand. Plus, the kids also appreciate seeing familiar faces supporting them.
  4. Sell baked goods or treats! Funny enough, we’ve found that selling baked goods has brought in more money than selling lemonade.
  5. Stay hydrated and bring water with you! Depending on how long you and the kids are willing to stay out, it’s likely you’re going to be out there for 1-2 hours. Plus, you don’t want to drink up the inventory!

Cookie Recipes That We Love

As mentioned before, selling baked goods is key to making your lemonade stand successful! Remember, it’s going to be hot out there, so you’ll want to try to avoid anything that will melt and ruin the look of your treats. Here’s a few of our favorites:

Lemonade Stand Supplies

When it comes to the set up, you’ll want to create one that stands out so everyone can see it when they’re driving by! I like to add a cute table cloth, a tiered tray to hold the treats and farmhouse drink dispenser to draw some attention. You can also tie in cute cups, patterned straws and packaging for your treats. Can’t forget the lemonade! Depending on how much time I have (and effort I want to put into it) I sometimes like to make the from scratch. But this last time I decided to grab a lemonade mix and it made my life a little bit easier. Top it off with some fresh lemons and you’re all set!

There are so many ways to make your lemonade stand look fun! The biggest thing is to let your kids help out and give them a chance to see what it’s like to run a small little business for the day. It’s a memory that your kids will remember for the rest of their lives, even if you do it just once!

Printable Advent Calendar + 30 Activity Ideas

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We’ve reached the end of the year and the busiest season of the year! My kids ask every year for an advent calendar and they absolutely love it. We’ve done a variety of advent calendars: candy, socks, activities, you name it! I will admit, their favorite has definitely been the candy ones, but I know they also love getting into the holiday spirit with Christmas activities.

Here is an advent calendar that you can print off and use for years. Knowing that every year is going to be different, you can also change the text so that you can plan the activities based on your schedule. The text can be changed in Canva and is free and easy to use!

Here’s what you’re going to need:

How to put it together:

  1. Print out the Advent Calendar Cover on cardstock.
  2. Using a cutting mat and precision/exacto knife, start cutting 3 sides of each box on the Advent Calendar so that it opens up like a door. You don’t want to cut off all of the sides on each box.
  3. To print out and/or change the text on the Activity Page, go to Canva and edit the text on the template.
  4. To print out the Activity Page, select “Share” at the top right corner, choose Download and for file type, choose PDF Print. Once you’ve selected the file type, click download.
  5. Line the Advent Calendar and Activity Page behind it.
  6. If using a matted frame, tape the pages to the matte and line up the 2nd page. If using a frame without a matte, sides down to fit a 8×10 frame.

See the video on how to put the Advent Calendar together: Instagram Video

Need some ideas for your Advent Calendar?

  1. Watch a Christmas Movie
  2. Look at Christmas Lights
  3. Bake Cookies
  4. Make a homemade gift and deliver to a friend/neighbor
  5. Wear an Ugly Christmas Sweater
  6. Look at Christmas Lights
  7. Make a holiday craft
  8. Write a letter to Santa
  9. Read a Christmas Book
  10. Hot Chocolate Bar
  11. Make a Ginger Bread House
  12. Make Magical Reindeer Food
  13. Donate a gift to someone in need
  14. Go Ice Skating
  15. Listen to Christmas Songs
  16. Send Christmas Cards
  17. Have a Sleepover by the Tree
  18. Visit Santa
  19. Watch a holiday show
  20. Visit a Christmas Market
  21. Play in the snow
  22. Make a Christmas Ornament
  23. Play board games in Pajamas
  24. Wrap Christmas Presents
  25. Try a new Christmas Cookie Recipe
  26. Donate Food
  27. Take family pictures
  28. Go Sledding
  29. Leave Cookies for Santa
  30. Attend or Host a Christmas Party

Fall Photo Booth Props – Free Printable

We’ve reached the busy season, and that typically means lots of parties and get togethers to celebrate the holidays. I love this time of year (like most of you) and there’s usually a lot that goes into getting ready for a party. Coming up with the food menu, activities, decorations, etc.

One of my favorite things at a party are the photo booths! I love that there are so many fun ideas to create a cute back drop and capture a moment from the party. If you’re having a photo booth, you’re definitely going to need some props! These props are the perfect addition to your Fall photo booth and you can make them at home!

These are easy to put together and add a little fun and silliness to your pictures! Who doesn’t love that? Here is what you’ll need to put these together:

–Fall Photo Booth Printable – Download here

-Color Printer

-Heavy Cardstock

-Scissors

-Wooden Dowels

-Glue / Tape

Looking for more props and want the full set? Grab them in the shop! Click on the image below:

DIY ‘HOME’ Wall Art

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We moved into our brand new home the day before Thanksgiving last year making this our 7th home! This does not include all of our transition periods staying at one of our parents’ homes in between a few of those moves. We have lived in 4 different states, California, Idaho, Washington and currently Texas. It has been quite the adventure for us and our kids.

With every move I’ve found it usually takes me months before I’ve formed a plan of how I want to decorate my walls. My entry was lacking a bit of a warm welcome, and I finally found a solution! It was during the early stages of quarantine that I needed a small project to keep myself busy with all the free time we had after work, when the kids would normally occupy our evenings with sports.

This project was easy, not unbearably time consuming, and just what my entryway needed! I found everything I needed on Amazon:

All I needed to do was paint my letters white, and then after they dried I hung them up on the wall with 2 command strips on each letter. For me, the easiest way to hang it was starting from the bottom and then moving my way to the top so I knew how low I wanted my letters to be. I hung the wreath up with a nail to complete the farmhouse look. You could definitely change up this look during the holidays to make it more festive!

DIY Valentine’s Day Foil Print

DIY Valentine's Day Foil Print

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I was pulling out some of my Valentine’s Day decorations this past week and realized I how little I had. I’ll be honest, I have never been too worried about going all out for Valentine’s day, but this time I felt like there were parts of my house that could use a little more “love”.  I wanted to be a little bit more crafty with this one, and took out my Minc and started to come up with some different ideas. This print was one that stuck and it has been a fun addition in my house!

If you’re looking to add another decoration in your home, here’s what you’ll need:

Materials:

Valentine's Foil Project Wall Art

Start by turning on your Minc (I usually set mine at a 3). Print out page one of the XOXO Printable and cut out a piece of the hot pink foil so it fits over the letters.

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Place your foil on top of the X’s and stick it inside the foil transfer folders. Once it’s in place, run it through the Minc.

Valentine's Foil Project Part 01

Peel off the foil after it’s gone through and and put it back into your printer making sure it’s facing the right way so that it will print out page 2 of the XOXO printable.

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If you’ve printed it correctly, you’re page should look like this. If you didn’t, that’s ok. It took me a couple tries to get this right…

Valentine's Foil Project Wall Art7

Do another rough cut of your light pink foil this time and set it on top. If you’re adding the gold foil to the “hugs & kisses” this would be the best time to do it. I’ve found that putting it through the Minc as little as possible helps keep from distorting the foil that was there previously.

Valentine's Foil Wall Art

Once that’s through, peel off the remainder of your foil and stick your new piece of decor in a frame and admire it.

Valentine's Day Foil Print

If you don’t have a Minc, not to worry! I’ve also made the same printable in color HERE. If you’re looking to buy a Minc, they’re available at Joann’s, Michaels, Amazon, and many other stores.

Color-Printable-XoXo

Easy Mini Valentine’s Day Donuts

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It has been crazy these past few months. We moved into our new home, I worked full time for the holiday season, and celebrated our youngest’s 2nd birthday. Now it’s time to get back to working on this little blog of mine.

We’re getting pretty excited for Valentine’s Day at our house. So yesterday, I decided to do something fun with my kids while dad was out of the house. These mini Valentine’s Day donuts are so easy to put together, my kids understood what to do pretty quickly, and they’re 5 (almost) and 2. The best part, you only need 3 ingredients!

Ingredients:

Package of Glazed (or plain) Mini Donuts – like Hostess or Little Debbie’s

Candy Melts – feel free to choose your favorite Valentine’s colors

Valentine’s Day Sprinkles

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  1. Dip your donut into a bowl of melted candy chocolate.

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2. Let any extra candy melts drizzle off of your donut and set on a cooling rack.

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3. Grab your favorite sprinkles (look how cute those hands are! I know this picture is pretty much unnecessary but it was too cute not to share).

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4. Sprinkle your hearts desire on your donut.

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5. Let your donuts sit and dry off for a little bit until the chocolate has hardened. And you’re all done!

Super easy and great to do with your kids. The only downside is the clean up. Like I predicted, the sprinkles got everywhere, but it was totally worth having them do something that didn’t involve sitting in front of the TV or iPad!

What a perfect gift to give away for Valentine’s Day too!

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DIY Woody Costume

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Ok, I’m so excited to share with you the what I call my “semi-homemade” Woody costume I put together for JD this Halloween. It was super simple, and fun to put together. Here’s what we did to get the look:

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Yellow shirt. We got ours from Crazy8 on sale for $4.99! And, I love that he can just wear it anytime after Halloween is over.

Jeans. We already had these so that part was easy peasy!

Cowboy vest. I got the materials for $4.20 from Joann’s. Take advantage of their coupons! I used the tutorial for the vest from Simply Crafted.

Hat, belt & gun holder were 25% off at the Disney Store, so we paid just under $10 for these items.

Bandanna – We found this baby for a $1 at the Dollar Tree! I was going to use the leftover fabric from the vest, but saw the bandanna at the Dollar Tree and thought, “why not?”

Badge – you can make your own or just buy yours online at Amazon for $5.

Boots – Ok, these were the most expensive thing we had to buy for this costume, but I could not stand those foam boots they use for costumes, and even though I am not a fan of cow boy boots, we found these really awesome Toy Story boots that light up from Sears for $30. So, if you already own a pair, or can borrow some from a friend/cousin, then this will be the least of your worries. To justify this purchase, he will definitely be putting these to use when he helps out in our backyard with dad.

And that’s it! JD had fun going on a hunt for all of these items, and kept us busy on days where we needed to pass the time.

My absolute favorite part about this Halloween is how cute these two boys are in their Toy Story costumes! Stay tuned to see how my Jessie costume will turn out…

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Father’s Day Gift – “Sweet Reminders”

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My husband is leaving for four months for Army training tomorrow and we are all so sad about it. I wanted to make something so he’d remember how much he means to us and wanted my kids to take part in it. He loved it, and before he opens a piece of chocolate he gets to see a reminder of why he is the World’s Greatest Dad!

This is such a fun little project to do with your kids and to let their Dad know how much he means to them. All you need is a mason jar and some Hershey’s Nuggets to wrap these printables around. For the Hershey’s Nugget wrappers, I’m sharing the one we did for my husband and you can pick and choose whatever best fits your Dad (or Grandpa) or have fun coming up with your own reasons of why your Dad is the World’s Greatest Dad. It’s the perfect “sentimental” gift to give for Father’s Day and a “Sweet Reminder” of why he’s awesome!

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Father's Day Gift Father's Day Gift 2  Father's-Day-Hershey-Nugget-Wrappers-DISPLAY

Hershey’s Nugget Wrappers – written | blank

FATHER'S-DAY-WRAP-DISPLAY

World’s Greatest DAD – blue | green | orange | yellow

World’s Greatest GRANDPA – blue | green | orange | yellow

World’s Greatest GRAMPS – blue | green | orange | yellow

Father’s Day Gift Tags

Father's Day Tag

I was asked by the Relief Society in my ward to make a tag to attach to these awesome “bow tied” sweet treats for Father’s day. I was totally in love with this idea, and wanted these gift tags to fit the theme of the candy. These gift tags go perfect with any gift, and I’ve created them in four different colors to match any candy or gift wrap to give to Dad this weekend. What will you use these gift tags for?

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Father’s Day Gift Tags – download here