Coconut Bowling: The Perfect Party Game!

For my boys' Last Day of School Party we had a Luau.  (FYI- Dollar Tree is the place to pick up some super cute Luau decorations!) One of the games we played was Coconut Bowling.  I'm all about easy and this game was easy to make and easy to play! I used the Palm Tree from our new Luau Clipart Set to make 6 trees.  Then I attached them to water bottles using clear packing tape.  I added a few drops of blue food coloring and water to look like the ocean.

We set them up like bowling pins and had the kids roll the coconut and knock them down.  Key word here: ROLL.  Throwing the coconut will break it and then you'll be cleaning up coconut milk.  We got a small crack in ours but it didn't break! Have fun!

Luau Clip Art at Grant Avenue Design

"Uh-Mason" End of the Year Teacher Gift!

Want to tell your child's teacher how "Uh-Mason" they have been this year?  This is a quick and easy end-of-the-year gift!

All you need is a mason jar cup (I got mine at Walmart for $5), crystal light or lemonade packets, and a favorite candy (I used Tropical Starbursts).

Download this adorable tag for FREE by clicking here.  Print it out, have your child sign their name, cut it out, punch a hole, and attach to the mason jar.  Doesn't get any easier than that!

The Real Easter Story

Several times during the year the kiddos and I visit and hand out little gifts to my husband's grandmother and the other residents at an assisted living facility.  At Christmas we gave them Nativity Scenes and they just loved it. So, I used our Easter Story Clipart and Easter Papers to make a scene and the kids will help us put them in frames.  All of my kiddos like visiting with the residents and checking out all their rooms.  They're curious little people and always have questions about the trinkets in their rooms! It's so sweet to see them handing out little gifts and chatting away with the residents.

Easter Story Clipart and Easter Papers

FREEBIE Friday! Chick Magnet!

 Get your crafting on with our adorable Chick Magnet graphic!  You can use it to make t-shirts, aprons, cards, and for digital scrapbooking.  You're only limited by your imagination! Share with us what you make for your own "Chick Magnet" on Facebook!  Click HERE to get the file!

St. Patrick's Day New Releases! Don't get pinched, get your projects going!

New St. Patrick's Day Clipart is HERE!

This is a perfect time to do some rainbow activities with kiddos!  I've been pinning fun things to do with my crew.  Today we made a rainbow cake which was fun to make and more fun to eat!  Directions here.

What fun St. Patrick's Day crafts are you making?  What activities are you doing?  Are there any fun traditions that your family has? Can't wait to hear!

CHD Awareness Begins Today!

This is a very important week to our family.  Congenital Heart Defects affect so many children and families.  My little man, Nolan, that you see above, has Aortic Stenosis and Regurgitation.  I'm going to share more about his diagnosis and journey next week, so stay tuned.  God has his hand on this little boy and you'll want to hear about how God has touched him.

CHD Awareness Week is February 7th-14th! 

Some facts about CHD from The Children's Heart Foundation:

• Congenital heart defects are America’s and every country’s #1 birth defect. Nearly one of every 100 babies is born with a CHD.
• Congenital heart defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths.
• Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of all infant deaths in the United States.
• Each year approximately 40,000 babies are born in the United States with a congenital heart defect. Thousands of them will not reach their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.
• Each year over 1,000,000 babies are born worldwide with a congenital heart defect. 100,000 of them will not live to see their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.

So, now you know this is serious, right?  And you're thinking what can I do?  You can donate to fund research.  Just the other day I read about a new research project going on about valves.  There's no perfect solution for Nolan.  At some point he'll need a valve replacement and we'll be faced with the difficult decision of what kind of valve to choose: mechanical, that requires he be on blood thinners forever, or bovine/pig valve, that doesn't last as long.  Tough call.  This new research is trying to find a better alternative for valves- a cross between those two choices.  There's also new research about catheter placed valves instead of open heart surgery.  These kinds of research projects could change Nolan's life!  If you choose to donate there are several good options:

For Research:  http://www.childrensheartfoundation.org/donate-now

For Care Bags for Children:  http://www.savinglittlehearts.com/you-can-help/

Just for caring and reading about a cause that's close to my heart (pun intended), I've got two FREEBIES for you!  Feel free to post to your own blog or your Facebook profile to show your support of CHD Awareness this week! Download your FREEBIES here and here.

Cottage Loft Bed & 5 Freebies

My little Lola just turned 3 on New Year's Day! Turning 3 in our house means a big girl bed.  I got it in my head that I wanted a cottage loft bed.  This little girl has played robots, dinosaurs, cars, and been surrounded by all things boy for three years.  That's what comes from having twin brothers 15 months older than her.  Lately she has been wanting to play in her room with her dolls, dollhouse, and play kitchen so I really wanted her to have a little girly place in this boy world. I was thinking of a cottage loft bed similar to the one from Pottery Barn but I just couldn't imagine her safely getting down a ladder during the night.  So, I had to come up with another plan…

Plan A:  Buy one!  I went on a search for a reasonably priced one with stairs.  Let me save you some time - there isn't one. This plan was the easiest, but unfortunately it was the most expensive and hubby wasn't going for a $1,500 bed.  Maybe if we won the lottery or something. Haha!

Plan B: I could build it!  So, then I started looking for building plans and found these at Ana White.  But, there's no way with three kiddos, 4 and under, at home that I could build it.  Who was I kidding?

Plan C:  Talk hubby into building it!  I spent the most time on this plan.  He even went to Lowe's to price materials.  But, in the end, he said there was no way he had time to take that on.  He also said he thought I was too picky and I would end up not liking what he did.  What, who me???

Did I give up on my, I mean Lola's, dream?  No!

Plan D:  Find someone else to build it! My cousin Josh is a carpenter so he took a look at the plans I found and the millions of pictures I sent him and said he could do the job.  Woohoo!  We agreed on a price (let's leave it here and say I got a cousin's discount).  If you're interested in him building you a custom bed like this it would be about $800.  Don't hold me to that, because of course depends on all the details you add.

He delivered it and got it all put together in her room.  Lola was so crazy excited!

All put together in her room!

It took me a full week to paint and add the details and it was so fun to watch Lola's anticipation build of finally getting to sleep in her new bed.  She absolutely loves it!  We were running errands yesterday and she said "I just want to go home and play in my mommy kitchen house bed."  Every night when she goes to bed she's so excited.  Last night my husband said "You were right.  She loves it.  She will remember this forever." 

Ta-Da! All finished and ready to play.

For the steps I whipped up these printable vinyl stickers with inspirational words.  She can't read yet, but I read them to her as she climbs into bed at night.  Good things to have on the brain when drifting off to sleep. 

So, in honor of Lola's birthday I'm giving them to you!  Get them HERE for FREE! These labels/tags are in transparent PNG format (no yucky white background) and are each about 9" x 7".   Perfect for cards, decals, scrapbooking, and anything else you can think of.  We would love to see how you use them!  Come share your project using these inspirational words with us on Facebook!