Teacher Gifts and cards 2014

It's that time of year again, another school year coming to an end, and you think everything should be calming down and wrapped up for the summer. But no, your 5 year old needs a costume for their party, not to mention Thank You cards for Teachers, TA's, parent helpers.... Oh and a thoughtful teachers gift! Thank goodness for pinterest!

Firstly my Teacher gifts: I had seen this idea and free printable from Lisa Storms a while ago but not seen any of the tumblers in the UK. Found these apple green ones in The Range and got to work. I printed the free download onto kraft card for the straw, shredded brown and ivory paper to fill the cup with faux "iced latte"

Probably more of an expense than planned but I ended up buying starbucks coffee vouchers for each of the 3 teachers and asked if I could have a cup-holder with each. The cup-holders didn't quite fit, but that gave me the opportunity to fill the void with a die-cut apple printed with the teacher's name and thank you message.

Next, an orginal idea I had (but so simple I'm sure it will have been done somewhere before. I got Little Lady to make her own cards this year:

I printed the teachers name on the front, and a little quote she has said about each teacher. We then cut out triangles from my scraps of scrapbook papers, and then I gave her the felt tips and told her the triangles were dresses, could she draw the head/arms/legs and write her own name inside. I am so pleased with the result they look great, didn't take long and every card is unique :)

Fun in the sun and cress heads

This week we've been mostly enjoying the glorious and unusual British Sunshine, popping in only to cool off, get snacks and finish off last minute cards for friends and family :) There have been so many I'm not had chance to post them all so I'm planning on a photo montage of them in June.

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On top of this I'm planning two parties for my little girl (one family and one for her little friends) - and for some insane reason I've decided to have 2 different themes even thou they are only a few days apart.

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Wedding stationary progress has also suffered thanks to this glorious weather, however my wedding day tan is coming along a treat :) Six weeks to go, so excited, but I am suddenly reminded of how much there is still to do.

One craft I can share with you today is a playgroup activity I set up last week: Yougurt pot cress heads. Above is the result of our efforts, guess who's is whose?

Easter crafts with the kids

It's been a dull rainy day in Wiltshire today, but that didn't stop us going for a little family walk in the morning. Mr S is now busy making a Curry for tonight's dinner, meanwhile the kids and I have been doing a little Easter crafting.

They both made Easter cards earlier in the week at a Hobbycraft craft event so today we decided to make Easter pictures to go on the fridge. Granny had given them both a set of foam stickers so the kids used felt tips to draw on a piece of green card and then used the stickers to decorate. These are entirely their own work, with a little help from Mummy to stop the long 'happy easter' sticker getting stuck to itself.

We also made this years additions to the Easter Tree decorations. I drew around a cookie cutter and cut chick shapes out of yellow card which the kids then coloured in, we used glue dots to stick on feathers for tails and then hole punched the tops and threaded a ribbon through.

Good friday family beach trip

Our 'Good Friday' family tradition is to visit the beach - come rain, or shine or snow or hail... OK, so its quite a new tradition, only 3 years standing but all traditions have to start somewhere. We were prepared for bad weather today as there is snow in some parts of the country so we packed the wellies, coats, jumpers, with the buckets and spades and headed for Sandbanks beach.

  We made all of our names out of shells - the kids had a fun collecting them in their buckets and helping to spell out their names - but I think their best game was dismantling them afterwards!

The kids had a fantastic time: paddling, chasing wet dogs, building sandcastles, collecting shells and getting generally covered in sand and seawater :D And we were lucky with the weather, although a jumper was a necessity the sun shone all day.

Oh and I couldn't resist extending my name into the domain name for a bit of shameless beach side advertising, lol!



Easter nest cupcakes

Just a quick Easter themed update, I've just whipped up some Easter Nest cupcakes for my Dad's visit this week ... OK, I say they're for my Dad but they're mostly for Mr S and the Kids ;)

They're basically just chocolate cupcakes with grassy green butter cream, a crumbled flake 'nest' and smartie/sugar bean 'eggs'. I added a bit of twist by using my mint chocolate recipe - not a particularly Eastery but they are Mr S's favourites (he's had 5 already).

Kids placesmats, made out of scrapbook papers

I was setting the kids places out for dinner and thought I'd blog about about an old craft: their cool individual placemats - a quick crafty project with endless possibilities and that should keep everyone happy about their personal space at the dinner table. 

Basically all they are is 12x12 scrapbook paper, laminated. No tutorial required really, it is that simple. You just need access to an A3 sized laminator, and make sure the laminating sheet can get a good seal at all four edges. Given the wide range of papers available you are sure to find something to suit every child's personality or interests, you could even add some decoupage (although I do find the smooth surface of the papers makes for a more hygienic 'wipe clean' finish).

These are the kids place mats we made last year, I particularly love the double sided papers for these. And of course this idea isn't limited to just the kids, you can make some great 'grown up' placemats too. And why limit yourself to scrapbook paper why not make a whole set of placemats for your table using wallpaper samples or card mounted gift wrap? Happy crafting!

Invites: Minnie Mouse Theme Tutorial

My little girl's 2nd birthday is coming up and I'm planning a Minnie Mouse Party, but hoping to do as much of it myself and avoid the commercial partywear as much as possible, so keep your eyes peeled for a party special. But first I need to send out the invites, they're so simple to make I thought I'd share a quick tutorial on them for all you crafty parents out there - in fact this one is so simple older children will be able to help too.

* Friends and family please spot the 'deliberate mistake' with the date on this first batch of invites, lol

What you will need:

 White A4 paper

Black Card

Pink dotty ribbon

Scissors

A circle cutter (optional)

Adhesive (eg- high tack tape)

5"x5" Envelopes

The below template (click to get original size)

Firstly print the mickey mouse template (click on image to get original size and then save or copy and paste into word). Then on a new word document use the 'insert shape' tool to draw 6cm circles and the text box tool to add your party information and print. I can recommend the fun Disney style font Walter. Alternatively, cut 6cm circles with your cutter and write the information by hand.

Next use your circle cutter to cut out the party information panel. Cut out your mickey mouse outline, and use a pencil to draw around it as many times as will fit on each piece of black card (I think I managed 4 per A4) alternatively use your circle cutter to make one large and two small circles and overlap slightly.

Now take a length of ribbon and tie into a bow (I ended up getting them to the right size and then adding a single stitch to hold them in place but this isn't essential). Now simply take your three elements and stick together, I used a high tack tape roller mouse to attach the information panel and glue dots to attach the bow. Now just repeat the process as many times as required.

[For the full party details CLICK HERE]

KIDS CRAFT: St David's Day Daffodils & Leeks

As a Volunteer at a local Mother and Toddler group I often get to devise the weekly craft for the kids to do. We try to work around theme based on calendar events and this week it's St Davids day. Here are two St David's day crafts you can do with your kids at home.

PINWHEEL DAFFODILS

What you will need:
An old egg box
Scissors
Some yellow paint
A paint brush
A 15x15 cm square of card/paper
A green straw
A split pin
A paper punch

Firstly cut one of the 'cups' out of the egg box, the shape of this will vary depending on the eggbox, but try to make it look even all the way around.

Next, get out the paint, and paint the cup and the paper and leave to dry. When we did this with the pre-schoolers, as we didn't have time for paint to dry, I pre-cut and painted the eggbox cups, and the children decorated the white sqaure with crayons/pen/tissue squares, this also worked well.

Once the paint has completely dried fold diagonally from corner to corner and then repeat on the other side. Cut along the 4 fold lines from corner toward the center (but stop about 2cm from the middle point). Fold into the center as shown above.

At this point I like to use a punch to make holes in each of the triangles where they crossover, in the cup itself and a little guide hole in the straw - this will make it easier to thread the split pin through. Pop the split pin through the cup, and then each pinwheel leaf in turn and the center of the pinwheel and finally through the straw. Before splitting the pin, loosen the pinwheel (too tight and it won't spin).

Here is the version we did with the kids this year, using crayon and tissue to decorate, and paper circle instead of an egg cup.

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PAPER LEEKS

For something a little different, this is a simple tutorial on making a paper leek - you could made a whole pile of them or perhaps invent more paper vegetables as part of a Harvest festival craft or healthy eating topic.

What you will need:

Green Paint

Paint brush

A4 white paper

Kitchen roll

Sticky tape

Paint the outside edges of the paper (leaving the middle white) and when dry repeat on the other side. To make a longer more realistic sized leek, turn the paper portrait and paint the top half green (repeat on other side).

While you wait for it to dry, cut small lengths of string, these will form the 'roots' of the leek. Once the paper is completely dry scrunch the kitchen roll into a ball and place at one end of the white section, fold the paper around it and start to roll into a tube. Unravel slightly and lay the string pieces as shown above, secure with sticky tape. Continue to roll the paper into a tube, and close with sticky tape (or a little double sided tape under the end).

And that's it, quite simple but hopefully should keep little hands busy for a good half an hour.