We recently threw an event at our house and, of course, bottled water was one of the first things that we bought to keep our guests hydrated and happy.  Everyone from toddler, teenagers, to adults loves a nice cold water on a hot day.  We purchased three cases of plain bottled water and then decided we should spice them up a bit.  I originally hadn’t planned to, but while looking for extra ways to make my event special I came upon this idea to personalize water bottles with duct tape at Mommy Savers.  It’s a fun and super inexpensive way to make your water bottles fit into any parties theme.  There are lots and lots of decorative duct tapes on the marked now.  You can find it at the craft store, dollar store, or department stores in a variety of fun, colorful patterns.  Because we were putting on our Comfort For Kids Campaign Event that I mentioned recently I was looking for something that had hearts on it.  Our event was to create blankets fro children affected by heart disease, and I thought serving water covered in hearts would be a great way to thank our guests.  Do you think I could find heart covered duct tape anywhere… of course not.

 I had all but given up on the idea, until a stop at the Dollar General to pick up some tag board for a poster when I spotted some fun decorative tape.  It was not duct tape, but at just $2.00 a roll I figured I would give it a shot.  I picked up the rolls of the perfectly colored packaging tape and headed home to dress up the 96 bottles of water that we had for the event.

The process was simple, just a bit time consuming, but with extra help it goes super quick.

Simply:

Remove the label from bottled water

and replace it with a section of decorative packaging tape!

The result is:

 Pretty bottles of water customized perfectly for any type of event that you could possibly have!  I was able to cover all 96 bottles with less than two rolls of tape, and was so happy with the end results.  I found that the tape held up perfectly to being submerged in ice, and feel like it would almost look and hold up better than duct tape.  Success!

We had a few bottles left over after the event, and upon leaving them in the fridge, I found that the kids LOVED grabbing and drinking these!  They took them everywhere with them from dance recitals, to t-ball practices, and they always knew which water belonged to them.  What a fun and simple way to label your kids water for sporting events and functions.  They make it easy for them to spot their water, and fun for them to take too!  A great way to promote a healthy habit – drinking more water!

This is a little trick that I spotted on The Crafting Chicks a couple of years ago, and we have been doing it ever since.  What a genius idea!    It really helps little hands to control their cards while they are playing, so they can spend more time having fun, and less time dropping, sorting, and showing their cards to the person next to them.  I busted out a new set of chip clips and a new set of cards for each child on a recent road trip and it kept them busy for hours!

You can pick up large chip clips at the dollar store 2 for $1.00 and they have a great selection of kids character playing cards!  My kids adore the card games that include their favorite characters and you can’t beat the price.  These would make a fun gift and can be decorated or personalized for kids at any age that love to play games.  Try them as a fun party favor for the kid’s next birthday or let the kids decorate their own as a fun activity! There are just so many reasons to turn off the TV and play games with your kids.  Go play cards outside, play in the car, make a fort and play inside – your chip clip card holders can go anywhere you can and will make game night fun for everyone, no matter how little they are!

For lots more fun for kids in the car check out my posts: Travel Fun For Kids,  Entertaining the Kids on A Road Trip, The snack pack – a travel treat box and feeding your kids healthy while traveling!  Tons of simple, fun, and inexpensive ideas for on the road.

Distressed jeans:  $6.00 Thrifted Goodwill (Amethyst brand)

Sweatshirt:  Kohl’s Clearance $7.00 with coupon

t-shirt:  Kohl’s Clearance $2.88 with coupon

Leopard Print Heels:  Target Clearance $15.00

Total Outfit cost:  $30.88

Distressed jeans:  $6.00 Thrifted Goodwill (Amethyst brand)

Ruffled Tank: Hollister from TJ Maxx $7.00

Shoes:  JC Penny Clearance $2.95!! (with a $10.00 coupon)

Sweater:  Target Brand thrifted Goodwill $3.00 (1/2 off colored tag day)

Total outfit Cost:  $18.95

Green Shirt:  Old Navy sale $10.00

Jeans:  Thrifted Mudd Jeans $5.00

Flip Flops:  Shopko  $8.00

Tank:  thrifted Aeropastle $ .75

Total outfit Cost:  $22.75

Jeans:  Thrifted American Eagle $12.00

Plaid shirt:  Old Navy Clearance $8.00

Tank:  Thrifted Aeropastle  $ .75

Boots:  Ariat Old

Total outfit cost:  $20.75

The next outfit was mostly a gift from a sweet friend.  I adore her and am always envious of her great sense of style.  I am constantly yelling at her when I see her with a new purse, jeans, or top telling her she should have gotten two so I could have one!  She just always looks so darling, and she is my go-to fashion adviser.  She gave me this great top and fun earrings for my recent birthday!  Thanks lady!

sleeveless blouse and earrings:  A gift Charollete Russe

Jeans:  Thrifted Goodwill $5.00 Mudd Jeans

Wedges:  Thrifted Goodwill $8.00

My total cost:  $13.00

The back of the blouse is so amazing!

I love the simplicity of the morning glory.  Lots and lots of leafy green foliage that grow and spread quickly with beautifully colored flowers showing up in late summer and early fall.  They come in a variety of vibrant colors and the seeds are very inexpensive!  They are a great addition to any landscape.

Last spring I did a little research on-line and decided that the morning glory would be the best choice for a climbing flower in or Wisconsin weather.  It is an annual which means it grows for one year and then dies off, so I figured it was worth a shot.  Upon doing some research on how best to grow them in our area, I got a little nervous.  I read that they can sometimes be finicky and difficult, I read to start them indoors, and not to start them indoors.  The research led me to believe that I had no shot at covering my garden fence in beautiful flowers.  But, I figured what’s the harm in trying, right?  If all else fails, and I get nothing, I am only out the $2.00 that I spent on seeds and a little gardening time which I enjoy anyways!

So the kids and I planted some seeds to make seedlings indoors.  We tried a trick that I saw on Pinterest via an image from Saidos da Concha to start our Morning glory flowers.  I saved up a bunch of toilet paper rolls and we put them upright in a plastic Tupperware container.  We then filled the tubes with potting soil and planted our seeds (which we had soaked in plastic bags in wet paper towel overnight first per the package directions).    We watered our seeds regularly and left them in a very sunny windowsill indoors for a few weeks.  We were left with some great seedlings to plant in the garden.

We then got to work creating a little flowerbed along the fence row to plant them in.  I dug up and tilled along both sides of the fence.  This would have been a MUCH easier process had I thought to do it BEFORE we put the fence up, but we finished it none the less.  I then covered the tilled area with layers of damp newspaper (to avoid buying gardening mesh which I find to not work as well anyway).    We then planted our seedlings right in front of the garden fence by clearing a small spot of the newspaper, digging a hole, and placing the entire toilet paper roll into he dirt.  Because the roll is biodegradable, it is the perfect little planting pot.  I placed plants about every 2 feet and then mulched the area around them, without covering the plant.  And then… I panicked!  Because of all of the different instructions that I found online I was sure I was doing it all wrong.  So I decided to stick a few seeds in the ground next to our seedlings as well, just to ensure that something would come up.

We watered our seedlings and the  seeds we planted with them regularly and by late summer we were pleased to have THIS covering our garden fence!

It is beautiful, no?

The seedlings gradually grew, wound themselves all through the fence and all of the posts, and bloomed with these beautiful blue flowers in late summer!  The kids loved watching the vines slowly grow up the fence throughout the summer, and they were more than thrilled to discover the pretty blue flowers opening and closing each days as the sun rose.  They were a great family project, and we were all very proud that we accomplished such a feet (for us anyways)!

The site of the vines all wrapped around an old rusty metal chair was peer summer time beauty in my book!  We even spotted a few hummingbirds who were getting up close and personal with beautiful trumpet shaped blooms.

So, I wish I could tell you exactly what worked, and what didn’t, but I’m just not sure what to attributed to the success of our morning glory covered garden fence.  I certainly never dreamed that I would be the type to have a garden covered in such beautiful flowers that I had planter and grown myself.  The combination of seedlings and seeds, soil, mulching, and watering combined with the weather last summer lead to a glorious batch of morning glories that I enjoyed so very much!

I guess the moral of this story is that, even if you don’t know everything about gardening, give it a shot.  You may get nothing, but you may also be pleasantly surprised, and learn a thing or two as well!  Our morning glory seedlings are all planted again this year, and waiting for the threat of frost to disappear in hopes that we can have a repeated successful batch of morning glories covering the fence this summer!

Here are some other fun garden related posts to check out too:

Garden Flowers Make Our Home Feel Happy

Getting Your Kids Involved In The Garden

Rockin Pet Rocks In The Garden

DIY Rustic Farmers Market Sign For The Garden

These little bird nests turned out so adorable, and the kids ha a great time creating and making birds to go in them.  We came up with this project on a whim, so we just used things that we had around the house to make it.  Thanks to our trusty craft box we had everything we need to make this fun project!

To make the nest we used:

1. foam disposable plates
2. brown paint and a paintbrush
3. decorative moss
4. a hot glue gun (used by me only of course)

• I cut the plates in half and then used my hot glue gun to glue the two round sides together to create a little pocket.
• Then the kids used brown paint and a foam brush to paint them a nice nest-like color
• Before the paint dried I had them put the moss all over the outside of the nest so the moss would stick to the wet paint.  They also added a hand full to the inside of the nests in preparation for the little birds that were going inside.
• While our nests dried we got to work making birds for the nests.

For the birds you will need:

1. Large craft Poms
2. googly eyes
3. craft feathers
4. foam triangle stickers
5. paper clips

To make the birds we simply used the large craft poms and glued eyes, beaks, feathers, and a paper clip to each to bring our little friends to life.  The kids chose all of the colors and options that they wanted and told me where to glue them.  I used hot glue to speed up the process and ensure that everything would stay stuck where they wanted it.  I knew that the kids would be playing with these, moving them around, flying them through the house, and attaching and reattaching them to things, so I wanted them to be sturdy.  Once the kids turned their poms into birds with a little help from Mom and her glue gun it was time to  finish them off.

We stole a few paper clips from their daddy’s office and glued them to the bottom of the birds.  It turned the adorable little birds into the perfect play thing.  The kids were thrilled that they could slip them in and out of the nests they had made, and the stuck them all over the house. 

The kids now have their very own little nest full of birds that they can play care for any time they want to.  I think the little birdies out in our yard will thank me for giving them a break from my children trying to catch them.

These silly little guys are super fun and are a great way to let the kids play, use their imaginations, and make something that they will enjoy playing with for a long time.  Not only are they fun for the kids to use as bookmarks, but they are a great gift that the kids can make and give to the people that they love.  My son has made a ton of these and he loves to give them to his friends for the birthdays to use as a bookmark!

The look so sweet all tucked in a book, and we use them often to keep track of our spots in books at our house!  There is still time for the kids to make some for Grandma for Mother’s Day if she like to read!  She will love knowing that her little birdie bookmark was made just for her by the little hands of a Grandchild that adores her.

I’m sure you have noticed a serious lack of updates  from me over the last few weeks.  Totally unlike me, and yes, it bothered me, but… I think I have a pretty great excuse for you.  Our final random act of Kindness has been quite a project and has consumed a lot of our free time lately.  It all started with our Random Acts of Kindness that we started last year.  You can read all about them if you missed it in my post called 30 Random Acts Of Kindness To Do With Your Kids.  As mentioned in that post, it has been one of the neatest experiences for our family and I highly recommend taking it upon yourself to do some random acts of kindness – you will not be disappointed that you did!  Upon completing our 29th RAOK I felt like we needed to something on a little larger scale for the 30th act of kindness.

Oddly enough the last RAOK fell, time-wise, very close to my 30th birthday (insert daunting music here).  I was not terribly excited to be turning 30, for no good reason at all.  I realize how blessed and lucky I am to be turning 30, to have a lovely family, and wonderful friends and family to attribute to those 30 beautiful years.  But… something about the big 3 – 0 made me feel like those fancy free childhood memories were just  a little too far in the past.  Maybe it was the thought of officially being to old to for excuses, or looking ahead at the many responsibilities that lie ahead of me over the next decade.  I’m pretty sure it has more to do with the bags under my eyes that are there to stay, and the fact that I can just look at a cupcake and gain 10 pounds – stupid reasons to dread a birthday!  But, none the less I wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of my age starting with a 3 instead of a 2!  My husband asked me what I wanted to do for my big birthday and I was refusing any suggestions.  The thought of a huge party to celebrate getting older made me cringe, a trip without the kids was not on my list of things to do, and even a quiet dinner out seemed like too much for someone who really didn’t want to “celebrate” 30.  So I did a little pondering about, not what I wanted, but what I could do to make a difference in the world.

Thus our 30th RAOK came to life.  I realized that I really didn’t want to “celebrate” my 30th birthday at all, instead I wanted to invite my family and friends to come together and to be a part of our 30th Random Act Of Kindness!  I talked with our immediate family and asked if they would like to help throw a different kind of celebration in place of a 30th birthday bash, and they were all on board with the idea.

As I have mentioned before our little boy was born with a congenital heart disease.  The first 3 years of his life were very rocky and our family spent a great deal of time at the Children’s Hospital.  We were  constantly making the 1 1/2 hour drive back and forth for visits to the cardiologist on top of lengthy stays in the recovery and ICU units.   After 2 procedures, and an open heart surgery for my son, we sadly felt like the hospital was “home”.  Not a terribly wonderful place to call home – but we were getting the best care for our son that we could.  Our son is now 6, and although everything he went through in was sad, disheartening, and tested all of strengths, it was also an eye opening experience for our family.

We feel amazingly blessed to have a healthy little boy and we also have a deep empathy for the many children who are struggling with a serious illness.  We remember the dark dreary rooms that had nothing to appeal to our 16 month old little boy and the only things he had to brighten his hospital room were an adorable fleece tie blanket and brightly colored pillowcase.  I decided that instead of a 30th birthday, our family would start a campaign to do something to help the children that were stuck in the hospital.

We created the Comfort For Kids Campaign as a way to collect donations for our cause.  We made it our mission to make as many fleece tie blankets as we could to deliver to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

We brainstormed with family about an event and got to work creating flyers, invitations and letters to send to family and friends telling them about our campaign.  We went to our local preschool, daycare’s, and libraries and asked if we could put up flyers and leave baskets to collect fabric from the public.  We worked with my son’s teacher and put together a blanket making activity for my sons kindergarten class.  My son’s class made 8 blankets in one afternoon, and donated 3 more!  What a great lesson for those kids and I was so proud to have 20 kindergarteners be a part of our Random Act Of Kindness and supporting a campaign for kids just like them.

The news spread, and slowly the donations, and offers to help came in.  We began making blankets as the fabric got donated, and my parents spent rainy days trying to keep up with the donations by turning them into blankets.

Before the Comfort for kids event even came we had 36 blankets all tied and ready to find a new home at the Children’s Hospital.  My family and friends reached out to their own communities and recruited all kinds if people of all ages helping to collect and tie blankets.  I was absolutely blown away by the love and support that we got from complete strangers.

The day of the Comfort For Kids Campaign finally came and after much preparation, we were ready to welcome over 50 guests to our home to make the campaign a success.  Our tables piled high with beautifully colored, adorably printed fleece fabric.  They were a sight to behold!  After only an hour or so at the event I noticed my family and friends diving right in.  Not only did they bring fabric, donate, and spread the word, they also came to turn the donations into adorable blankets!

As I looked around our event I saw everyone from friends I have had since middle school to grandparents, aunts, uncles and my husbands cousins and their children all working together for a cause that meant so much to us.  It was such an awesome feeling I can’t even tell you!  To think that, not only were these people there for us when our son was sick, but here they were again ready and willing to do what is good, do something to make a difference in the lives of someones else.

It was a beautifully powerful day, and I am unbelievably proud of my family and friends for taking the time and making the effort to do something so wonderful for someone else.  The sight of manly men having a beer and making a soft, fuzzy, pink blanket for a sick little girl, the sound of laughter and conversations over a table piled with finished blankets made me smile.  Healthy happy kids running around playing, knowing that they were doing something to help other kids who aren’t as lucky, made my heart very full of appreciation.

The day came and went and we were able to create more blankets than I could even hoped for.  My original goal was 30, then it moved to 50, then 75 as the donations came pouring in.  I am so Happy to report that thanks to so many wonderful, generous people the Comfort for Kids Campaign was able to make over 100 blankets to donate to the children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Milwaukee and… we aren’t done yet!  The thought of just one little boy or girl coming out of a heart surgery to the sight of a nurse with a brand new soft colorful blanket to wrap them in is amazing… but the thought of that happening for over 100 area children  faced with an illness  brings me to my knees!

It was a beautiful thing!  The pile of blankets is sure to brighten the rooms of the Children that are staying in the hospital!

We will keep collecting and making blankets through the month, and in June we will spend the 5 year anniversary of our son’s open heart surgery delivering the beautiful blankets that our family, friends, and community have made!  I will happily update you on our campaign, and can’t wait to share the delivery experience with you all!  If you would like to follow the campaign on Facebook you can check it out and see updates as they happen!  I beleive I can now say that our 30th RAOK was a huge success!

So…I am now 30 years old and I can honestly tell you that the day I had been dreading came and went without one ill thought.  My heart was filled with love, appreciation, and joy that I had so many loved ones who were willing to help with a cause that means so much to my family.  I was proud that they choose to take time from their busy lives and do something good for the world, and especially that they did it for a child that deserves nothing more than a smile and a little comfort during a difficult time!  Thank you to all who came, helped, donated, cooked, cleaned, prepared,  and gave a little piece of your own heart!

 I guess 30 isn’t so bad after all!

This was a super easy but delightful project that the kids and I did last spring to welcome the new season!  My kids love watching the birds out on the porch while they eat their morning oatmeal, and are always trying to “catch” them in the yard.  It’s no surprise that the kids are amused and enthralled by everything that those sweet, chubby little birdies are doing.  For that reason I wanted to come up with a project that the kids could do that celebrated the arrival of all of their little feathered friends after winter’s end.

This is a pretty self explanatory project, and one that you can throw together with things that you have around the house.  To start we used old peanut butter jar lids that I had saved for the project.

Use whatever kind of lids you have that will hold up to a little bird beak pecking at it.  Because the lids were pretty thick I had to poke a hole through the top with a hammer and a nail to have a place to hang it from.  I suppose I could have just used hot glue, but I wanted to make sure the tie would hold if  a bird landed on it.  After creating a hole I added a strong piece of twine to hang the bird treat in a tree with.

The rest was up to the kiddos.  They got to work covering the jar lid in Natural peanut butter.  They each had their own dish of peanut butter to spread and they used little plastic play dough knives to spread the peanut butter over the lid.  They needed a little help getting the inside corners covered, but nothing we couldn’t fix.

The next step was to roll the peanut butter covered lid into some birdseed to create a treat that any bird would love. The kids really enjoyed dipping the lids into the seed and seeing how many seeds they could get to stick into the peanut butter.  I have heard that things like cheerios and non sugary cereals are also a treat that birds enjoy.  Use what you have, but do a little research to be sure what you put out is safe for the birds to eat!

The last step was to take the pretty little bird treats and hang them outside for the birds to enjoy.  We chose a spot out near out deck that the kids could see from the dinning room table.  That way the kids could watch and enjoy the birds coming and going from their spots at the dinning room table.

If you want to take it a step farther check out this great  Kid’s Binocular Craft that I shared with you last summer!  You could have the kids create their very own binoculars from toilet paper rolls to make their bird watching experience even more fun!

These little bird feeders were so fun and easy and the kids had a blast watching to see what kind of birds stopped by to enjoy the treat they had made!  They spent the next few days peering out the window and “keeping an eye” on their  bird treats.

Baby gear.  We all have it tucked away in our basements just waiting for a new home, a new baby, or a new purpose.  Upon the sad realization that we probably won’t be using our baby gear anymore (because our kids are now preschool and school aged) it was time to start cleaning out the baby gear.  I have seen tons and tons of great ways to re purpose, and reuse lots of things from pack and plays to cribs.  I knew I wanted t keep a crib mattress around for the rare occasion when we needed an extra space for a sleepover with a  niece, nephew, or friend, but I had no real plan for it.  I tried fitting it into the kids closet as a little nook space, we tried using it as a bench cushion, but nothing seemed to fit quite right.

Then one day I realized something.  The kids were using it all of the time, just the way it was.  They seemed to enjoy laying it in the middle of a room and stacking their favorite stuffed animals and blankets on it.  I noticed that they coined it their very own reading space, without any prompting at all.  After all, it was the perfect soft comfy place for them, and it was just the right size too!  That’s when I decided that maybe, I was over-thinking the whole thing, and that I should keep it simple.

I decided that my daughter’s room would be the perfect space for what I decided to call a “book nook”.  We created some amazingly easy rain-gutter bookshelves in her bedroom when she was just a toddler to cut down on the mess that the book basket usually created!  She has always loved her bookshelves and they have suited her perfectly over the last few years!  They are super durable, cute, and display all of her favorite books so she can find them easily, and put them away where they belong too.  My son, who is now reading, has the same shelves in his own room, but his are right above the headboard of his bed, so he most often sits comfortably in his bed and reads with his books right at his fingertips.  So because he already had a comfy place to read, I figured the little miss should have a space in her room too.

So… I took the mattress into her room and got to work prettying it up to match her it’s surroundings.  The mattress fight perfectly underneath the bookshelves that we had added and, oddly enough, fit right into the corner of her room just right too.  I used a fitted crib mattress sheet to cover the mattress in case of a spill, or mess, and then added a pretty comforter over the top of that.  I found this darling comforter online on clearance for about $15.00.  It had the perfect girly print with the perfect colors and it is super soft, plush, and comfortable.  It adds just the right amount of padding to make the mattress a little more comfortable for the kids to hang out on.  I have to be honest, this is also one of my favorite spots in the house too.  It is just big enough for me to snuggle up and read with the kids too.  It’s the perfect rainy day place to read a stack of books with the kids.  Not only do the kids and I love it, but so do all of their little friends and family members.  I’ve even caught the dog lounging in the book nook from time to time.

At this point you can get fancy and make the comforter into a cover for the mattress, or add elastic so that it is fitted just right.  I skipped all of that and simply wrapped the mattress in it as if it were a present and called it a day.  That way I can grab it and wash it if I need to.  I also then, still have the option to use the comforter as a blanket as my daughter gets older and outgrows her book nook.  This is one of those projects that is too good to be true, but has been one of my most successful and functional yet.  My kids use it, love it, and it took very little time and effort to put together!

By taking a crib mattress that we already had, wrapping it in a comforter, and putting it in my daughter’s room near her book shelves I was able to create a space that she loves, and uses every single day!  It was an added bonus that it took very little time and effort and was re-purposing something that we no longer used!  Sometimes I need to take a step back and let the kids show me what they enjoy most as to make something that they will really love, and use!

So, find a sweet little spot where the kids love to spend time, and throw their old crib mattress, some pillows, and a pile of books into it and you have an instant book nook for your little ones to enjoy for years to come!

Spring is officially here in Wisconsin, but the weather in not following suit.  usually we have the sweaters packed away, the boots put up, and the flip flops sitting in the closet.  Not yet, due to the cold and the snow the spring outfits are looking more like winter outfits.  This week I wanted share a couple of outfits that include fun prints to liven things up a bit.

With the purchase of my first leopard printed item this winter (a pair of heels) I am finding that I kind of like it – in small doses.  I scored this lovely leopard print shirt at a thrift store for just $2.00, and I think it really makes this outfit!  You can’t beat a half of sale at a thrift store for adding pieces to your wardrobe that add a little interest.

Paired with some comfy jeans, my favorite boots, and a cozy sweater – the leopard print is just my style.

Leopard Print Blouse:  $2.00 thrift store clearance!!

Jeggings:  Kohls (Simply Vera – mine were a gift but I think they were less than $20 with a coupon!)

Sweater:  Target – Old

Boots:  Old Navy

The second outfit was a quick t-shirt and jeans combo perfect for taking the kids out for pizza on a Friday night!  I love how easy it is to throw on and go, but the print and sparkly shoes makes it really fun.  The neckline and fit of this shirt makes it into more than just a plain old t-shirt.  I even have this shirt in two colors because they are so versatile.  You can see it in another outfit here in a solid pink color.

Printed off the shoulder Top: Alloy $10.00

Black  stretch skinnies:  Walmart:  $16.88

Sparkly black flats:  Maurices Clearance $13.00

This was a quick impromptu project that we did last year before mothers day as a sweet little something for the kids to give to their Grandma.  You can read about 25 other easy DIY Mother’s Day gift ideas here too if you need some more inspiration, but this is by far the quickest and easiest of all of them.  Just a couple minutes, a few supplies, a great photo and you have a darling little gift for your kids to give this Mother’s Day.

You will need:

A roll of clear packaging tape

scissors

a small section of ribbon

a hole punch

a photo booth photo strip or other photo cut into the shape of a bookmark

The kids and I were out and about one day, and I randomly decided that it would be fun to stick a couple bucks in the photo booth machine and get some silly pictures to commemorate our day together!  We had a great time making silly faces and acting all crazy for the photos!  The pictures were even printed on some cute photo paper with adorable graphics and lots of choices.  We chose to go with a little PB&J  sandwich graphic that said “happy together” cause the kids found it to be super silly.  You could easily esit and print some photos on your home computer too instead of visiting the photo booth.  I liked the novelty of the photo booth strips, and thought they brought a fun, goofy touch to the gift.

Once we got home I was thinking how much the photo strips looked like book marks, and that they would make a super fun gift for the kids to give their Grandma for Mother’s day.  So we got out a few supplies that we gathered from around the house and got to work turning our photos into bookmarks.

The process took only minutes, and was very very simple:

• We decided to make our bookmarks  short,  so we cut each photo strip in half and taped the pictures together (blank backs together) so there would be pictures on both sides and then laminated it with packing tape.    If you want to leave your photo strip long just add a piece of pretty paper to the back to make the bookmark look more finished.
• Cut and trim off any writing or graphics that you don’t want before you start laminating it.
• Lay out a strip of packing tape, set your photo in the center of it, and smooth it all out.  Then carefully line up another piece of tape to go over the top.  Lay it over, smoothing carefully to prevent bubbles or ripples.  Then trim the tape leaving a small amount of clear tape around each side to keep the photo sealed in the tape.
• Then you can punch a hole in the top using your hole punch  and then run a small piece of ribbon through that and tie.  Be careful to make the hole far enough into the bookmark so it doesn’t rip the tape while you are adding the ribbon.

That’s it!

Just imagine your own Mom’s smile each and every time she opens her book to see her kid’s and grand kids!  A super fun little gift that means a lot!  This and the Painted Pet Rocks that we made for Grandma’s garden last year has been have been really fun gifts for the kids to make and give Grandma for Mother’s Day that I know their Grandma’s both really enjoyed!