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!

Lego Party Free Printable Banner

I received so many nice emails and messages about the my Lego Party post that I wanted to answer some of the common questions I received. Hopefully this will help you too.

* Lego Font - this is a free font. I just googled "Lego Font" and picked a site that was easy to download. I got the one I used here.

* DIY Lego Birthday Banner

I printed the letters in Lego font with a yellow border on cardstock paper. I carefully hand cut out each letter and mounted it on red and black cardstock. I figure I would save on ink this way and the banner ended up nice and sturdy too.

The red cardstock is 5.25 inches square and the black cardstock is 5.5 inches square. I punched out holes in the top corner using a Fiskars rectangle hand punch.

Click here to download the free printable banner.

* Lego Kit Kat Box Favor - I don't have a printable up right now but could make one for you. I would have to customize it with a name, birthday and include the Lego Mini-Figure of your choosing. Email me at bigklittleg at gmail dot com. For mine, I listed my brother's name, his birthday in the Lego serial number format (example: February 23rd was "0223") and picked the Lego Surgeon Mini-figure. I may just do a generic one that you could update yourself so please check back later on for that.

If you have any questions about these or anything else, feel free to email or comment. :)

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 Felt Valentine's Day Envelopes

One of Gabby's favorite gifts she received this past Christmas was this Step2 Neat and Tidy Cottage. Every morning she comes downstairs and says, "Hi, House!" At night before bed, she says, "Goodnight, House!" It's her little hiding place where she throws tea parties for her stuffed animals. As small as this house looks, my husband, Gabby and me can actually all fit in this house just fine. Sometimes she'll even hold us as a prisoner inside and not let us leave.

There is a little mail slot built into the house so we would stick random paper and junk mail through it for fun. I thought it would be cute to have something Gabby wouldn't crumple so easily and that she could reuse. Since Valentine's Day is next week, I figure it'll double as a Valentine for her as well.

DIY Felt Valentine's Day Envelopes: 


You've Got Mail:

Small Envelopes for Small Hands:

I'm working on a few more Valentine's Day crafts this week and can't wait to share it with you.

DIY Christmas White Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Sticks Recipe

I've been taking Gabby to storytime at the library for awhile now but wanted more opportunities to take Gabby out. There's only so many times you can go to Target or the mall play area. The park is only so much fun by yourself too. So I recently joined a local Mom's group so Gabby can have playdates with other children around our area. She really enjoys being around other kids and I get to have some adult interaction and conversation too. So far, it's been so much fun! There are several events every week so there's always something to do if we wanted. We've done playdates at a gymnastics studio (for free), the park, a craft day at a fellow mom's house with about 15 other kids.

Tonight I'm going to a kid-free Mom's Night Out and White Elephant Secret Santa Exchange which should be fun! We are going to craft some gift tags and munch on home-made goodies. With Gabby's help this morning, we made about 20 of these babies.

Christmas White Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Sticks with Holiday Sprinkles:

Gabby helped crush mini peppermint candy canes for the pretzel sticks on the right. 

Here is what you need:

• Pretzel Rods (can be found at Target, Walmart or any supermarket)
• Almond Bark, Baker's Chocolate or Candy Melts. I used about half a package of almond bark for twenty pretzel rods (see picture below). 
• Parchment Paper
• Optional: sprinkles, chopped up nuts or candy, crushed Oreos or whatever you want. This time I didn't add any nuts just in case some people have peanut allergies.
• Optional: Wilton Pretzel Rod Bags.

Step 1: Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a large plate, break off and melt two portions of the almond bark in the microwave in 30 second increments. You don't want to overheat the chocolate. 

Step 2: Roll a pretzel rod on the melted chocolate until it has a thin coating. If you add too much chocolate, it may drip and make your pretzel have a flat bottom instead of a round shape. Cover approximately 2/3rds of the pretzel rod length-wise.

Step 3: Add on your toppings and let cool on the parchment paper. You can also melt a different color chocolate and drizzle it on for a different look. By the time I was covering the pretzel rods and topping them, the first pretzels had hardened and were ready to be bagged for freshness. 

Step 4: Place finished pretzel rods in plastic bags or airtight container. The hardest part on this whole project is opening up the plastic bags! You can spice up the packaging by adding ribbon or labels if you wish. So many choices and super easy too. 

Finished White Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods:

I had enough leftover chocolate to cover the broken pretzels for us to sample now, you know, for quality assurance. ;)

We are planning on making some sweet and salty caramel turtles this afternoon so please check back tomorrow.

45th Sapphire Wedding Anniversary Party

It was a busy crafting weekend and I'm tired today. On Friday night, my cousin, Q, helped me put together some favor boxes and menu cards for my parents' anniversary party the next day. We made 36 favors and 10 tented menus and the total cost ended up being $10. All we needed to buy was a box of chocolate since we had enough supplies (2 inch white boxes, blue ribbon, glue, pop up dots, brads) already on hand. It was a last minute decision but I'm glad we did it.

Box of 48 Ferrero Rochers for $10 at Costco ($20 from Amazon): 

Ferrero Rocher Favor Boxes with Royal Blue Ribbon (for a Sapphire Anniversary):

Inside the Favor Box (Ferrero Rocher on a Bed of White and Blue Tissue):

Dinner Menu Cards with Royal Blue Ribbon (not shown) Secured by a Diamond and Heart Brad:

 Favor Box on the Restaurant's Table Setting:

I have a few more fun crafts to share with you over the next few days. Can't wait to take some pictures to show you. 

Gabby's Second Birthday: Pastel Garden Butterflies

Gabby turned two a month ago and I finally have a chance to share the pics. For my baby shower and Gabby's first birthday, we had 100 guests so I wanted to do something low-key and a lot smaller for her second birthday. Somehow we still ended up with 40 guests, tons of food and a lot of crafts. My cousin, Q, and I kept finding new crafting projects to do.

Maybe I'll post more details of what I did if anyone is interested.  If you would like any printables, leave me a comment or send me an email.

Get ready for a long post.

DIY Birthday Banner with Pastel Tulle Ties:

Dessert Table:

DIY Personalized M&M Party Favors:

Toppings for the Ice Cream Bar:

DIY Cupcake Toppers on Mini Lemon Bites (from Costco):

DIY Butterfly-Shaped Rice Krispy Treats and White Chocolate Covered Oreo Pops:

Birthday Cake with DIY Pennant Banner:

DIY Welcome Wreath I made using my Cricut Expression:

DIY Butterfly Wands I made to go with Butterfly Wings for the girls:

DIY Butterfly Strings and Tissue/Tulle Pom Poms:

Last Minute Centerpieces with White and Yellow Daisies, Chrysanthemums in a Bubble Bowl:

DIY Food Signs for our Mexican Feast:

Birthday Girl's DIY Chair Banner:

With the Birthday Girl:

Gabby eating fondant and liking it. She's definitely my child.

Blowing Bubbles. 

Overall, we had a fun afternoon with great friends and family. I'm not sure if Gabby really understood what a birthday is but she sure is enjoying all the new toys.