{giveaway winner} Mother's Day Banner

Congratulations to Mel, with comment number 2, and thanks to all of you for participating. I promise my future giveaways will only get better.

In Mel's comment, she said:

My brother is getting married on Saturday (5/7) so Ill be recovering on Mother's Day! But the good news is that my mom will be in town for the wedding so I'll get to see her! :)

Mel-- I will hurry and get that in the mail so you can use it next Sunday. And, to all of you Moms out there-- Happy Early Mother's Day!

{free printables & tutorial} Cinco de Mayo Fiesta

I know not everyone celebrates Cinco de Mayo, but for those of us who do here are some FREE FIESTA printables.

FIESTA Printable includes: banner, tented cards, thank you favor tags, party circles/cupcake toppers, a yard sign and my favorite, the Spanish name tag!

So because the name tags are my fave I thought I would do a quick tutorial. It's pretty basic and most of you won't need the lesson, but it was fun to do, nonetheless. First, I printed out the name tags at home from my computer. Then I trimmed off the ends of the paper so the 3 inch circle cutter could be centered on the circles to cut.

Then, I cut the tags out...

...and ran them through my sticker maker. If anyone you haven't seen these xyron machines they are the BEST! You can buy refills for them that laminate as well. So worth the money, if you ask me.

After they have been stick-ti-fied they're ready to go.

The stickiness of the machine really does a good job. This sticker will stay in place all party long, but if you're worried about it falling off you could always print the name tags on full sheet sized label paper and cut them out directly from that. Or you could attach them with double-sided sticky tape or safety pins.

Happy Cinco de Mayo Amigos!

You may download the FREE FIESTA PRINTABLE HERE!

{Giveaway} Happy Mother's Day Banner-- CLOSED

I posted this banner last year for Mother's day, but it was long before I was really into the whole crafting blog thing so I'll use it again. Don't worry-- I have some new Mother's Day printables coming your way real soon. Check back soon!

So in honor of all of those fabulous Moms out there, I'm going to give this banner away (printed, cut and strung together with twine) to one reader--I know, I know it's not a new blender, but hey it's FREE and for one reader and they won't have to do the work. The winner will be chosen at random using one of those online random number picker thingy-ma-dingers. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me how you're going to celebrate Mother's Day! Are you going to the spa? Are you laying in bed all day eating bon bons? Whatever it is, let me know. Don't forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner.

For all of those non-winning contest mothers, you may still download your own copy HERE. :( I wish I could make a bunch and send them out to everyone, but if I did that you may be forced to celebrate Mother's Day in August.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

{tutorial} Upside-Down Hanging Tomato Plant

Have you seen these? They're ingenious!

I love the idea of an upside down hanging plant. I've been wanting to do this for awhile and bought the plants to do so about a week ago and then FORGOT completely about them and they died. So... while my mother-in-law was in town I decided to use her gardening expertise and hunker down and get 'er done!

Needed:

• Hanging basket and mossy-like insert
• Perlite
• Potting soil
• Plant food
• Tomato plant yielding medium sized fruit
• 2 Basil plants (or any other herb you desire)
• Shovel, hose, bucket, scissors or a knife & gloves
• sunlight, water, love, patience, perseverance...yada yada yada

Okay, so first you'll need to take your handy scissors, knife or sharp edged shovel and make a slit in the bottom of the mossy-like insert.

Next, ever so kindly shove your tomato plant through the slit, plant-head first.

Now, I'm NOT and let me emphasize NOT like three more times...NOT NOT NOT an expert in gardening and have always killed my plants. Keep the kids alive first, then the dogs and if the plants are lucky they get fed. So I had to do some research online before I dove into this endeavor and I read that one would need to use Perlite. Perlite is a product that helps the plant retain moisture, which is needed in hanging plants with their roots being more exposed.

I (I should say "we", because my talented mother-in-law was there to hold my hand the entire way) mixed 3 parts potting soil to 1 part Perlite in a bucket before pouring it into the hanging basket.

Doesn't that plant look lonely and bare on top? I think so too! So onto the basil.

I dug out two holes and inserted the basil plants. I was a little worried that the two differing plants would compete for nutrients, but I read online that some plants actually do better together. However, because tomato plants soak up a lot of nutrients from the soil a good plant food is required in order for both to thrive.

All done! Now feed your plants. That's really a reminder to myself. My plant food requires that you mix 1 tablespoon of plant food to 1 gallon water, but make sure you read the directions on any plant food you buy. Oh and also make sure your plant receives approximately 6 hours of sunlight/day.

Ohhh I can't wait for these tomatoes to grow. I wish I could snap my fingers and they'd appear.

Also planted were rosemary, a chili pepper plant...

...more basil, cilantro and oregano!

Pico de gallo and pesto here we come! (I hope)

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{free printable} Potterybarn Inspired Easter Banner

I set out to make my very own Easter banner after being inspired by this simple and elegant Potterybarn Easter garland.

After cutting out felt Easter shapes I determined it would take too long and I would need to cut out a bajillion to make a garland. Now, if I had a silhouette cutting machine I could have snapped my fingers and 1-2-3 it would have been done for me. Alas, I do not! So, with my scissors in hand I began to cut squares to attach them to.

All you need to make this simple banner is:

• scissors
• felt(I recommend the wool sturdy stuff not the acrylic, but if that's all you have it will work too)
• heat bond (ultra strong)
• iron
• printer paper (to cut out your shapes)
• double folded bias tape (not shown in the picture below)
• thread and sewing machine

I personally liked the shapes Potterybarn used so I free handed mine.

I am NOT an artist by any means as you can see. I had to draw and redraw the picture a few times before I got the actual shape I wanted.

First, you adhere the felt to the heat bond with the iron. When using felt you have to iron the heat bond onto it a tad bit longer because the fabric is thicker. After the heat bond is attached, trace and cut out your shapes. Next, cut out enough 5" squares of felt in coordinating colors. Then, pull the paper off of the head bonded felt shapes and iron the shapes onto the squares (make sure the heat bonded sticky side is against the felt square-- we don't want to be attaching any felt Easter shapes to your iron). Afterwards you will need to pin and sew the bias tape onto your felt shaped squares. Seriously that's it! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Side note from the peanut gallery (aka my husband): he thinks my hand-cut chicks look like our newfoundland dog, named Tug. He may be right. I did say I'm NOT an artist, didn't I?

Okay so I know we're cutting it close to Easter and some of us may not have time to sew a banner, nor do some of us want to. So... I made this printable that resembles the one I sewed above. I love how simple it is. I found these simple Easter shapes online HERE, but you can download my PDF version HERE if you want to use them to freehand cut your shapes.

So here it is! the Easter banner printable. Two squares print/page and depending on how long you want the banner will determine how many pages you print out.

Happy banner making! Whether it's sewn or printed!

Download the banner HERE

{free printable} Celebrate Earth Day!

Celebrate Earth Day with this "i heart the Earth & trees" print. I realize that printing something for one day actually goes against what Earth Day is all about so why not print it on recycled paper and leave it up year 'round as a reminder to be kind to Mother Earth? Maybe it will help remind us to recycle or carpool, who knows?

In commemoration of Earth Day (April 22nd) I've also put together some fun activities we could do with our kids. Who says Earth Day can't be Everyday? Enjoy.

1. Make a tin can herb garden

2. Take a "go green checklist" quiz

3. Eat an environmentally friendly meal

4. Have each child plant their own tree/plant

5. Make recycling bins and sort out the trash (hmmm... stay tuned...I think I may have to make some recycling printable labels)

You may download the print HERE

New Kitchen Printables on Etsy!

New Kitchen Wall Printables added to my Etsy shop!

You can customize the color background to match your kitchen. I'll even trade out the wording, vegetables and fruits if you desire. Go on over and check it out HERE.

{free printables} Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt

Whether you're hosting an Easter egg hunt at your house or just playing it cool with your own kiddies, these Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt printables will get the job done!

As a child I remember coming down the stairs and searching for my hidden Easter basket, so this printable is my modern day spin off of my parent's tradition.

How fun would it be to wake up Easter morning to discover that the Easter bunny had left you a little note on your door and foot prints leading to something more mysterious? If hosting a party, you could put the door knob sign on your front door with the foot prints leading to your backyard.

I know what you're thinking. Who has time to cut out all of those foot prints? Well... let me tell you it took me 5 minutes to cut 8 prints and they print 4/page so they're not huge. Plus no two prints are alike in real life so no need to be perfectionists with the scissors. I think it's well worth the effort once you see your kids' faces light up. If you're running out of time you could also use a trail of plastic eggs.

Once the children follow the foot prints it will lead to the first clue, then the second clue and so on until they find their baskets. You could do a large hunt for the entire family or smaller hunt for each individual child.

Also provided in this printable collection are envelope clue seals (party circles). I also included some blank party circles/cupcake toppers to be used however your hearts desire.

And last, but not least... the moment the children have been searching for-- their baskets! These printables come with basket tags to ensure each child gets their correct basket of goodies, because heavens knows we can't be having any mix-ups!

I realize having a scavenger hunt focuses solely on the Easter bunny and that Easter is really about our Savior and his resurrection so this was an activity I was gearing towards the younger crowd. However, to incorporate a more spiritual feel you could always fill their baskets with new scriptures, a book on Christ or church music.

So I hope you enjoy the scavenger hunt printables. Happy downloading and Happy Easter!

You may download HERE.

{Customer Party} Easter/Birthday Celebration

After seeing the free Easter party Printables on Catch My Party blog, a sweet lady from Brazil contacted me and asked me to customize the prints for her son, Luca's first birthday. I think she did an amazing job with the party and it was a pleasure working with her (and learning a bit of Portuguese on the side).

The ginormous treat table. Brazilians know how to party, right?

Egg Party Favors

Chocolate Candy Party Favors

Sweets

Whirly Pop Sucker Party Favors

More Brazilian Sweets

Water

and darling centerpeices. Looks like Luca had a fun gathering. Thank you Carol for letting us be apart of your son's very special first birthday.

{free printables} Masculine Party

As promised the masculine version of the previous let's party printables. You could use these for a boy baby shower, a birthday party or anything for that matter, because even girls like the color green, right? I hope you enjoy them. Happy downloading!

You may download them at Catch My Party or HERE