Saturday, June 30, 2018

Ice Cream Party Invite (How to add text with PicMonkey)

This post contains affiliate links. That means if you use my link, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. As always, thank you for your support.


I love summer.  I remember hot days playing in the sprinklers with friends and eating lots of ice cream.  I'm so excited that this is something my kids do now.  July 1st is Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day and July 15 is National Ice Cream Day (3rd Sunday in July).  (Find our Holiday Calendar here.  There are tons of fun ones!)  To celebrate why not have an ice cream party.  I mean who doesn't love ice cream?!?


Invite your friends over with one of these super cute invitation. 



Gets some cones or bowls (we have these found here-my favorite! and here), ice cream, and your favorite toppings.  You can even have your friends bring some of their favorites to share.  


Turn on the sprinklers, pull out the kiddie pool, or slip and slide and have a great time cooling off during this super hot month!
  

To use the invitations right click on your favorite one and save to your computer.  
option 1:You can have it printed at your favorite print shop or insert into a word document, size and print.  I like to print on cardstock and size 4 to a page.  They are sized as a 5x7.  
option 2: Use PicMonkey to add text before you print.  

Here's a quick how to. Click on the image to enlarge.
Go to PicMonkey and open your image. 


It will look like this


Click on the text box (in blue on the side) and then add text

Type in your text.  Then highlight to change font and size.
Right click on your text and click duplicate text.  Move into place.

If you click on the 2nd box on the bottom (alignments and grids) the turn alignment on it will help you line up your text.

Change your text to the correct info.  Resize if needed.  Add any additional text (I included please bring your favorite topping to share and place it at the bottom).

Click on export (top) and save to your computer.  You can now print like option 1.


Adorable graphics from freepic Miss Pickle's GraphicsYarko Design  and fonts by Hello Literacy

Thursday, June 28, 2018

19 Fun and Quirky Holidays to Celebrate with your Kids in July


I'm so excited about this month's calendar.  July has some pretty fun and some quirky holiday I can't wait to celebrate with my kids.  I searched and found 19 kid friendly holidays like National Sugar Cookie Day, Shark Awareness Day, and Chocolate Day...yum!  I'm excited just thinking of the possibilities. 

We've been using these calendars all year and my kids still love them...yeah!  We pick a few and for the most part keep it pretty simple.  You do not need to celebrate all of them (we don't) just pick and choose what works for you and your family.

Download a copy of the calendar, print, display, and have fun.  


I'll be posting ideas as I finalize my plans and also as we celebrate some of these holidays.  My hope is that this will be something fun for your family and a way to create some special memories.  I'd love to hear your ideas and see pictures of your celebrations!


Tuesday, June 26, 2018

20 Magical Harry Potter Ideas


Did you know it's Harry Potter Day?!? (you can find more fun holidays to celebrate here) I love all things Harry Potter.  I didn't read them as a kid but a few years ago I had a very fussy baby that needed to be held 24/7. After way too many hours watching netflix and playing candy crush I decided to try reading Harry Potter.  I was instantly hooked and have loved it ever since.  My kids think I'm a little crazy but they are starting to get into it too. So I couldn't let this day go by without doing something! So I created a few fun printables for you to celebrate.  There are some cute popcorn/treat boxes featuring my favorite trio of characters and some adorable bookmarks so you'll never loose your place.  Print and you're ready for a movie marathon or read-a-thon!

Harry Potter Popcorn box: download and print your favorite characters on cardstock.  Cut along the black lines and tape together.
I'm a little behind getting these ready but here's a what these cute little boxes look like done...I'll update the picture soon :)




How cute are these bookmarks?!?  Print on cardstock and laminate (optional)


The adorable clipart is from .

I've also put together a roundup of some of my favorite Harry Potter treats, crafts, printables, and activities.  Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links. That means if you use my link, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. As always, thank you for your support.


Adorable bookmarks from Artsy-Fartsy Mama

How fun are these Harry Potter pillow boxes from Bugaboo City

I LOVE this gorgeous sign from 
The Cottage Market made these cute printables for Halloween but I'd keep them up all year.
Find out how to make your own potions and lots of butterbeer recipes at Imagination Soup

Amazing part from Home Stories A to Z

Free Harry Potter book covers from Paper Trail Design

Fun fortune teller game from Nourishing my Scholar

Cute broomstick treat from One Little Project

Love this Library bag from Tried and True.



Adorable embroidery hoop art from Flamingo Toes


This!  Beautiful cross stitch pattern from The Bookshelf By Erin

Another one from The Cottage Market...butterbeer ice cream floats!


Another amazing birthday party from Sweetest Kitchen.  Those cupcakes are the cutest!

more slime! Found at More than Thursdays

Butterbeer popcorn found at An Edible Mosaic

and pumpkin pasties found at Get away Today




Monday, June 25, 2018

The Prophet of God FHE





For Family Home Evening we used the General Conference talk "The Prophet of God" By Elder Neil L. Anderson.  

 Here's a quick over view of our lesson but what I love about using these talks is the conversation that develops during the lesson.  I don't plan word for word, a big part is asking and answering questions as they come.  

I began by sharing this picture and paraphrasing the quote below.  (This page is included in the download but you can save some ink and share it on your phone, computer, or ensign...its located towards the middle of the talk) Explain how our prophet is like a watchman on the tower.  He warns us of danger that we may not see.  Ask what dangers they have warned us of and discuss.
Watchman on the Tower Game:  You'll need a chair, the board game and circles (cut out) found in the download. Hide the circles preferably somewhere they can be spotted from far away.


Take turns being a watchman by standing on the chair and searching for one of the circles.  Once found read the quote (found in the talk) about following the prophet and place it on one of the numbers.  The game is over once all the circles are found


Read, Highlight, and Share.  I loved the council towards the end of his talk but was worried if I just read it to them it might not sink in.  So I created this handout (there is an ink friendly option).  I made a copy for each family member and we read, highlighted and shared our favorite parts and thoughts.  



I always like to create a printable that we leave up all week as a reminder of our lesson.   It's included in the download.


 If you just want the printable 
Click on the picture above.  Right click to save to your computer.
Print at home or send it to your favorite place to print pictures.
If printing at home I like to insert the picture in a word document.  Size and print on cardstock.
It's formatted as a 5x7 but can easily be resized to fit your needs.







You can find our other General Conference Family Home Evening here.


Sunday, June 17, 2018

Baptismal Covenants FHE (includes Free match game)

For Family Home Evening we used the General Conference talk "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" By Elder Gerrit W. Gong.  I loved hearing from the new apostles. This talk was actually a little harder for me to come up with a lesson plan but in the end it turned into a great discussion for our family.  The talk is not very long so you could read it together as a family or use it as a jumping off point for a few different topics.  I decided to focus on what he said about covenants and then specifically on reviewing the covenants we made when we were baptized.  Here's a quick over view of our lesson but what I love about using these talks is the conversation that develops during the lesson.  I don't plan word for word, a big part is asking and answering questions as they come.  


Play the first little story he shared about putting his kids to bed.  I played the actual clip so the could see who the new apostle was and its pretty cute to hear him sing :)

Next play the song found here

Read quote: "The song of our risen Savior’s redeeming love celebrates the harmony of covenants (that connect us to God and to each other) and the Atonement of Jesus Christ (that helps us put off the natural man and woman and yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit)."

Show "covenants" word strip and ask: What is a Covenant?  When do we make covenants?"  Discuss as prompted.  

For this activity I decided to focus on baptismal covenants and renewing them during the sacrament each week..  I asked "Can you think of a time we think of the Saviors Atonement and the covenants we made/make when we are baptized?"  You may need to add some hints until the say "during the sacrament"  Explain that when we take the sacrament we are renewing our baptismal covenants and if we listen closely to the prayer we will hear some of them.

Pull out the "I promise"  and "God Promises" cards and set to the side.  Use the rest of the cards for a match game.  As you find a match decide if it is a promise you make or God makes and put them under the correct card.

To make the game print on cardstock and cut.  I have my kids cut them for me :)

Sample of cards (Covenants found here and here)



I always like to create a printable that we leave up all week as a reminder of our lesson.   This week I made two different styles. Voth are included in the download along with the quote from the beginning,  Print your favorite.

 If you just want the printable 
Click on the picture above.  Right click to save to your computer.
Print at home or send it to your favorite place to print pictures.
If printing at home I like to insert the picture in a word document.  Size and print on cardstock.
It's formatted as a 5x7 but can easily be resized to fit your needs.




You can find our other General Conference Family Home Evening here.

Fonts from Hello Literacy 

After FHE the printables makes a great handout for the sisters you minister to and the match game is great for your church bag.