Free Holiday Ideas

Christmas at the Library – Nutcrackers and Gingerbread Village

katelyn — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:08:40 +0000

My local library always has the cutest decorations up for the holidays. This is just the children’s room, where they’ve decorated before doing a very popular faux gingerbread house craft with the kids.

2011 Christmas Gift Ideas

katelyn — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:25:42 +0000

Yikes! Is it really almost Christmas again already? I am trying to make most my gifts this year, but I still want to buy a few special items, too. It can be really overwhelming to figure out what to get everyone, so I got together with a few of my best blogging buddies to compile some gift guides to help us all figure out the best things to buy for all those special people on our lists. Check out these ideas to see if you can find out that’s the perfect fit for someone you love:

Games, toys, and anything kids would want are included when you check out the kid’s toy and gift guide. There’s something for kids of all ages.
Smartphones, touchscreens, eReaders, 3G, 4G and iAnything have you confused? Make your gadget shopping easy – Check out the 10 Hottest Mobile Phones, Devices & Accessories on The Gadget Lovers Christmas List.
Have a writer on your holiday list this year? Check out this writer’s gift idea guide to find just the right thing to make them smile.
Do you have a photographer in the family? Even someone who just enjoys taking great photos with their DSLR camera will love this gift guide for studio photographers.
Want to make playing Secret Santa a little more outrageous this year? Check out the Secret Santa gift ideas at Gift Idea Diva.
Looking for a gift idea for that co-worker you don’t know much about? This list of co-worker’s gift ideas may have just the right thing.
Looking for something for the home or garden? Check out the home and garden gift guide.
If you’re looking for ideas for everyone in the family (especially the kids) check out the holiday gift guide at Life of a Home Mom.

Happy shopping!

Easy Autumn Bunting

katelyn — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:36:54 +0000

I needed something to dress up a wall the other day and put together a really simple little Autumn bunting. I used twine and strips of fabric in several fallish colors to put it together. You could choose to have the strips all scrunched together, but I liked the look of a few strips widely spaced on my walls. Just tear the strips to get the unfinished edge look, which I think goes well with rustic twine. They’d be great for decorating a porch that has fall themed decor on it.

Christmas Craft Idea – Button Ball

katelyn — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:51:00 +0000

These button balls are fun to do and a great way to use up a bunch of ordinary tiny white buttons. You’ll need a bunch of small buttons, a ball form (foam, paper mache, etc.) and hot glue. Simply apply some hot glue to the ball and press buttons to it. I added a second layer to cover all the gaps, but you could paint the ball with glittery paint first and then glue one layer of buttons on. They are nice Christmas ornaments for the tree, but piling a few in a pretty bowl also works. If you are doing this craft with children, be very careful. The glue can really burn little fingers (or big ones.)

Memorial Day Craft Ideas

katelyn — Tue, 29 May 2007 22:40:34 +0000

Memorial Day is a great time to break out the grill, but it also has another purpose-honoring several hundred years of brave men and women who fought and died to keep our country safe from tyrants and bullies. Here are a few Memorial Day craft ideas for kids:

Flag cake – Bake up a cake mix in a rectangular pan and hand your kids the toppings to turn the cake into a flag. Strawberries, whipped cream and blueberries are all you need. Cover the whole cake top with whipped cream. Partition off a square in the upper left corner for the blueberries. Divide the rest of the cake into horizontal stripes and fill every other stripe with strawberries.
Flag hand – Trace around your child’s hand to make a flag outline. The hand should be positioned so that the fingers are pressed together and the thumb is pointing towards the bottom of the page. Cut out the hand shape and decorate the flags with star stickers and crayons. Make just one or make thirty or so and turn them into a flag hand banner.
Make a Memorial Day memory booklet about a family member or friend who died serving our nation and what he or she means to your family. Deliver the booklet to a close relative of that person on Memorial Day.

Anyone else have Memorial Day craft ideas

Christmas Ornament Craft – Fun Way to Use Up Your Buttons

katelyn — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:10:43 +0000

If you have a stash of buttons, this is the perfect way to use up some of them. I found this idea on the wonderfully creative Pixiegenne’s blog and could barely wait to start sorting buttons to make my own festive button Christmas ornament. Of course, I was barely finished using up all but two of my red buttons when I decided a heart shaped ornament for Valentine’s Day would be fun, too. I had to make it with white buttons, though, since I only had two red ones left.

You’ll need hot glue, cardboard, more buttons than you can shake a stick at and a piece of pretty ribbon. Just cut out your preferred shape from the cardboard and then cut out the inside of the shape, leaving a quarter to half inch thick border to glue the buttons to. Arrange the buttons and hot glue them on as you go. Tie the ribbon into a pretty bow and hot glue it to the back of the ornament. Cover the back with a pretty piece of paper to make the ornament pretty on that side, too.

Fun and Easy Christmas Ornament Craft

katelyn — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:15:22 +0000

If you have some extra yarn, you can make some of these fun Christmas ornament crafts in minutes. You’ll need yarn and something to fill up the center. We used newspaper crumpled into a ball, but you could use styrofoam balls, too. Simply wrap your yarn around the ball until it is completely covered and tie off the yarn so it doesn’t unravel. Use a two to three foot long piece of yarn to create a hanger for the ball. This craft looks best when you make 5 or 6 balls and hang them at varying heights.

Halloween Crafts for Kids

katelyn — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 22:37:19 +0000

Kids always have fun making crafts, especially holiday-themed crafts. Why not include a few Hallween crafts for kids in your party plans this year? Here are some fun and simple Halloween craft ideas for your kids to make.

1. Trick-or-Treat bucket
Supplies: ice cream bucket, construction paper, markers, crayons, glue, glitter (any craft supplies)
Directions: Use construction paper to draw ghosts, pumpkins, scarecrows, etc. Cut out your decorations and glue them to the outside of an ice cream bucket.

2. Trick-or-Treat goody bags
Supplies: small brown paper bags, Halloween stickers, markers, treats (candy, pencils, erasers, bubblegum, etc.)
Directions: Decorate paper bags in Halloween themes using your art supplies. Put treats inside bags. Fold the top of the bag down and tape shut with a Halloween sticker.

3. Tiny pumpkins
Supplies: acorns, orange paint, and green paint
Directions: Lay acorns on a sheet of newspaper. Paint the bottom of the acorns with orange paint. After the orange paint dries, paint the top of the acorns green (for the stem of the pumpkin). Allow to dry thoroughly.

4. Spooky Spiders
Supplies: black construction paper, cotton balls or cotton stuffing, black pipe cleaners, small bowl or saucer, and a stapler
Directions: Using black construction paper, trace around a small bowl or saucer. (Cut out two circles per spider.) Place stuffing or cotton balls on first circle. Lay second circle on top of cotton stuffing and staple half-way around. Insert 3-4 pipe cleaners on each side, then staple the second half of the circles together. Bend pipe cleaners to make the legs of the spider.