Dinosaur Valentines

Andrew LOVES dinosaurs...everything about them. He knows which ones are big and which ones eat meat and which ones have feathers or live in the water. He can pronounce weird ones like parasaurolophus and can sing the Dinosaurs A-Z song 18 times in a row. Yep.

So when it was time to get to work on our Valentines for Andrew's Pre-K class I knew we needed to go with a dinosaur theme.

And we came up with these two adorable dinosaur Valentines.

I mean? Adorable right? We needed two because dinos and hearts go so well together. :)

We couldn't decide on one so I combined them, and had them double-sided printed with the brachiosaurus on the front and just the little steggy and his 'rawr' on the back. I can't wait until Valentine's Day so he can pass them out!

We're going to attach a mini dinosaur to the back for a little treat for all his dino-loving friends.

Do you have a dinosaur lover in need of a Valentine? These are for you!

>>>>>>>DOWNLOAD THE PDF FILE HERE<<<<<<<

There is room for your kiddo to personalize them on the front or the back depending on if you attach a mini dinosaur. We're using these little vinyl dinos - it's going to be hard for Andrew to give them away! 

Please share and enjoy!

xoxo

Linking up with Mama Dish for Moonlight & Mason Jars.

Valentine Banner & a Printable

Valentine's Day....

One of those funny holidays that means so much more now that I'm responsible for small children. I want to make it special for them, something they'll remember.

So we decorate our house and we make pink funfetti cupcakes and we read little stories about making Valentines for our friends.

 This sweet banner is hanging in our front hall and it makes a big statement for such a small piece.

I made the tags in Photoshop and then cut different sized hearts out of coordinating Valentine themed scrapbook papers. (I used my new Silhouette to cut the hearts because I'm obsessed, but any scissors will work.)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>You can download the jpeg here<<<<<<<<<<<<<

You'll just need a hole punch and some twine for an instant Valentine banner. I also like to use these pop dots to add some dimension. 

I picked up a little book of Valentine papers at Michael's a few weeks ago, but if you're looking for digital paper, Paper Tree House Studio on Etsy has darling packs you can print.

Enjoy!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Linking up with The 36th Avenue.

Coffee Scarves & Christmas Flags

I know we're all off getting ready for Thanksgiving this week, and I think I've done a pretty good job of focusing on the turkey, not skipping ahead to Christmas. It's hard though.

I have listened to a little Michael Bublé Christmas music. I've started my shopping and picked out my wrapping paper. And I've designed a few Christmas cards for friends and family.

But I still have my pumpkins out in the house. They're moldy now though so come Friday it'll be full on Christmas around here.

One thing I wanted to do ahead of time was make a few little gifts for Andrew and Caroline's teachers. Y'all know how much I love my iced coffee cups, but I decided hot coffee might be a little more appropriate for the holidays.

And I've recently discovered the joys of working with felt. It's super easy to cut, it doesn't fray and I don't have to sew it.

I put these together and came up with coffee scarves.

How adorable are these?

And they were super easy.

Cut a one inch strip off your 12" felt square and make little cuts at the ends to make the fringe. And the only tricky part is that you have to sew on the button. I did have to watch a YouTube video, but I did it. lol!

Once your scarf is ready you'll want to print your Christmas flags.

>>>> You can download the jpeg file here. <<<<

Attach the flags with mini clothes pins and you're set.

You can also attach the flags to a lolly pop stick and put it on top.

I can't wait to give these to the kids' teachers. And I think they'd be great neighbor gifts too. Who doesn't love coffee?

Enjoy!

Fall Decorating & a Free Printable

I love fall - the cool, crisp shorter days, the football games, sweaters and boots and the pumpkin treats.

Our anniversary is in October too. It's just a great month.

And I love decorating for fall. I don't usually go all out, but I like to do subtle fall touches here and there that will last through Thanksgiving when we're ready to put up the Christmas tree - whoa!

This year I made a few super cute digital papers and a little pumpkin printable that I want to share with y'all.



Click below to download:

{Papers//Pumpkin}
You can do so many things with the papers - party invites, banners, flag buntings, but I used the dots and the pumpkin to make this framed printable that I added to my entryway fall display.



I also made these cute little tags that I tied on to acorn filled mason jars with twine. There are a few of these scattered though the house.



And pumpkins - I have mini pumpkins sitting around looking pretty. Love them!



I have a new wreath this year too!



My sweet babysitter, Hope, made it for me, and it's perfect! It looks just right for fall, but I think I can use it through next summer too. I just love the little yellow rosettes. Her Etsy shop it called Hopes & Crafts. How cute is that??

So the inside is decorated and ready for fall! Now we need to head to the pumpkin patch to decorate the front porch. I'm so looking forward to taking Andrew this year. He's going to love it!

Fourth of July Printables

The 4th of July is on a Wednesday this year which totally throws off our regular celebration of summer holidays. We usually spend a long weekend at the lake with my family, swimming and grilling and playing.

But this year I think we're going to have a little party at my sister's house. Or maybe our house. We haven't quite settled it yet.

But either way, I know we'll have these cute little flags somewhere.

And I want to share them with you!

Click below to download:

{Flags//Cupcake Toppers//USA Banner}

I hope these brighten your Independence Day celebration! 

And don't forget to follow me on Facebook so you'll always know when I have fun new printables to share with you!

{Linking Up for Wordless Wednesday: The Paper Mama, Naptime Momtog, & Project Alicia}

Sunday, Fun Day

Oh y'all, we've had the most fun weekend.

I had all this stuff I wanted to share with you, but now it's after 10pm on Sunday and I just didn't get it all together in time.

I was too busy hanging out with these amazing people.

We had a Father's Day full of water play, grilling, baby walking and napping. It was so fun. Brian had to study for a few hours, but he was able to spend a big chunk of the day at home with us.

It was perfect.

So later this week I'm going to have these adorable 4th of July printables ready for you.

I also wanted to tell you about how I went to my first blogging event last Thursday for Dallas Moms Blog. It was great to meet the blog contributors and catch up with other local bloggers I'd met a few weeks ago, Cynthia at Oh So Pinteresting and Rach at Life Ever Since.

And I have this yummy recipe for banana apple muffins to share.

But tonight, I'm heading to bed. I'll be back later this week with details. And those 4th of July flags - they're so cute!

I hope your weekend was spent with those you love. :)

Linking up:

Have a Refreshing Summer

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day! We had a great time hanging out with family at the lake, swimming and boating and barbecuing. In fact we had so much fun and played so hard this weekend that Monday was spent lying on the couch watching Cars, hoping for bedtime. Ha!

So now that Memorial Day has come and gone it's officially summer. Whoa...this year is flying by!

But I know some people have to go back to school this week to finish up, and I thought I'd try to make your last-minute end of the school year teacher gifts a little easier to put together.

Remember how much I love these cups?

Well, I was inspired by Pinterest to give Andrew's sweet teachers one. But I wanted to change up the flag a bit and personalize it.

So I came up with these:

They were so cute and his teachers just loved them.

And today I'm sharing the printable flag with you! I added a bunch of tiny flowers to the design and removed the personalization.

I think any teacher would be thrilled with these cups!

You can download the JPEG file here.

-----------------------------------

One of my local blogging friends Cynthia at Oh So Pinteresting posted today about the best way to clean the straws on your cups. I hadn't really thought about it, but they can be a little tricky to get completely clean. You will definitely want to check it out!

Stars & Stripes Printable Banner

Do you have big Memorial Day weekend plans?

We're excited around here. This weekend will be our first official lake weekend of the summer. We'll be at my parents' lake house for swimming, boating, beers, backyard barbecues, and lots of family of course.

So I decided to create a little patriotic banner to make our weekend a bit more festive because well, I'm kind of crazy about making fun stuff in Photoshop.



This banner has been hanging on my mantel for a few days and every time I see it I think summer.



It's also given me an opportunity to talk to Andrew about Memorial Day. I'm not sure he really gets it, but he knows we live in Texas, America and that counts for something, right? :)

Do you want your own stars and stripes banner?



You can download the zipped file here.

(Make sure you remember to click extract all files after you download or you won't be able to print them. Also, remember, these are for personal use only!)



After you've downloaded you'll need to:

-Print out the banner. You can make as many triangles and stars as you need for your space.

-Cut out the shapes. You can use a paper cutter like this one from Fiskarsor you can use your regular scissors.

-Punch a hole in the top corners of the triangles and in two ends of the stars. (I didn't do this, but I would if I were going to make it again.)

-String them together with twine.

-Hang on your mantel or wall where you're having your patriotic get-together and enjoy!

So, what are you doing for the holiday weekend?

{Linking Up for Wordless Wednesday: The Paper Mama, Naptime Momtog}

Easter Cupcake Topper Printables

For Andrew's third birthday I made darling cupcake toppers to match his invitation and the theme.

I had so much fun making them and they were so cute that I'm kind of on a cupcake topper kick now.

So I decided to make Easter toppers and share them with y'all!

How adorable are these???



I love that they'll jazz up any ol' cupcake. Because these may or may not be a Betty Crocker special. (But that icing? It's all mine.) :)





So, how do you make a cupcake topper you ask. Well, first you'll need to print out these JPEGs:

DOWNLOAD LINKS: 1-inch circle JPEG / 2-inch circle JPEG



You can print them on regular paper or card stock to make them a little more sturdy.

You'll need:

1. Scissors
2. Craft Punches (optional, but will make it MUCH easier)
3. 4" lollipop sticks
4. Double-sided tape or pop-dots
5. Glue gun

Fist, you need to cut out your circles. It can be done with scissors, but it would be much easier with a craft punch like this one and this one, a two-inch scallop for the bigger circles and a 1-inch round for the smaller ones.

Once you have your circles you'll need to attach them to each other with double sided tape. Or you could use pop-dots to make them 3D.

Then you'll need to attach them to the lollipop stick. The 4" is a very good size. I got mine at Michael's and I used a glue gun to attach the circles to the sticks.

Then you pop them in your yummy cupcakes and...

voila!



I bought the darling chicks and eggs and flower graphics from Paper Treehouse Studio on Etsy(she has the cutest stuff!), but I'm giving away the toppers.

All I ask is that if you like them you'll share them on Facebook or Twitter. It would also be great if you'd follow me here or on Twitter, but you don't have to.

And if you use them? Let me know! I want to see pictures!

Happy crafting!