Category: children

Wings of Fire Birthday Party

Published on by kerricreatesblog13 Comments

My sweet girl turned 11 last week, and what a joy it was to have an in person birthday party after last years Art Party over Zoom. Karis is a huge fan of the Wings of Fire book series, so we went with a dragon theme for her party. Pink, teal, and yellow may not be typical colors you think of if you are a Wings of Fire fan, but Karis loves Kinkajou the pink and yellow dragon…so she became our inspiration.

My first project was to create a dragon mobile. I already had an old hula hoop and some teal spray paint, so all I had to purchase was colored card stock and fishing line. After printing out a couple of different dragon silhouettes, I went to work tracing and cutting various dragons out and hung them along the painted hula hoop so that they cascaded down in a circle.

Karis and I browsed Pinterest for dragon themed food ideas and came up with some fun options including Dragon Egg rice crispy treats, Bugels as Dragon Claws, Dragon Scales (Fritos), and Goldfish Crackers for Seawing Prey. We cut up fruit for Rainwing Food and included animal cookies for the Skywing Prey. We also grilled up some hot dogs since her party was at dinnertime.

In addition to the dragon mobile, I lined a wall with a large black piece of material that I used for a previous New Years Eve photo booth, and because I keep everything…I already had the silver door streamers and the pink and teal lanterns to add to the backdrop. I made a birthday sign out of the left over cardstock from the dragon mobile and included a printout of the dragonet prophecy and a letterboard with the phrase “The dragonets are coming…” #CommissionsEarned

Karis loves art, and always wants to incorporate some crafty activities during her parties. We decided on three things 1. A dragon egg hunt 2. Make a dragon eye ring, and 3. Paint a dragon silhouette. We had a ton of old plastic Easter eggs that we turned into “dragon eggs” with the help of some spray paint. Karis’s friend came over to help her stuff over 60 eggs with candy and the kids loved going on an egg hunt in June.

For the dragon eye rings, I purchased some clear beads, metallic paint and metallic sharpies, adjustable rings, and some jewelry bonding glue. The kids started out using a black sharpie to create a pupil on the round part of the bead, then added a metallic outline and flecks with the silver and gold sharpies. They painted over the flat part of the bead with a couple of coats of the paint color of their choice and let it dry for about an hour. Once dried, a dab of glue bonded it to the ring and they were able to go home with the coolest dragon eye rings.

I grabbed a couple of packs of canvases at a great price at Hobby Lobby and added a variety of new colors to my acrylic paint collection. I also invested in some paintbrushes. I cut several different sizes of dragon silhouettes out of cardstock and some castles as well, and I printed out a collection of pictures to use as inspiration. I rolled out a long line of painters paper to save our concrete and then let the kids go for it. Some used the silhouettes and others sketched their own pictures. Most of the party guests were Wings of Fire fans, so they were all happily chatting about what type of dragon they were painting. The only drawback to this project is that I should have planned for less activities or more time because it took a lot longer for them to paint than I anticipated and some brought home 1/2 finished canvases. #CommissionsEarned

June weather can be hit or miss where we live, but on the day of Karis’s party it was over 100 degrees. We thought it would be fun and refreshing to end the evening with a night swim. I found the cutest dragon floaty at Target and decorated the pool fence with some more of the Dollar Tree paper lanterns in pink and teal. The kids were more than ready to cool off with a dip in the pool, but not before celebrating the birthday girl with her favorite treat, marshmallow pops with mini dragons made of Wiltons candy melts. #CommissionsEarned

I made sure to snap a quick photo of all of the kids together before the night ended as this is my favorite way to make thank you cards. I order a set of prints from Shutterfly and back them with cardstock. Karis writes a little note to her friends, thanking them for the gift they got her and for coming to her party and they all have a cute photo capturing the fun they had.

Check out my newest blogpost Wings of Fire Dragon Costume (Kinkajou) to learn how to make this set of felt dragon wings for your favorite Wings of Fire fan.

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Warrior Cats Birthday Party

Published on by kerricreatesblog9 Comments

My daughter has been obsessed with the Warrior Cats Saga for the last several years. She is making her way through all 80 books and even creates her own short stories and artwork based on the characters. So, naturally, for her 9th birthday, she chose “Warriors” as her theme and we had so much fun scrolling Pinterest for ideas and coming up with the food, games, activities, and decor for her party.

Warriors is a series about 4 clans of cats who live in a forest. The first arc is about a house cat named Rusty who goes into the woods and meets a clan cat. As the series progresses, Rusty becomes the Warrior known as Fireheart. He fights evil and protects his clan’s borders from rogues who stray into their territory and from other clans. Each arc features a different cat and sometimes a different clan.

Warriors eat their food from a “Fresh Kill Pile.” Our food table was inspired by things the Warrior cats would catch and devour. I included signs for the birds, bones, fish, rabbits, and mice. The birds were chocolate dipped pretzels with an M&M nose, mini chocolate chip ears, and Wilton’s candy eyeballs. Slide mini marshmallows on the end of stick pretzels and then dip in white candy melts to create “bones.” For the mice we used strawberries, twizzlers candy, mini chocolate chips, and small circles of chocolate candy melts (left over from the birds) for the ears. We used blue jello and Swedish fish candies, as well as Goldfish crackers because we all know how much cats love fish, and our rabbits were Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies crackers. Since the party was at dinnertime I made some PB&J sandwiches cut in the shape of cats. in the Warriors books, there is a sacred place on the hills called the “Moonpool,” so we replaced water labels with ones reading “Moonpool Water” and surrounded them with rocks to resemble a pond. #CommissionsEarned

The games and activities kept these Warriors Fans entertained for the majority of the party. We started out with a silly game of “Scoop the Poop.” Fill a tub with Rice Crispy cereal and add some mini Tootsie Rolls to the tub. You will be surprised at how difficult it is to feel those tiny Tootsie Rolls with a blind fold on. The kids took turns “scooping the poop” from our Rice Crispy litter box and of course giggled their way through the game at the same time. We gave them 30 seconds to find as many “nuggets” as they could and they got to keep what they found. I added more tootsie rolls as the game went on.

Cats like to hunt for prey, so our second game was an animal scavenger hunt in the front yard. I created signs with the names of the 4 Warriors Clans and the kids got to choose their clan. I picked up some tiny forest animals at the dollar store and had my older son hide them before the party started. The Clans took off to hunt for rabbits, birds, and little hedgehogs that they would later trade in for candy. We used the mini animals in the next activity as well.

My favorite part of this party was “create your own Warriors scene.” Karis and I spent some time making multiple batches of green and brown play dough in the days prior to her party. We picked up some aluminum tins from the Dollar Tree and a bunch of nature materials. At the Dollar Tree we found blue glass beads to use as water, mossy rocks, leaves, fake flowers and plants, and a variety of rocks. I grabbed some wood rounds and plastic cats from Michael’s and collected twigs from the yard and let the kids use their imaginations to create their very own Warriors scene. They used the brown play dough as dirt and the green as a base for grass and built from there. Each one was unique and they all turned out amazing. I even picked up some little plastic garden signs so that they could name their creations. #CommissionsEarned

My daughter isn’t a huge fan of cake, so we always make marshmallow pops for her birthday treat. This year, I bought the big square mallows that you can use for s’mores and covered them in green Wilton’s candy melts. I used orange candy melts to create little cat silhouettes and put them on the front for the tastiest birthday treats. And in case you are wondering where we got Karis’s ThunderClan T-shirt, I made it using a photocopied image as a template that I printed off from the computer and a small piece of black material. I then used Seam-A-Seam 2 light to iron it onto a white cotton tee after cutting it out of the black fabric. She has worn it many times since her party and it has held up really well.

We always like to send our party guest off with a little thank you and my girl loves Hershey’s chocolate bars. I created Warriors themed wrappers to replace the Hershey ones with a little thank you note on the back for Karis to hand to each of her friends at the end of the party. #CommissionsEarned

Maybe you have a little Warriors fan of your own who would enjoy a Warriors Themed Birthday Party. I hope that this blogpost has made your planning a bit easier and inspired some fun ways for you to celebrate. As the Warriors like to say, “may StarClan light your path!”

Warrior Cats fans will also love this…

Wings of Fire Birthday Party

Art Themed (Zoom) Birthday Party

Published on by kerricreatesblog5 Comments

Birthday parties have been tricky this year, and all of us have had to find creative ways to celebrate the milestones of our loved ones. My daughter, Karis, turned 10 this summer and planning her birthday parties has always been a big event for my girl and I. She was devastated to not be able to get together in person with her friends. I wanted to make her day super special and involve her friends somehow. School had just wrapped up for the year and her classmates had become pros at using Zoom, so we took advantage of that platform.

We decided on an art theme and went to work creating a super fun and colorful backdrop for her Zoom Birthday. I purchased a couple of clean empty paint buckets, some plastic table cloths and rainbow balloons. Karis painted a bunch of paintbrush handles for a garland and we shopped online for art supplies and treats for goodie bags for each of her party guests.

About a week before the party, we put together the party bags. We added two plaster animals for each child to paint, a set of paints, a paintbrush, a mini easel that we made out of popsicle sticks, a tiny canvas, some candy, and a personalized note from the birthday girl. Then a few days before the party we drove around and dropped the goodie bags off at each child’s house.

On party day, we set the table with a plastic tablecloth for easy clean-up and laid out all of the art supplies for Karis to use. Her friends were doing the same thing at their own homes. They all logged into the Zoom call at the same time and spent a couple of hours painting, creating, laughing, and eating treats. They sang “Happy Birthday” and she even got to open some presents from friends who had either mailed them or handed them to her when we dropped off the goodie bags.

2020 has not been an easy year. We have all had to adjust in more ways than we would like and have grieved many losses. Our kids have suffered in countless ways, and as I write this, we are still in the middle of this worldwide pandemic that we didn’t expect to last as long as it has. I know that this is not the “in person” party that my sweet girl dreamed of, but I hope that when she looks back at her 10th birthday party, she will be filled with joyful memories and she will appreciate the gift of friends who love her and celebrate her in creative ways. #CommissionsEarned

DIY Lemonade Stand

Published on by kerricreatesblog3 Comments

My daughter has been asking to have a lemonade stand since last summer, so it was a must on our 2018 Summer Bucket List.  I saw some cute DIY ideas using wooden crates and thought that we would give it a go.  I found the best deal for wooden crates at our local Michael’s Store.  My husband had a 36″ x 10″ board cut at The Home Depot.  I purchased two different sizes of nails,  1-1/4 inches for the thicker parts and 3/4 inches for the thinner wood slats, and went to work.  You can watch my video tutorial for more details on the building process. #CommissionsEarned

Hobby Lobby recently had a huge clearance on their summer stock, so I was able to get two giant yellow pinwheels for just $4 each.  They made the cutest sides to hang a LEMONADE banner on.  I used my Cricut Expression 2 to cut out the letters for the banner and hung it with twine.  A few material scraps cut into triangles made for a mini pennant banner to hang along one of the crates.  I created an “Ice Cold Lemonade” sign, a price list for some treats that we made, and lemon cupcake toppers that you can print off here  Lemonade Stand Printables PDF

My daughter loves to dance, and every summer her dance studio holds a week long dance camp.  We decided that selling lemonade & treats would be a great way for her to earn the $125 tuition for camp.  On a Friday evening, we made a batch of cupcakes and marshmallow pops.  I have included the lemon template I used for the candy melt lemons.  Lemon Template pdf  (See some of my marshmallow pop videos for instructions on how to create themed mallow pops)

On Saturday and Sunday, my girl held lemonade stands in our driveway, and not only did she have the best time selling lemonade and sweet treats, she earned $129 in two mornings thanks to the generosity and support of our amazing friends and neighbors.  I will never forget the joy on her face when she walked into the dance studio on that Monday morning and paid her entire tuition in full with money she had earned herself.  Lemonade stand success!!!

I am so pleased with the way our DIY Lemonade Stand turned out, and have been thinking of other uses for it.  Of course she can always use it for imaginary play, but I’m sure we will also use it for birthday parties in the future, bake sales, donuts and juice during our garage sale, and of course, many many more lemonade stands.

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DIY Shadow Puppets

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A couple weeks ago our family went camping, which is a really big deal, because we are NOT campers!  Two of our kids attend a school where they have a Fall Campout each year so we committed to staying one night…and although my husband and I both agree that we are more “glampers,” than campers, we ended up having a ton of fun and our kids loved the whole experience.  I have a feeling we will be camping again!

My daughter was super excited because her daddy bought her a pink flashlight and she was really looking forward to making shadow puppets in the tent with her big brothers.  Of course, when we got home, she wanted to create some animal shadow puppets to play with.  One evening, last week, we went to work creating these cute little popsicle stick puppets that have provided a ton of content for imaginary play and story telling for little miss.

I used my Cricut Expression 2 to cut out the animals and other shapes, but if you do not have a Cricut, simply create a document with templates that you can cut out of card stock.  Here is one I put together that you can print off and use to make your own animal shadow puppets without using a Cricut.  animal template pdf

The possibilities are endless with these little puppets.  You can create seasonal themes, print off silhouettes of your child’s favorite story book or movie characters, weather puppets, dinosaurs, garden, farm, cars, princesses, fairies, and so much more.

One thing that I realized, after creating so many characters, was that they were hard to hold onto.  So with an old shoebox and a pair of scissors, I created a diy holder for all of the puppets.  This made a perfect “stage” for my daughter to put the puppets on as she told her story.  The great part about using a shoebox, is that it doubles as storage to hold all of the characters and a flashlight so they are contained & easy to find for future use.

Check out my video tutorial above for tips on making some shadow puppets with your own children.  fullsizeoutput_eda2fullsizeoutput_eda1IMG_9671IMG_9676IMG_9677IMG_9679

Back to School Word Bracelets

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My daughter starts 2nd grade this week and she is beyond excited to go back to school.  She can’t wait to see all of her friends and meet her new teacher.  She is full of confidence and joy and counting down the days.

But this was not the case two years ago when she started Kindergarten.  She was scared.  She was starting at a new school.  She didn’t know any of the kids in her class, and she had never been away from me for that many hours a day.  In pre-school, her teacher let her bring a stuffed animal to school that she could snuggle with if she felt sad or missed mommy, but I knew that we couldn’t expect that to be ok in Kindergarten.  That is where the “word bracelets” idea came from.

I told Karis that we would sit down and create some bracelets that she could wear to help her remember that mommy loved her and would pick her up right after school.  We talked about how when she felt sad or missed me, she could touch the bracelet and be reminded of my love.  The idea sparked more conversation about what other things she might want to remember at school, so we brainstormed other words and these are what we came up with…

  • love
  • joy
  • confidence
  • kindness
  • brave
  • peace
  • calm

These words provided great conversation for kindergarten preparation as we talked about what each word meant. I told her that she could choose one or more bracelet to wear each day depending on what she felt she needed to be reminded of.

I wish I could say that the first few weeks of school were a breeze for Karis, but it was not an easy transition for her.  Thankfully, she had a very kind teacher and sweet classmates who helped her to become comfortable at her school.  And I’m sure her word bracelets also helped to reassure her in those sad moments of missing her family.

Maybe you have a child starting a new school and you are looking for something to help them with that transition.  Or maybe there is a word that would help your child with a character trait that they are working on.  Pick up some plastic beads, letter beads, and stretchy string and spend time making bracelets with your child.  Not only with they love their creations, but they will also love the quality time spent with you.

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For another “Back to School” idea, check out my post:  DIY Visual Schedule For Kids

DIY Visual Schedule For Kids

Published on by kerricreatesblog4 Comments

School starts next week and we are so not ready!  Summer seems like it has flown by and we are savoring these precious last days of sleeping in, staying in pajamas well into the afternoon, swimming, and staying up late.  This really is the first summer that all of my kids have slept in…and by sleeping in, I mean, not getting up until after 7:30.  I am a night owl, so that extra hour and a half in the morning is glorious for this mama!

The last couple of weeks, I have been taking little steps to prepare for the upcoming school year, cleaning out clothes that are too small and shopping for new clothes and shoes.  But I know that the hardest part for my kids will be the transition from lazy summer mornings to the “get up and go” school morning routine.  So this week, I created this simple and inexpensive visual schedule to help my 7 year old daughter adjust to the new norm.

Watch my tutorial to learn how to create one of your own.  I’m including the template that I used with the morning routine icons and the words that go with each.  The video gives you step by step instructions.  Here’s a list of what you will need…

#CommissionsEarned

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I would love to hear some of your best tips for helping your kids transition from summer to a new school year.

DIY Kids Magnetic Puzzles

Published on by kerricreatesblog1 Comment

Coloring pages, painting, and puzzles…three things my girl loves, all combined into one  project.  This is a super simple craft that your kids can do at home and you only need a couple of items, most of which you probably already have.

To make DIY Magnetic Puzzles, you will need:

  • adhesive magnetic tape
  • white card stock
  • paint, crayons, or markers
  • scissors or a paper cutter

Your child can print a coloring page from the computer or create their own art.  The possibilities for unique puzzles are endless!  This activity can be modified for very young children by cutting fewer puzzle pieces, and can be made challenging for older children by cutting a variety of shapes.

Watch my daughter’s “Craft Time With Karis” tutorial (above) to learn how to make some DIY Magnetic Puzzles of your own.

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For more “Craft Time With Karis” fun, check out these other blog posts:

Colored (Rainbow) Rice

Tricky Hopscotch (With A Twist)

Valentine Craft: Cookie Cutters & Paint

 

Colored (RAINBOW) Rice

Published on by kerricreatesblog2 Comments

I love setting up sensory bins for my kids.  Over the years, we have done white rice,  beans, popcorn kernels, shaving cream, salt, and more, but we have never made rainbow colored rice.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to make!

This week, my kids are on Spring Break and the weather forecasted several rainy days.  Since we were staying home this week, I decided that I’d plan a couple of fun activities to keep us busy.  I picked up a large package of inexpensive white rice and some Wilton’s Gel Food Colors at Target and began looking at recipes for colored rice.  Some recipes called for rubbing alcohol, but I wanted to make ours without, so I found that vinegar was a great alternative for setting the colors without the alcohol.

My daughter and I had so much fun making this rice!  She actually made it almost all by herself!  We created this little video tutorial (below) as part of her kid’s series “Craft Time With Karis.”

In the past couple of days,  “Colored (rainbow) Rice” has provided hours of sensory and imaginary play.  Karis added some little bunnies and plastic eggs for Easter play.  She put plastic dolphins and other animals in too, and yesterday we included some cardboard  with holes cut out and a funnel for pouring rice.  This inspired Karis to create an imaginary town called “Flowerville” while she played with her animals and rainbow rice.

Watch our tutorial to learn how to make some “Colored (rainbow) Rice” with your kids!

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More “Craft Time With Karis” Fun:

Tricky Hopscotch (with a twist)

Valentine Craft (Cookie Cutters & Paint)

 

Children’s Art Corner

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My daughter loves art!  She will sit for hours drawing, writing stories, and coloring pictures.  I have several areas set up around our house with art supplies, but I recently decided to put together a more intentional art space for her.

Michael’s was having a huge sale one day, so I headed over (with my coupons of course) and picked up these metal A R T letters,  the chalkboard box for crayons, and the off white tray for paper.  The rest, I already had around my house.

These adorable chairs were made for me by my brother when I was a child.  They were in my childhood room, painted light pink, with dark pink carpet covering the seats.  My mom gave them to me several years ago and I repainted and recovered them for my daughter.  The wicker table belonged to my mom, who passed away a year and a half ago, so it means a lot for my daughter to have something so special to remind her of her sweet Grandma.

I bought the metal bucket years ago at the dollar store and it has held colored pencils in various locations around our house.  Now it has a permanent home.  I had used the mini white shutters last year for my Christmas mantle, but realized they were the perfect addition to this little art corner.  The finishing touch was this bright and cheerful pennant banner.  I had already cut the triangles for another project, so it only took me a few minutes to thread them through a piece of twine.

I absolutely love when I can use what I already have to create an inviting space for my children to enjoy.  This little art corner has already gotten a lot of use in our home and is the perfect setting for inspiration to take place!