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Holidays Lifestyle Thoughts

Spread Joy, Not Germs, This Holiday Season With These Holiday Postcards

The holidays are about coming together and giving thanks. Take any Christmas classic and you’ll find that message. The jolly Whoville people and the mean, old Grinch, the bitter Ebenezer Scrooge and the generous Cratchits, even noble Rudolph and his judgmental fellow reindeers all came together in the end (despite them calling out his red nose!). This year, however, “coming together” is going to look a little different, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give thanks especially to those who deserve it.

Think about all the people who make your life easier– your hairdresser, dog walker, babysitter, or child’s teacher. Thanks to all the hard work they do, you can enjoy a little free time to yourself or stress a little less about your children. This year, more than ever, it’s important to recognize their efforts with a holiday tip.

You can spread joy, without spreading germs, by sending them the appropriate tip accompanied by a meaningful postcard. Download these free holiday printables to give to a service worker this holiday season!

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DIY Holidays My Projects Uncategorized

Don’t miss the recent Redfin article I was featured in: “20 Easy Fall DIY Decor Ideas that You’ll Absolutely Love”

With leaves on the ground and pumpkin spice lattes in hand — there’s no doubt that fall is in full swing. One of our favorite things about this time of year is all the traditions that come with it, like roasting marshmallows by your backyard fire pit or watching scary movies. But nothing makes it feel like the new season is upon us like decorating our homes with festive, fall decor.

Whether it’s gathering materials from your yard to create warm-colored tablescapes or visiting your local craft store to make a DIY fall wreath, there are many creative and easy ways to embrace autumn in your home. To help inspire your seasonal decorating, Redfin reached out to experts for our most creative — yet simple — fall home decor projects. So before the cold temperatures approach and you have to prepare your home for winter, check out the Redfin article I was featured in and try out one (or more) of these fall DIY projects this season!

Check out our DIY Interchangeable Felt Flower Wreath here!

20 Easy Fall DIY Decor Ideas that You’ll Absolutely Love

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Family Holidays Uncategorized

HALLOWEEN PARTY IDEAS – 2020

This year Halloween is going to look very different. Most of us will probably opt out of the traditional trick-or-treating for obvious reasons. So if you are looking for some fun ways to still celebrate with your kids, maybe you can consider an outside Halloween Party! Check out these fun ideas to make the holiday fun!
This post contains affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission.

These fun balloons will definitely help create a whimsical and festive atmosphere! You can fill them with air or helium and they amazingly stay lit for up to 24 hours!
Check them out here: 50 pack halloween LED light up round balloons.

Have these skeletons crawling out in front of grave stones: Life Size Groundbreaker Skeleton Stakes

Set up a spooky grave yard and add a spot light for some drama.
17” Halloween Foam RIP Graveyard Tombstones (5 Pack)

FUN GAMES THAT MAKE UP FOR MISSING TRICK-OR-TREATING:

EYEBALL PONG

Bounce the ping pong balls across the table and into the cups (yes, just like beer pong only family-friendly).
You can use a Sharpie to draw eyeballs on regular ping pong balls, or spring for these:
Creepy Plastic Eyeballs 20 Pieces

HALLOWEEN SCAVENGER HUNT FOR CANDY

Who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt? Here’s a fun free printable that has some great ideas:
https://heyletsmakestuff.com/printable-halloween-candy-scavenger-hunt/

NEED MORE IDEAS? CHECK OUT THESE PAST POSTS FOR CRAFTS, TREATS AND MORE FUN!

HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES

FAVORITE HALLOWEEN TREATS

HALLOWEEN TREATS AND MORE!

HALLOWEEN CRAFTS FOR KIDS

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DIY Holidays Recipes

Chocolate Covered St. Patrick’s Day Strawberries

This post contains affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price stays the same for you!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today we’re sharing a sweet cure for the mid-week blues! These St. Patrick’s Day-inspired strawberries are so easy to make and even easier to devour. Here’s how to make your own…

Chocolate Covered St. Patrick's Day Strawberries | Vicky Barone

Supplies: strawberries, candy melts in white and green (we used two shades of green!), Ziploc bags, scissors, a baking sheet, and wax paper.

The above supplies contain affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price stays the same for you!

Directions:
1. Start by washing and drying the strawberries thoroughly.
2. Microwave candy melts in separate bowls according to the directions on the package.
3. Line a baking sheet with wax paper.
4. Dip strawberries in the white candy melts and rest on the baking sheet.
5. Place baking sheet in the refrigerator while you prep the green candy melts.
6. Scoop green candy melts into Ziploc bags.
7. Cut a small corner of the Ziploc bags with scissors.
8. Remove baking sheet from fridge and squeeze green candy melts onto the strawberries in a zigzag pattern.
9. Return to fridge until the candy melts have hardened.

Chocolate Covered St. Patrick's Day Strawberries | Vicky Barone Chocolate Covered St. Patrick's Day Strawberries | Vicky Barone Chocolate Covered St. Patrick's Day Strawberries | Vicky Barone Chocolate Covered St. Patrick's Day Strawberries | Vicky Barone

What do you think? Will you save these for St. Patrick’s Day or make yourself an early treat? Wilton makes so many candy melt colors, the possibilities are endless.

Enjoy!

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DIY Holidays

St. Patrick’s Day Felt Garlands

Looking for a fun DIY project to make this weekend? Today we’re sharing some fun and festive felt garlands that are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. You can even swap the colors out to make them match your party decor or keep them as every day garlands! Here’s how to make your own…

St. Patrick's Day Felt Garlands | Vicky Barone

Supplies: colorful felt, twine or string, fabric scissors, and hot glue.

Shades of green bunting: Cut four inch strips of felt in shades of green. Cut out a small triangle shape from the bottom of each strip. Put two hot glue dots on the back of each strip and carefully press a piece of twine to the glue.

Rainbow garland: Cut three inch strips of felt in rainbow colors. Line up all the strips in the order you’d like them and separate them into pairs. Cut each pair into trapezoids by cutting off the corners at an angle to reflect one another. Add hot glue to the backs of each piece and attach twine or string.

Shamrock pennants: Cut three inch rectangles out of gray felt. Cut the corners off of one side to create a point. Cut out shamrock shapes from different shades of green felt (we drew a shamrock shape onto cardstock and cut it out to be our stencil). Use hot glue to attach the shamrocks to each pennant and more glue on the backs of each to attach them to twine.

Hang your garlands and enjoy!

St. Patrick's Day Felt Garlands | Vicky Barone

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

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DIY Holidays Kids

DIY Paper Plate Shamrocks

We are so sad that Valentine’s Day is over, but what luck that St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner! Today we’re sharing a fun and simple kids craft to get you in the lucky spirit.

DIY Paper Plate Shamrocks | St. Patrick's Day | Vicky Barone

Supplies: green paper plates, scissors, a pencil, a single hole punch, white yarn, and a plastic sewing needle (optional).

Directions:
1. Draw or trace a shamrock shape onto the back of a plate.
2. Cut the shape out with scissors.
3. Use a single hole punch to create holes around the edge of the shamrock shape.
4. Give your kiddos a piece of yarn (plastic sewing needle optional) and a prepped plate and let them get to sewing!

DIY Paper Plate Shamrocks | St. Patrick's Day | Vicky Barone

This St. Patrick’s Day craft is a fun way to pass the time and be creative by sewing different patterns! They also look great if you hang them up as decoration. What are your favorite St. Patrick’s Day crafts or treats? We’d love to hear!

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DIY Holidays Kids Recipes

DIY Candy Tic Tac Toe

Happy Friday! Today we’re sharing a sweet treat you can make (and play with!) this weekend. These tic-tac-toe boards are completely edible and so much fun to make and use. Here’s how…

DIY Candy Tic Tac Toe | Vicky Barone

Supplies: graham crackers, pink candy melts, red candy melts, candy conversation hearts, wax paper, a cookie sheet, and a Ziploc bag.

Directions:
1. Melt pink candy melts in a wide bowl according to directions.
2. Break graham crackers into squares and dip into pink candy melts.
3. Shake off excess chocolate (use a spoon to spread or even it out if necessary) and lay graham crackers on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.
4. Place in fridge to set.
5. Melt red candy melts and scoop into a Ziploc bag.
6. Cut off a small corner of the bag and squeeze out the candy melts onto the graham crackers to create the tic-tac-toe board lines.
7. After each graham cracker is covered, carefully lift each one up to help the red lines fall around the edges.
8. Place back into the fridge to set.
9. Once the chocolate has completely hardened, use conversation hearts to play tic-tac-toe!

DIY Candy Tic Tac Toe | Vicky Barone

The best part? When you’re all done playing, you get to eat the game for dessert!

DIY Candy Tic Tac Toe | Vicky Barone

We hope you have a wonderful weekend! Don’t forget to follow Vicky Barone on Instagram for more Valentine’s Day inspiration!

Categories
DIY Holidays Kids

DIY Lollipop Flowers

Candy bouquets are the best kind of bouquets, don’t you think? These DIY Tootsie Pop flowers are so easy to assemble and make the sweetest gift for Valentine’s Day. Here’s how to make your own…

DIY Lollipop Flowers | Vicky Barone

Supplies: Lollipops, red felt, scissors, and an X-acto knife.

Directions:
1. Cut a flower shape out one shade of felt and a smaller flower shape out of another shade.
2. Use an X-acto knife to cut a small X shape in the center of each flower.
3. Stack the flowers on top of each other and insert the lollipop stick into the center cuts.

That’s it! For extra sturdiness you can add a bit of glue to the base of the lollipop (make sure to keep it on the wrapper!) and press the felt up to create a tighter flower.

DIY Lollipop Flowers | Vicky Barone

Hand out a lollipop to each of your valentines or give one person a giant bouquet!

DIY Lollipop Flowers | Vicky Barone

For more Valentine’s Day ideas, check out Vicky Barone on Instagram!