sandwich kabobs

Gah! I can't believe that it's almost time for Claire to start school. I'm trying to squeeze in as man fun things with her before school starts. Yesterday was a rainy day, but the kids were pretty excited to sit down and eat this back to school lunch.

I used these school bus print outs for a little back to school party that I hosted for Claire and a few of her friends. They are so cute. You can buy them here. They only took about 10 minutes to cut out and put the two buses together. I had cut a small piece of floral foam to fit in the bottom of the bus (for the party) and thought that I would use these again to make a lunch for the kids.

I skewered a few grapes and strawberries for Claire and Simon. I cut out a few hearts out of some brownies that I had a baked a few days ago and put those on a skewer above a strawberry. I also cut some hearts out of cheese, which would have been just as cute cut into cubes. I cut the sandwich into stars, but again, cutting it into 9 little squares would have had the same effect. You see, all food tastes better when you eat it off a stick!

back to school countdown

Day 5! I made it. Five posts in one week! This craft came together in just 10 minutes, and it's one of Claire's favorites. I'm trying to prepare Claire for school as best as I can, obviously. One thing I wanted to make clear to her was exactly when she'll be starting school. September is fairly arbitrary to her, but this chain helps her realize exactly when she'll be sitting in the classroom. (With Mommy standing outside crying.)

I used my cricut to cut out the bus. I used my cricut because if I had drawn the bus myself and cut it out, you might have thought Claire had drawn it. If you don't have a cutting machine, you could print out a picture of a bus. Or you could cut an apple out of paper. Lots of possibilities. I used red and yellow construction paper cut into 1 inch (ish) stripes of paper to make the chain. Claire liked helping with this part. It's a great opportunity to teach your kids about patterns. That's it. Every day she rips off a piece of the chain, and she's one day closer to going to school. 

Linking up with: Six Sister's Stuff &  Skip to my Lou & Weekly Kids Co-op & Flamingo Toes & Tatertots and Jello 

toilet paper roll stamped apples

Back to school crafts, day 4! In just 20 short days Claire will be in school. I find that thought a little overwhelming still. Nevertheless, we're making the most of our summer. We're headed to the beach today, which the kids will surely enjoy. I am hoping that a good dose of salt water air will tire the kids out and they go to bed early tonight! 

This apple craft is so easy to make from whatever you have on hand. 

Materials:
toilet paper rolls
red & green paint
glue
any decorations that you have on hand (we used sequins, sparkles, washi tape, tissue paper & ribbon)
crayons

We used a toilet paper roll to stamp the outline of the apples. We used both red and green paint. Once that was dry Claire decorated the apples with all of the other supplies. She glued the sequins, ribbon and tissue paper balls on the apples. She used bits of washi tape to make two apples. Lastly we used sparkle glue pens to fill in two of the apples. Claire finished off the apples by drawing stems and leaves on the apples.

handprint paper

Day 3 of back to school crafts!! You might have to think outside of the box for this one :)

I was trying to think of all of the things that are related to school, and of course you can't go to school without paper- hence the handprint paper. 

Paint the hand white and stamp it onto a piece of paper. (I chose blue.) Once the paint is dry use a blue pen to draw the lines on the page. I used a popsicle stick as a spacer for my lines. Draw the circles for the holes in the paper. Most importantly, use a red pen to draw the vertical line on the page.

It doesn't get any easier than that. I'll be back tomorrow with another school themed craft. 

washi tape pencils

I love stationary. (Understatement!) What better time to celebrate my love for stationary than back to school season when all stationary is on sale!! I have a collection of washi tape now and love finding fun ways to use it.

I thought that these pencil designs would be perfect for a back to school party invite. (I will be hosting a little back to school party for Claire and her friends this year.)

  

Now I'll probably just send out an invite on facebook for the party, but still wanted to use the washi tape pencils for something at the party. They would be perfect for place settings. Just make the pencil on a smaller scale. You could also use them for labels for food items at the party. 

They're so easy to make. Look through your stash of tape and see what colours you have. Any variation of yellow tape works. Solid pink seemed to work best for the eraser bit. I used a bronzy tape for the pencil lead, but  I'm sure any dark colour would work well for that. 

What ideas do you have to make back to school fun and special for your kids? Or what did your parents do for you?

Linking up with: Six Sister's Stuff &  Skip to my Lou & Weekly Kids Co-op & Flamingo Toes & Tatertots and Jello 

handprint crayon box!

I'm baaaaccccckkkkkk!!! Once again, I'm feeling inspired and refreshed. I've been enjoying this summer with my kids. Claire starts school in less than a month. She's ready, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for her to start school. Not having been to daycare/preschool I hope that I've given her a good foundation for school. We sat down the other day and came up with a list of foods that would be good to pack in her lunch. I'm already planning a little photo shoot at her school to get some school photos of Claire. It's just hard to believe that this time is here already!

I'm kicking off this week with a full week of school themed crafts!! Yes, a whole week of blog posts!! I know, you'll believe it when you see it. Me too.

The first one is a hand print box of crayons. Is there a more iconic symbol of school? (Possibly... check back later in the week to see what other crafts we did.) This craft however, was so easy to do. 

Materials needed:
Yellow paint, and 5 other colours of your choosing
Paper (cardstock)
Thin black pen
Thick black pen (or small sticker letters/cricut/silhouette letters)

Paint the palm of the hand yellow (I mixed in a but of orange with the yellow, just so that it's a little darker.)

The paint each finger a different colour- I let Claire pick the colours. Once that's dry, use a thin black pen to write the colours of each crayon on the fingers. If you have a thick black pen, you can use that to write the word crayons on the palm of the hand. I used my cricut to cut the letters as small as I could, and then glued them on the hand print craft. That's it!

I would love for you guys to follow me on facebook so that you don't have to miss any of my sporadic posts! You can find me on pinterest here.

Linking up with: Six Sister's Stuff &  Skip to my Lou & Weekly Kids Co-op & Flamingo Toes & Tatertots and Jello