Free Printable: Secret Santa Drawing Gift Tags with Wishlist

With Thanksgiving being less than two weeks away, I thought I would bump up my post on the Secret Santa Drawing Tags. I received many nice emails and comments requesting the template so I thought I would put up a free printable. As always, this template is for your personal use only please.  

Secret Santa Drawing Tags (unfolded and folded):

To download the free printable for the card, click here.

To download the free printable for the belly band, click here.

All you need to do is download and open the files (they are in PDF format).

Fill in the amount you want to use as your minimum. You can leave the Secret Santa name blank or fill it out yourself. 

Print out as many copies as you would need onto white cardstock. You can use regular printer paper if you don't have cardstock on hand. Cardstock will definitely be more sturdy and last longer. The cards are designed so that it's convenient for the Santa to keep the list in their wallets for quick reference. 

Trim the cards down using the green borders as a guide. 

Trim the belly bands so you don't see the white trim. 

Fold the cards so that the bottom section of the card that says "Your Secret Santa is..." is on top like in the picture below.

Wrap the belly band around the folded cards and tape to secure and you are done!

Just make sure the person entering the drawing writes their names within the red lines of the card so that their name would be covered with the band.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a quick email. Hope this helps!

Free Printable: Inspirational Greeting Cards

Sometimes you need a little pick-me-up. A simple card is a good way to let a person know you're thinking of them. Here are a few inspirational cards available to print for free.

To download, click on the card you want and it will open a new page. Save the file onto your computer. Print it out on white cardstock, fold it in half and trim down to give as a greeting card.

Enjoy! I would love to hear how you use the card(s). Who are you giving it to and why? How is this person special to you?

*Please note that these files are for personal use only. You may not sell, resell, modify, change or distribute this file in any way. It is for non-commercial use only.

Surprise Lego Party

What do you get a person who can buy anything for himself and does? After many texts and emails back and forth, my brother's girlfriend and I decided to throw my brother a surprise birthday party. He's a big kid at heart and is an avid Lego collector so we thought he would get a kick out of a Lego themed party. Who says themed parties are only for kids?

My brother was definitely surprised we put this all together for him. He had come over the night before and we had nothing out that made him think something was going on. The morning of the party, we hustled to get everything ready in time. I'm lucky to come from a large extended family so got a lot of help preparing and setting up. My cousins came over early and helped bake cupcakes from scratch. My mom and aunts made some of the side dishes and prepped the fruit plate. My cousin Q helped make the food signs that very morning. It was a whole family effort.

Lego Party Dessert Table:

My brother has so many Lego sets that he left some at our place. We used these as part of the dessert table display:

• Lego Carousel (retired set)
• Lego Ferris Wheel (retired set)
• Lego Mini Modular

I made my brother a personalized birthday card from Tinyprints with pictures of Gabby and him together over the years. He absolutely adores Gabby. I could probably say that he may have more pictures with Gabby than I do. We wanted to give him an annual pass to Legoland but didn't want to actually buy it too early in case he doesn't have time to go right away. So my husband designed this 4x6 gift certificate and we placed it inside the card. We incorporated the Lego surgeon mini-figure since it is his profession. When he opened his card, he thought this was a real certificate from Legoland. 

We thought it would be fun to do a few easy games that everyone could play. 

Game 1: Guess How Many Legos are in this Vase:

Game 2: Guess How Many Legos are in this Mini-Modular Set:



Game 3: Lego Memory Game:

I laid out and labeled 25 Lego pieces on a board. Everyone had a few minutes to memorize as many pieces as they could and whoever could jot down as many as they remember wins. I even had a hard time remembering all 25 pieces and I made the game!

The winners of the games received a party favor bag filled with mini M&M's or peanut M&M's along with a Lego mini figure from this Lego Birthday Party Pack. I also gave a bag to some of the people who helped with the party as a thank you.


Lego Party Favor Bags:

I purchased a set of 13 gift bags in primary colors from Michaels for $3.60 ($5.99 plus 40% off coupon). Using this free Lego font, I printed and punched out 2" circles and affixed them to the bag using pop dots to make the bags look like Lego bricks.

Lego Party Favor: Mini M&M's in Ikea Spice Jars:   

Lego Party Favor: Peanut M&M's in a Clear Blue Box:   

I also wanted to do a little something for everyone to take home so transformed Kit Kats into a micro Lego box. I used red double-sided tape to place square Lego Bricks all around my Martha Stewart cake stand. You could try regular Scotch double-sided tape but it may not be as strong and tacky as the craft double sided red tape. That stuff is amazing and easy to remove from the cake stand.

DIY Lego Kit Kat Party Favor on Lego Brick Cake Stand:

DIY Lego Kit Kat Party Favor on Lego Brick Cake Stand (Another View):

As for food, we served dim sum, salad, spring rolls, Asian-style chicken wings as well as a variety of desserts. We borrowed Gabby's Duplos to make this utensil holder.

DIY Lego Utensil Holder:

Fruit Platter with Lego Food Sign:

Girl Scout Cookies with Lego Food Sign:

Rainbow Cupcakes with Lego Cupcake Toppers:

Mini Rainbow Cupcakes:

Jumbo Marshmallow Lego Heads:

I was lucky enough to come across jumbo marshmallows so used those as the base of the Lego head. I cut large marshmallows cut into thirds for the nub on top of the head and they stuck on easily. The Wilton Candy Melts were the perfect shade of yellow for Lego heads. The candy melts taste like vanilla flavored chocolate and melted quickly and are so easy to use. At first I bought Wilton Edible Food Write Pens, but they didn't work on candy melts. I was able to draw on one Lego head and that was it. Frustrated, I bought this AmeriColor Gourmet Food Writer Pen from Amazon and they worked well. It felt like writing with a Sharpie - dark and smooth.    


Lego Birthday Cake with Fondant Lego Bricks: 

This was a fun and fairly easy party to put together since there are so many things you can do with Legos. You can even narrow it down and do Lego Star Wars, Lego Superheroes, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. The possibilities are endless.

DIY Valentine's Day Box, Card and Craft

In preparation for Gabby's very first Valentine's Day party, we put together a mailbox for her little friends to put cards in. We didn't have a shoe box to use so ended up using an USPS box. It is larger than what we need but I had to make due.

First, I cut a hole into the box wide enough for Gabby to reach in and grab her cards out. Then, I wrapped the box in plain hot pink wrapping paper. After the box was wrapped, I gently cut a slit into the wrapping paper and folded the wrapping paper over the edges of the hole. This way, the mailbox opening has a nice clean edge.

DIY Kid's Valentine's Day Mailbox for Cards:

Gabby decorating her mailbox with self-sticking foam hearts:

Peeling stickers is hard work:

This box is also good for holding random toys and balls: 

I wanted to make cards for Gabby to pass out but didn't have much time. I looked around online for free printables and just found something that worked with what I wanted. Kit Kats fit inside these perfectly. I just rolled up some tape and stuck one Kit Kat inside each card. I used a heart punch to make holes to tie a red ribbon through.

DIY Valentine's Day Card:

You can download this tented card file and edit your own wording to print out yourself. To see the rest of the collection, go to Catch My Party. The best part is that it is free!

At the Valentine's Day party, we read Snuggle Puppy, sang songs, passed out Valentine's, had a snack and made this simple craft.

Supplies Needed:
* Regular school glue
* Small bottle of pink acrylic paint
* Thick white cardstock cut into a heart
* Foam brush
* Candy Hearts

Mix some pink acrylic paint in with the glue. Let your child "paint" the glue onto the heart-shaped paper and decorate it with candy hearts. Lay flat to dry. Make sure you have a decent coat of glue or else the candy will fall off.

If it doesn't rain, we are going to another party at the park on Valentine's Day. We'll have food, let the kids play and do a few crafts. One of the activities we're planning to do is having the kids decorate cards to give to the senior citizen home. Now I just have to figure out what goodie to bring. Any ideas?

DIY Birthday Card Keepsake Book Tutorial

I came across this link on Pinterest and wanted to do something similar with all of Gabby's second birthday cards. Instead of having a pile of loose greeting cards, I was able to bind a neat notebook that's also easy to store.

Materials Needed:

• Greeting Cards
• PVC Glue (I still had a tub I bought for $8 four years ago from Paper Source, but it's $10 now). 
• 2" Wide Book Cloth Tape in Blossom (10 foot tape roll is $6.50 from Paper Source)
• 3-4 Large Binder Clips or Clamps
• 3-4 Craft Sticks or Cardboard
• Medium Sized Needle
• Pink Embroidery Floss
• 1 Foam Brush 
• Scissors
• Bone Folder (Optional)

Some of the supplies. Didn't end up needing any of the scrap paper.

Gabby's Birthday Cards: The card on top is from us and will be the front cover of her book. 

Sort and Clip the Cards:

I took the advice from the original poster and sorted the cards so short and tall cards are mixed in together. You don't want two short cards next to each other and create a big gap in the spine of your book. Use the biggest two cards to serve as the cover and last page of your book.

This next step is optional since the original poster didn't do this and her book seems just fine. I took it a step further and "bound" all the cards together. I wanted extra security so nothing fell out over time. The glue I used was four years old so might not be that great anymore. 

I found the shortest card in the stack and used that as a guide as to where to poke two holes in all the cards. Using a medium sized needle, I poked holes in all the cards in the same spot. 

Sewing the Cards Together:

Using about 4-5 strands of thread from the embroidery floss, I started with the bottom of the last page of the book and threaded the needle into the card. I looped the thread through the inside of the card and out the through the top hole. Then I placed the next card on top and threaded it through the top of that card, looped through the inside and out the bottom hole. Do that again for the third card - in through the bottom hole, loop inside and back out the top hole. Now I was able to slip the needle back through the previous card to tie it together. 

Cards Sewn Together: 

Since the edge of the back cover isn't tied to anything, I took the loose string from the front cover and tied it to one from the back cover. Trim the excess strings. I left about an inch but you can cut it shorter if you want. It doesn't matter too much since it will be covered with the spine anyways.

Gabby received a couple of cards that opened from the top so I cut it and just stacked them in with the rest without sewing. The glue should be strong enough to keep them in place. 

Prepping the Cards Before Gluing: 

The cards are still a bit floppy so I secured them together with large binder clips before gluing. Make sure you protect your cards from indentation by putting either craft sticks or cardboard underneath the clips. Now that the cards are secure, I applied a generous layer of PVC glue along the spine. Enough to get all the edges of the cards coated without it being a drippy mess. 

After the Glue is Dry:

It took a few hours for the glue to dry for me. It may vary for you so make sure the glue is completely dry before you move on. 

Adding the Spine:

Next, I measured and cut a piece of book cloth tape to the same length as my longest card. To make a crisp edge on the spine, I used a bone folder to make folding lines on the book cloth tape. You could use the edge of a craft stick to make the crease and that should work too.

The glue that is on the book cloth tape isn't that tacky so I dabbled the PVC glue all over the tape before putting it on the cards. 

The Finished Birthday Card Keepsake Book Project:

The Back:

I may go back and make a book for Gabby's first birthday as well. The only problem is she doesn't have a card from us. I never thought we would really be keeping all these cards so I didn't bother giving her one. From now on, I think I'll put together one of these books. It'll be a neat keepsake of all her birthdays, maybe even combine a few years together.