Dare to Share Saturday

It is Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

I had intentions to post a new post this week, but I worked different hours this week, and had to do some after work training.  I have been working on something fun that I will be posting about very soon through.  We are having a themed party for the kids next week, and they put in my charge of the decorating for the party.  I LOVE the theme they are doing. We are giving the kids a Candyland party.  They do already have decorations from past parties, and I am in the middle of making a few more.  One of the teachers made a Mr. Mint and Frostina for a previous party.  I enjoy making characters from poster board and cardboard like the dinosaurs at my son's dinosaur party, so for this year's party  I am also making a Princess Lolly, and a Jib Gingerbread boy. In addition to the characters, I am making some signs with different fonts of the different lands, and a large cupcake for our Cupcake Commons party. I will be posting more about our party this upcoming week. 

**this post contains affiliate links 

I am using fonts from Creative Fabrica  to make my party signs. Creative Fabrica is a great sight to get all kind of fun clip art, graphics and fonts.  I also plan on using some ideas from this party for new listings in my Etsy Shop.  If you have ever considered making printables and opening an Etsy shop, now is the perfect time to check out my favorite course from Gold City Ventures.  They are opening the course next week on the 29th.  I will be posting more about the course as we get closer to launch day, but if you would like to see more about it now check out their free ebook or free workshop.

It is looking to be about time to get this party started. I would love to see to what you have to share this week.  Link up and HAVE FUN!!  

 

 

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It's Party Time! It is time to Dare to Share!

It is Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!   How has your week been?  I had a really good week. After my background check for childcare went through, I started my new job on Tuesday. This week I started doing my training. I forgot how busy preschoolers can be, since it has been awhile since I have had one. I have already learned most of their names, and learning their personalities.  It has been fun so far, but I felt like I needed a nap after I got home like I do every year when school starts.  

*this post contains affiliate links 

This week has also been pretty productive creatively. My St. Patrick's Day items in my Etsy Shop, sold really well this week. I had my best week ever, and I am hoping the same happens for Easter.  :)  I love making printables, and I am so glad that I opened my shop.  If you have ever thought about making printable as a side hustle, I highly recommend the printable course I took by Gold City Ventures.  It was one of the best courses I have ever taken. Julie and Cody have been super supportive, and really want to see their students succeed. Their printables course will be open starting March 23rd next week. I will share more about it and the bonuses shortly.  If you would like to learn more before the course opens, you can try their free workshop or free Ebook.

This weekend our Dollar Tree craft group is meeting again, and we are going to make wreaths.  I plan on making an Easter wreath, and I hope to share it on the blog. 

 

I did have time for one post this week. I shared my Leprechaun Treat Boxes that I made a few years ago. I also have some Easter ones that I will be posting in the next week.  

Well  it is getting to be time to get this party started. I would love to see what you have to share. 

Link up and HAVE FUN! 
 

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Leprechaun Treat Boxes and Games

 Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Here were already in the middle of March.  While the year feels like it is flying, it does mean that spring is right around the corner.   Winter was a weird one for us this year, we did not get the snow that we normally do in both Ohio and Michigan.  Michigan was slammed with storms the last three  weekends, but thankfully I was still able to go visit this month. 

St. Patrick's Day is a fun holiday to celebrate. How could it not be with tricky elves, lots of green, colorful rainbows, sometimes adult beverages, and shiny things. LOL! As I am typing this post, I am wearing my leggings covered in rainbows, shamrocks and pots of gold.  

St. Patrick's Day is a good time to make some crafts.  One of my favorite crafts to make is  my Leprechaun Treat Boxes.  They are made with cardboard tubes, paint, paper, and a little bit of glue. They can be filled with colorful gold candy.  If you would like to see the full tutorial on how to make them you can find that post  here.

One of our favorite things to do with our kids on St. Patrick's Day was to set leprechaun traps in hopes of catching a one, and receiving their pot of gold. While I was not able to get a leprechaun trap kit put together in time, I have several new St. Patrick's Day items over in my Etsy Shop.  If you would like a scavenger hunt where you can look for leprechauns, you might like my leprechaun hunt.   In this printable game you get three leprechauns that you can hide together or separately.  The second game which has been really popular in my shop this year is my Find the Pot of Gold game.  In this game you use the clues to find a hidden pot of gold.   Both games are a lot of fun, and good for kids of all ages.  

Do you have fun plans for St. Patrick's Day?  I would love hear about them if you do. 

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It is time to Party! Welcome to Dare to Share Saturday!

It's Friday night, and you know what you that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share!  

It has been a crazy the last several days,  so I was not able to post this week.  I have been doing all the things for my new job.  I had to have a physical, a background check, and update shots. There has been lots of appointments and running around, and paperwork.  Hopefully once everything is complete, I will be starting my new job next week.   I also have an update on my dog.  While  she is doing better, her platelets are still lower than where they should be. We are going to continue her current treatment, and do another test in a few weeks.  

This weekend I am spending time with my friends and my kids so the party is going up a little later than normal.  

Since it late I am going to get this party started.  Link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

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It's Dare to Share Saturday

It's Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share! 

This week I have much happier news to share.  Last week I shared a health crisis we were going through with our dog.  (if you missed it, you can read what happened here.)  Thank you for all your good thoughts and prayers.  Our sweet pup is still with us.  She has cooperated with taking her meds, and while she doesn't like being isolated to one room in the house, she is starting to do much better.  We took her for her blood recheck on Monday evening.  While the platelet numbers were lower than the vet wanted, she was happy they were moving in the right direction. She is encouraged that she may be able to recover.  We will go back for another recheck on Thursday.  Her bleeding stopped a few days ago, and she is acting like she is back to normal.  

This week I posted a few new posts on my blog.  Did your know that Feb 27 is Pokemon Day?  I didn't until this year, but in honor of Pokemon Day I shared two posts about my son's favorite birthday party he had growing up.   You can read part 1 here, and part 2 here.

Yesterday was Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America Day.  In honor of that I shared Make a Truffula Tree for Dr. Seuss's Birthday.  The Lorax is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss's books, and I have always wished the Truffula trees were real.  

I am in the process of adding a few new items in my Etsy Shop this week. Now that March is here, I am starting to see sales on my Leprechaun Treasure Hunt and my Find the Pot of Gold Game. They were a lot of fun to make, and from what I am hearing a lot of fun to play.   If you are interested in a St. Patrick's Day activity for kids, you might want to check them out.  

Well it looks like it is getting to be that time, its's time to get this party started. I would love to see what you have been up to this week.. 

So link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

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Make a Truffula Tree for Dr. Seuss Day or Party

If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know that I was teaching in an upper elementary school for several years.  At our school we always celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America Day on March 2nd, and then reading month for the rest of March.  

One year our school library was decorated with Truffula Trees for reading month. I was so excited.  While I like many of Dr. Seuss's books, The Lorax is my favorite. When I was younger, I wished that they were real.  They were so pretty, colorful, and fun, and I wanted a real one. Truffula Trees are actually a lot easier to make than you might realize, so it is now possible to have one.

**this post contains affiliate links 

The trunks of the Truffula Trees are long, and thin. There are several ways you can make them depending on how and where you are placing them.  The trunks of these trees were cardboard tubes painted white with black stripes. They stood up straight, on their own, so they were attached to a base to hold them in place.   You could use various sizes of wrapping paper tubes to get the variation in the tree sizes. 

Another popular item you could use for the trunk is a pool noodle.  Dollar Tree now sells pool noodles year round for crafting purposes.  Instead of painting the stripes you could wrap black or color duct tape around the noodle.  While pool noodles would not stand on their own you can make them sturdier, by inserting a Dollar Tree broom handle through the tube. The handles are sold without the broom attached, and you can see what they look like here.  If you would like the trees to be a little bendy, leave the stick out and you can place them in a corner, or attach them to a wall. 

There are also a few ways you can make the tops of the Truffula trees. The sturdiest way to make a top is to use a lightweight children's ball, and then cover it with feathered boas like what is pictured here. I have seen boas at the craft store, and occasionally small ones at the Dollar Tree.  A balloon is also a possible choice to use as a topper, instead of a ball. It might not be as sturdy as a ball, but it could be easily  topped with feathers or tissue paper. 

A final touch you can do to make your display look like a scene right out of the book, is to use Dollar Tree plastic tablecloths. If you wrap them around the bottom of the tree it gives them a more whimsical look. This is good for a few reasons, not only does it look nice,  but you can also hide anything you may use to weigh the trees down. 

Now that you know how to make the Truffula Trees, you can use them as decor for a party. 

I found some more party supplies that you could use to have a Dr. Seuss or Lorax party.  I am really liking this party bundle. It has a cake topper, 24 cake toppers, balloons, and a large backdrop, and is under $20.

I am also loving this 5ft x 3ft Lorax backdrop.

This Dr Seuss direction sign from Oriental Trading would be great for greeting your party guests, or as a display in a reading area in a classroom or library.  

One thing that I always liked to do at my children's parties was to give or make the guests something to wear. It could have been  dog ears for our Blues Clues and Scooby Parties, cowboy hats at our horse/western party, or hula skirts at our childrens' luau. These Dr Seuss Character Masks look like a fun and affordable option for a wearable party item.  

How cool are these truffula tree pens?!  They would make a great goody bag item.  If I had one of these pens, it would definitely be one of my favorite pens to use. 

Happy Reading Month! 

 

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How to Throw a Pokémon Party (part 2)

 

In part one of how to throw a Pokémon party, I shared how we made our invitations, photo booth and mini pokeball pinatas.   

In today's post I am going to talk about the games, cake and goody bags.  

One of the first games we played was Pokémon Bingo. I found a website where you can make free custom Bingo cards for kids, and I am so happy that the site is still available now. It is called dltk-kids.com. There are all kinds of cool ideas for kids on this site, but the link will take you to the Bingo cards.  I made markers for the game out of red, yellow and blue squares of cardstock. After a few rounds of Bingo, we went out to the backyard for Pin the Tail on Pikachu. 

**this posts has affiliate links 

  I drew a Pikachu on a piece of yellow poster board and gave everyone a tail.  Looking at this photo, I think that many Ben and Joey were peeking when we played.  LOL! 

Before the party, I did a little prep work. I had my son pick out his favorite 20 Pokémon, and then I put together a mini lesson to teach a little bit about each character.  There is a reason for the lesson.  We were going to play a game with those 20 characters called "Got to Find Them All" 

Some more prep work that I did before the party was to make Pokeballs out of plastic ball ornaments that have the two halves snap together. I painted one side white, the other side red, and added a black strip between the two colors.  Unfortunately I was so busy at the party,  I did not get a photo of a finished Pokeball. I made enough Pokeballs, so each of our guests would have three of them. 

I had figured out the fairest way for the kids to figure out which Pokémon they were going to look for.  We turned on some Pokémon music, and played Pass the Pokeball. When the music stopped, if you were holding the Pokeball, you got to keep it.   We did this until everyone had three Pokeballs. While we were doing other things, I had some helpers hide small printed pictures around our entire yard of all of the Pokémon we had learned about in our lesson. 

  At the start of the game they opened their Pokeballs to see which Pokémon they were looking for.  They had to find three matching pictures for each of their Pokémon, which was nine pictures total.  It took them quite awhile to find them all, but they loved it. I had a few extra Pokeballs, so some of the quickest trainers helped me find those too.  If you look closely, hanging from the swing set is a number 8 pinata.  I had the kids all sit in the grass while it was being hit. This helped keep kids safe from getting hit by the stick, and to make it as fair with the amount of candy they picked up when the pinata broke.

After the games were done, we went inside for Pokémon themed snacks and cake.  I do not remember what snacks we had, I would have to go through several boxes of photos and photo albums to find out.  

 

The cake was pretty easy to make. I made a giant circle cake. (I think it was a deep pizza pan)  I frosted it red and white and then used a tube of black gel to make the center line. 

I used these colorful party giftbags for their goody bags. I wrote Pokémon Master, and then their first name on the bags so they could tell them apart.  In the goody bag they put all of their pinata candy (I had extra for those who did not get as much), their pokeballs, and some Pokémon stickers.  They also got to keep their trucker hat.  

I love how many cool Pokémon party items are available now.  

I so would have bought these Pokémon themed gift boxes if they were available back then. 

This Pokeball party plate set is also really cool.  

One of the few Pokémon themed items that were available for our party were party plates similar to these.  I only bought one pack, and then had extra plates in solid colors. 

There are so many fun Pokémon party items on this Amazon page that it would take me hours to go through it all. Instead I am just going to link it here,

This was definitely one of my son's favorite party themes. 

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How to Throw a Pokemon Party (part 1)

 Happy Pokémon Day! 

Did you know that February 27 is Pokémon Day?  I have to admit that I just found out today.  My kids loved Pokémon while growing up, and this is the first I have heard of it.  According to Google today is designated as Pokémon Day, because the first original games were released on this day 27 years ago in 1996. 

All three of my kids really liked Pokémon, but my son liked them the most.  He liked that so much that he requested to have a Pokémon themed birthday party. Today there are Pokémon party items everywhere, but when he wanted to have his party (mid 2000s) there were very few Pokémon party supplies. I had to make my own.  It was not until a couple of years later that Pokémon party items were more main stream.  If you have seen my party theme page  on the top of my blog you can see that was usually the case.  My kids often wanted parties that I had to make a lot of my own party supplies.  

Our Pokémon party was one of my son's very favorite, so I am going to share again how we put it together.  (you can see the original post here.

The first thing I had to do was make an invitation.  There were fun to make and the kids LOVED them. 

**this post contains affiliate links 

To make a Pokeball invitation, you will need two large white cardstock circles, and one red one in the size of the invitation you would like.  You will also need a small white circle, and two brads. 

You will leave one of the circles in one piece. That intact circle will be the back of the invitation where you will write the information. 

This is what we wrote.. 

Please come to my Pokémon party!

Date and Time

RSVP to Professor Mom at ### - ### - ####

 The next step is to make the front of the Pokeball.  Cut both the 2nd white circle, and the red circle in half. Attach the red to one side of the circle, and the white to the other half with small brads.  The red half is the top of the invitation. You will then attach the small white circle to the red top half, allowing a little bit of the circle to overlap to the white half. (see the picture) Do not put any adhesive on the overlap, because we want the Pokeball to be able to open.  On the red half we wrote the name of the child we were inviting and the words, I choose you! 

Back in the I made the Welcome Trainers sign out of poster board.  If I had to do it again, I would use wooden circle sign from the Dollar Tree.  When we had this party we did not even have a local Dollar Tree, so I used when I had on hand. 

When I used to host my children's parties, we always had an area where each of the guest would pose with a prop from our theme,  so we we had memories of each guest. In this picture my son is posing with his Pikachu, wearing a red trucker hat that I bought from Oriental Trading Company. I don't think they have the same hats we bought back then, but they now have a ton of Pokemon Party Supplies that you could use for your party. 

You can see in the picture that I had made small Pokeball piñatas and used them as party decor. 

The base of the Pokeball is a round balloon. I used a basic paper-mache technique on the balloons. I made several layers and placed them in disposable plastic bowls to dry. 

Once they were dry, I painted them entirely white first and then added the red half. I painted a black line around the two halves and used a small black and a small white cardstock for the closure.  My son loved them so much, he kept them for years to come. 

If you prefer to buy a pinata instead of making them, here is one I found on Amazon.

I will be sharing more about our Pokémon party in tomorrows post I will share our games and how to make mini Pokeballs that the kids were allowed to keep as party of their goody bags.  

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It's Part Time! Let's Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share!

    First an update on what I shared last week about my son being a student at Michigan State and the aftermath of the horrible shooting. (You can read more about it in my post When the unthinkable happens ) I have to say even though I am a full fledged Buckeye, and only temporary Spartan on all days but game day, Michigan State, parents and community had a wonderful response.  Last Sunday kids came back to campus to go back to classes on Monday. The kids who were not ready to come back were able to attend online if they wanted to.  They also had a few other options for those who did not want to finish the semester.  Parents, and the surrounding communities were there to welcome the students back with open arms. There were people on campus with gifts like meals, and stuffed animals.  Therapy dogs were visiting campus for several days.  The university set up free counseling for any staff and student who wanted  it, and had a hotline that could be called any time they needed to talk.  Many of the professors adjusted the rest of the semester, so the week out of school did not affect their grades. I know there are a mix of kids who want to get back to school and feel normal again, and there are kids that are too scared to go back.  My son is in the first group. He was ready to go back.  Most of his classes were online this week, because they were also hit with a bad ice storm over the last few days which made travel and walking outside difficult. So while this horrible act was unthinkable, the last week and a half has been full of love and support on campus.  

    Just as things were looking up for my son, we were hit with some bad news yesterday about one of our dogs. On of our sweet girls started to have a bloody nose on Wed.  We tried to get her in to the vet that night, but there were booked up. We were able to get in the next day. (yesterday) When we saw the vet she was very concerned. She said she had a few ideas what it could be, but she had to do a blood test to find out. When she came back in she had two pieces a paper. They had done the test twice to confirm the results.   Our poor baby did not have platelets to stop her bleeding, that is caused by an autoimmune disorder.  All of her organs and weight look great, but without platelets her diagnosis is not good. We do know she had platelets last summer, because she had to have a surgery, so this is a new thing.  She sent us to an emergency vet about 30 minutes away , because they might be able to do more than our local vet.  When we got there, they were waiting for us and we saw the vet very quickly.  Unfortunately, when that vet told us the cost of the treatment we knew we would not be able to do it.  Our dog would have to be admitted for a three day hospitalization and have a blood transfusion.  That first part of the treatment would cost between 4,500 and 6,500. She mentioned that often dogs who have this disorder, need 2 or 3 transfusions over a period of time, with only a 75% success rate. That means our final cost could be up to $20,000.  She understood why we just could not do that treatment, so we asked if there were any other alternatives.  She mentioned we could try a cocktail of meds, and isolate her from her doggy sister for the next few weeks.  She needs to basically be in a bubble so she did not get hurt in anyway, because it would cause bleeding that would not stop, outwardly and internally.  Even though that was not a great option, we are doing the latter treatment.  Hopefully she will begin to start producing platelets again. If you are a praying person, please for a miracle for our sweet girl.  

Ok, now that I have completely brought the mood down, let's try to get it back up.  

I did manage to do a post for St. Patrick's Day this week, which are how to make St. Patrick's Day Marshmallow Pops.  I made them a few years back, but it is still one of my favorite treats to make. 

Do you have something that you would like to share?  It's time to get the party started. Link up and HAVE FUN!! 

 

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St Patrick's Day Marshmallow Pops

These leprechaun marshmallow pops are one of my favorite 

St. Patrick's Day treats that I have made.  

I made these awhile back, so the pictures are not the greatest, but you can see how I made them.   

For each leprechaun you will need three marshmallows, two of the regular size, and one mini. 

**this post include affiliate links to the items I used to make the Leprechaun pops

Place the bottom marshmallow upright on a lollipop stick , and coat it with Wilton green candy melts .  Leave a bit space on the top of the stick, because you will be adding another marshmallow for the head.  

The best way to dry your pop is by standing it up in a floral foam ring or block.  You can find several shapes and sizes at the Dollar Tree . In this picture you can see how to place the top marshmallow on its side, which will be the leprechaun's head.

I used edible food markers  to draw on the face can not remember which brand I used, but I think this dual tip set that is highly rated looks really good.  

I used orange squeezable frosting in a bottle to add his beard and hair. 

The last step was to make his hat.  I put a mini marshmallow on a toothpick and dipped in the green candy melt.  Once there were dry I added them to the top of his head with a little bit of melted chocolate to act as glue. 

A fun way to display the leprechauns is in a pot of gold.  I made this with a black pot from Halloween, a little bit of floral foam, and glass accent gems from the Dollar Tree painted gold. 

These were not only fun to make, but yummy to eat! 

I have two fun games you can play while you eat your leprechaun pops.  One is this find the Find the Leprechauns Treasure Hunt.  You use the clue to find the three hiding leprechauns.

In this St. Patrick's Day game you look for the Pot of Gold.  Both games are a lot of fun.  
 

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