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

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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 Graphics, Yarko Design  and fonts by Hello Literacy

21 Fun Holidays to Celebrate with your Kids in June

Its just about summer break for us and I can't wait. I love the slower pace, free time, and of course my kids being home.  I recently posted our summer schedule (an activity a day like make it Monday, What's cooking Wednesday) and this holiday calendar will spark some really fun ideas for a summer full of fun. I've found if I can start them off with one activity they will often find fun ways to play all day instead of heading towards the tv or complaining about being bored.  It takes a little effort on my part but it is so worth it and its a really fun way for us to create some special memories.

Download your copy here

Download a copy of the calendar, print, and display.  You do not need to celebrate all of them (we probably won't) just pick and choose what works for you and your family.

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!

Holiday's came from here and here. 

Amazing graphics from

 Creative Clips,  Prettygrafik, , my cute graphics,  revidevi, Chirp Graphics, Melonheadz,P4 Clips Trioriginals ,  Winchester Lambourne,  Creating4 the Classroom, Miss Pickle's Graphics and fonts from Hello Literacy

Summer Schedule

I can't believe summer break is just around the corner!  I think I'm just as excited as my kids this year (hurray to being less busy!). However if your kids are like mine the excitement wears off after a day or two (for one I swear its like 30 minutes) then the tv if turned on for countless hours, the fighting starts, and the "I'm bored" comments happen.  

I've noticed if I have a plan and some structure to our day we seem to avoid many of those problems and in the process we make some pretty great memories. A few years a go we started using a schedule to pick a fun activity daily.  It makes planning so much easier and my kids know what to expect and enjoy helping plan.  This year with a new baby I decided to change Tuesday to "try it" instead of "traveling."   You can find that schedule here if it fits your families needs better.

On Monday we will be choosing a craft from one of our many pinterest boards, free art, legos, etc. 

Tuesday we try something new...a game, a park, a book, a new skill, etc. 

Wednesday will be the day to try some new treats or have the kids help with a meal.

Thursday we will have fun learning! Some ideas are a read-a-thon, research projects, science experiments, and math games.  I'm really hoping to do an around the world theme.

Friday is basically a free day.  There will be lots of water play, card/board games, movie nights, play dates or whatever the kids want to do.

Download Here

I have mine laminated so we can write directly on it with white board or chalk markers.  Don't have a laminator...sheet protectors also work.

Other Posts to help plan your summer

alternate summer schedule

Reading Bingo

Reading Trackers

Monthly Holiday Calendars (new ones posted each month)

Easy DIY Farmhouse Wreath Tutorial

I needed a new wreath for my front door but didn't want to spend a small fortune.  I also wanted something to fit the farmhouse style that I love.  I decided to try something a little different and love the result especially the unexpectedness of the galvanized bucket instead of a traditional wreath. The best part is it was super easy.  I'm not too great with floral arrangements so if I can do this then you really can do this and it will probably look better then mine :).  I also loved that it was pretty inexpensive.  I bought most of my supplies from Hobby Lobby.  Don't forget to use the 40% off coupon or even better catch the flowers on sale (like this week!)

Gather your supplies: (contains some affiliate links)

Galvanized metal bucket

flowers here and here or pick your favorites

floral block

wire cutters

Jute twine or ribbon

 Cut the stems of your flowers apart.  I kept my stems as long as possible.

 Cut your floral block to size and stick in you bucket

Arrange flowers to your liking.  I just stuck mine right into the block.

 Loop your jute twine through the handles and tie behind the flowers at your desired height.

 I added a command strip at the bottom to keep it from bouncing around.

Summer of Fun Plan

We have a week left of school and I've been having fun pinning so many fun ideas to do with my kids this summer. However, I am really good at finding ideas its the "doing" that doesn't always happen.  This year we are going to try something new.  I keep seeing all of these fun schedules and thought this might be the perfect solution.  For me it makes the planning easy and my kids are so excited.  They helped me come up the days and a few ideas for each one.

Here's of plan

There are also many others all over pinterest, the days didn't quite work for us so I made my own.

On Monday we will be choosing a craft from one of our many pinterest boards, free art, or learning a new skill (sewing, crocheting, etc.)

Tuesday is the day we get out of the house.  We will head to the park, library, shopping, movies (our theater has $.50 movies on Tuesday), etc. 

Wednesday will be the day to try some new treats.  I know we have Popsicles and cookies on our list.

Thursday we will have fun learning! Some ideas are a read-a-thon, research projects, science experiments, and math games.  

Friday is basically a free day.  There will be lots of water play, card/board games, movie nights, play dates or whatever the kids want to do.

The best part is its summer and we are flexible.  So if we are going to the library on Thursday instead of Tuesday no big deal!  We just switch up the days.  The real purpose of the schedule is to make sure we are doing something and not wasting our summer days. If I can get them moving in the morning the entire day seems to run smoother, the tv is used less, there is less fighting, and they are having fun! 

You are welcome to use our plan. Click on the picture and save or copy and paste to a word document.  I also included one below without a flower.

I hope this gives you some ideas to make your summer memorable and maybe run a little smoother.

Summer front porch

One of my favorite things about my house is my front porch.  Its the perfect spot for sunsets, to watch my kids play, and to just relax.  Here are a few things I did to make it a little more inviting and ready for summer.  

I added a cute wreath my mom made during one of her visits and some vinyl to the door.  I also found a new welcome mat for $5 at Ross.  

 

 I updated my seasonal ladder.  Nothing says summer like watermelon and we have a huge field of watermelon right next to us this year so its perfect!.

 My dad build this awesome planter while he was here (plans from here.)  We also brought our bench from our entry way outside. 

We also added some potted plants and a hanging basket.  Some quick and inexpensive changes made a huge difference.  

Painting with Water

Here's a fun way to beat the summer heat.  We grabbed some paint brushes, a cup of water, and headed outside.  Dip the brush in water and start painting. 

 My kids' favorite thing was to try and paint their name before it started to disappear.  (It was over 100 degrees so they had to work fast).

What are some fun summer games you play?

Patriotic pillows

I love to decorate for holiday's but I don't really have the budget or the storage space to go all out for every singe one.  My solution pillows and pillow covers.  They are quick to make, inexpensive, can be made for any theme, easy to change any time, and they are pretty easy to store. 

The Fourth of July is coming up and I needed some decorations so I pulled out some red, white, and blue fabric scraps and went to work. I had just enough to make an adorable patchwork pillow.  If you can sew a straight line you can make this! add a little stuffing and it's ready to go.

With the left over scraps from the first pillow I was able to make a cute bunting design to add to this envelop style pillow cover.  Again minimal sewing, an old pillow, and a clever way to make the perfect letters (quick and easy of course!) completes this pillow. 

First I cut a few triangles for the corner

 On my computer I sized and printed out the words

 pin it under your fabric

 use a sharpie and start tracing the letters and coloring it in.  (you can also use paint or a paint pen)

 don't forget to draw the line behind your bunting.

 sew your bunting, and the back of your pillow (either envelope style or you can stuff it)

With the basics of these two pillow styles and your choice of fabric, makes decorating for any room or holiday easy and fun!