Printable Activity dice that will encourage imaginative play. Perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Kids pretend to be animals as they play the dice games

Chinese raffles commonly are used to raise money for a charity or organization. Many people refer to them as basket auctions, silent auctions or Chinese auctions. If you know how to run a Chinese raffle, you have the potential of raising a large sum of funds.

Bonjour! For Jetti's 4th birthday celebration, Brandy J Rammel (aka "Mommy") of Pretty Plain Janes, whipped up a trés chic "A Day in Paris" Party for the

I love to garden and I know so many other people who love to garden, as well. Lately, I began thinking about gifts to give people who love to garden. Practically everyone in my family

These are the most popular things to make and sell for extra cash online, on Etsy, or at craft fairs. Try these simple DIY projects for some extra cash!

Sometimes I get grand ideas in my head. And instead of just thinking about the ideas and keeping them to myself I tell people about the ideas and the next thing you know I am swimming in the ideas looking for the dang foam float. Yep. But hopefully this idea will pay off LARGE. Let me back up my long story with this little tid bit for you. Art teachers in our county at the elementary school level are paid for partially by the PTA. Yes, you just read that right. Our PTA has to bust tail to raise money to pay for my salary, and I think the school nurse. May be wrong on that one, but definitely mine. The county pays for X number of hours and the PTA has to make up for the rest to have me there the 30 hours a week I teach. And they have to pay for all the supplies we use up at a rather swift pace. So there's a little background for you and why, oh why I decided to tackle this insane fundraiser idea. So the idea. Each spring the PTA throws a super fun Spring Fling event. You know the kind....carnival rides, silly games, cotton candy, DJ, cake walk (Oh my favorite), cokes, candy, hair spray the works! It is a family night of total chaotic fun. Alongside the crazy fun for the kiddos the PTA asks local businesses for donations for a silent auction and each classroom is responsible for a theme basket of goodies to silent auction as well. And every year we buy 1-3 of these baskets. Because I know this money goes to the good of the school (it wasn't my salary until this year). We've bought a BBQ basket complete with enough A1 sauce to last me until the year 2020. No lie. One year we bought an awesome craft basket I think we're sitll using to this date. I'm not saying the baskets were all bad, but enough was enough. It was time for a change. So in January I emailed the president and said I needed to talk to the board about an idea. Most of these moms know me, so they were very open to me coming and throwing my idea into the pot. So here's what I proposed: 1. instead of baskets for each class I wanted to create an original painting with each class, totally 23 paintings. 2. I wanted to use my art work as the inspiration for each of the 23 paintings with each grade level a different theme. We decided as a group that the following would be the class themes: k-nest, 1st- bird cages, 2nd- long flowers, 4rd- whimsical landscapes, 4th-bikes, 5th- trucks, Special Ed-cake 3. I wanted them to be framed in the salvage frames 4. I wanted the PTA to buy the frames and ask the students for a small donation to defer the costs of these 5. I wanted to get the images up on the school website at least 3 weeks ahead to get parents excited about this and get them to the event 6. I wanted the PTA to get the Square app so we could take credit cards 7. I wanted to do all this during my regular art time slots with the kids 8. I wanted to be totally done by Spring Break. 9. I wanted to make lots and lots of money 10. I wanted them to trust me that I could indeed get #1-9 done exactly as planned. And well, they loved the idea!! So Phillip made the frames, and I picked them up as seen here: These are LARGE paintings. Like the smallest is 20x20 inside frame. The big skinny ones are an awesome 12x36! Super great sizes. My 5th grade helpers then rolled the wood canvas with black primer. Once the black was dry I set out drawing the 23 canvases. It was effortless getting these ideas out and onto the wood canvas. I also started talking to the kids about the upcoming project and got them very excited!! It took 2 weeks to finish all the paintings....I see the classes 3 times in a two week period. (Except K and pre-K. I did have to go to them during my planning periods. I don't teach those grades.) We set up a table in the back for canvas work and while the rest of the class worked quietly on another project I called about 3 kids at a time back to work with me. And although not one person did more than the other they all felt a part of the process. As the paintings were started we emailed the teachers what we were doing. I have to say doing something NEW is always difficult. I am still not 100% sure the teachers understand what we've done, and I know parents are clueless as to the amazing final products that the kids have made. Every Thursday the PTA group wanders down and just grins at what transpired. I think they too had some "is this really gonna work?" monsters in their heads. But I stick to my word and do what I say I'm gonna do. Even if it did burn me out of my own studio time! Whew. And we are all getting the auction bidding eyes on.....unfortunately there are 3 Mommas I know I'll have to contend with for Mailey's class painting!! Maybe more!! So here are some of the 23 paintings we'll have for sale Friday night. I can not wait!! I just know I'm gonna cry. Because seeing the paintings all hanging is going to be an unbelieveable sight for these sore eyes!! The above bike is Mailey's class painting BTW.....I am really into kites these days!!! So, I WILL be taking loads of pics of the night and let you know the sales totals. I really hope we aren't disappointed.....I don't see how we can't make tons of money on these amazing works of art!!

Hey guys! Hope you all are having a great Wednesday! I had a pretty nice day. It was really pretty outside today, and we had a little Easter egg hunt at my littlest one's preschool and I did some grocery shopping after that. Pretty uneventful. Today I'm going to show you the lovely quilt I made for my daughter's bed. I mentioned how I started this quilt and where I took my inspiration from here. So be sure to go and check out the other tutorial. I changed it up a bit though. This didn't turn out exactly like the Anthro quilt, but I still love it. I think this one is a bit more slouchy than the one you can buy, but I'll say it was worth it. I spent 20 bucks to make this....and the Anthro one is like 350 I think. Ok...so on with the show! I began with a queen sized set of these white Jersey sheets from good ole Wally World. I would have gotten the king sized, but they only had queen....but that turned out to be plenty. Plus, it came with two white pillow cases, which I kept as is and added them to my stash of pillow cases, so....score! I sort of figured it out as I went when it came to the size of this blanket and how many squares I needed. I began by cutting 18 by 18 inch squares out of both the fitted and the flat sheets (soooo much easier with the flat sheet fyi). I managed to get 36 squares. Next I took a 6 inch, in diameter, plate and began to trace a circle in the center of each square. This was super easy.....it went by pretty quickly. you are left with a circle Next you take some thread (I just used regular thread, doubled up and knotted on the end) and an embroidery needle and you go in and out all the way around the circle. Pull it tight It looks like those tissue paper ghosts we used to make when I was little. Before you pull it all the way tight and start securing it, squish the little ghost head down in the middle so that he looks like a little flower. Now pull it tight. Start wrapping the outside with your string. Make sure to follow the line where the pleats are. Take your needle through the center a few times as you wrap. You want to go through the middle at least three different times from different sides. Now take your needle and bring it through to the underside of the square. When you flip it over, it will look like this. That little protrusion is where the middle part was poked down. You want to make sure that is secured so that your rosettes don't come undone. You don't want to be left with a ghost head blanket instead of a rosette blanket....ha.. okay, I'm done with the cheesy-ness. Tie off your string. I just made a bunch of knots between the middle protrusion and the side....but do that however you like. And you have one square! ....now...do that 35 more times! Once you are ready to start sewing your squares together, here is where I differed from the other tutorial. They advocated pinning all of your pleats....which would have made me go nuts. I decided it was much easier ( and safer too....all those pins, what if you missed one...ouch) to just run a gathering stitch down the side of the square. I put my sewing machine on it's longest stitch length, selected a strait stitch, and sewed (without backstitching) down the length of one side of my square. I taped a tape measure to my table because I knew I would need to measure a lot. I went and measured my daughter's bed first and determined that I wanted the entire quilt to be 50 inches wide and 70 inches long. It would probably vary for each bed. I wanted these to not have too much overhang, so I measured, instead of going with the standard "twin sized." So, I lucked out having just enough squares, with one left over. Since I had 36 squares to work with, I determined I needed 7 rows of 5 squares (35). Each square would need to be 10 inches (finished) for my measurements to add up. I took the gathered end of the square and pulled it tight and started loosening it until it reached 11 inches. (I added one inch because of a 1/2 inch seam allowance on either end). Next I took a second square and ran a gathering stitch up one side and gathered it in the same manner. I placed the two squares right sides together (facing in) and sewed them together. You repeat the process until you have a row of 5 squares. Then you move on to a new row of 5 squares. You repeat that until you have 7 strips of 5 squares....or however many you need for the size bed you have. Next I took one of my long strips of squares, and I sewed a gathering stitch all the way down the length of one side. I actually did this in sections. I was afraid of the gathering string breaking on such a long run, so I stopped it in the middle and started a new one right next to it. It worked perfectly and I didn't break any of my strings. I gathered the side of my long strip until it measured 51 inches across...which actually happened to be the exact width of my kitchen table....so I totally ditched the tape measure and just used the table as a guide....happy accident. I made sure to remember to add an extra inch for seam allowances on either end, which is why it was 51 inches and not 50. repeat with a second strip and lay it on top of the first strip to make sure they are the same length. You also want to make sure as you are spreading out your gathers, that each square is the same length. You don't want all of your gathers to be at one end of the strip and the other end not to have many. You will wind up with a quilt that has different sized wonky squares on it. Place the two strips one on top of the other with right sides facing in and pin each of the seams together. You want to make sure each square is lined up at the seam. You may have to adjust your gathers to make them line up properly. Now sew the two strips together.....and then repeat the process with the next strip....and then the next.....and then then next..... and then the next.... and then the next..... and then the next.... until you're done! haha, just kidding....you still have a ton of work left to do! If you want this to be a duvet cover, you could stop here and sew this onto the face of a duvet cover....I didn't want that. I wanted mine to be a bona fide quilt. I laid it out on the ground Then added a layer of batting to the back. Now in your mind imagine flipping this thing over, so that the batting was on the floor and the quilt was on top, right side up....because that's basically what I had to do....flip the whole thing like a giant pancake. Like I said, figuring it out as I go.... Next I went through and tacked the quilt down to the batting through the center of each rosette with a needle and thread, tying each one off on the back as I went. You have to do this because when you sew the back on, you won't be able to turn the whole thing inside out if the batting isn't secured to something. I didn't take a picture of this part....I was getting burned out. This seriously took a long time. Once I had all of the rosettes tacked down to the batting, then I added the back. I used a white twin sheet that I already had. My kids don't sleep with the flat sheets, so I just repurposed it :) I literally just laid it over the quilt, right sides facing in and started pinning it together. I measured 50 inches across and pinned the ends there (remember the outside edge of your quilt still isn't gathered) and then I pinned the seams of each square every 10 inches....all the way around the perimeter of the quilt. Then I sewed....all the way around, except for leaving one space at the end, about 8 inches long. I made sure to just gather the outside edge as I went. It was pretty easy since only one side of the seam had to be gathered against the other side that was flat. Once you finish sewing, turn the whole thing right side out through that 8 inch space you left open. After that, you are close to being finished....but not quite! I went ahead and started adding a tie through the quilt (tying on the underneath side of the quilt) at every intersection of seams through the whole quilt. This keeps it together as one piece. If you feel like tackling "real quilting" you could try to do the whole "stitch the ditch" thing and sew along on top of all of the seams. I would love to learn this sometime....but I was ready to call it quits, so doing ties was good enough for me! After I had everything finished, I went ahead and closed up the 8 inch opening with some hand stitches. In the end, it didn't turn out perfect, but I think it turned out to be beautiful! and just to keep it real, this is what was going on on the other side of the room while I was taking these photos... Someday I'll get their whole room finished so you guys can see it all put together. I'm nowhere near done, though. Up next are new beds for the girls and I'm making over their closet door. Stay tuned for those :) ....but first....I have to make the second quilt for the second girl......sigh.... Have a great day! xoxo! Anna sharing with: Live laugh Rowe living well spending less from my front porch to yours artsy fartsy mama the ny melrose family free pretty things for you someday crafts polkadots on parade lady behind the curtain seven thirty three cherished bliss crafty allie ginger snap crafts remodelaholic the idea room jennifer rizzo my repurposed life craft dictator tatertots and jello 504 main chic on a shoestring my romantic home too much time on my hands one more time events be different act normal just us four a little claireification six sisters stuff life in velvet 2IY the girl creative vmg206 under the table and dreaming momnivores dilemma flamingo toes titicrafty pink when mango seed designs the chicken chick it's overflowing skip to my lou C.R.A.F.T. making the world cuter the silly pearl tiny sidekick home stories a to z carolyn's homework not just a housewife our delightful home diy dreamer home coming house on the way kathe with an e east coast creative diy showoff twelve o eight my uncommon slice of suburbia just a girl and her blog the sits girls maybe she made it happy housie i'm not a trophy wife navy wife domestically speaking city of creative dreams nancherrow yesterfood thrifty decor chick clean and scentsable

Sometimes I get grand ideas in my head. And instead of just thinking about the ideas and keeping them to myself I tell people about the ideas and the next thing you know I am swimming in the ideas looking for the dang foam float. Yep. But hopefully this idea will pay off LARGE. Let me back up my long story with this little tid bit for you. Art teachers in our county at the elementary school level are paid for partially by the PTA. Yes, you just read that right. Our PTA has to bust tail to raise money to pay for my salary, and I think the school nurse. May be wrong on that one, but definitely mine. The county pays for X number of hours and the PTA has to make up for the rest to have me there the 30 hours a week I teach. And they have to pay for all the supplies we use up at a rather swift pace. So there's a little background for you and why, oh why I decided to tackle this insane fundraiser idea. So the idea. Each spring the PTA throws a super fun Spring Fling event. You know the kind....carnival rides, silly games, cotton candy, DJ, cake walk (Oh my favorite), cokes, candy, hair spray the works! It is a family night of total chaotic fun. Alongside the crazy fun for the kiddos the PTA asks local businesses for donations for a silent auction and each classroom is responsible for a theme basket of goodies to silent auction as well. And every year we buy 1-3 of these baskets. Because I know this money goes to the good of the school (it wasn't my salary until this year). We've bought a BBQ basket complete with enough A1 sauce to last me until the year 2020. No lie. One year we bought an awesome craft basket I think we're sitll using to this date. I'm not saying the baskets were all bad, but enough was enough. It was time for a change. So in January I emailed the president and said I needed to talk to the board about an idea. Most of these moms know me, so they were very open to me coming and throwing my idea into the pot. So here's what I proposed: 1. instead of baskets for each class I wanted to create an original painting with each class, totally 23 paintings. 2. I wanted to use my art work as the inspiration for each of the 23 paintings with each grade level a different theme. We decided as a group that the following would be the class themes: k-nest, 1st- bird cages, 2nd- long flowers, 4rd- whimsical landscapes, 4th-bikes, 5th- trucks, Special Ed-cake 3. I wanted them to be framed in the salvage frames 4. I wanted the PTA to buy the frames and ask the students for a small donation to defer the costs of these 5. I wanted to get the images up on the school website at least 3 weeks ahead to get parents excited about this and get them to the event 6. I wanted the PTA to get the Square app so we could take credit cards 7. I wanted to do all this during my regular art time slots with the kids 8. I wanted to be totally done by Spring Break. 9. I wanted to make lots and lots of money 10. I wanted them to trust me that I could indeed get #1-9 done exactly as planned. And well, they loved the idea!! So Phillip made the frames, and I picked them up as seen here: These are LARGE paintings. Like the smallest is 20x20 inside frame. The big skinny ones are an awesome 12x36! Super great sizes. My 5th grade helpers then rolled the wood canvas with black primer. Once the black was dry I set out drawing the 23 canvases. It was effortless getting these ideas out and onto the wood canvas. I also started talking to the kids about the upcoming project and got them very excited!! It took 2 weeks to finish all the paintings....I see the classes 3 times in a two week period. (Except K and pre-K. I did have to go to them during my planning periods. I don't teach those grades.) We set up a table in the back for canvas work and while the rest of the class worked quietly on another project I called about 3 kids at a time back to work with me. And although not one person did more than the other they all felt a part of the process. As the paintings were started we emailed the teachers what we were doing. I have to say doing something NEW is always difficult. I am still not 100% sure the teachers understand what we've done, and I know parents are clueless as to the amazing final products that the kids have made. Every Thursday the PTA group wanders down and just grins at what transpired. I think they too had some "is this really gonna work?" monsters in their heads. But I stick to my word and do what I say I'm gonna do. Even if it did burn me out of my own studio time! Whew. And we are all getting the auction bidding eyes on.....unfortunately there are 3 Mommas I know I'll have to contend with for Mailey's class painting!! Maybe more!! So here are some of the 23 paintings we'll have for sale Friday night. I can not wait!! I just know I'm gonna cry. Because seeing the paintings all hanging is going to be an unbelieveable sight for these sore eyes!! The above bike is Mailey's class painting BTW.....I am really into kites these days!!! So, I WILL be taking loads of pics of the night and let you know the sales totals. I really hope we aren't disappointed.....I don't see how we can't make tons of money on these amazing works of art!!

I mentioned Brag Tags in an earlier post and received a few questions asking about them. The Brag Tags are sponsored by our AWESOME PTA and...

A homemaking blog for the practical homemaker. A source of recipes, cleaning tips, DIY, and encouragement.

Bottle Cap Crayon Tea Lights: In this instructable you'll learn how to turn some ordinary household materials into colorful miniature candles. This activity does require using a knife and a stove top, so children need to seek the help of an adult. The process is very simple, so …

Make a box o' princesses for a handmade gift for the holidays! DIY Princess Peg doll tutorial. A gift any little girl will treasure!

This just may be the easiest and funnest project I have done for my kiddo’s. We are obsessed with paper airplanes right now and while they are fun to make, they just don’t last long, es…

With spring just around the corner, now is the time to start looking for fresh inspiring spring ideas for projects, home decor, gardening, recipes and more.

all these crafts are beautiful, marketable, and not-too-complicated to make!

Event Styling & Accessories

I took these yogurt cups… And made them into small storage for push pins, paperclips and miscellaneous odds and ends for my wor...

Print This CraftThese cute little Puppy Dog Ears from the Free Kids Craft Team will turn anyone into a faithful ... Read More

Adults Needing Activity Scavenger Hunt printable. This is a digital product. Nothing will be shipped to you it will be emailed to your primary email and you can immediately print after purchase. What is included: You will receive a PDF file to immediately download. After your payment has been cleared you can download your instant download under your purchases. This is a digital download, not a physical product. There will be no logo, watermark or digital download star on the digital print. >TO PRINT: For best quality you can either print at home (100+lb. glossy cover stock is best for art), a local print shop OR an online service such as: Vista Print, Shutterfly, or Snapfish I am not responsible for any changes made by a professional printer or if the print displays differently on your viewing device due to different color calibrations. Use high quality paper for your best results. You may make an unlimited amount of copies of your print! Enjoy your new print! Please message me with any questions or concerns about your order I will be happy to help. Please leave me a positive review if you enjoy your print! **This printable art is copyrighted by KPrintableDesigns and is strictly for non-commercial and personal use only. You may print the design as you wish but may not resell, reproduce or distribute by any electronic means to create profit from the design. **

I have an abiding love for lemons. I love everything from the trees they grow on, the scent, the taste, and the color. They’re so perfect for summer. So it’s only fitting that I pay… Continue Reading

So the day finally came. And I was a nervous wreck. No really. I was quiet and reserved because my nerves were a mess. And this is why. Yes, it was an amazing idea. And yes the artwork turned out beyond my wildest dreams good. And yes, the PTA was beyond kind about the whole process. But....what if no one bought them? Oh geesh. I'd brought my personal show displays for the work since I knew they'd all fit. Around 4:30 we had the artwork all set and ready to go. I ran home to change and grab William then back to the school I ran. Ready to meet and greet and show off all our hard work. As families walked out every child came running over to proudly show their parents which painting was their class'. Most were so complimentary. And I just beamed sharing the how we accomplished such amazing work. I do have to say there were a few snobby Mommies in their decked out heels and make-up who turned their noses up. I seriously wanted to punch them in their overly done faces....one even said "I have no use for a truck painting." OMG. Not only did ya stab me a good one, you just stabbed your own child! Urgh....there were several of those type of comments. I also had to remember that not everyone appreciates the same type of art I do. I know this. But most families did love them. The ones who bid were super excited to not be bidding on baskets full of A1 sauce. Many were confused though, as to the process and how to bid. Some were taken back at the starting bids, which we set at $50. (Now I must interject here, we are by no means rich. With money that is. We have a budget for everything. We've been down the dark road before and have NO intention of ever seeing it again. I won't share my entire budget with you, but will tell you that we spend $150 on groceries a week, $130 on gas and we get $100 to spend eating out or on entertainment. Last week for instance we went to Wings and Things. It was $48. So that meant we had $52 for the rest of the week. And spring fling had to be a part of that money. We also have extra in the budget for spending on things like auction items. I had a limit for my bidding and once we hit it I had to back down. Mailey got that. And was fine. Of course I can always have her class paint me one.) Anyhoo, I share that personal information with you because $50 was not unreasonable to start the bidding on a painting that is priceless no doubt. But I was made painfully aware that $50 was just not feasable for many families in our school. And it broke my heart. Because many were ones who really wanted the paintings but could not bid. Does this make sense? So every painting sold. The lowest bid being $50, the highest being $300. Gulp. As I wrung my hands out at 9:30 Friday night my worst fear had come a teensy bit true. Although we made money. Let me be clear about this. Made money. More than the basket auctions in the past, but it still did not meet my expectations. My expectations. The PTA however, turned to me that night and said, let's do this again next year. We learned a few things this year and next year it'll only be better. So they were again being ever supportive and ever optimistic. I love those women. And truly in the end, yes the money was important, but more importantly these children were given an opportunity unlike any they may encounter again. They had the opportunity to work with a real artist on a real painting to sell in a real auction. Hey, just like Horton's little speck, our school is huge to these students and they made history that night by selling their work. Next year, I'll be teaching here again and I am sure students will be offering many an opinion about what to paint. We'll see about that. I do have issues with control and doing things my way...hahaha....and expectations. Not that I intend to lower them. Next year I'll have this year under my belt and can be a little more realist about our outcome. Oh and below was Mailey's class painting...the one that had the bidding war and ended up at $300. Like I said, I can always get them to paint me one, right? Anyhoo, I can not thank you guys ENOUGH for your support of this project. It made the evening so much better reading your comments on FB, getting sweet texts and of course your comments. It's always lovely when you know you are loved. And I certainly felt it. Puffy heart that.

Sweet nautical details the might go in and out with the season but never out of style. Photo credits: 1+3+4+5 Martha Stewart Weddings 2 Lindsay Letters 6 Kate Headley + Ritzy Bee Events

Well we have had a bit of a Metamorphosis happen at our house! Do you remember our Cute Caterpillar Craft? Well they have just grown into …

Do you know any DIY material more versatile than a mason jar? It is absolutely crafters' favorite item as they can make anything out of it. Do you need a vase? Just wrap a mason with a doily paper and some ribbons, voila your vase is ready. You don't have a bathroom set. No problem.

This Iron on Umbrella DIY is a quick project and a simple reminder that any day can be filled with sunshine, even if its raining!

One of my all time favorite weddings we've ever featured was from m three studio . Molly just has a way with the camera that is so beautifully fascinating. And somehow, she seems to book the coolest, ...