Cutest Homemade Calendar

Difficulty: Medium Time: Overnight to dry

I saw this at my friends house, and I fell in love! I just had to have one! (even over my hubby's protests of "we're moving, we don't need more junk!" I've also made 2 as gifts, they are cute, easy, original, and inexpensive!

Supplies:

• 12x12 shadow box frame (mine was $9.00)
• 12 sheets of scrapbook paper (one for each month)
• Thermo set Glass Paint of Glass Pen
• Black 'liquid chalk' pen
• small items to place in frame between paper and glass

1. First, draw the calendar template out on a 12x12 sheet of paper (I know this picture is hard to see, my template is in pencil). Then lay the glass over top, and trace the template with the glass paint or glass pen. I found a glass pen easier for this step, but glass paint was easier for me to get the small letters for the days of week words (next Step). Also, I had to let the horizontal lines dry for about an hour before I painted the vertical lines....My first try I did it too quickly, smeared it all and had to start over!

2. Next I printed the days of the week IN REVERSE on my computer, and simply traced the words backwards onto the glass. You want to make sure that 'Saturday' is on the left, and 'Sunday' on the right, so when the glass is placed back in the frame, they will read in the correct order. Let the glass paint/pen dry for 24 hours, and then bake in your oven according to paint/pen directions.

3. Once cool, wash with glass cleaner, and flip over. Use the chalk Pen to add numbers for the date, and the Name of the month on the top. I cheated and printed off a pretty type, which I laid under the glass and traced! I'm sure most of you crafters have better handwriting than me! And could probably freehand! The chalk Pen will wash off with water or glass cleaner so it's easy to change every month.

4. Place glass in frame, then whatever little items you have (mine are gold necklaces, but gold coins or chocolate coins would be cute too). Place the correlating month 12x12 scrapbook page behind (and I store all my other 'month' pages behind this one), then close up the frame, and hand or stand on a shelf!

I wont do this whole tutorial again, but I'll post my monthly Calendar pages...if you have a good one, please share! I'm sure I'm not the first to do this, but I'm new to 'craft blogging,' so sorry if I used anyone else idea and didn't give credit!

Easy Kids Craft, Countdown to our New Baby!

Difficulty: Easy! Time: 10 min

This was a fun craft I did with my kids to get them excited and ready for our new baby! I collected small candies, nuts, sugar free gum, stickers (whatever!) and let the kids choose what they wanted. We grouped them in 4's so each child would receive 1 treat a day. I tried to steer away from sugar, and more towards stickers and healthy treats, but we did get some candies in there as well! We did this 2 weeks before, but you could do it earlier if wanted.

We laid out a long sheet of saran wrap, and rolled the treats up inside, then tied baby blue and baby pink curling ribbon to separate the prizes. Each day the kids get to open one and eat it!

I draped the chain over a baby photo of our last baby, and I think it makes a cute and easy decoration!

Don't forget to join 'Our New Baby Countdown' game by leaving a guess and comment on that post :-)

Sleepover, Slumber Party birthday Invites

Difficulty: Medium Time: 1 hour for 12 invites

My daughter wanted a 'slumber party' for her 8th birthday, so I came up with these cute invitations. We actually held a "No-Sleep Over," or a "Mock Slumber Party," since I think she's still a little young for an actual sleep-over. The party went from 5:00-9:00pm

I made these cute invites by sewing this little pillowcase, and then cutting white cardstock to look like a pillow (or a flour sack, like my loving husband thought they were :)! Most of the girls thought the 'pillowcases' were sleeping bags, but whatever works!

Here's the poem I wrote for the invite, feel free to copy it if you like!

Come on over to Celebrate

Jennifer is Turning 8!

Wear your Jammie's, Slippers too,

We'll do all the things girls like to do!

Eat Pizza, Popcorn, Ice Cream, Cake,

Paint Nails, Play Games, and Stay up late,

And when It's time to go to bed,

We'll all go home to sleep instead!

These were a big hit, the whole party was fun! Look for the favors, activities and cake coming in future posts....when I get the time!

Don't forget to comment on my "Our New Baby Countdown" post to WIN a hand-painted barrette!

Better Birthday Bashes

Below is a Birthday Party article I just published, feel free to share with anyone or any site who may have an interest....just leave the links back to twigglebox at the bottom!

Kid’s Birthdays seem to be getting bigger and better every year. But a great birthday doesn’t have to be a headache, or break the bank. Here’s 5 tips for Better birthday Bashes from our experts at TwiggleBox.com.

1. Begin with the End in Mind! I always purchase or make my thank you cards at the same time as my invitations! I pre-address the thank you’s, even though I’m not sure which guests are really going to come. I’d rather throw out a 5 cent envelope than have to look the address up again. And if the Thank You’s are sitting ready and waiting, it is much easier to remember to complete the task and send them out.

2. Keep it Simple! Theme’s can help a ‘party planner’ (aka MOM!) focus on invites, decorations, games and more, but they don’t have to be complex (think circus with clowns, tents, and animals....sounds like a headache). Here a some SIMPLE theme ideas that will help reduce the stress and headaches, and still bring unity to the party. Pick a color (pink, green, yellow etc.) and use that to unify invites, thank you’s, birthday cakes and more. Use your child’s initial. It’s easy to find a litter stamp to monogram favor bags, cards, and even table cloths.

3. Keep it Small! When I had my first 2 children with birthdays 2 days apart, throwing a party (actually, 2!) seemed overwhelming. My mom gave me this great tip: Invite as many party guests as your children’s age. This has been a life-saver for me! Now a mom of 5, I still use this rule. My 8 yr old invites 8 guests, my 3 yr old gets 3. This helps keep our parties manageable, affordable, and fun. Little kids can become overwhelmed by large groups, so this rule works great!

4. Keep it Short! There’s no reason to have a dozen screaming children for hours on end. I use the 20 min rule... 20 minutes for each year of age. My 6 year old got a 2 hour party, my 3 yr. old 1 hour. Since children’s attention span expands with age, it makes sense that a young child’s party shouldn’t last as long as an older child. Birthday parties are not a ‘free babysitting service,’ and they should accommodate the needs of you and your child, not the guests!

5. Over-Schedule! It’s hard to tell how long party activities will take. I have a few kickbacks that take no prep, but will entertain birthday guests just in case we have extra time. Duck-duck goose, charades, red-light-green-light, or even just a favorite story book on hand are all easy to adapt to any theme (just change the name!), and can be used if you have extra time. I also like to keep some fun upbeat music on hand, most kids love to dance, and this takes no prep. It’s even more fun if mom and dad get in on the action! On the other hand, if you’re short on time, they are easy to cut out, and no time or preparation energy is wasted.

Birthday parties should really be about the child who’s growing up, and both mom and dad should be able to enjoy the moment WITH their child and friends. Kids will be more relaxed if their parents are, so remember don’t over-do it!

Our party experts at Twigglebox.com would love to hear about your Birthday Bashes, so check us out and view our low cost party favors and Children's Fashion and accessory products. We carry boutique items at wholesale and import prices! Send us photos or descriptions of your best birthday moments!

Our New Baby Countdown!

Here I am, getting ready to POP! Only 2 weeks from today until our new baby is due. I don't know if I'm having a girl or a boy..I don't have names picked out either! Let's do a fun game....anybody who wants to guess what we're having, plus actual date and time (or closest) wins an "It's a girl" hair barrette or

"It's a boy" hair barrette or "Big Sister" barrette, whatever the winner wants! Just a small prize, but it's still fun! So, here's a little info for a better 'educated' guess. I have 3 girls and 1 boy. I usually deliver within 1 or 2 days of my due date. My actual due date is March 8th. So send me your best guesses, and we'll see who's closest!

All you have to do to play is leave a comment here on this post! Also, If anyone has some name suggestions....mostly we're stumped on a boys name! Have fun, and I look forward to your guesses and comments!

"Up" Movie Party or Balloon Birthday Party House Cake

This cake was fun to make...though it didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped. I used a 10" round pan for the base of the cake and covered it with Blue Fondant, then added fondant clouds. The house was made out of the Wilton Brand Stand Up House Cake pan, but in retrospect I would have used a gingerbread house instead....my cake was collapsing on itself by the end of the party. At least we made it through!

I frosted the house with colored buttercream, and lined the edge to hide the cake pan with white buttercream dots to look like clouds. The roof is covered in necco candies. Then I blew up Water Balloons with helium and strung them on a bobby pin, which I pushed into the top of the cake. The only bad thing is the water balloons aren't really made to hold helium, so their float time is pretty short. I blew these up about 10 minutes before the party, and by 'cake time' an hour and a half later about 1/2 of them were already deflated. But I just cut the deflated ones off, and it still looked full and cute. The Kids all loved it!

Up Birthday Party 'snipe hunt' and Kevin Puppet

Difficulty: Med-hard Time: 1-2 hours

The whole birthday party was actually a "Snipe Hunt." If you've seen pixar's "UP" you'll understand. So I made this Kevin puppet 'snipe' out of feather boas for the party end. First you I cut out pieces of blue felt for the head, body and feet. Then I sewed these pieces together, leaving a spot to add in the feather boas for the neck and legs. I cut one 7 foot feather boa (available at twigglebox.com for only $2.99) into 3 pieces for the neck and legs. I filled the body, head and feet with the poly stuffing, and stripped 5 feathers for the head of the snipe, and stuck them in the seam.

Then I just stiched right over the opening with the feather boas stuck into the seam...I wan't too worried about nice seams, since felt doesn't run, and there are so many feathers they cover all the seams. The body I covered with different colors of feather boas, it should take 2 or three. You could buy bags of feathers as well, but I thought the boas were cheaper and easier. I cut a face and feet out of orange felt, and hot glued them to the head and feet. Then I attached giant googly eyes....if your using hot glue on the eyes make sure you place the glue on the head part first, then let it cool slightly before placing on the eye, or else the eye will melt. Lastly, I used 2 dowels and fishing line to make the puppet working parts. I stiched the fishing line through the feet, head, and body, and attached it to the dowels, which I arranged in a cross. I had a picture of this, but I lost all of my camera pictures (including the actual birthday party) for a whole month when my computer froze during uploading....and yes, I did cry!

When we finally finished the snipe hunt, we still hadn't found the snipe, so we called out "Chocolate!" and the snipe came out (run by my hubby!) All the kids got to take a turn being the puppet master, and had a blast. I took pictures of them all (which are now gone) to put into their thank you cards...which is a great idea if your computer is working. If anybody else makes one of these 'kevin's," let me know. I'd love to see how it turns out, there are so many creative moms out there who I'm sure could do this much better then I!

Balloon, UP birthday party favor....Merit Badge Sashes

Difficulty: Med Time: 10-20 min each

This was a fun favor for the kids. Every time we played a game, or did a craft they got to pick a new "Merit Badge." I pre-made the sashes with velcro, and then stuck the velcro on the patches. It's hard to see in this photo, but I left 3 little velcro spots uncovered....however, they are white! It was easy, if you know anything about sewing. You could also use iron on velcro, if you don't sew. I wanted real merit badges, but they were about $1.00 a piece, so I found these instead on ebay, just generic patches. I think it was 80 for $10, including shipping. Then everytime we did a new party 'thing' like eat cake, they picked out a new patch.

And The Winners Are....

Be My Valentine! Twiggle Box Valentine winners are:

Liz Narccarato! Thanks for following us! Congrats!

Winner of our Personalized Bow Holder, Personalized Hair barrettes and Assortment of our Hand Tied Bows! Congratulations!

Megan Cline! Thanks for following us! Congrats!

Winner of an assortment of our Hand-tied Bows!

Aurora Lowell! Thanks for following us! Congrats!

Winner of a pair of Personalized Hair Barrettes and Holiday Valentine Barrettes! Congratulations!

And all our readers win with this coupon for 10% off your next purchase at twigglebox.com! Good through the end of the month. Enter code: bemyvalentine at checkout!

Last Day! Be My Valentine Giveaway!!!

Twiggle Box wants to Be your Valentine!

Last Day to Enter our Giveaway! Winners will be announced tomorrow!

Have a blog!?! Pass this on to your readers!

The more entries we get, the more we give!

There's enough Twiggle Love to go around!

We're giving away one of our hand-crafted personalized bow holders! Holds a complete wardrobe of little girls bows, earrings, clips, barrettes and more!

Also a pair of Personalized Hair Barrettes, and an assortment of our hand-tied bows and daisy flower hair clips.

All you have to do to enter is:

• Become a follower here on our blog
• Become a fan on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Sign up at twigglebox.com for our e-newsletter and promo's
• Make a purchase at twigglebox.com (my favorite choice :-)!

The more places you sign up, the more likely you'll be to win! Pass this on to your friends and family...if we get a great response, we'll give-away more than 1 prize! There's plenty of Twiggle Love to go around!

Winners will be announced Tomorrow February 15th (due to Sunday) here and by email! Good Luck, and we hope you become our Valentine!

*odds of winning depend on number of entries received. No purchase necessary to win*

'Ellie Badge' for UP movie birthday party

Difficulty: Easy Time: 5 min per badge

I made these 'Ellie badge's" to give to our birthday guests at my 6 yr. old's UP movie birthday party. My kids were really excited about these, since they had to drink the soda first! We rarely buy soda, so this was a treat! So, here are the steps!

1. Find Soda with old fashioned bottle caps and drink up!

2. Wash caps and let dry completely.

3. Buy safety pins just larger than cap, and bend attached side slightly.

4. Fill entire bottle-cap with hot-glue (parents only please!)

5. Place safety pin with bent side into glue (open the pin to make sure you're not gluing the wrong side! Prop the other end of the safety pin on another bottle cap to hold in place.

6. Let cool...this takes longer than you would think...about 5 min.

Done! Now you're got your very own "Ellie Badge" for you and friends!

Be My Valentine Giveaway! Only 2 Days Left!

Twiggle Box wants to Be Your Valentine!

Only 2 Days left! Do you have a blog!?! Pass this on to your readers! There's plenty of Twiggle Love to go around!

We're giving away one of our hand-crafted personalized bow holders! Holds a complete wardrobe of little girls bows, earrings, clips, barrettes and more! Also a pair of Personalized Hair Barrettes, and an assortment of our hand-tied bows and daisy flower hair clips.

All you have to do to enter is:

• Become a follower here on our blog
• Become a fan on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Sign up at twigglebox.com for our e-newsletter and promo's
• Make a purchase at twigglebox.com (my favorite choice :-)!

The more places you sign up, the more likely you'll be to win! Pass this on to your friends and family...if we get a great response, we'll give-away more than 1 prize! There's plenty of Twiggle Love to go around!

Winners will be announced on February 15th (due to Sunday) here and by email! Good Luck, and we hope you become our Valentine!

*odds of winning depend on number of entries received. No purchase necessary to win*

Spinach and Egg Salad for Valentine's Dinner

This is a recipe from my Sister, who's a wonderful chef! It seems strange to put eggs in a salad, but this is a family favorite at my house! And the pink dressing makes it perfect for Valentines Day! Pair it with the heart enchiladas for a easy and yummy valentine meal!

Here's all it takes!

20 oz spinach

6 hard boiled eggs cut into slices

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup bacon bits

1/4 cup almond slices

Toss all this together! Then toss with dressing, or serve on the side

Dressing:

1 Tbs red onion chopped ( I just guess on this!)

3/4 C white vinegar

1 C oil (canola or olive is my favorite)

3/4 C sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp dry mustard

1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds

Blend chopped onions and 1/2 cup vinegar to blender. Blend until onion is fully crushed...no chunks left! Add the last 1/4 C. vinegar and all other ingredients EXCEPT poppy seeds. Blend until well mixed. Add poppy seeds and blend briefly. If you mix the poppy seeds too long, they get pulverized! Toss over salad, or serve to the side. I like to serve on the side, since the pink dressing is really beautiful! Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

FREE! Be My Valentine Giveaway! 5 Days Left!

Twiggle Box wants to Be Your Valentine!

Have a blog!?! Share this with your readers! The more sign-ups we get, the more we give! There's plenty of Twiggle Love to go around!

We're giving away one of our hand-crafted personalized bow holders! Holds a complete wardrobe of little girls bows, earrings, clips, barrettes and more!

Also a pair of Personalized Hair Barrettes, and an assortment of our hand-tied bows and daisy flower hair clips.

All you have to do to enter is:

• Become a follower here on our blog
• Become a fan on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Sign up at twigglebox.com for our e-newsletter and promo's
• Make a purchase at twigglebox.com (my favorite choice :)

The more places you sign up, the more likely you'll be to win! Pass this on to your friends and family...if we get a great response, we'll give-away more than 1 prize! There's plenty of Twiggle Love to go around!

Winners will be announced on February 15th (due to Sunday) here and by email! Good Luck, and we hope you become our Valentine!

*odds of winning depend on number of entries received. No purchase necessary to win*

Valentine Dinner! Easy Enchiladas

Heart Enchiladas make a great Valentine dinner! This is a recipe that's been in my family for years and years, passed on to my mother by her grandmother, who was raised in Mexico! It's simple and low cost, and even my kids eat it!

Here's the Recipe:

corn tortillas (as many as you eat!)

1 can tomato juice (76 oz)

1 can tomato's (whole, crushed, diced...your choice)

1 tsp or more Chili powder (to taste)

1 tsp salt

Grated Cheese and diced onions(opt.)

Pour the tomato juice and other canned tomato's into a large saucepan and heat on med (I like tomato chunks, so I use whole tomatoes and cut them up into the pan. My sister doesn't like chunks, so she uses crushed tomatoes...whatever you prefer).

When warm, remove 1 cup of tomato juice and add 1 Tbs flour at a time until you get a thick paste. Add chili powder and salt to taste. I use about 3 Tbs. flour, and 2 tsp chili powder. Pour back into pan and mix. Let tomato juice mixture simmer until thickened. If it gets too thick, add a little water. If you like it thicker, let simmer longer.

Heat about 2 inches of oil in a sauce pan big enough to fit your tortillas! Use med to med-high.

Pre-cut tortillas into a heart shape (or any shape! Usually I just leave them round, but this was fun for Valentines day)!

When oil is warm it will bubble when a tortilla is placed inside. You don't want it so hot that it pops at you!

Cook tortillas in oil about 1 min, flipping 1/2 way through, then dip into sauce, and place on plate. Cover with cheese, then stack another cooked and sauced tortilla on top. Stack as many as you'd like. My kids eat about 2, my husband eats 4-5, I eat 3! Serve warm, with an egg or salad. Pictured is Spinach Salad, which is coming in a future post!

This recipe is very simple, but takes a few times to get perfect since it's such a 'feel' recipe. The good news is it makes so much sauce, there's plenty for left-overs! I usually get 3 meals out of this for my family of 6. I just reheat the sauce and make the tortillas fresh every time!

FREE! Be My Valentine Giveaway!

Be My Valentine Giveaway!!

Twigglebox.com wants to be your valentine this February 14th! We're giving away one of our hand-crafted personalized bow holders! Holds a complete wardrobe of little girls bows, earrings, clips, barrettes and more!

Also a pair of Personalized Hair Barrettes, and an assortment of our hand-tied bows and daisy flower hair clips.

All you have to do to enter is:

• Become a follower here on our blog
• Become a fan on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Sign up at twigglebox.com for our e-newsletter and promo's
• Make a purchase at twigglebox.com (my favorite choice :-)!

The more places you sign up, the more likely you'll be to win! Pass this on to your friends and family...if we get a great response, we'll give-away more than 1 prize! There's plenty of Twiggle Love to go around!

Winners will be announced on February 15th (due to Sunday) here and by email! Good Luck, and we hope you become our Valentine!

*odds of winning depend on number of entries received. No purchase necessary to win*

"Up" Movie Birthday Party Craft or Favor

Difficulty: Easy! Time: 10 min per book

I thought this would be a great activity for the kids to decorate at my daughters birthday party with an "UP" movie theme. I found these little spiral notebooks for $1, and covered them in green and orange paper. First, measure the books (mine were 5x7), then cut out the green paper for the cover. You want it to be 1/2 bigger than the cover on all sides. So I cut my paper to the size 8x5 1/2 (it doesn't wrap over the spiral binding). I also cut a sheet of orange paper (any contrast color will do) to cover the spiral binding. Mine was 3 1/2 inches wide by 8" tall.

Next I painted glue or decoupage on the entire cover, and placed the green sheet over, as close to the spirals as I could get without interfering with page turning. The open the book, and paint the inside edge of the green paper with glue or decoupage. Start by folding in the corners, and then the edges. This will give you a nice crisp cover on the front. Repeat with the back cover.

Finally, fold the Orange paper so it fits around the spirals. This is something you just have to measure around the spirals on your notebook...or maybe you're covering a hard bound book, which would be even easier. Glue in place, and carefully fold the ends over.

Now you're done! You can decorate the front with the title, or let the kids do it themselves. I hand-cut the letters on mine, to give it a 'kid-done' look, like the one from the movie, and this was the example for the party guests. My Party was for 6 year olds, so I had stickers, stamps and markers for them to use, but you can adapt this craft depending on the age. For younger kids, you may want to pre-finish them all, and just let them draw in the pages, and older kids can get more creative with glue, scissors and paper. Most of all, Have fun! If anyone else does this for a party, I'd love to see it!