I Scream "Thank You!"

As the end of the school year approaches it can be hard to come up with creative, yet easy, teacher gifts.  Last year my eldest made a cookie jar with freshly made cookies and stickers that said "Thanks to you, I'm one smart cookie!"

 

This year I've been looking for something just as creative and came up with a super cute idea for the teacher that lets our Girl Scout troop use her room.  We wanted to give her a gift card and we decided on an ice cream shop, but giving a plain old card is boring so we created a cute poster to go with it!

 

You'll need:

-Poster board in some fun, yummy color

-Brown construction paper or cardstock

-White cardstock (printer paper would work too)

-Scissors

-Glue

-Crayons or markers

 

 

Draw a circle on the white paper and a cone shape on the brown paper.  I used a white crayon to draw the cone so it is easier to see.

 

Have the kids decorate the circle (ice cream scoop) and cone.  To add a personal touch I had the girls write their name on the cone.

Then cut them out and glue them, in a cute pattern, on to the poster board.

 



 

We wrote a cute saying "You're so sweet!" and attached the gift card next to it (this photo was before I attached the gift card).

 

So there you have it, a super cute and easy thank you "card"!

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day was a few days ago.  In the spirit of Earth Day here is a fun (and easy) Earth Day project.

I found the original idea here, but tweaked it and had my Girl Scout troop do all the work!  We gave them a plain piece of  paper, some used construction paper (green and 2 shades of blue), glue and some markers to write with.

 

They tore the pieces of construction paper into smaller pieces then glued them into the center of the circle they made with a small paper plate.  The smaller you tear the paper the longer the craft will take.  We used left-over construction paper to reinforce the reduce, reuse, recycle theme.  Plus, construction paper is thicker than tissue paper so the glue won't seep through as easily and make a big, sticky mess.

Once they covered their circle, with the different colors of construction paper, they wrote one or two things they would do to help the Earth.

Viola!  A beautiful, unique Earth that the kids can call their own!

TOTE-ally (road) trippin'

It's summer time, a time when most families hit the road for their summer vacation.  A time when everyone packs into the car and great memories are made (and when siblings seem to do most of their fighting).  If your kids are like mine, they can't go three minutes in a car without fighting over something.  Our vacation was taking us 20 hours, one way (not including potty breaks).  We were in for a LOT of fighting.  So I searched Pinterest (my favorite site) and asked a few friends how they roadtrip long distances with multiple kids.  I collected quite a few ideas, changed them around to fit my family and each girls needs and began planning our fun adventure.


The first (and best) thing I found was this pin.  It offers printable games you can do on the road as well, but my favorite part of it was the tote bags. (This is the link directly to the website).  I bought larger canvas tote bags that have 2 pockets on the front, they were $4.99 each from Hobby Lobby (and they are washable...which is a MUST for my family).  A few days before the trip I let the girls each decorate one side of their tote and the next day I put their name and some designs on the front.

I then filled each bag with things that they commonly ask for on longer trips and some things I knew would keep them occupied.  Here is the run down of what was in each bag.
One front pocket:
-Tissues (I bought a 6 pack of travel size and portioned it out)
-2 individual packets of Wet Ones (looking back I should have not put these in and taken a travel size tub of wipes, the Wet Ones have antibacterial on them, which isn't good for use on the kids face).
-Plastic grocery bag for their garbage or if they felt sick. (I would recommend putting two or three in there, or refill it if they use their bag).
-Chapstick
-Water Bottle, each girl also had a cup (that had a lid and crazy straw attached) that was filled with juice in the morning and water in the afternoon & evening.  The water bottle was great for in a pinch when the cup was empty and we weren't close to a rest stop, or when something got sticky and they needed just a bit of water to wet a napkin to get it cleaned up.

Second front pocket:
-Small toys, like their little dolls.
-Camera.  My girls have their own Fisher-Price kid cameras and I highly recommend taking a camera for the kids.  Even if you don't own a kid camera and don't want to purchase one, get a disposable or two for them, it makes them feel like a big kid and a great way to see the world through their eyes (even if it is blurry).

Main pocket:
-Coloring book, new, so there were as many pages to keep them occupied as possible.
-Colored pencils (I bought each kid a pack from the 99 cent store, that way when they went missing or got broken, it wasn't a biggy and they didn't lose all their coloring stuff from home so they had something to color with when we got home.  Plus, crayons melt and markers are messy).
-2 to 3 Books, I bought each girl a new book before the trip so there was something unfamiliar, which is always fun and takes a little longer to get through. Not to mention kids don't mind reading it/looking through it a couple of times before it gets boring.
-Larger toys, some had Barbies, other's had stuffed animals and a smaller/travel sized activity block (depending on the kid depended on what was in their bag, but I took several for each kid).
-Each kid got a new toy, as a surprise, in their bag.  The older 2 got Brain Quests, #3 got Dr. Seuss flash cards, and my youngest got a musical activity book.
-Snacks, I put the snacks directly in their bag so when they wanted one I didn't have to fish around the car for the snack bag and find something for them.  This way they could also make their own decision about what they want to eat...which makes for an easier time because they feel more in control.

I figured the girls would need about 3 snacks each day so I packed 3 then replenished for the next day.  This allowed me to pack the snacks away with everything else, so there was less to trip over in the car and such.  We also made a rule that if the girls got into their snacks without asking, all of them would be taken away and they would have to wait until the next day to have them back in their bags.  Fortunately this worked really well and we didn't have any issues with them getting into their snacks.

For their snacks I made a huge batch of trail mix, then divided it into 4 snack sized Ziploc bags and put the remainder in a larger bag for later in the trip.  I also broke down a box of Teddy Grahams and Goldfish the same way.  I bought individual bags of beef jerkey (Target had them on sale for $1 each!).  Finally, I bought a box of "gummies" and put one package in each of the girls bags and packed the rest of the packages away.

What's super great about these totes is that they will not only last a long time, but they can be used for other things too. My girls take swim lessons and we now use the bags for their towels, goggles, water bottle, etc. Everything is organized and easily accessible, and they really like that their things are in their own decorated bag.

Ryeli's is broken because she wanted to "play" with
it on the last leg of the way home.  Oops!

As an added "please be good" incentive, we put each of the girls names on a popsicle stick (I had wanted to be more creative than just their name, but ran out of time) and every time we stopped for gas whoever's stick was still in the visor would get a special treat (here's the link to the pin that gave me the idea, along with one of my friends ideas about treats/prizes along the way).  I bought glo-sticks (since some of our traveling was at night), a few small toys and had a couple packages of cookies (to be used for when we were done driving for the night).  This really came in handy when the day started getting long and there was NOTHING to look at outside, hello Idaho! :) When the girls fought I would take down their stick and the only way to earn it back was to do something nice for someone else.  It worked like a charm!

With these items and some planning ahead, we actually had a great trip!  We also realized our kids are better road trip kids than we had thought they would be!!!  We can't wait for more adventures and family road trips down the line.

*Sorry about there not being many pictures, I was so busy getting ready for the trip and then taking pictures of our trip that I completely forgot to take any of the process and "before."  I will try to do better in the future.  :)

Headband Bonanza

For my first blog entry I'm sharing a neat little trick I do with my headbands.
 

Since I have 4 girls our headbands get quite a bit of use. Unfortunately, cute headbands (the ones that are colorful with accessories or flowers) can be quite expensive. They also don't allow for any uniqueness...you buy a pink headband with a white flower and that is what you get, along with the hundreds of other people who purchase the same headband.

Taking matters into my own hands, I have created some very cute, versatile headbands that aren't very expensive and can meet everyone's needs. (My girls are all very different and don't necessarily like the same color schemes or textures). They are very easy to make and end up being a LOT cheaper than purchasing a "designer" headband. My girls also like that they can choose a color of headband and then choose one of the many accessories we have, put them together and switch them up throughout the day!

Start-up is the most costly, since it's where you will buy the bulk of your headbands and accessories.

Items you'll need:

-Favorite colored headband(s) (any will do; with or without fabric, with or without designs, etc).

-Any accessories you want on the headband; flower, butterfly, star, etc.

-Velcro

-Scissors

-Hot Glue Gun

First you want to cut your Velcro, I usually cut mine to the smallest accessory (I'm showing you the size I cut mine, next to a quarter, to give you relative size), keep in mind you will want to make all the future Velcro pieces approximately the same size. Note: when you cut the velcro the little black "fuzzies" will get all over the place, so you will want to cut the pieces somewhere easy to clean up.

Now, make sure the headband(s) and accessory(ies) are clean. Then, you'll want to determine where you want to place the accessory on the headband, keep in mind this is where every accessory will go every time on the headband. I usually place mine about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up on one side. Then apply a dab of hot glue to the headband where you want the center of the accessories (I attach the rough side of the Velcro to the headband and the softer side of the Velcro to the accessories). Place the Velcro to the hot glue spot on the headband and hold for a few seconds, until the glue seems set.

Then you apply a small dab of glue to the accessory and attach the other half of the Velcro to the accessory at the hot glue spot, again holding until the glue is set.

Viola! You now have versatile headbands and accessories!  Each time you get a new headband or accessory all you have to do is add one piece of Velcro and you can add it to your collection...easy-peasy!
Note: I would wait a few hours before attaching and detaching the headband and accessory, just to make sure the glue is thoroughly dry.

This is the same pink headband as in the top picture.
We only have one of each headband color (and accessory).