Thursday, March 31, 2011

For the Kids Friday #5

Welcome back to another fun week of kid-friendly fun! We had over 130 links last week, which I was SOOO thrilled to see. I am loving all of the ideas you are sharing, and I'm thinking I may begin adding those that I feature to a dedicated page. I may just start working on that one. Thank you all who participated last week! Let's see if we can make it to 150 this week!

These are the posts I'm awarding an A++ from last week's party. There were so many to choose from, gosh! These were some of my favorites. Take a moment to check these out, as I am sure you will love them too.

If you are featured below, don't forget to grab this button!

Whirligig Fish

at Little Wonders' Days

Mini Cupcake Bits

at A Little Bit of This & That

Making a Play Garden

at The Imagination Tree

Grocery Shopping - Reading & Scavenger Hunt

at My Kids Make

Reading Treats

at Sweet Serendipity

Marshmallow Catapult

at Two Little Houligans

Word Game

at Wishes Dreams Love

And now... onto this week's party!

1) You must first be a follower of my blog. (And why wouldn't you want to be?!)

2) Grab my For the Kids Fridays Button and place it somewhere on your blog. Be sure to link back to me!

3) Link up as many KID-RELATED activities, games, recipes, parties, gifts, clothing you've created, crafts, traditions, lessons, and so on... that you would like to share. Please add a different link each week. They can be old or new... this is just a place to share ideas for our kids to enjoy. Bonus points to those that serve some educational purpose too! Link must be to the specific post, and not your general blog page. Please don't link to your store.

4) Share the love and comment on at least one other link. Everyone loves to get feedback.

That's it! Have fun, and thanks so much for participating!

Craft: Designer Napkins

Say "It" With Your Napkins!

Oh, how we love the little details of a party! The hostess displays colorful, personalized, napkins and you are so impressed that you want some for your upcoming party.....until

Read more »

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

EGGed! An Easter Tradition

Are you ready for some Easter-inspired fun?

My kids are LOVING this! Introducing...

For the last few years my kids have really enjoyed the Halloween Phantom that has made his way through our neighborhood. You might have had posters on doors last October that said "We've Been Boo'd" or something similar. If you are unfamiliar with this tradition you can surely find more about it with a simple search online.

I won't go into explaining that here... but that was my inspiration.

I wanted to come up with a fun way to promote the same kind of excitement leading up to Easter. And what a better way to do that than with Easter eggs, right?

This Easter, I'm encouraging you and your kids to go EGG your friends! Let's start a new tradition and enjoy some spring time fun!

Look at that! You’ve just been EGGed!

But do not be alarmed.

We came, we dropped, we ran away…

Your house, it was not harmed.

So what is this before you now?

Just an early spring surprise.

Be quick and look around your yard…

Twelve EGGs lay in disguise.

A secret friend has just dropped by

To share some spring time cheer.

So now you’re it! It’s now your turn

To EGG a house that’s near.

Select a friend, or two or three…

Gather a dozen EGGs for each.

Be sly and hide them, knock and flee!

Leave this message at arm’s reach.

Hang a poster at your door

And now your task’s complete.

Days ‘til Easter aren’t much more…

Aren’t surprises sweet!

Here's how it works...

Collect a dozen plastic eggs for each friend you plan to EGG.

Fill the eggs with treats or other small prizes.

Make copies of the EGGed Poem and Poster HERE.

You will need one copy for each friend. These are in color, unlike what you see below... so if you have a color printer they will look even nicer. We rolled the two pages together and tied them with a ribbon.

Plan your "drop". You want to find a time to hide the eggs in your friend's yard when they aren't out and about, and not likely to catch you! Be sneaky, quiet and quick! We thought that dinner-time was the best time to pay our visits.

Hide the eggs around your friend's yard.

Leave then empty egg carton (if you choose) with the Poem and Poster at the door step.

Ring the bell, and run!!

Here we are waiting from afar as Wesley's best friend is discovering the surprise.

The kids were so tickled!

I hope you will start this fun tradition with your kids too!

SPRING AFFIRMATION 2011 by yoko ono

Recycle/Reuse/Upcycle

The Blue cobalt dish was just completed. I turned a blue cobalt water bottle into a beautiful amazing dish. The dish is cleaned,sanitized,fused,slumped,etched and wire wrapped with beads. I LOVE it! Let me know what you think.

Blanket to Backpack

Don't you just love rag quilts?!

They are pretty easy to put together, and I love the finished look.

However... this one is not your ordinary rag quilt!

It is actually also a backpack!

Yep! You've got it! A rag quilt that folds into a backpack.

I was realizing that my poor son has been left out of many recent projects. Girls are so much easier to make things for, I think. So I needed one for poor little Wesley.

Our family will be moving to China in a few months. I was inspired by the idea of a quillow (quilt that folds into a pillow), thinking that would be perfect for each of the kids on our long flight overseas.

However, the thought came to mind... what if they could also wear it through the airport!

What if it had a pocket to hold their color books, crayons, Nintendo DS, and a snack?

And thus... the Blanket to Backpack was created.

This is how it works...

Lay out your blanket.

Fold into thirds, by folding each side over the middle third section.

Here is the first side being folded in....

And here the second side has been folded over top of the first.

See how your pocket is on the under-side of one end?

Turn that end right-side out, folding the pocket so it is pulled to the other side of the quilt.

The pocket is now right-side out... and will look like this.

Now fold the remaining blanket into thirds once again. Here's the first fold...

And the next.

Now... tuck the blanket folds down into the pocket.

And there you have it!

Your backpack!

Ready to make your own?

Tutorial to come (in two parts... I have LOADS of pictures to walk you through it).

Stay tuned!

Recycle Glass

How do you reuse/upcycle different items in your everyday life?

I guess its time to stop buying new glass for my glass projects and start using what is already available. Glass does last forever. I might as well use it. My current project is cobalt glass water bottles and actually they can be used as vases with out even redesigning them.
Ive decided to slump and etch mine. My first one is slumped into a shallow bowl shape and decorated with beads and etch work! So Fun! I love the reusing the items!

ABC's of Life - Life is KOOKY! printable

Feeling very Kooky lately, maybe because the sun finally came out! :)

Download a little Kooky, here.

Easter:Cake Pops

Natalie's Cake Pops!

Looking for something "eggstordinary" this Easter to give as a gift or to sweeten up a child's Easter basket?! Natalie of Natalie's Cake Pops has just what you need! Follow us.....

Toledo Art Treasury

Rock N' Roll Is Free

By Matthew Perpetua

March 29, 2011 1:45 PM ET

Ben Harper is taking the title of his new single "Rock N' Roll Is Free" very literally by giving the track away for a limited time. The sunny, upbeat rocker is the first taste from his new album Give Till It's Gone, which will hit stores on May 17th, but for now the song is, as Harper sings, "free if you want it."

Birthday Party: Airplane

"Boy Oh Boy" Ready For Take Off!

What boy wouldn't love choosing a treat from this dessert table!

While visiting the creative blog, Just Call Me Martha,we fell in love with this darling boys birthday party! We love boys parties!With the sweet and talented Leoni's permission, we wish to share this party with you! Buckle up for take off!

cps and cr84fn

hi everyone!!
how was everyone's weekend? I had a great time!!
my best friends and I played double jenga!!! 2 boxes worth of jenga pieces =) hahahah
that tower was huge!!! LOL

oh, so ok... here's the cr84fn challenge:

here's the CPS sketch:

and when I combined these 2 challenges...

HERE'S THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!
she reminds me of little red riding hood =)

for this card i used:
- moonlight whispers - andrea acorn & coloured her with copics
- dcwv - mariposa
- ribbon from michaels
- white cardstock from scrapbook warehouse
- nesties dies
- brown cardstocks from bazzill basics
- nesties dies
- stickles glue glitter

challenge:

1) cr84fn - http://cr84fncolorchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/cr84fn21.html

2) cps - http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2011/03/reader-ideas-week-of-3272011.html

NBCU and Etsy partner... Contest starts today!

NBCU, Etsy partner

Effort part of 'Green Is Universal' push

By Sam Thielman

For its "Green Is Universal" initiative, NBCUniversal is partnering with online handcrafted goods retailer Etsy to sponsor a recycled handmade goods contest, starting today, as a run-up to the conglom's Earth Week. For the competish, christened "Art of Reuse," do-it-yourselfers are tasked with creating new products from recycled material -- a popular pastime on Etsy. Judges will include Martha Stewart; Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford; and Andy Cohen.
Beth Colleton, VP of the Green initiative, said that environmentally friendly marketing continues to evolve. "The public is more savvy, so they're constantly pushing media outlets and companies for the latest and greatest," Colleton said. "Coming out of BP last year and the disaster in Japan this year, we've seen that headlines in the news make people want to dig deeper."
"Art of Reuse" is promoted online across the 8 million member Etsy community and NBCU's iVillage and on-air via NBCU's cable suite. The contest's top 10 entries will also appear on NBC's "Today" show during Earth Week, April 17-24. Submissions are open until April 11.

Contact Sam Thielman at news@variety.com

ABC's of Life - Life is JOYOUS printable

Happy Monday!
Download here

Fathers Day 2011