American Girl Craft

I am sure that any parent of a school age girl is well aware of the craze that is American Girl Dolls. My 7 1/2 Year old daughter can't get enough of them. She has 4 dolls (and is always planning which one to get next), more clothes for them than most children have, a bed, a horse, and oodles and oodles of "stuff" for her dolls. She loves them!! Yesterday she even went to a Doll Party with one of her dolls. Lately she has been telling me that she wants a toy box, and stuffed animal bin for her doll's stuff (Kinda sad that her toys need a toy bin ;o) !) Surprisingly, American Girl does not sells such an item, and even if they did I don't think that my hubby would be willing to pay would they would charge for them. This gave me an idea. I could MAKE her bins for next to nothing, so that is what I did!! It is not a very elaborate craft, but one that is inexpensive, and your daughter can help you with. Here is what I did: I just took 2 small plastic containers bought at Michael's for $1.00 each and dressed them up with ribbon around the top. I then used stickers to spell out "Toys" and "Stuffed Animals" and a few stickers to decorate with (I even used American Girl Stickers), and some matching puffy paint dots. SO SIMPLE!! But I think they turned out pretty cute for such a quick project:

Here they are beside one of her dolls, and I think that they are the perfect height.

Here they are filled with all her dolls stuff:

And lastly, here they are in her dolls "room" ( a small corner of her room she has set up for her dolls).

So, as you can see sometimes when our kids want something, it can be quick, easy, and inexpensive to make it for them :o) !!

Valentine's Party

Any of you who know me, know that I have been busy coordinating for my daughter's school. Valentine's Party on Monday. Here is what I have put together. I am bringing the paper products, so I decided to also make little take home goodie for each of the children. We will set them at each child's seat, so they will also look pretty as a table decoration while they enjoy their snack.

I did not want to spend a fortune on goodies, but I also wanted something that would look really cute, so this is what I came up with. I took a simple red plastic cup, and glued a decorative ribbon to the top (I found this ribbon on clearance at Michael's for like $.50 a spool). I then wanted to put some type of scripture on the cups, and I decided on 1John 3:18. I think it fits perfect. I then printed it out on my computer, and cut it into a heart. I glued it to the center of the cup. I then put white glitter dots all over the cup. I think they turned out pretty cute, and they were very simple (and inexpensive!). Inside the cups I baked Valentine's Cookies (just the really simple pre-decorated, pre-sliced kind), and put them into a small cookie bag, and tied it up with a small red ribbon. I also put in a pencil, a heart eraser, a heart lollipop, and 2 small chocolate hearts.

I also decided at the last minute to add another game (another Mom is already bringing one game). Again, I wanted to keep it simple, so I decided on Valentine Bingo. For those of you who don't know, this is a wonderful site www.dltk-kids.com They have lots of great craft ideas. Anyway, you can go to their website and print BINGO cards for any occasion. You just put in what you want, and it prints them. S-I-M-P-L-E !! I went with Valentine's Pictures (of course!!), but I also added the kids spelling words for next week, so that it could be a little bit educational ;o) ! The kids will use the conversation hearts as their place markers, and when the game is over they can have them for a little snack. Here is how they turned out:

And here is a close up:

All I did was print out the Bingo Cards, and mount them on red and pink card stock. I had a little bit of ribbon left from my cups, so I laced it on the top for decoration. I then added a few heart stickers. And done.

Tomorrow I will be baking cupcakes for the party. Stay tuned to see what I will be doing.....