Category: Kids

DIY Kids

DIY Paper Butterflies

Post author By vickybarone
Post date April 28, 2016

Today we’re sharing a simple DIY you can create with your kids! These folded paper butterflies would make an adorable Mother’s Day gift and can be used to create a garland or a mobile, to decorate a frame or even a gift box! There are lots of examples of these accordion butterflies on Pinterest, but here is how we made ours…

Supplies: scrapbook paper or cardstock (we used different shades of pink), scissors or a paper cutter, and pine cleaners.

Directions:
1. Cut paper into squares (ours were about 4×4)
2. Fold each square in half and then accordion style, folding from corner to corner.
3. Take two folded squares and set them on top of one another (corner to corner). We made our butterflies two-toned, so each one was made from two squares of paper in different shades of pink.
4. Wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle of the paper squares, leaving 3/4″ for the bottom of the butterfly body.
5. Once the pipe cleaner is secure, use a cylindrical object like a pen or pencil to wrap the excess pipe cleaner around to create swirly antennae.

That’s it! Make as many butterflies as you’d like! How will you use yours? We would love to hear!

Tags butterflies, DIY, mother's day, paper, pipe cleaners

DIY Holidays Kids

DIY Bunny Ears

Post author By vickybarone
Post date March 18, 2016

Happy Friday! Today we have a super easy Easter craft that you can make with your little bunnies! All you need are some headbands and pipe cleaners…

We got our headbands from the dollar store and these fluffy white pipe cleaners from the craft store!

Just wrap the pipe cleaners around the headband to cover the top and fashion some bunny ears along the way! You will need 2-3 pipe cleaners for each headband, depending upon how big you make the ears.

How cute are they on our little bunny?!

Looking for more Spring inspiration? Check out Vicky Barone on Instagram!

Tags bunny ears, DIY, easter, kids craft

DIY Holidays Kids Things I Love

DIY St. Patrick’s Day Ideas

Post author By vickybarone
Post date February 25, 2016

Are you feeling crafty? We’ve gathered some awesome DIY projects you can make for St. Patrick’s Day!

1. Lucky in Love Banner | 2. Shamrock Penny Canvas
3. Felt Clover Wreath | 4. Wine Cork Stamping
5. Thumb Print Shamrock | 6. Froot Loop Rainbows

Tags DIY, ideas, st. patrick's day, things i love

DIY Holidays Kids

Random Acts of Kindness Day

Post author By vickybarone
Post date February 17, 2016

Happy Random Acts of Kindness Day! What a wonderful holiday to celebrate, especially with kids! Today we’re sharing 10 ideas that you can do with your little ones to spread kindness.

1. Write a letter. Sit down with your little one and help them write a letter to a friend or family member to let them know you are thinking of them!

2. Buy coffee for the person behind you in line. Whether you’re in a store or in a drive-through, surprising the person behind you with a paid bill is sure to put a smile on their face.

3. Bake cookies for your teacher. Let your teacher (or librarian, mailman, neighbor, etc) know how much you appreciate them with a plate of freshly baked treats.

4. Put change in vending machines. Your little ones will love dropping coins into vending machines to give the next person a free snack!

5. Hold the door open for someone. You can do this all day long! It’s a great habit to teach your little ones.

6. Leave flowers around town with a note. Tie little “have a great day!” notes to flowers and leave them on park benches and bus stops around town for anyone to find.

7. Do someone else’s chores. Surprise another family member by making their bed or folding their laundry!

8. Donate clothes or toys to a shelter. Have your little ones gather up their gently used clothing or toys they’ve outgrown and donate them to a local shelter to spread the love.

9. Pick up litter. Show the earth some kindness and help clean it up a little.

10. Give a compliment to everyone you see. Say something nice to the people you pass today. Give your kids suggestions if they need help, and make sure your compliments are sincere and sweet.

Have more ideas? We’d love to hear them! We hope your day is filled with lots of kindness!

Tags kindness, national holiday, random acts of kindness, random acts of kindness day

DIY Holidays Kids Parties and Events Printables Recipes

Valentine’s Day Cupcake Ideas

Post author By vickybarone
Post date February 8, 2016
1 Comment on Valentine’s Day Cupcake Ideas

Happy Monday, friends! Still stumped as to what to make for Valentine’s Day? Today we’re sharing three sweet cupcake ideas that are perfect for the 14th.

Heart-Shaped Cupcakes

First up: heart-shaped cupcakes! Well, kinda-heart-shaped cupcakes. We have seen the Pinterest hack to make heart-shaped cupcakes by adding glass marbles to a cupcake tin and thought we’d try it out! Instead of marbles, we rolled up tiny pieces of aluminum foil and placed them between the cupcake tin and the liners. They looked so promising! But, alas, it was too good to be true. They don’t have a pointy base, but they can still pass as hearts, right?

Candy Melt Conversation Cupcakes

Next up are these Candy Melt Conversation Cupcakes! All you need to create these cupcake toppers is a bag of red (or pink!) candy melts, a ziploc bag, scissors, a cookie sheet, and some waxed paper.

Line a cookie sheet with the waxed paper and melt the candy melts in a bowl according to the directions. Scoop the melted candy melts into a Ziploc bag and cut one of the corners off. Write any words you’d like onto the waxed paper (make sure they are in cursive and all the letters are connected!) and place the cookie sheet into the refrigerator to set. Carefully peel the words off of the waxed paper and stick them right into the cupcake icing!

Custom Cupcake Toppers by Places for Faces

Last but not least, our favorite way to decorate cupcakes: Places for Faces!

Use Places for Faces to create custom dessert toppers with your face on them! They are perfect for Valentine cupcakes, birthday parties, and any event that could use a little personality. Places for Faces also offers printable valentines for your little ones!

What’s your favorite way to decorate a Valentine cupcake? We’d love to hear your ideas!

Tags cupcake toppers, cupcakes, DIY, places for faces, Valentine, Valentine's Day

DIY Holidays Kids Printables

Decorate a Valentine Box with Places for Faces!

Post author By vickybarone
Post date February 3, 2016

My boys are making Valentine boxes for school and we are so pleased to have Places for Faces help out with the decorating! What better way to personalize your valentine mailboxes than with pictures of your own sweet little face? In addition to dessert toppers, tags, and valentine labels, Places for Faces now offers a template that is perfect for decorating a valentine box, complete with speech bubbles!

Try Places for Faces today! Your little valentines will love it 🙂

Tags DIY, places for faces, Valentine, valentine boxes, Valentine's Day

DIY Holidays Kids Printables

Printable Valentines by Places for Faces

Post author By vickybarone
Post date February 2, 2016

Are you excited for Valentine’s Day?! We are busy prepping the boys’ valentines to take to school with them next week and we are loving how they turned out! Places for Faces now offers Valentine treat bag printables that are perfect for wrapping up candy hearts, stickers, chocolates, and so much more! Here is how we used Places for Faces to customize our valentines…

Supplies:
– A “Valentine Treat Bag Label” printed template from Places for Faces (you can find LOTS of Valentine’s Day-inspired stickers and templates to choose from on Places for Faces!).
– Scissors
– A stapler
– Cellophane treat bags
– Treats to fill the bags!

Directions:
1. Use Places for Faces to create your template and print it as many times as you’d like!
2. Use scissors or a paper cutter to cut out the valentines on the dotted lines.
3. Cut out as many valentines as you need!
4. Fill the cellophane treat bags.
5. Fold the cut-out labels in half.
6. Place the folded label over the top of the treat bag and use a stapler to attach the label to the bag. This will also help seal the bag.
7. Have your little ones sign their names on the back!
8. Hand out your valentines!

We hope you love these printable valentines from Places for Faces as much as we do! Check out Places for Faces on Instagram for lots of fun Valentine’s Day ideas!

Tags candy hearts, DIY, ideas, places for faces, treats, Valentine's Day, valentines

DIY Kids Printables

Super Bowl Snacks with Places for Faces!

Post author By vickybarone
Post date February 1, 2016

If you’re looking for some easy and delicious game-day snacks, we are here to help! And if you’re looking for a way to make those game-day snacks super cute, we can help you with that too!

Places for Faces lets you upload and crop a photo, add stickers to match your theme, and create dessert toppers, thank you notes, valentines, and so much more! Today we’re sharing how we’re using Places for Faces to cheer on our teams for this year’s Super Bowl!

Look how sweet these rivals are! These pepperoni and cheese bites are so easy to throw together and your little ones will LOVE seeing themselves as football players!

Supplies:
– A block of cheese (or pre-cut cheese cubes)
– A bag of sliced pepperoni
– Colorful toothpicks
– Scotch tape
– Scissors
– A Places for Faces printed dessert topper template.

Directions:
1. Upload a photo to Places for Faces and crop.
2. Choose stickers from the “Football” section in the drop down menu on the right.
3. Choose a template like the “Dessert Toppers – Football 2016” by choosing “Football” under Themes in the left side bar.
4. Purchase your template and print it as many times as you’d like!
5. Cut out the cute little football players.
6. Tape the ovals onto toothpicks, making sure to leave enough room for the appetizer!
7. Cut your cheese into cubes.
8. Take a slice of pepperoni and fold it in half twice.
9. Stick a toothpick through the folded pepperoni, and then through the cheese cube.
10. Serve on a tray for all your guests to enjoy!

If you’re feeling extra fancy, try these mini caprese salads! All you need are mozzarella balls, fresh basil, and cherry tomatoes. We’ll feature the full recipe and more ideas later this week on the blog 😉

Who are you rooting for this Sunday? If you’re having a Super Bowl party, we hope it’s a blast!

Tags DIY, game da, places for faces, snacks, super bowl