St. Patrick's Day Treat

I have to admit I'm not one to truly celebrate St. Patrick's Day. At most I might wear green but that's it. Maybe if I was a beer drinker I would enjoy it more. Just kidding. As a parent my kids are interested in the day and like to be festive with it. I thought it would be fun to have a simple snack on hand for the day. My kids love popcorn and marshmallows so why not put the two together, especially when the marshmallows are from the Lucky Charms box. Pretty simple and festive. Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Supplies: 

• popcorn
• 1 box Lucky Charms

Directions: 

Remove some marshmallows from the cereal box. You can recruit your kids to help. Mix the marshmallows with some popped popcorn and enjoy. 

Stamp Valentine Printables

Every year I comb Pinterest for cute Valentine's for my kids to hand out. I found this stamp themed one from www.thecraftingchicks.com. Only a few materials are needed to put this adorable valentine together. My kiddo is excited to hand them out at her class party. Enjoy! 

Materials: 

• stamp printable ( http://thecraftingchicks.com/stamp-valentine-printables/)
• stamps (I found mine at Party City) 
• valentine themed washi (paper) tape. 
• pen or pencil

Directions: 

• Print out the free stamp printable and cut into 6 Valentine's. Attach a stamp using the washi tape. Write the names for the to and from. Pass out and enjoy! 

Gingerbread Paper Bag House

One of my favorite things to make at Christmas time are gingerbread houses. There are so many fun kits and ways to decorate. When I came across this idea for using paper bags and construction paper I knew I had to give it a try. I made one and then had my kids and a few of their friends make some. They all loved it and got creative with their decorations. It's very simple and a little less messy than the real gingerbread houses. 

Materials: 

• brown paper bags
• red and white scrap book paper (found at your craft store) 
• multi color construction paper
• glue or glue sticks
• scissors (you can precut everything if you don't want your kids using scissors) 

Directions: 

This is all up to you and your creative ways. I cut rectangles out of the red and white paper to construct the roof. Then I cut circles from the construction paper to be the candy and glued them on. I added a door and chimney. Easy and cute. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Gift Tags

One of my favorite parts of baking is sharing what I've made with others. I found these cute Thanksgiving tags from shewearsmanyhats.com and decided they would go perfectly with a bag of cookies to share with my neighbors. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Matetials: 

• clear treat bags
• twine  
• printable tags (here)
• a treat of your choice. My pumpkin chocolate chip cookies would go nicely. (recipe here) 
• put it altogether and share. Enjoy! 

Ghost Bags

Halloween is right around the corner and what better way to spread some fun with these ghost bags. Super cute and easy to make. I found all my items, minus the popcorn, at my local craft store. You could even throw in some candy with the popcorn, likes M&M's or candy corn. Enjoy!

Materials: 

• clear treatbags 
• orange or black twine
• googly eyes with a sticky back
• bagged popcorn (microwaveable will become stale to quickly)

Directions: 

Fill each bag with 1/3 - 1/2 popcorn and tie off with the twine. Place the google eyes on the front and voila you have a ghost. Happy Halloween!

Back to School Teacher Gift

I love to make homemade treats for my child's teachers. It is my way of showing them how much appreciate what they do. I recently came across these cute printables from www.thirtyhandmadedays.com. I printed them at Office Max and tied them onto a mason jar filled with my homemade mini chocolate chip cookies. I have provided the link to my recipe below. Happy First Day of School to all of you!

Supplies:

• Mason jars (1 per teacher)
• Hole punch
• Twine
• If you Give a Teacher a Cookie printable: click here. 
• Mini chocolate chip cookies: click here. 

Memory Jar

I recently had a friend move out of state. I was trying to come up with a sweet and meaningful gift to put together for her. I came across this memory jar idea from www.fivebirdsonparade.com. Myself and a few friends wrote down special memories of our time with our friend. We filled a mason jar with the memories and I then printed off the tag (https://fivebirdsonparade.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/helen-keller-quote-tag-pdf1.pdf) on card stock. I added a puffy heart sticker and attached the tag with ribbon. Now, it is a keepsake full of memories.

Map Cupcake Toppers

Summertime is upon us. It's a time for pool parties, spending time at the lake, watching tons of movies, but it can also be a time for moving. We recently had some friends move to Minnesota and since I love baking I wanted to bring cupcakes to their going away party. I came across this cute idea for a cupcake topper on www.oaklandavenueblog.com and decided to make some of my own.

Here are the steps I took to make my toppers. 

1. Google the image of the city you want for the map toppers. I used the city they were moving from and the city they moved to. Print off enough to make as many double sided toppers as you need. 

2. Cut the city map image out using a heart punch.  

3. Using a craft tape runner, place tape on the backside of a heart and place a toothpick on the tape. Take another heart and place on top of the toothpick and press the hearts together to bond them.