Claire's giraffe party

My first baby is turning four this week. 4?!?!! I can't believe it. But then, I'm sure I'm not alone in how fast our kids grow. When I asked Claire what kind of birthday party she'd like this year, she insisted on a giraffe party. Seriously? A giraffe party. We ended up making almost all of our decorations. I'm not sure how many of you have tried to throw a giraffe party- but there's not a lot out there to be purchased for one!

One of my favorite decorations were the circles behind the food table. I picked up a few sheets of 12x12 scrapbooking paper and cut them into circles. On the yellow ones Claire painted some handprint giraffes. (A more detailed post for another day!) My Mom and I tried to make the same ruffled streamers that we made for Simon's birthday party last year, but my sewing machine was having nothing to do with ruffles. They ruffled until I answered the phone, and then we just ended up sewing them together. They still looked pretty.

 In an effort to make her party more giraffe-y, we made some homemade graham crackers. We used a small cookie cutter to cut out small giraffe shapes. The kids LOVED these crackers. It was so hard to get them to stop eating the crackers so that we'd have some left for the party. This morning the kids ate the last of them. Recipe to follow shortly. You will want to make them.

 I also make some giraffe labels for the juice packs and water bottles.

 

I saw this cake in a Martha Stewart Baby magazine, way before I was even married. (I've always loved Martha, so I used to flip through her mags, even though I wasn't even thinking of babies yet.) I made this chocolate cake recipe, which I have used many times before. It's one of my favorite Martha recipes. The cake was baked in a 9x13 pan, and then using the template in the back of the magazine you cut the cake to form the giraffe. Unfortunately, this cake isn't on Martha's website.

 Here's the birthday girl! Mom and I made giraffe shirts for Claire and Simon. I cut the giraffe out using the cricut (thanks Sylvia!) and then just traced it onto the fabric. My Mom sewed them onto the shirts.

These pics were taken after the party was over. Simon is seen here holding the bowl that held the graham crackers. He ate them all afternoon.

It was a fun party. I ordered these giant (although I didn't know they were going to be quite so giant) balloons from Bargain Balloons. There's a flat shipping rate, and since I have already planned Simon's party, I was able to order balloons for his party too. I bought party hats and then covered them with construction paper. I printed out the giraffe image that I used on the water and juice packs to glue to the front of the party hats. 

Out of bristol board, I cut a giraffe (use your imagination!) so that the kids could play pin the tail on the giraffe. We also played a game called pretend you're eating like a giraffe. We my very awesome Sister, just threaded timbits (donut holes) on string and then hung the string from a broom handle. Then the kids had to try to eat the timbits without their hands (like a giraffe). 

Lastly, I made a spiced punch in the slow cooker to have on hand for the adults. It was so tasty. If you're going to make it, make sure you remember to take out the cinnamon and cloves after it has been in there for a few hours. By the time that I sat down to have some it was a little too clove-y.

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There you have it- a full fledged giraffe birthday party. I love planning my kids birthday parties, but I'm a litle excited to have a bit of a break before the next party.

Linking up with: Skip to my Lou & Tip Junkie & Tatertots and Jello

puppy love Valentines

Looking for some last minute Valentine ideas? These puppy cards are a cinch to make. I had done the prep work before we sat down to make them so that Claire wouldn't get annoyed with cutting out hearts. I did give her one to cut out, but she didn't get quite close enough the outline of the heart, so when you flip hers over it just looks like a blob of paper :)

Supplies needed:

dark and light grey paper (of course you could use brown paper too)
cardstock for the Valentine (I used purple)
googly eyes
sequin or jewel for the nose (optional, you could of course just draw on the nose)

heart template

1. I cut up a sheet of 12 x 12 paper into 4 inch squares. Then I used my punch to round the corners.
2. Cut out several light and dark grey hearts. I used a white piece of paper, folded it in half, and drew my heart. Then I cut that one out and used it to trace onto the grey paper. I cut out a few hearts. I cut all of the dark grey hearts in half to make the puppy ears.
3. Glue the light grey heart on the piece of square paper. (Use a glue stick for this part. If you use school glue, your paper may or may not get bubbly. Not that I know this from personal experience or anything.)

4. Glue the ears on either side of the heart. (You can use the school glue here.)

5. Glue on the eyes, and nose.
6. Draw some freckles on the dog (cause all dogs have freckles, right?)
7. Once dry, add your Valentine message.

There you have it- the most adorable little puppy dog Valentines. The best part of these, is that with all of the prep work done ahead of time, each Valentine only takes a minute to make.

Hope that you all have a lovely Valentine's Day.

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Linking up with: Skip to my Lou & Tip Junkie  & Toys in the Dryer & Tatertots and Jello

Peanut Butter Valentine cookies

After seeing these cookies all over Pinterest, I decided to make some myself. They were so easy to make, and I didn't have any problem getting rid of leftover cookies either :)

Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies 

from Kraft Canada

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup of sugar

1 egg

That's it! Pre heat oven to 325°F. Mix all ingredients until blended. Form into balls and place on cookie sheet. I used a glass to flatten the cookies, so they'd be nice and smooth for the hearts. You could use a fork to flatten them too. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. (I'm pretty sure I baked mine for more like 15 mins.) 

While cookies are baking, unwrap chocolate hearts. I used Comet brand ones, because that's all I could find here. 

Transfer to cooling racks as soon as you take the cookies out. Then quickly and gently press a heart onto each cookie. After just a few minutes the chocolate heart will have melted enough that you can press it down a little further.

These cookies would be the perfect accompaniment with a sweet little Valentine.

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Linking up with: Skip to my Lou & Tip Junkie &  Tatertots and Jello

heart mosaic

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Have a toddler and looking to keep them busy for a bit? Then this is the perfect craft to make. 

I grabbed a piece of 12 x 12 pink scrapbooking paper and drew the outline of a heart using a pencil. Then I gave Claire some scraps of pink patterned paper. Claire cut random shapes out of the pink paper. Then I gave her the bottle of glue and asked that she glue the paper all within the heart shape. She kept going until the whole heart was full. The best part was that when she was done this heart, she asked to make another one!

What are you making for Valentine's Day?

Linking up with: Skip to my Lou  & Tip Junkie & Toys in the Dryer &  Tatertots and Jello

footprint dump truck carrying love

Are you looking to send an extra special Valentine to someone this year? Maybe Grandma, Grandpa, or even a teacher? Then this is it! It's a footprint dump truck, carrying an extra special load of love.

This was a very easy craft to make. I painted the kids feet yellow (I mixed in a bit of orange so that the yellow would be easier to see) and stamped them on the paper. Then once the paint was dry, Claire and I set out to finish off our trucks. We drew on our windows and wheels on the truck. (Some of us have different visions of what windows look like.)

Then I cut a piece of brown paper (because that dump truck is working hard pulling that load of love up the hill) and glued it underneath the truck.We drew some grass on the hill, and then set out to fill up the dump truck. Claire can't (or won't) draw hearts yet, so we used an old heart punch that I have to cut hearts out of paper. She had a great time gluing them on the truck.

If you don't have a heart punch, or your child knows how to draw hearts (!) then the footprint dump truck looks just as adorable with the hearts drawn in.

 So, get out the paint and paper, and set to work to surprise someone with one of these special Valentines this year. And if you do make these, let me know. I'd love to see how yours turn out!

 
   
Linking up with: Skip to my Lou & The Grant Life & An Original Belle& Michelle Paige & Tip Junkie &  Tatertots and Jello

bee mine Valentine

Looking for a quick and simple Valentine this year? How about these bumblebee, be (or bee!) mine Valentines. Want the how to? Keep on reading...

I used some tags that I had leftover from my thumbprint snowmen tags that I made for Christmas. I think these would look great on standard office supply tags too. I mixed some yellow paint, with just a touch of orange paint, just to make the yellow a bit darker. Claire went to town stamping her thumbprints on the tags. After Claire was in bed that night, I used a red pen to draw on the heart at the top of the tags. I also wrote be mine. Claire just started writing her letters so she probably would have taken up this whole tag to write those words!

When Claire woke up the next morning she was anxious to finish drawing the bumblebees. She drew on their strips and faces. Together, we drew on the wings. I attached some twine to the tags and we were done!

Pass out these sweet Valentines this year!

Linking up with: Skip to my Lou & The Grant Life & An Original Belle& Michelle Paige & Tip Junkie &  Tatertots and Jello

thumbprint Valentine Day bookmarks

 Valentine's Day is just around the corner. We're getting a head start on our projects this year, mostly because Claire loves working on new 'projects'. Switch it up this year and hand out little Valentine Day bookmarks. These were quite easy to make- and you probably have all of the supplies on hand right now. Paper, paint, markers and googly eyes (optional). Go ahead, go check for them. I'll wait right here. 

 Claire loved drawing all the faces and gluing the eyes on the animals. And the back of the bookmark is the perfect spot to write a little message to your special Valentine.

 I cut all of the paper before Claire and I sat down to start this craft. I used 12 x 12 paper. I cut it in half, and then cut two inch strips (so the bookmarks are 6 x2). I did use my corner punch to round the corners of the bookmarks, but obviously this is a very optional step. Using my hole puncher I punched the hole for the ribbon.

 Using brown paint Claire stamped her thumbprint. Once it was dry, we used a brown marker to draw the ears. I used my hole puncher to punch some holes from cream coloured paper for the nose of the bear. Claire glued on the eyes.

 The lion was the easiest of all of the bookmarks. I mixed a little bit (and I mean tiny bit) of orange paint with the yellow paint so that it would look more lion-y (I know that's not a word.) Draw on the mane, and mouth, and glue on the eyes.

 We used red paint for the bird, and then used an orange marker for the comb and legs. A black marker for the smile, and then we glued on googly eyes.

I mixed a bit of the purple paint with white paint so that we'd have a lighter shade of paint for the top wings. Once the paint was dry we used a grey marker to draw the body of the butterfly and the antennas. We added a smile with a red marker, and glued on googly eyes.

 After Claire stamped her thumbprint with the white paint, she dipped her pinky finger in the white paint to stamp the ears. Once it was dry, we used a pink marker to colour in the ears, and draw the nose. We used a black marker for the smile and whiskers. Googly eyes finished it off.

 Stamp the frog using green paint. Once it's dry use a green marker to draw the legs and the round balls behind the eyes. Use a black marker to draw the nose and smile. Glue the googly eyes on top of the frog.

Show me what you're making for Valentine's Day. Link it up in the comments. 

Linking up with: Skip to my Lou & Toys in the Dryer & Tip Junkie &Today's Creative blog  &  Tatertots and Jello