Pokemon seems to be a favorite that is going to stick around – and there are no shortage of kids that LOVE the imaginative critters in this game. When Valentines Day comes around this year, you can let your favorite Pokemon trainer hand out Pikachus with these free printable Pokemon Valentine cards! Aren’t these the…
tutorials
Gingerbread House How-To Ebook Must Have!
How do you make your gingerbread houses? You can go to the store and buy a totally stale piece of cardboardesque pre-made gingerbread house kit or use some crumbly graham crackers to build a house looking thing, but those gingerbread avenues have always lacked a fair bit of charm. There’s no fragrant smell of gingerbread…
Recycled Star Wars Lantern Craft
Our family may geek out a little bit over Star Wars. We’ve been looking forward to the premiere of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story© TM Lucasfilm LTD for almost a year now. The kids are already getting in character with light sabers at the ready. Epic battles–the dark vs the light– rage in the…
Minecraft Party Favor DIY – TNT!
For our Minecraft Trunk or Treat display (see it here), we came up with a fun way to give out Halloween candy that went along with our Minecraft theme. The materials for this Minecraft party favor are nothing more than a recycled cardboard, red tissue paper and a free printable you’ll find in this post….
Fall Decorating: Pumpkin Candlesticks
Welcome to another edition of Craft Lightning–Halloween style! It’s September, so about the time to start thinking about updating the house with fall decorations and Halloween. For me, I never seem to have the same decorating combo out twice and I like it like that! What that does mean is that I have to do…
Pretty DIY Outdoor Drink Pitcher Protector
It is such a nice, relaxing thing to do…entertain outdoors. Sadly, most of us without screened in areas get more guests than we bargained for with the bugs that like to show up to the party, too. A little diy fix and you can at least banish the bugs from your drinks! Making this DIY…
DIY Teepee for Reading and Other Ideas for Getting Your Kids to Read in the Summer
I thank my lucky stars every day that my kids are voracious readers. Seriously, a couple dozen books gifted to my daughter at Christmas are usually gone by mid-February. I’ve never met another 9 year old who only asks for books for presents, either. My son isn’t as enthusiastic, but he’s still loves to read…
Crabby Scout Craft Project
Whether you’re looking for a boy scout craft or girl scout craft project or a project to work into an educational seashore session, this inexpensive crabby craft is a winner. The modest materials make it affordable for large groups…but they’ll still be a ton of fun to make! The ingredient list is per crab, so…
Emoji Party Lanterns Tutorial and Free Printables
This post is sponsored by the lovely people at Elmer’s Products. Their glue and X-acto knives live in my daily craft stash! Even though they’re sponsoring this post, I promise all thoughts, ideas and opinions are my own. It’s the details in parties that make them so fun. Especially when creating those details is so…
10 Minute DIY Father’s Day Gift – A 6-Pack of Love!
This post is sponsored by OnlineLabels.com. All thoughts and ideas are my own! It’s about that time where we remember dear old dad and celebrate him with BBQ and a lazy day. If you’re anything like me, a gift for dad usually ends up being a bit of a scramble as I tend to put…
How to Age Unfinished Wood for a Father’s Day Gift Fishing Frame
My dad loves to fish. I think he’d rather sit in a boat with a line in the water rather than do anything else in the world. When father’s day or a birthday or Christmas roll around for him, picking up something fishing-related for him is always a surefire winner. This year, I watercolored…
5 Minute Pool Party Cupcakes and the Last Minute Pool Party
, This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. All opinions are mine alone. #FamilyPizzaCombo #CollectiveBias Spontaneous entertaining. It’s those spur-of-the-moment “hey you want to come over?” and last minute plans that sometimes make for the best memories. But even if you are talking about a last minute bash this…
Supermom Mother’s Day Brunch: A Party Guide for Dads and Kids
This post is sponsored by Hallmark and Walgreens. All thoughts, opinions and ideas are my own. #HallmarkAtWalgreens #CareWithACard One of the great Mother’s Day traditions that seems to have evolved over the years is the ritual of Mother’s Day brunch. The funny thing about this to me has always been that mom is supposed to…
DIY Fairy Princess Headband Kid Craft
Busy hands go a long way to keeping happy kids! In this month’s Craft Lightning series, we’re all about kid craft projects to keep children occupied! The DIY fairy princess headband craft in this post serves two purposes: Your kids will be able to get crafty for a little bit. Your kids will have…
Confetti Paper Mache Easter Eggs Kid Craft
Looking for a family Easter craft project to get involved in that is inexpensive to do? And that you probably have all the parts for in your house? You might want to take a look at this post. I do love going crafty-crazy with my kids, but I also like to throw in a project…
Best Banana Bread Recipe Ever
There is nothing like the smell of baking banana bread! Especially when then end result is as delicious as this recipe. Banana bread was something I used to make out of necessity at my house. When we first got married, my husband would buy big bunches of bananas and then pretend like he was going…
Valentines DIY Heart Shaped Wreath
The kids just love to have a few seasonal decorations up in the house each holiday, and whipping up this Valentines DIY heart shaped wreath was something that really made them happy. If it looks a little familiar…it really should. One of my most popular tutorials ever for the DIY Paper Pomander Ball was made…
Adult Coloring Pages into Oragami Paper Bows
This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Prismacolor, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #relaxandcolor https://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV Adult coloring is a trend that is catching on with a fervor that is a little unexpected. Until you pick up an adult coloring book yourself and try…
Christmas Kid Craft: Stained Glass Windows
This post was sponsored by Elmer’s Products, Inc. All thoughts, opinions and craftiness are my own! Once in awhile I like to pull out a Christmas kid craft project for my brood that I know they will flip over but will take a bit of concentration on their part to finish. Not everything can be…
Cookie Exchange Packaging Ideas
When you’re headed out to this year’s cookie exchange, putting your cookie’s best foot forward with some style will make them the hit of the swap! Here are a few cookie exchange packaging ideas from our Cookies & Cappucino cookie exchange party. They’re all fairly simple to do, keeping in mind that time is often…
Teacher Gift Ideas with Expressionery.com
This post is sponsored by the fabulous people over at Expressionery.com. All thoughts and exuberant ideas about their product are my own. #ExpressioneryHOA With Thanksgiving only a week away (!) I’m already starting to figure out teacher gift ideas for those wonderful teachers we have that take such good care of my kids all year….
Thanksgiving Photo Transfer Ornaments
Thanksgiving should put all of in the mind frame of being thankful for the things we have–whether that is family, health or wealth. Around this time of year, I’m especially thankful for the people in my life that are my nearest and dearest. When I’m setting the Thanksgiving table this year, I’m adding a little…
Easy DIY Star Wars Costumes
We are a family of nerds. Yes, we appreciate things like Dr. Who and Star Wars probably a bit too much. My son was Luke Skywalker for Halloween for 2 years running, and has an unrivaled collection of Star Wars action figures that get played with by his sister with equal enthusiasm. The minute that…
How to Make Paper Poinsettias
Beautifully wrapped gifts are somehow just more special, aren’t they? Learning how to make paper poinsettias is great way to spruce up your Christmas packages and gifts. Plus, it doesn’t take a huge crafty skill level to pull these off. It’s mostly cutting and glueing, so even if you’re a craft novice, you can give these paper…
10 Minute Easy Christmas Decor: A Christmas Frame Filled with Joy!
With Christmas prep in full swing, I am totally fond of quick-to-make projects that look awesome. Like this one. In less than 10 minutes you can assemble a cute little shadow-box frame that is going to look darling out among your Christmas decorations. It would make a great gift as well! Thanks again to Country…
Thanksgiving Tree of Thanks Free Printables
Years ago–six to be exact–I posted up one of the first ideas for a kid’s table at Thanksgiving. This was pretty new ground back then — and boy how far we’ve come! I still love that table–the ideas were simple and easy to do among all the cooking and cleaning that seems to trail the…
Vampire Bat Lollipop Favor Free Printable for Halloween
This week is totally full of Halloween festivities, in and out of the classroom. Which also means it’s a week where we have to have TONS of Halloween tricks up our sleeves! Preferably the inexpensive variety. But inexpensive candy is usually a bore, and who wants that? With a little fun wrapping to make vampire…
10-Minute Mad Science Bubbling Experiment Buckets
When I put together my Mad Science Trunk-or-Treat trunk, I had to have a candy container that was more than a mere bland bucket. Inspiration struck at the dollar store! I found plain black buckets that would look awesome with a green chemical foam oozing out of the top. Mad (crafty) science here–you know that…
Mad Science Halloween Free Printables
My kids are totally in love with the Mad Science Trunk-or-Treat trunk from last week. They can’t wait to do it again. One of them has been wearing the “spare parts” sign on their forehead around the house. Potential spart part donor? Well, we’ll hope not! I really want you all to be able to…
Free Printable Fall Pumpkin Favor Bag Tags
It’s officially fall, and over the next few months there are going to be a million reasons to give little gift bags at school and other events. Using a few free printable fall pumpkin favor bag tags and labels from OnlineLabels.com, you can make all your gift bags up quick and easy! For the three…
Fishing Party Favor for Grown Ups
My father’s birthday was last week, and I’ve been thinking about him a bit. My earliest memories of dad are of him standing on a boat, sweet smelling cigar and fishing rod in hand. I know for a fact his cigars were allowed nowhere near the house, so that’s probably why they were an away…
3 Minute DIY Halloween Luminaries
It’s time for Craft Lightning–Halloween style–once again! Last year, I showed you how to make these rediculously easy black sock cats the kids can manage to make on their own. This year, I’m giving details on how to light up your sidewalk for Trick-or-Treaters with a few 3 minute to make DIY Halloween Luminaries. Orange…