Disney World Prep

Our family will be going to a family reunion at Walt Disney World in Florida, this spring. So, of course I over prepare. I have a binder, read and printed lots of info, checked out just about every guidebook the library had and have started planning crafts to make for the trip.
One of the things I look forward to is taking photos. So, I scoured the web for photo ideas and lists. This is a list of photo ops I put together and it could even be used as a photo scavenger hunt. I have one for each of the parks at WDW, and one extra just for fun miscellaneous stuff. They are 4x6 for easy printing and carrying with you to the parks.
We are also going to spend one day at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure (my kids love Harry Potter and Jurassic Park). So there is a Universal IOA photo hunt list as well.

Advent Activities

Since Christmas is just around the corner, I thought I'd share something we did last year that I am planning on doing again this year. Last year I saw a cute pin on Pinterest that had an activity advent calendar. I have a cute advent calendar that my parents got us on our first Christmas:

The doors open up to reveal 24 drawers. I usually put some small candies in the drawers. But last year I decided that the kids get plenty of treats, so instead I put in activities. I figured out our calendar of events for the month and then planned activities for each of the evenings.

Here is my list of activities (in no particular order):
Go for a drive to see the Christmas lights.
Bake Christmas cookies.
Read a new Christmas story.
Make an ornament or decoration.
Watch a special Christmas movie with treats.
Permission to stay up late.
Hot chocolate made especially for you.
Today we decorate the Christmas tree.
Christmas coloring book!
Make Christmas cards.
Decorate the windows in your room.
Invite a friend over today.
Go to the library to find some new Christmas stories.
Listen to fun Christmas music!
Bundle up. We're going to the Lights of Christmas!
Learn about holidays in another culture.
Pick out food to donate to the food bank.
Make a gingerbread house.
Go to a Christmas Party
 Make a craft with Mom
Have lunch at a restaurant with our family
Wear new Christmas jammies to bed
Decorate cookies
Read the story about the birth of Jesus

I printed them in red and green and cut them apart in strips. The kids enjoyed doing different activities each night, and didn't once complain that there wasn't candy in there anymore. You can have a pdf copy of my list by downloading it HERE.

Halloween Printable

Day 9 of my Pinterest Challenge. I always see these cute printables all framed and nice on pinterest. Well, I happen to have a box full of empty frames in my garage (some were gifts, some came as a set from a thrift store). I finally got around to printing one out and putting it on the top of my piano (please ignore the mess on the piano, I'll get it cleaned one of these days). You can get the free printable subway art from Eighteen25 (there are lots, such talented girls over there).

File Folder Games

My kids are busy little things. They seem especially busy while in church, when they are supposed to reasonably quiet. So, file folder games to the rescue. I found several nice sites via pinterest (this is a pinterest challenge after all).
I have a book from Finch Family Games that I got several years ago (like 8 or so). I got some of the games from there.

Yarn lacing pages:


From Melonheads LDS Illustrations I got some word finds (great for my 6 year old who is learning to read) and made a matching game.



 

 From Sugardoodle I found a crazy cartoon tracing set (perfect for my 9 year old).



Sugardoodle also had a file folder link called commandment cones, but I wasn't thrilled with the copy, so I made my own. You can get it free here: Commandment Cones. You match commandment with its number order (this photo shows the correct placement, in case you need a refresher). The past month or so our church has been talking about the ten commandments, so this is nice for the kids to get to know what they are.

Summer Bucket List 2012

Last summer we planned a "best summer ever", with the help of an online forum/message board for moms. We had a weekly theme, and did activities and went places having to do with the theme. You can see a quick run-down of what we did HERE. We had lots of fun, and the kids didn't complain much that they were bored (see the I'm Bored Jar).

This summer I have made a 'bucket list' for our summer. Things won't be as planned out, but I think they will still be fun. Here is what's on our list

To Craft

Make things out of cardboard (house, car, toys, games) 

Make homemade play dough

Make Pinecone Bird Feeder

Make an obstacle course (or hold an Olympics)
Make finger puppets and have a play
Make something origami
Make Milk Carton Boats
Handprint Sunflower (and other handprint art)
Backyard Mural
Friendship Bracelets
Bug Jars
Build a Fairy House
Balloon Animals

To Eat

Make S’Mores
Make homemade marshmallows
Make homemade ice cream
Make homemade pizza together
Lovo (a Fijian version of a luau roasted pig)
Make cookies
Make and decorate cupcakes
BBQ

To Go

Beach
Park
Picnic
Camping
San Juan Islands
Hike by the school
Geocaching
Arboretum
Waterfall
Bird Watching/ Aviary
Fishing
Library (storytime?)
Road Trip - Visit friends
Nature Walk
Parade and Fair
Orienteering
Swimming
Zoo
Mt Shuksan
Mt Rainier – Paradise and Sunrise
Olympic Mountains
Visit a ghost town

To Do

Bubbles (including giant ones)

Scavenger Hunt

Summer Solstice Celebration (June 20, 2012)
Skip Rocks (teach the kids)
Ride Bikes
Backyard movie theater
Fly a kite
Board Games
Go to Garage Sales
Play in the water
Play Frisbee
Play/make Mad Libs and share your stories

Play kickball

Play hide and go seek
Build a clubhouse or a fort
Start reading a classic as a family read 20-30 minutes of it out loud a day
Play dress up
Star Gazing
Marshmallow Shooting
Cloud watching/identifying
Shadow puppets
Celebrate a silly holiday
Lava floor. Don’t touch the floor to survive
Indoor Picnic
Have a Tea Party
Water Fight
Host a cooking party - invite some friends
Knit (teach the kids)
Costume Party
Play charades
Color
Make a Movie
Play in the Rain
Learn a joke

Here is how I printed it to post in our house, with a box to put a checkmark once we've completed the item.

What are you doing this summer?

Split-front Ruffle Dress

I am not a big fan of wearing ruffles, but my girls sure like them. I made this dress after seeing something similar in an advertisement. I couldn't find where it came from, so I made my own version.
The top part was a modification of the Junebug dress at Craftiness is not Optional. I had to enlarge the pattern first, because the free pattern is for a 2T size and my younger girl is bigger than that. I didn't do a separate flap in the front, but combined it on one side so there is only one off-set split with buttons. I also didn't bother putting elastic in the sleeves.



For the bottom I made 2 a-line skirts (a bit wider than the bodice circumference so it would gather a little). The bottom one in purple the top in the bodice fabric. The purple one is longer than the top one so it will show all the way around. I put rows of 3 inch ruffles down the front of the purple skirt. For the top skirt I split the front (to show off the ruffles) and made sure the split corresponded to the one in the bodice. It was pretty easy to wing it, so I didn't patterns for the bottom.
Sorry I didn't take pictures during the creation and do a real tutorial.

Airplane Party Printables

I like to make the printables for a party, but I know that not everyone else does. So, I'm giving you mine to use if you like. The above picture is what I made. I have taken out the 'airline' name to give you a blank picture to print. I used orange and blue colors because it's easy to find orange things this time of year and blue is a good complimentary color for it, but you can change the colors of any of the items to suit your needs.
Clicking on the photo will get you to the download, or CLICK HERE.

Update: A few people have asked about how to change the colors, so I made a list of tutorial links to help with that. 

Dancing Sign

My oldest takes ballet classes. The owner of the studio (and her teacher) is a friend of mine. So, when the end of the year came, I wanted to give her a little teacher gift. Well, it turned into a big teacher appreciation gift. I am so proud of how it turned out I thought I'd share it with everyone.
It is a 10x20 size 'photo'. I had to buy a collage frame and then just get rid of the multi-photo mat to frame it (there is a serious lack of 10x20 photo frames out there). Another idea for this photo would be to get it printed on canvas, or maybe decoupage it onto a canvas.
Clicking on the photo will take you to a download page if you want to have this for yourself.

Paisley Invitations

I am slowly putting together stuff for my 10th anniversary party. It's only 10 months away. I've put together an invitation (as seen above). I will be printing http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhem on my home printer at 4 to a page. I am also sharing the blank paisley card with all of you, so you too can print a cute card with a colorful paisley border.


You can find a PDF with 4 to a page HERE

Oh, and if you like the fake Hindi font, it's called Samarkan, and you can download it free from dafont

Airplane Party Invitations

My son will be turning 5 in the fall and will be having an airplane themed birthday party. I've made some invitations that look like boarding passes (name and info have been changed, of course).


I am sharing the blank template with you for free. If you want it, just click the photo. Also, you can get a personalized barcode from several free places online (if you want to add that to the invite, like in the example). It'd be cute if it said 'Ben is five' or something.

Mom, I'm Bored!

I hate hearing that phrase in my house. My kids have lots of toys and books and plenty of imagination. They should never be bored. So, for this summer I made an "I'm Bored" jar.

I just took a 1 quart wide mouthed mason jar, put a cute sunshine label on it (image is clickable if you want to print it yourself), and filled it with papers telling them things to do (lots of fun stuff, some chores). When they tell me they are bored, they must choose a paper out of the jar and do whatever it says.
If you want my list of things to do, CLICK HERE

Free Giraffe Baby Shower Invite

A giraffe themed card:

Some free templates

On a photography website I frequent they have a section of forums dedicated to people doing freebies for others. I have participated in both giving and receiving these freebies. In the spirit of giving, I am offering them to you as well. They are photo cards for invitations and announcements. You just put your photo in the blank spot and add your info (using any photo/drawing software). Enjoy!
Preview:

Download

Preview:

Download

Preview:

Download

Preview: front

back:

Download Front Back

Preview: front

Back

Download Front Back

Free 5x7 photo card templates

I was looking around for a free red damask card template and could find one. So I made one, well actually I made 5. The cards use the free damask print from Pixels and Ice Cream (who has other wonderful things too). Hope you enjoy using them.
Download Here

Holidays in Hand- some premade layouts

For Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand class we got a cool set of papers and a page template. I added some papers from some freebie Shabby Princess kits and made these pages for my album. I have 8 pages in total. So I will rotate them about 4 times. I figure that with changing the pictures and adding appropriate embellishments and journaling that they will look different enough. Hopefully this will help cut down the time I spend on scrapping the memories during the holiday season, and I will spend more time make the memories.
If I have time I will post my pages as I complete them in during the month of December. By the end of the month I will have a fun Christmas album ready for printing.

Weekly Meal Planning

Here is one organizational thing I already do. It's already a part of my weekly routine. Meal Planning.
Back when I was first married we were still in college. We had our first child within the first year of our marriage. My husband was out of work, and I was only working part time while also taking classes. Needless to say, the budget was tight, and small. So, one thing we found was that planning our meals helped save a bunch of money. Sometimes, like during the holiday season, I plan a whole month of meals. That way, I know if we are having lasagna twice in the month and I can make them at the same time and freeze one, thus saving time. I still do most of my shopping once a week, but I know that if a food item is on sale, I can get it because I already have a plan to use it.
Anyway, mostly I just plan one week at a time, usually on Monday morning. Then I make my shopping list. I made a little planner for myself. I print it out and then fill it in. It gets posted on the refrigerator, so the kids don't have to ask "what's for dinner?"
You can download it for yourself HERE

More DIY Knitting Needle Storage: Cute Canister

I have many knitting needles. I have 1 case for circular (which might change later in the year), and 1 case I made for my short double pointed needles. Now I needed a place for my straights. I decided that I wanted something decorative, since they would probably be out in plain sight most of the time. Here is what I did:
Got my supplies- an oatmeal container, some scrapbook paper, black yarn, and craft glue. Wrapped the container in the paper (cut to size). Used the string to make a grid. And now I can put in my needles without them clumping in one area and getting all mixed up.

DIY Double Pointed Knitting Needle Case

I took a thick placemat and turned it into a case for my small double pointed knitting needles. It fit perfectly. Now I have a nice place for my needles sizes US 00-US 10.
I used a thick placemat so the needles wouldn't poke through easily. First I folded up the bottom end, and finger pressed it in place. Then I measured and evenly divided the pockets. I found matching thread and did a little sewing. I labeled the pockets So I could easily find what I was looking for. Then I simply fold down the top part and roll up to carry. Maybe I should attach a ribbon to keep it closed...another day.

Free Christmas Card Share

I was bored and made some Christmas card templates. I'm offering them free to anyone who wants them. Click on the preview picture to go download the full sized template (which of course doesn't contain photos or names, just space for them).

Card 1 front:


Card 1 back:


Card 2:


Card 3 front:


Card 3 back:


Card 4: