Valentine's Candy Boxes

I made these Valentine's candy boxes with all of my kids' favorite candy!  I saw something similar at the store but was appalled by the price and thought I could do it cheaper plus I could personalize it with all of their favs!  I got a rectangle foam floral block and wrapped it in red wrapping paper.  I hot glued 4 movie size candy boxes on each side.  For the other candy, I hot glued individual packages to wooden dowels (check out the baking section at Hobby Lobby or Walmart).  Then I placed the dowels into the foam block at different heights and kept filling in until it looked full.  For the final touch, I added a Valentine's balloon to the center of the foam block.  These turned out so cute and definitely cheaper!

2022 Free Printable Calendar

Here is an 8.5 x 11" free printable 2022 calendar.  I keep this one in my office for a quick and handy calendar reference.  I got a thin gold table top frame for it so it looks nice and professional.  Download HERE.  Happy 2022!

Christmas Shoeboxes

We love making Christmas shoeboxes!  These shoeboxes are sent all around the world as Christmas presents for children.  The biggest program of this sort is Operation Christmas Child by Samaritan's Purse.  We have participated in this program before and love it!  The shoeboxes I made below are actually part of a program through our church for Bulgaria so please note that candy is allowed in these shoeboxes but that Operation Christmas Child does not allow candy.  Besides the candy, the rest of the items should work well for any Christmas shoebox program!  To find out more, visit Operation Christmas Child.  They also have some good tips on things to include/not include.

I made 3 Christmas shoeboxes and picked all girls around 4 years old.  Since I have boys, sometimes it's fun to buy girly stuff!  I like getting the same age and gender if I'm doing multiple shoeboxes so that I can buy multipacks of items and split them up.  When my children were younger, I would pick boys around their ages and involve them in picking out items for our shoeboxes.  It's such an easy way to involve our kids in giving to others!

I usually try not to get too many character items in case the child doesn't know the character or pick items with well known characters.  I also try to get dolls that may have the same skin coloring as the child.  Be sure to keep the age of the child in mind.  I didn't get any small items that might be a choking hazard since these girls were only 4 years old.

I like to do a plastic shoebox since it's sturdier and the child can use it for storage.  The shoeboxes have to be checked for items inside so I tie on a red and green tulle bow that can easily be slipped on and off.  It makes it a little more festive though!

Here are the items that I included to give you some ideas! (all of these items were purchased at Walmart)  To pack the shoebox, start with the coloring book then add items biggest to smallest.

• sunglasses
• small pouch with hair ties
• hair barrettes
• travel hairbrush with mirror
• toothbrush
• bracelets
• Band-Aids
• coloring book
• crayons
• small paper pads
• stickers
• socks and underwear
• My Little Pony
• stuffed animal
• light up ball
• small car
• playdoh and cookie cutters
• noise makers/kazoo
• small doll mermaid
• squishy unicorn
• flashlight
• smarties and ring pops (candy not allowed for Operation Christmas Child)

It's so fun to think of a child thousands of miles away opening a shoebox we made just for them to celebrate Christmas!  

Jurassic Park Trunk or Treat

This past year, we did a Jurassic Park trunk.  We've always focused on the costumes instead of the trunk but we decided to do both this time!  

The inflatable costumes were hilarious!  My youngest was a T-Rex, I was a Velociraptor, our dog was a T-Rex, my husband was a park ranger (we needed someone with mobility to hand out the candy!), and my oldest was a Triceratops. My youngest ran around the whole time which the kids thought was so funny!  The Triceratops costume was huge, so my oldest could hardly move!  

For the outside of the trunk, I collected similar size cardboard boxes and wrapped them in black wrapping paper.  (the liquor store is a great place to get similar size boxes!)  We taped them together to form an arch.  Then, I wrapped the sides in spiderwebs and added the lanterns which were black cardstock cones stuffed with red, yellow, and orange tissue paper.  I ordered a Jurassic Park movie poster (Amazon) for the top and added green cardstock dinosaur footprints on the ground.  

For the inside of the trunk, I ordered camo netting (Amazon) and added fake ivy and palm leaves (Amazon).  I also stung a "danger! high voltage" sign (Amazon again) in front of our dog.

Everyone really loved the trunk and the costumes and we loved making our community kids smile!  

Guardians of the Galaxy Trunk or Treat

Another year, we did a Guardians of the Galaxy trunk or treat.  The costumes (& the dog) were the highlight!  My husband was Drax, my youngest was Star-Lord, our dog was Rocket, I was Gamora, and my oldest was Groot.  We played the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack music.  For the trunk, I ordered a spaceship interior vinyl backdrop (Amazon) and made a banner.  People really enjoyed my green face!

(it's hard to see in the photo but this is the backdrop we used)

Avengers Trunk or Treat

I realized that I never posted about the trunks we did for Halloween the past few years.  So, here's to 3 posts in a row in case you need some trunk or treat ideas!  One year, we did the Avengers: my husband was Thor, my youngest was Captain America, our dog was Spiderman, I was the Scarlet Witch, and my oldest was Ironman.  (P.S. it's hard to find a girl super hero costume that's appropriate for the church trunk or treat!)  Since the dog was the star of the trunk, there wasn't much decorating to do.  I used a Superhero/cityscape plastic tablecloth (Amazon) for the trunk background and covered the rest in black felt.  I made an Avengers banner with different color cardstock and Avengers clipart.  We also did a superhero photo booth (Etsy).  It was so fun!

2021 Free Printable Calendar

Here is an 8.5 x 11" free printable 2021 calendar.  I keep this one in my office for a quick and handy calendar reference.  I got a thin gold table top frame for it so it looks nice and professional.  Download HERE.  May 2021 be better than 2020!

Movie Night Silent Auction Basket

This was a fun silent auction basket to make with everything a family would need for a Movie Night!

The basket contains:
2 $25 AMC gift cards
$20 Domino's gift card
Galvanized beverage tub
4 family friendly DVDs
Large popcorn bucket
Popcorn
Candy
Drinks
Movie night napkins

I found the movie night decorations at Hobby Lobby.  It turned out so cute!

2020 Calendar - free printable

I've been MIA on this blog as my kids have gotten older and I'm not a room mom anymore!  But, I'd still like to share some printables I've created, so here you go!  There are 2 different options for a free 2020 calendar printable.  Download the black & white PDF HERE and download the color PDF HERE.  Have a great 2020!

Hello Summer Printable Gift Tags

These "Hello Summer!" tags are so cute for end of the year gifts!  You can download them for free HERE.  Happy Summer!

Taco Valentines

My taco-obsessed son wanted Taco Valentines to hand out to his friends!  You can download them HERE.  If you would like to purchase the clip art I used to make these, you can find it HERE.  Go spread taco joy!

Christmas Tree Brownies

These Christmas tree brownies were fun and easy to make for our 4th grade Christmas party!

I made a pan of brownies (I always make boxed brownies and they are always a hit - the trick is to not overcook them!)  Once the brownies were fully cooled, I used the technique from this PIN to cut the brownies into triangles.  Then, I broke the hook off of small candy canes and inserted the remaining straight peppermint stick into the bottom of the brownie.  I used a frosting bag with star tip to pipe on the green frosting and added sprinkles and a yellow candy star!  So cute!

Star Wars Trunk or Treat

Our church does a Trunk or Treat event for the community every year.  We decided to participate as a family this year.  I hoped it would be something fun for us to do together since my kids are getting older and less "into" Halloween (well, at least the teenager!)  It was a blast and we are already talking about / negotiating what theme we will do next year!

For this year, we decided on the classic, never-fails Star Wars theme.  I focused less on the trunk itself and more on our costumes and the photo booth.

Here's the whole group!  My husband was Darth Vader, I was Princess Leia, my 13 year old was Hans Solo, my 10 year old was Luke Skywalker, and our dog was Yoda!  Everyone loved seeing the dog dressed up! 

For the trunk, I covered the back in black using black plastic tablecloths and black felt.  I added the Death Star inflatable hung from the ceiling (Amazon).  I made a Star Wars banner with silver foil cardstock.  But, the center of attention was Yoda!

 My next favorite thing (besides the costumes) was the photo booth!  I borrowed the PVC backdrop frame from a friend and added starry plastic tablecloths as the backdrop.  Then I had tons of quotes and masks for people to use and take their own Star Wars pictures.  I purchased the masks HERE.  I made the quotes and you can download them HERE.  For photo booth props, I usually print them on white card stock, laminate them, and hot glue a wooden skewer to the back.  This was a big hit and created lots of cute photo opportunities!

Trunk or Treat was so much fun!  I can't wait to do it again next year!

Movie Gift Card Thank You

Teacher Appreciation Week is this week at my son's middle school.  For each teacher, I purchased a Fandango gift card and a box of M&M's.  I attached the Fandango card to the cute movie Thank You card and then put it all together with baker's twine.  I love the way it turned out and I think all of the teachers will enjoy a movie gift card & candy!  You can download the movie Thank You cards HERE.

Herb Markers

I wanted a cute way to mark my herbs but didn't want to spend a lot of time or money on the markers!  So, I took a plain wooden popsicle stick, stamped on the letters, and wrote in the groves with a black pen.  I already owned the stamps from a previous project (see HERE), so creating the markers was definitely cheap and easy!

Grillin' Basket

This Grillin' Basket turned out so well for our school silent auction!

Here are the items included:

Char-Broil Deluxe Portable Propane Grill

Char-Broil 3 Piece Tool Set: Spatula, Tongs, & Basting Brush

Grill Brush

12 inch Bamboo Skewers

16 ounce Propane Canister

Burger Press with Storage

Meat Thermometer

Bean & Sauce Pot

Sauces: A1,

Rib Rack Sweet Honey,

Sweet Baby Rays Golden Mustard, &

Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ

Seasonings:  Rib Rack Dry Rub,

McCormick Memphis Pit BBQ Rub,

McCormick Montreal Steak Marinade,

McCormick Garlic Pepper IPA Marinade,

McCormick Southwest Chipotle Sauce Mix-in, &

McCormick Brown Sugar Boubon Mix-in

Large Wooden Black Tray I purchased the grill on Amazon, the black tray at Hobby Lobby, and most of the other items at Walmart.  Such a great idea for camping or tailgating!