Working

Lately our 8 yr old has got it in his head that I should get a job. He probably thinks we'd give him all the "extra" money for more toys. Mmhm.

So last night he again says that I should work.

I told him "You can start paying me for everything I do for you. Washing your clothes will cost you $5..."

*silence*

Summer Fun Series--Week 8 [the end and a Bordeom Buster Box Giveaway!]

This is our final post in the Summer Fun series! Hope you've been enjoying the 8 weeks! Be sure to read to the bottom of this post because at the end will be giveaway info on how you can win THIS awesome Summer Fun kit!

If you missed any of the weeks, you can catch them here:
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7

Final Week's Activities

Monday- Jellyfish
DLTK has this cute craft that many ages will enjoy. After all, who doesn't like coloring on coffee filters?

Tuesday- Winnie the Pooh

The new movie looks so cute! Try making these equally cute paper bag puppets from Disney Family with your kids! Photo and directions available here.

Wednesday- Finger Paint!
The name says it all here folks. Go paint!

Thursday- UNO!
Grab your stack of uno cards and teach the kids how to play! The game can be picked up easily and is fun for everyone.
Plus, it requires no prep work, no mess to clean up, and it's free!

Friday- Phineas and Ferb
Oh those two boys are at it again this summer! I found a slew of fun things at the Disney Family website (Yep, same place I found the cute Pooh puppets!).

Let your child browse with you and decide on what to do.

Maybe you'll make the Agent P cupcakes.

Or the Phineas and Ferb lampshade.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
To finish this series with a bang! I'm giving away this Boredom Buster Box for your kiddos! I had some help from great sponsors though.

Crocheting4Baby donated a great quiet time activity sheet set and dry erase marker to go with it.

KarnivalofKrafts donated tons of pony beads and square alphabet beads for you to play with!

Plus I filled the box with stickers, coloring sets, a game, and more!

How to enter

Mandatory Entry:
Look back over the last 8 weeks and tell me what activity you enjoyed most with your kids, or what new activity you pinky promise to try soon. :)

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7


Bonus Entries: (leave a comment with each one)

• Follow this blog
• Heart Karnival of Krafts on etsy
• Heart Crocheting 4 Baby on etsy
• Tell me when school starts back in session for your area
• Put my button on your blog (leave a link please)
• Tweet this giveaway (can be done once daily, leave link!)

A total of SEVEN, count them, SEVEN possible entries per person! Or more if you tweet daily!
A winner will be chosen on Friday, August 5th. US only please due to the shipping costs. Winner has 48 hours to claim the prize or another lucky duck will be chosen. Leave your email address in the comments if you are a no-reply blogger.
*

Partying at:
A Little Knick Knack

Sew Beastly Winner!

Out of 74 entries, Random.org tells me that the winner is commenter #20. Tutus and Teaparties, congratulations! Email me and I'll pass along your info to the sponsor.

Remember, any of you can shop Sew Beastly's shop, anytime, here: Sew Beastly's Shop.

Thanks again to Sew Beastly for sponsoring such a beautiful prize, and to all of YOU for entering!

Stay tuned, there will be a different giveaway this week....

Pins

Are you on Pinterest? I just recently joined and started pinning. If you want to see all of my boards, click here.

Thought I would share a few of my faves this week!

Funny Quotes:

Angry Birds Bento Lunch!

And a beautiful, make-you-drool, craft space:

Hope you all have a great weekend. Whether you hang out on Pinterest, visit family, craft, or do nothing at all, have a good one!

Remember that the Sew Beastly giveaway ends tomorrow night, so go enter if you still need to!

This post has been partying around the web at:
Serenity Now
A Little Knick Knack

Summer Fun Series--Week 7

If you missed the first six weeks, you can catch up here:
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

Next week will be the last in our eight week Summer Fun series! Be sure you are a follower because you will not want to miss the last one! There's a giveaway involved.....

Here are fun things for you and your short people this week!

Monday: Make Crayons
Did you know you can melt down crayons and mold them into new, fun shapes? Tuts and Tea Parties has all the how-to info for you at her blog!


Tuesday: Back to School Shopping
Okay well maybe not all of it. Crayons will be .25 for a pack of 24 before the season is over.
If your store doesn't have them marked that low, wait!

You could let your child(ren) pick out their backpacks and lunch bags though. Additionally, Walgreens has 2-pocket solid color folders for just nine cents this week!

Wednesday: Out of Town Library Visit

Drive out of your own town and visit the library of a different town. How far you choose to go is up to you. Just try to make it a library you've never visited before. Even though you probably won't be able to (or want to) check out books from there, it will still be a fun visit!Lithgow Library Children's Center, photo from flikr

Look at the children's section. Each library has a unique take on how to set up the kid area! Let your kids play and read some books before heading back home.

Thursday: Thirst Quencher

Call it radioactive goo. Call it frog juice. Whatever your kids would find amusing. But it's easy to make. Scoop green sherbet into a big bowl and pour sprite over the top. Let it bubble and mix together and serve in cups. YUMMY. Great thirst quencher on a hot day!

Friday: Oh, go fly a kite!
No, for real. Go fly a kite.
If you don't have one, I have often seen them at the "everything is a dollar" stores!

Giveaway and Review of *Sew Beastly*

Join me in celebrating Sew Beastly's Grand Opening on etsy!

At this shop you'll find great treasures. For example:

And then there is this adorable handbag!

I was sent a Kiss and Make-up Pouch. Isn't it cute?

The package shipped quickly and my pouch was wrapped in
the most adorable tissue paper!

It was like opening a gift. Isn't the little Sew Beastly mascot a riot?

What I loved about the pouch:

• It is lined.
• Features a cheerful ruffle!
• The pouch was larger than I expected.
• Bag can stand up on its own!
• Great to toss in a purse or keep on the counter.

And before I forget, one of the cutest things is the back of the card that was included in my package. It said, "Made with beastly love." It made me LOL.

You can win your own Kiss and Make-Up Pouch (worth $18!)

Mandatory Entry--

• Often with giveaways we race to the bottom just to see how to enter. :) So go back and actually read the review and then leave a comment about something I liked about my bag.

Extra Entries--

• Heart Sew Beastly on etsy (leave a comment with your etsy username) (1 extra entry)
• Tweet this giveaway (leave a comment with the link) (1 extra entry)
• Follow my blog (leave a comment that you are a follower) (1 extra entry)
• Follow Sew Beastly's blog (1 extra entry)
• Like Sew Beastly on facebook (leave a comment with your fb name. This must be done with a legit fb account either your personal one or your business one. No ghost fb accounts with no friends that you only use to enter giveaways.) (1 extra entry)

SIX possible entries per person! Whoo hoooo!

Details, Schmetails--
--Giveaway ends on 7/23 at 11:30pm EST. Winner will be notified and announced on 7/24.
--Winner has 24 hours to respond or another lucky duck will be chosen!
--Open to US and Canada only please.
--Be sure to include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you win!

Summer Fun Series--Week 6!

Only two more weeks of our Summer Fun Series left after this! I hope you'll stick around because at the end, we're having a really fun giveaway!

If you missed the first five weeks, you can catch up here: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

Here are this week's fun activities!

Monday--Monopoly Monday!

Play Monopoly today with the kiddos. The junior version is really good. An older child can act as banker to brush up on their adding/subtracting skills. If you don't have Mono

poly, try another child's board game like Don't Wake Daddy, Candy Land, etc.

Tuesday-- Donation Day!

Get a large bag and set the timer! Each participant has X minutes (3? 5? You decide what will work best with your kids!) to gather as many things from their room that they would like to DONATE. Toys, old clothes (Mom gets the final say!), books, etc. The person who donates the most gets a high five. You can either take the items immediately to a local shelter or Goodwill, or wait till a later date.

Wednesday-- Movies!

Take your kids to a movie today. Many theatres have a free kids mo

vie midweek during the summer. Some charge $1 per ticket.

Thursday--Childhood Favorites

Yesterday and tomorrow are both "outing" days, so today is a "stay home" day. Take some time to play your favorite, no-supplies-needed games. "I Spy With My Little Eye," a cool 10-step handshake that you made up as a kid, 20 Questions, and so forth.

Friday-- Garage Sales!

Time to scour the yardsales!

Check your local paper and online Craigslist a

ds to find nearby sales. Load up the kids with drinks and snacks and head out. We went to some great sales last week and my 8 yr old was thrilled to find 3 books that he loved! It only set me back $1.75.

Sponsor Love: Grace Louise

This month's sponsor is Grace Louise Photography. You can find her beautiful blog here.

Grace is a nurse, which I think is great. Once our kids are all older I'm wanting to go back to nursing school.

Did you also know that she has an etsy shop? Gosk and Maggles.

I think this old bowling pin in the shop is so cool!

Stay tuned, the next ad-space giveaway will be soon!

Work in Progress

I'm making a quilt.

My second one ever. My first was over a decade ago, back before we had blogs. Or digital cameras. And I walked to school, uphill both ways too.

I completely stunk and did not take any photos of the in-progress quilt.

BUT, I can show you a peek of the fabrics being used!

I won these Kumari Garden Holiday fat quarters from Julie at The Intrepid Thread. You should go check out her blog. She has giveaways frequently, you could be the next winner!

So I experimented with a stash and slash method of cutting/piecing. The quilt is ready for binding and then I can finish and show you pics!

PS--If you are horribly jealous and insist on also being the owner of some Kumari fabrics, Julie has a set for sale in her etsy shop here.

PPS--I promise to take step-by-step pictures next time. Even when my baby crawls around on the quilt top while I'm trying to baste....

Gonna link up here:
A Little Knick Knack

A Glimpse Inside

Creative Juice Thursday

Serenity Now

Happy Birthday, America!

Happy 4th of July! Today we celebrate America's birthday! Many of us do so with fireworks. After all, nothing says freedom like playing with explosives. The CPSC has a cute website with some helpful kid safety tips.

For adults, remember....alcohol and fireworks aren't a good combination.

Your lecture is over. :) Now for some fun finds from etsy:

Kids hairclip from blueskydesign co.

If I had a daughter, she would totally be wearing this today. But, since my husband frowns on putting hair accessories on our 1yr old son, this little clip will have to find another home. Yours perhaps?

Digital paper pack from opticillusions

I've not tried digital scrapbooking or designing yet, but I want to! What about you, do you do digital? This Old Glory paper pack really is neat!

QuiltsQuiltsQuilts has this cute star wallhanging!

And finally, "Why Can't We Be Friends"....these cuff links are adorable! To all my friends and readers, on both sides of the aisle, Happy Independence Day! And to my friends in other countries, Happy Just Another Day In July Day.

cuff links from alliterationz

Summer Fun Series--Week 5!

If you missed the first four weeks, you can catch up here: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

Hope you all are having fun! Just a couple weeks left to go and then we're going to wrap up with a giveaway!

Here are this week's activities:

Monday-- Happy 4th of July!
Family Fun has this really cute fan craft. You just need some scrapbook paper and paint stir sticks! Make these and then go see fireworks!

Tuesday-- When Sponges Attack
Soak some sponges in water and go have as sponge fight with the kids. Outside, of course! Plan to do this in the middle of the day when it is hot!

Wednesday--Square Scavengers
Take the kids on a little walk around the house and outside to find as many square shaped obejects as possible. They can collect them, draw them in a journal, or take photographs. Older kid variation--Set a time limit on it. How many squares can they find in 60 seconds? 3 minutes?

Thursday--Printable Picnic Matching Game
The internet is full of fun printables. I found this one at Family Fun (can you tell I love them?!).

Friday--Teach Something
Teach your child something today. Maybe it's a funny song you sang at camp as a kid. Maybe you'll work on shoe-tying, how to fold towels, facts about your state, or how to spell their name.

image from Bustin Out the Good Times

Sharing the link fun here:

Serenity Now

Giveaway winner:

Random.org chose #20 to win the free ad for July and that was: Grace!

Thanks for entering and be sure to keep checking back, I'll do another giveaway later in the month for free AUGUST advertising!