School Snacks

A quick and easy way to make school snack a little fun when your turn to bring.

You can get very creative with pipe cleaners, googly eyes and marker.  I kept it simple.

Last Day of School and Cute Teacher Gift

Evan loved his teachers this year.  He made so many great friends and had a blast.  Most importantly, he learned so much.  He is definitely like a little sponge!

I couldn't say enough nice things about his teachers.  He missed so much school earlier in the year and they helped to keep him positive and like he never missed a beat.

I loved the way their gift turned out.  Super easy and super cute.

I chose a blurry pic since there are other kids pictured

Had to include Emily trying to hold the sign too.

1st Birthday Ice Cream Party Decor

I think the best way to post the pictures that I love is to break it down.

Today is about the decor.

I wasn't sure what theme I wanted for her first party.  Remember Evan's 1st birthday was circles.

She loves anything and nothing in particular so I thought an ice cream party would be a fun activity and  fun colors.

Then we realized that Steven makes DELICIOUS homemade ice cream and it would be so fun if he was able to make it all.  ALL OF IT.  He went a little crazy but I am so glad because it was so good!

Had to make a few cookies.

I was very happy how all the printables came out.  Worth the effort.

His homemade toppings were also amazing.  The salted caramel was ridiculous.

DIY water labels are so easy and add such a personalized feeling to the party.

I told you he went a little overboard.  It was a great way for everyone to talk and have fun together.

We really lucked out with the gorgeous weather.

Kid activities.  Most of the kids were 2+, so I thought some matching games would be fun.

All activities and printables' links can be found on my Pinterest pins.

My mom brought our old Barbie ice cream parlor set!

Ice cream Legos and toy station

I decided instead of a bag of little goodies, to do one nicer/fun goody.  I always like something new and different.  (get that from my dad)

Evan's party included  rockabye lullabies cd (because they were circles).

 More about the guests tomorrow.

{Craft Corner} DIY Printable Party/Gift Stickers *the easier way

I posted about making my own printables a few weeks ago.

A little stressful but I was pretty happy with the result.

Then I realized that printing may be somewhat of a nightmare.  Once I bought the labels I logged into the Avery site to see what their creative software was like.  Much easier.

But even printing with their label was a thing.  You still have to adjust your printing settings and margins to line up evenly.  On the print & preview page there is an option to adjust up or down, right or left different increments.  5/16" was my magic number.  I wasted a ton of sheets before I figured it out.  And if you run them more than twice, they readjust in the printer, messing up your lines again.

It's annoying, so I say, just buy them from a nice seller on Etsy.

BUT, if you are up to it (and it's really not that difficult) buy your needed size of Avery labels.  Go to Avery.com/print, put in your label number and start creating.  Lots of options and you can download your own design or picture.  I downloaded the ice cream cone.  I haven't figured out if you can upload your own font, but they have decent options.

I am going to do kid gift tags next.  I know, crazy.

{Craft Corner} DIY Party Printables

What did people do for parties before cupcake toppers and water bottle wrappers to decorate?

I love the idea of a printable, it adds so much to a party theme. 

I do not love the idea of paying $30+ for a set of paper circles that will be thrown away three hours later.  I guess it's like a wedding dress?  You are paying for the decorations and then the memory in the pictures for years to come?  Not really.


My daughter's 1st birthday is quickly approaching us.  Honestly, I am still very far from being in a party planning mode.  But that is not fair to my sweet little girl, so the party planning must go on!

We decided to go with an ice cream party theme.  We love ice cream, she doesn't seem to care what we do and it's a fun activity for all the other guests.  2 years to 87 years.


Yesterday I finally sat down and googled and googled, pinterested and googled some more.  I finally found a tutorial that made sense and I had the right software to use.  I don't know why it was so hard to find how to do them, although maybe that's why so many just buy them.  Years ago I found a simple already created water bottle template for my son's 1st birthday that just happened to be perfect for his circle theme.  Since then, I haven't found anything that easy.

The tutorial was not difficult.  Just like making your own monogram.  It just takes a little time, tweaking and patience.  Lots of patience for this non creative design person.  My software was not exactly like the tutorial and I am still not 100% satisfied with the minor details.  I went back a few hours later and redid all of the designs.  I took what I learned and then played around a little more to really get the colors, design and placement I wanted.  I also ate a whole bag of Twizzlers.

Overall, I am very excited that they worked out.  I  can figure out those little details later.

{Craft Corner} DIY Halloween Costumes: A Train & A Poodle Skirt

This year my son wanted to be a train.  Because trains are his favorite.  Over and over and over.  Although now that I made it he wants to be a Fireman (because it was fire week last week and his friend Finny is going to be one), a robot, a lion and green.  Just the color green.

We are sticking with a train.

Very easy, just takes some spaced out time because of the paint.

  

I used this tutorial with a few changes.

I used styrofoam plates for the wheels, although then they cracked when holding the train up while sitting on the ground.  I used foil instead of construction paper attached to the wheels, craft filling for the smoke and 1 inch elastic for the straps.  I did some minor embellishments with orange fabric paint.

At the elementary Halloween Fair (notice he is not wearing the train)

All I had to buy was spray paint in green and black (I bought red just in case he went back to it), a red bandana, push light and some elastic for the straps since I couldn't figure out the bag strap reuse.

He already had the train hat, chambray outfit and train whistle.

Although he did not wear the train at the very crowded carnival, I got a ton of compliments (especially the light) while carrying it around.  I'm telling you, it could definitely be a candidate for best costume.

Her poodle skirt

For hers I knew I wanted something simple since she's still not sitting up.

I used Dana Made It's circle skirt tutorial.  I was nervous because I've never used elastic but it was pretty easy.

I used the left over pink fabric from my original crib skirt that I never used.

I printed the poodle design from online and traced it onto some felt, added the ric rac, pearl beads and a tiny blue gum ball sticker I had in my craft box.

I paired it with a peter pan collared onesie I already had, ruffle socks that were a gift and her black shoes from the holidays.

I found the eye glasses necklace (actually a BFF bracelet) from the Target girl's section.  Although that is just for show when holding her.  Babies in chain necklaces worry me.

Happy Halloween.  We are really embracing it this year and having a lot of fun!

DIY Boot Shapers

I didn't feel like spending the $10 on another pair of boot shapers so I picked up this swimming noodle on clearance at Kmart for $1.  Cut it to size and two new boot shapers/keepers.

Now I am actually ready for cooler temps so I can wear my new boots.

{Craft Corner} DIY Luggage Tags

Before our last trip we had a ton to check and gate check (car seat, infant car seat, base, stroller, car seat cart, luggage) so I wanted to make sure all had our contact info.  As well as my son's backpack in case he left it somewhere.

One of my bags still had my first NY address from 11 years ago and the other had four past addresses crossed out.  It was time for new ones but I didn't like any of the options at the stores.

So I made my own. So easy.

I started off with a new monogram from this tutorial.

I just took some scrapbook paper and printed multiple times.

Then I printed out my name and address to the same size.  (I didn't know what to use as an example)

Bought these self laminating pouches at Target.

Cut out address and monogram just a smudge thinner than the pouch.  Line up.

Put your papers backside together inside the pouch all the way in the fold.

Smooth down well.

Punch a whole in the corner or end.

I used some decorating string/twine that I had.  Or you could use a plastic or rubber string.  Whatever won't tear or rip if pulled tightly.

Loop it through so that it won't come undone and you have plenty of slack to attach to your luggage.