Printables

August 24, 2016 by Sydney Leave a Comment

Homeschool Gallery Wall {and 5 FREE Printables}

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Add a little color to your kids’ room or homeschool space with these FREE printables.

When my husband and I were deciding whether or not to put our boys in preschool there were so many pros and cons it was hard to choose. Ultimately we decided to start both boys’ schooling here at home. There were many factors, quality of learning in a preschool we weren’t sure of, the cost for two kids to go to an outside preschool was pretty expensive and with having mom having a c-section and new baby soon after school started it would have been hard to get them to school and home for the first little bit. Both of my boys are natural learners and we already spend most of our days playing AND learning so we decided to take the dive into homeschool preschool.

You can really get lost in all the information and resources online when it comes to doing preschool at home. There are so many printables, curriculums and fun ideas that the hardest part was narrowing down where to start. What I didn’t find were a lot of decor ideas for an in home classroom. Both Rohrl and Statham love to decorate (and by decorate I mean move around the furniture they can and tell me where things should go) and our classroom was pretty dull and boring. So I went to my favorite store, Target, and picked up some fun classroom supplies. They were colorful but I still wanted more.

So I created these rainbow printables. They add just the right amount of pop to our room (well it’s not really a room it’s the landing upstairs in between our bedrooms). You can pick up cheap picture frames at IKEA, get these printed at Kinko’s, to save your ink on your computer, and you’ve got a bright and colorful gallery wall for less than $15.

Click here to download your copy.

What ways do you like to add color to your playrooms or classrooms? If you liked these check out some of our other printables and homeschool projects we’ve done:

DIY Reading Tracker

Nature Bingo

May 25, 2016 by Sydney 3 Comments

Patriotic Tablescape For Pennies

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias Inc. and it’s advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DipintoMeze #CollectiveBias

Create a patriotic tablescape in a just few hours and for pennies.

Summertime is my favorite time of year! I love Christmas and Halloween too but the summer holidays will always have a special place in my heart; especially Memorial Day and Independence Day. There’s just so much more you can do when the weather is warm and they days are long. I normally like to plan big get togethers but being 5 months pregnant my energy levels just aren’t what that they used to be.

But I can’t turn down a reason to get the family together so we are still planning a small get together for this weekend. I can’t go all out on the food or decor like I want to so I kept things simple and budget friendly. For the food we went with my new favorite, Sweet & Sour Chicken Kebabs and some tasty new dips.

When I was at Walmart picking up chicken, pineapple and veggies for the kebabs I found these new Chobani Mezé™ Dips in the Deli section. The flavors all sounded amazing (Chili Lime, Roasted Red Pepper, Smoked Onion Parmesan and Three Pepper Salsa) and they are made with fresh vegetables and my favorite Chobani Greek Yogurt. And just like all of Chobani’s products they are made will all natural ingredients, which is really important to me. My boys loved the fresh food on the lids and insisted we get all 4. I was fine with that because they were a quick, easy and healthy addition to our Memorial Day party.

I also picked up some tortilla chips, pita chips and a few extra veggies to have with the dip. I’ve found with most of our get togethers that our friends and family tend to lean towards water over soda or punches when it comes to drinks so I picked up a case of water and added these fun water bottle labels to them. You can print yours here.

Now on to the table decor. I love shopping for party decorations at Walmart because everything is so affordable. I picked up the tablecloth for $.97, and these big bowls for chips and the long plates for the kebabs and veggies were only $.88. I wanted to do more than just put the utensils and napkins in a cup so I saved a few green bean and corn cans from dinner one week and made these cute utensil holders.

Supplies:

3 Tin cans (you don’t have to buy them just keep your old cans from dinners one week)

Red, white and blue craft paint

Paint brush

Directions:

Peel labels off of and clean cans.

Paint cans with craft paint (one red, one white, one blue).

Let dry for 30 min-1 hour.

Paint a second (or third) coat if necessary.

Place your forks, spoons, knives and/or napkins in the cans to keep them from being all over the table or blowing away.

I also wanted to add a relaxing ambiance for when it started to get dark out. For the candle holders I had my boys help me and they had so much fun; how can you not have fun getting to squish together rice and colors together in a bag?! The candle holder only took an hour to make and the majority of that time was letting the rice dry.

Supplies

Quart size mason jar

3 cups rice, divided

Red and blue food color

Vinegar

Ziplock bag

Candle

Directions

Pour one cup of rice into a ziplock bag.

Add 10 drops of red food color and 1/2 tsp vinegar.

Seal bag tight and shake to combine.

Repeat steps with blue food color.

Let sit for one hour to let dry.

Layer rice in mason jar. Blue, White (plain rice), Red

Top with a candle.

I spent less than $5 on the party supplies because I had the cans and supplies, mason jar and supplies, plates and utensils already and the food took less than 15 minutes to prepare. This is one party that I will be able to relax for before, during and after! What are you doing to celebrate Memorial Day? If you want to serve these tasty Chobani Mezè Dips for your get together head on over and print your $1 off coupon here before you go shopping!

January 29, 2016 by Sydney 3 Comments

The ULTIMATE Valentine’s Day Roundup

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Over 120 crafts, recipes, gifts, party ideas and more to make this Valentine’s Day the best one yet!

Love is in the air! Valentine’s Day is around the corner and the Social Fabric Community has put together the Ultimate Valentine’s Day Round-Up to help you prepare for the season of love. From tutorials to crafts to delicious recipes, we have something for everyone. We dare you not to fall in love with these ideas!

Craft/DIY/Tutorial

Friendly Valentine Candy Jar – Creative Ramblings

Valentine Felt Envelopes – Good Morning Loretta

Valentine’s Day Candy Filled Mason Jar – Savvy Saving Couple

Valentine’s Day Love Bug Craft – Maryland Momma’s Rambles

Last-Minute Quick, Cute Cut-Out Cards – Our Daily Craft

DIY Heart Shaped Massage Bars – Thriftanista in the City

Valentine Memo Chalkboard – Southern Couture

Valentine’s Day Chalkboard Decoration – Pretty in Pigment

Flower Vase Craft – Polka Dotted Blue Jay

No-Sew Ribbon Embellished Cocktail Napkins – Atta Girl Says

Macaroni Art Lace Hearts – ABCs and Garden Peas

Cupid’s Arrow Valentine’s Day Favors – Home. Made. Interest.

Hand Lettered Valentine Notecards – One Artsy Mama

Instagram Magnetic Bookmarks – Happy Go Lucky Blog

Birdseed Heart Valentines – Made with Happy

Valentine’s Day Burlap Wreath – The Farm Girl Gabs

Cute Flower Valentines for Kids – Love, Jaime

DIY Valentine Flower Corsage – Suburban Wife, City Life

DIY Valentine’s Snowglobes – Woods of Bell Trees

Valentine Envelop Chair Backers – 2Paws Designs

Reversible Valentine’s Day/St. Patrick’s Day Banner – Fearlessly Creative Mammas

Mini Bubblegum Machine Valentines – Bubbly Nature Creations

DIY Button Heart Picture Collage – Our Piece of Earth

Kids’ Valentine’s Day Gift with FREE Printable – A Cowboy’s Life

Easy Mesh and Ribbon Valentine’s Day Wreath – My Pinterventures

Snickerdoodle Sugar Scrub Recipe – Sunny Sweet Days

Valentine’s Day Verse on Burlap – Life with Captain Fussybuckets

12 Days of Romance Scavenger Hunt – The Mama Zone

Candy Kiss Ring – So TIPical Me

Valentine’s Day Hand Print Craft – As Cute as a Bug’s Ear

How to Make a Valentine’s Day Ribbon Banner – Aprons and Stilletos

Date Night with a Romantic Treasure Hunt – The TipToe Fairy

Chalkboard Gift Box – Organized Island

Easy Valentines Felt Pillow Cover – Creative Southern Home

Polar Fleece Ruffle Heart Wreath – Joy’s Life

Making A Valentine’s Day Rag Wreath with Fabric Scraps – Third Stop on the Right

Washi Tape Bubble Valentines – Moneywise Moms

Homemade Candles in 5 Easy Steps – Lemon Peony

DIY Felt Ornaments for Valentine’s Day – 3 Little Greenwoods

Butterfly Valentine’s Day Craft – Sarah in the Suburbs

Epsom Salt DIY Valentine Candles – A Day in the Motherhood

I “DOVE” You Printable with Candy – Newlywed Survival

Rainbow Heart PomPom Garland – Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Wishes

Valentine’s Day Printed Burlap Subway – Occasionally Crafty

Pom Pom Cupcakes Valentine Craft – Cute as a Fox

Valentine’s Wooden Door Hanger – We Got the Funk

Hearts Aplenty: Valentine’s Day DIY Decor – Woman in Real Life

Love Letters Simple Valentine’s Day Craft – Craving Some Creativity

Valentine’s Day Coffee Cup Sleeve – Craving Cynchronicity

How to Make a Great Loves Print – My Sweet Sanity

Cross Stitch Heart Pillow – Cutesy Crafts

Free Valentine’s Day Cards Kids Can Make – Happy and Blessed Home

Recipe

Valentine Cupcakes – Home Maid Simple

Valentine’s Day Cakes – Charleston Crafted

Red Velvet Pudding Cups – Mostly Homemade Mom

Blood Orange Panna Cotta – Mooshu Jenne

Candy Cane Chocolate Hearts – Drugstore Divas

Cranberry Bliss Bars – Swanky Recipes

Valentine Rice Crispy Treats – Midwestern Moms

Chocolate Valentine Sandies – Cindy’s Recipes and Writings

M&M’s® Red Velvet Brownies – Julie is Coco and Cocoa

Nutella Filled Conversation Hearts – A Million Moments

Conversation Hearts Martini – JVKOM Chronicles

Valentine’s Day S’mores Dip – Our Mini Family

M&M’s® Red Velvet Blondies – The NYC Talon

Valentine’s Day Cheesecake Brownies – West of the Loop

Red Velvet Cheesecakes – Houseful of Nicholes

Chocolate Kiss Valentine’s Day Cookies – Moscato Mom

Chocolate and Candy Valentine Popcorn – Made by a Princess

Easy Valentine’s Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies – Janine Huldie

Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe – Scrappy Geek

Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry Sauce – Graceful Order

Love Dipped Wafers – Sparkles to Sprinkles

Valentine’s Day Bento Lunch – Diana Rambles

“Blackened” Seafood Medley for a Low-Calorie Valentine’s Dinner – Broken TeePee

Sweet Salty Fudge – Foody Schmoody Blog

Valentine’s Day Covered Pretzels – Texas Type A Mom

Valentine’s Popcorn – Mommy’s Bundle

The Easiest Valentine’s Day Fudge Recipe – Young at Heart Mommy

Valentine’s Day Butter Cookies – Ilona’s Passion

Valentine’s Day Blondies – Saving You Dinero

Super Healthy Pomegranate-Cranberry-Almond Smoothie – Easy Cooking with Molly

Brownie Cut-outs – Tramplingrose

Puppy Valentine’s Day Cookies – Staying Close to Home

Valentine OREO Brownie Bar Recipe – As Mom Sees It

Strawberry-Vanilla Ice Cream Pie – Johanny’s Kitchen

Strawberry Filled Chocolate Cake – Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks

Chocolate Raspberry Truffles – Food Lovin Family

Honey Bee My Valentine Cakes – I Don’t Have Time for That

Red Velvet Valentine’s Day Parfaits – Living a Sunshine Life

Homemade Strawberry Syrup – Day by Day in Our World

Cranberry Hootycreek Cookies – Momma DJane

Red Velvet Donuts – Frugal Family Tree

Strawberry Mocha Granola – Strength & Sunshine

Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting – Tales of a Ranting Ginger

Chocolate Shot Glasses – The Bewitchin’ Kitchen

Chocolate Pretzel Kisses – Just 2 Sisters

Valentine’s Candy Bark – Life with the Crust cut off

Chocolate Kiss Shooter! – Housewives of Frederick County

Super Simple Valentine’s Day Candy Hearts – My Real Food Family

Easy Strawberry Crinkle Cookies – Meatloaf & Melodrama

3 Ingredient Strawberry Brownies – Fun Things to Do in Central Mass

Nutella Baked Brie – Basil and Bubbly

Easy Cupid Crinkles – Creative Southern Home

Valentine’s Day Edible Tic Tac Toe Game – A Frugal Friend

Valentine’s Day Ombre Sweet Treat – Tastefully Frugal

Party

How to Throw a Budget Friendly Valentine’s Day Party – Amber Nicole Blogs

Valentine’s Day Party for Tweens – Soiree Event Design

Love is in the Air Valentine Table – Not Just a Mommy

Valentine’s Day Tea Party – The Peanuts Gang

Printables

Easy Valentine’s Printables – I am the Maven®

Printable Valentine’s Day Lunch Box Notes and Coupons – Gluesticks Blog

“I Love You Like” Valentine’s Free Printable – C’mon Get Crafty

4 Free Valentine’s Day Coloring Pages – Saving More than Me

Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt Clues – Mom on the Side

Valentine Gift for Kids {Free Printable} – Fun on a Dime

Crayon Valentines Printable – Mom’s Messy Miracles

Tic Tac Toe XOXO Valentine with Free Printable – Housewife Eclectic

Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids – Simple Living Mama

2 Free Printable Valentines (Owls) – Altamonte Family

Love is in the Air Valentine Card – Making of a Mom

Matchstick Valentine Free Printable – Frenchie

Valentine’s Day Lunch Box Notes & Jokes – Coupons are Great

I “Wheelie” Like You Car Valentine Printable – Artsy Momma

Round-Up

Valentine’s Day Guide – The Ranting Latina!

24 Frugal Valentine’s Ideas – Real: The Kitchen and Beyond

7 Gift Ideas for Valentine’s Day – Downshifting PRO

5 Perfect Valentine’s Day Gifts for Bloggers – That Chic Mom

Top 5 Romantic Restaurants to Eat at in East Greenwhich, Rhode Island – Mama Luvs Books

Other

War Room Movie Night – A Beautiful Exchange

Pairing Chocolate with Wine & Spirits – In Good Taste

Valentine’s Day Make-up Tutorial – Glam Hungry Mom

Valentine’s Day Dinner at Home – Natasha Byrd

Can you feel the love tonight with all these great Valentine’s Day inspired activities?

November 10, 2015 by Sydney 2 Comments

Thanksgiving Preschool Activities {AND Free Printables}

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias Inc. and it’s advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HorizonLunch #CollectiveBias

Make lunch time fun with Horizon crackers, squeeze pouches and these fun Thanksgiving activities.

How are lunch times around your house? Do your kids willing eat everything on their plates; or are they like my boys? They would much rather go outside and play with their friends or play with their train track then come sit down and eat lunch. It’s a real struggle and I’m sure it’s one I’ll face when they go off to school too. Who wants to sit down and eat when there is so much fun to be had at recess?!

My goal is to get them in good eating habits now so that when I’m not with them they will still make good choices. One of the easiest ways to do this is to not only serve healthy meal options but healthy options that are fun to eat too. My boys love eating any thing that they can squeeze so when I was at Walmart and saw these Squeeze Pouches I knew they would love them. I like them because they have 5 grams of protein in each pouch and are a great source of calcium. Then when we were going down the cracker aisle they saw the Horizon Peanut Butter Crackers and went nuts because they saw Charlie Brown too. They have been pretty obsessed with the new Peanuts movie that came out on November 6th (you can check out the trailer here) so they HAD to have the crackers too. I’ve found that if you let kids choose what goes into their lunch it makes it easier to have them eat it come lunch time.

So now that I had some healthy lunch options how do I get them to the table? My boys love learning and they are loving all these new holidays. New to them; they are two and three and the only holiday they really remember is Christmas. So I created these fun Thanksgiving printables. Now all I have to do is ask them if they want to learn about Thanksgiving and they come running to the table. Bonus: having easy to eat lunch options makes it even easier for them to eat their lunch while they are doing their activities.

Click here to print Which One Is Different.

Click here to print Turkey Coloring Sheet.

Now lunch time is all about fun. I’ll definitely be making more of these activity sheets for each holiday and season to keep my boys engaged and excited for lunch so keep your eyes pealed for those. I’ll also be keeping these Horizon snacks stocked in the pantry too. It’s nice to know that what my boys is eating is healthy and it’s something they enjoy to eat too. How do you get your kids excited about lunch time? For more healthy lunch ideas and coupons head on over to Horizon’s Website.

February 9, 2015 by Sydney 4 Comments

Teacher Gift Idea with FREE Printables

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Show the teachers in your life how much you appreciate them with this “berry” nice gift.

Happy Monday! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Only a few more days until Valentine’s Day; are you ready?! I’m pretty much all set aside from the little bit of baking I ~~have~~ get to do. Searching Pinterest, and even Tastefully Frugal, you’ll find several fun valentine ideas for boys, girls, teenagers, girlfriends, spouses, co-workers; but the one person who we can never have enough gift ideas for are our teachers. We wouldn’t be who we are today without the teachers in our lives. So why shouldn’t we be sharing the love with them also?!

When I was at Target picking up a few things (and by a few things I mean perusing the aisles looking at anything and everything) I saw these cute strawberry grow kits. I didn’t know what I would do with them but I picked up a few, ya know since they were only $1. When I was thinking about the people in our lives that I could make valentines for teachers came up and I knew these would be perfect for them! I read reviews online after I got home on whether or not they would grow (because who wants to get a gift that doesn’t work?!) and every one I read said that the plants started to sprout within a few days…score!

Head on over to Target, pick up a few and hand them out to your kids’ teachers, coaches, scout leaders, or anyone who deserves a “berry” nice surprise.

Materials:

Strawberry Grow Kit (found in Dollar Spot at Target)

Printable tags- click here to download.

Twine or string to attach tags

These would make great end of the year gifts too. And if you need more gift ideas check out my Pinterest board! Follow Tastefully Frugal’s board Gift Ideas on Pinterest.

Do you have all of your valentines made and ready to go?

December 19, 2014 by Sydney 22 Comments

Fun Last Minute Christmas Party Games

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There is less than a week until Christmas; can you believe it?! Most years I am counting down the days until Christmas but this year December has flown by! Maybe it’s because most of the time it’s cold and the boys and I don’t spend much time outside; which has not been the case this year. Or maybe it’s because they are older and we’ve been able to do baking and crafting together on days we’re not enjoying the sunshine outside. Either way Christmas is coming and it’s coming quick!

Last weekend we had family and friends over for a Polar Express Party & Hot Cocoa Bar. It was so much fun and my boys had a blast playing with all their friends. The only thing I would do different next time is bump the start time up a little bit. We didn’t get the boys in bed until 11 yikes! One of the funnest (and funniest) parts of the nights was when we started playing games. When I am planning a party I always stress about whether everyone will have fun. I didn’t have to worry about that this time thanks to Tiny Prints! They have put together this amazing Christmas Game Generator, a collection of 15 fun games that you can filter based on different types of parties (like family parties, work parties, church parties) and how many and what kind of guests are attending (big groups, small groups, adults only, kid friendly). They also include lists and tools to help you plan the games. It’s like a free party planner right at your finger tips!

We had so much fun and so many laughs. The kids’ favorite game was definitely the Penguin Waddle Game where you blow up balloons and have to waddle across the room with the balloons in between your legs. Whoever gets to the end first wins. It was a hoot to watch the kids walk around with the balloons! The adults favorite was definitely Christmas Charades. Other fun games include Santa Limbo, played like the classic limbo but players have to put pillows under their shirt so they have fluffy bellies like santa; Christmas Mad Libs and Name That Carol, just to name a few. I’m helping my mother-in-law plan our family Christmas party and we’re working together to create a few more fun printables for some of the game. So you can enjoy the games too I thought I’d share them with you today!

For the Memory Game all you need to do is print the pictures below, face them upside down and have the kids try to match two shapes. It’s best if you print on a cardstock or thicker paper so they can’t see through. This is also a great way to help younger kids learn some new vocabulary words.

Memory Game Pg 1

MemoryGame Pg 2

The Who Am I game is a Christmas version of Headbands. Put a piece of scotch tape on each card and tape each piece on to a different person’s head. Then go around and have each person ask yes or no questions and try to guess who they are.

Who Am I Pg 1

Who Am I Pg 2

Christmas Family Feud is played just like the classic game. Divide into two teams with one host. The host will ask the questions in green and the teams will answer the questions. If they give an answer that isn’t on the list they get a strike. Three strikes and the round is over. Whatever team has the most points at the end of the game wins.

Christmas Family Feud

Head on over to Tiny Prints and check out all the awesome games they offer before your next party. And for more party throwing tips check out this post.

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