Sharing the Love!

To get my kids to share their love with their siblings in preparation for Valentines day, we made these cute mailboxes.
I bought them in the $1 section at target. Decorated them in scrapbook paper, and stickers in their initials.
Then, just set some papers and pens nearby and the kids left each other so many sweet, love notes over the past few weeks.

Personalized for each child!

Sorry for the blurry picture. These turned out soooooo cute. Another type, print and frame craft, personalized for each child.
It has the words to a favorite primary song, I am a child of God. In between each line, is the personalization. I did the words to the song in black block print, and the personalized info in 2 colors that match the room, and in cursive.

Loving this!!

I am loving Pinterest! I have got so many of ideas off of it, like this!
I had a few small 5x7 frames sitting around. I typed and printed and ta-da!!
If you can't see the picture well..... I typed up important dates to my husband and I in block print (10.18.95) The dates I used were: the day we met, our wedding date, and the birthdays of our 3 kids. Under each block date, in red and cursive writing I wrote out that date (18 October 1995).
At the bottom in block print I typed: The dates our lives were forever changed
It turned out so cute, I made one for my mom and dad too!

Praise the Positive!

My kids sometimes are a little naughty ;). Here is a way to visually show them when they are good. Praise the positive and maybe more positive behavior will come!
I just printed a page with "Caught you being Good" on the top and each of my children's names down the page. I framed it. I put it on the piano where they see it multiple times a day.
Now, everytime I see them doing something good, I put a mark by their name with a dry erase marker. I don't erase when they are bad... because again... I'm trying to praise the positive! Once they have 15 marks by their name, they get a prize such as going out for ice cream with mom or dad.
Examples of being good? Playing with each other without fighting, doing their chores without me asking, stopping their own arguments without me, etc...

I love you because.....

I made these for my kids. They need to hear how and why I love them. This makes it easy to tell them how and why!
First I bought frames, then I decorated them with stickers and buttons I had in my scrapbook stuff. I printed a paper that says "I Love You Because...." and inserted it into each frame.
Now hang it on a wall where your child will see it often. (My kids each have one in their bedrooms!) With a dry erase marker, write on the frame a reason you love them. Update it often!! My kids remind me to change it if it's been a few days, and also have begged dad to write something as well. They love it!!
*TIP* use a frame with glass, because the marker doesn't come off of plastic as easily!

Fluffy Flip Flops!

These were fun, easy, cheap and turned out pretty cute!!
To make them, select some fabric (we got some from grandma's craft room!) and use scissors or pinking shears to cut 1x6 inch strips. (The number depends on the size of shoe... mine were about 28 per shoe, my 8 year olds were about 20 per shoe!)
Using single knots, tie the strips around the flip-flop straps, pushing the knots close together as you go. Keep adding pieces until your new slippers are done.
My girls just used scrap material and made them colorful and funky. I chose coordinating colors and did a pattern, or you could choose 1 fabric and make them all the same. The possiblities are endless! Have fun!!

Journal Jars

I want my girls to be better Journal writers than I've been, and I needed a little inspiration to write as well. So we made Journal Jars! We typed up a bunch of questions and printed a copy for each of us. Then we cut them into strips and rolled them up. We also decorated canning jars to hold the papers. When it's time to write in our journals, we pull out a paper, glue it to the top of our blank page and answer the question. You may also want to make cute journals out of a notebook and scrapbook supplies!
Some sample questions:
Who is your favorite aunt or uncle and why?
What is your favorite vacation you've taken as a family?
What are your favorite foods? Your least favorite foods?
What do you do when it snows?
For adults... What did you do on a snowy day as a child?
Tell a story about your Grandmother.
What are some of your strengths?
adults... Tell about your first car, how you got it, how much it cost, what it was like?

Recycle those Old Jeans!

Ok... Dad had some old pants that had holes in the knees.... what to do with them?
We made cute bags!!
1. Cut off Legs of old pants, try to cut straight across.
2. Turn inside out and either sew or glue(won't last as long)along the bottom edge. Leave about 1/2 inch at the bottom.
3. Turn right side out and decorate as desired.
4. Cut down the inside seam of both legs and sew or glue them in as handles.

Tulip Tye-Die Kit

What better way to start summer vacation than Tye-dying shirts? I have never made one before and wanted to try. I bought a "Tulip Tie-Dye Kit" at Walmart for about $10.00, and some plain white shirts( $2-3 each). We did this outside to minimize the mess! We had so much fun doing this project!
The kit said it would Dye up to 8 shirts, and we did 7! The kit came with 3 colors, rubber bands, plastic gloves and instructions that shows you how to do many different kinds of shirts. We really enjoyed this project, It was pretty GROOVY!