Summer

Transform plain white cotton cloth napkins into cheerful DIY Tie-Dye Dinner Napkins. It’s so simple to do, tons of fun, and takes just a couple of craft supplies to make a whole bunch. Tie-dying is one of those magical crafts where you can be a total beginner and nail it. The key is to really …

Make an interactive pretend campfire and s’mores play set to bring camping fun indoors, rain or shine! This cute paper craft project features a toasty campfire with wood-grain logs surrounded by a stone ‘safety’ ring for kids to toast pretend marshmallows until they’re golden brown. Keep reading to see how to download the free printable …

Make these patriotic DIY 4th of July Party Decorations featuring America’s favorite classic popsicle, Rocket Pops! I’m sharing my hand-drawn free printable rocket pops template that you can use with my all-time favorite vibrant color paper, ASTROBRIGHTS® Papers. This free printable bomb pops template will put a little more KA-BOOM into your Fourth of July …

Make DIY ball markers for your favorite golfer! This golf gift DIY craft idea is quick and easy for the kids to make a DIY golf gift idea for dad or grandpa, and it’s lots of fun too. It’s a great DIY gift idea for Father’s Day and birthdays. See also: ‘Sharpie Golf Tees DIY …

Planning a party soon? Make these easy DIY drink stirrers for your cocktails and mocktails. All it takes is wood sucker sticks, striped washi tape, cardstock paper, a 1″ round craft punch. You can personalize them with any image you like, and it’s quick to make a ton of drink stirrers in just one evening. …

Get ready to grab the brass ring! This summer we’ve been riding carousel animals. ? ☀️ ? My August orange, purple, teal and blue summer color palette is inspired by the many creative color combinations on vintage wooden carousel animals like this sassy tiger… Everyone else seems to be going back to school already but …

Summer is in full swing and I just made this cute and easy DIY summer wreath. Look at it once and it’s a colorful sun ☀️ Look at it again and it’s a circle of ice cream cones! ??? This easy DIY summer wreath is so full of joy and whimsy, and it’s actually really …

Is your kid going to summer camp? Have your little camper make a personalized summer camp DIY luggage tag for less than $2 and under 30 minutes. This year was Elise’s first year of sleep away camp. Eek! I mean, it’s exciting, but it’s also crazy that my baby girl is old enough now to …

This yellow, pink-pink and purple summer color palette was inspired by at a cute miniature golf course ?️ ⛳ ☀️ I like that it feels super 80’s and nostalgic, like the best kind of throwback summer. I mean, look at all these colors of golf balls! Elise and Liam and Shane and I each chose …

Today I’m sharing the best grilled chicken recipe to make this summer. This grilled chicken recipe uses a super easy, foolproof marinade that takes just a few ingredients and is cheap enough to serve a crowd. Shane is the chef in our family and he’s a master griller. His grandmother and mom passed down this …

I made this printable summer camp activity book for Elise’s first year at summer sleep-away camp. She’ll be gone for five days and I thought it would be fun for her to have a booklet to journal all about camp. Keep reading for the free printable summer camp activity book (slash-journal-slash-memory-keeper). There’s a welcome page …

Make a DIY custom koozie drink holder to cool Dad’s bottles and cans. It’s an easy and useful DIY Father’s Day gift idea from the kids! I mean, look at this cute little drawing of daddy on his custom drink koozie… Elise and I made this DIY beer cozy together using a bit of foam, …

How’s your summer been? It’s mid-August here in Chicago and hot and humid like it’s supposed to be. Lately we’ve been spending a lot of time at the beach.

I’m really excited to share that I’m featured in the July/August 2016 issue of Rachael Ray Every Day™ Magazine …it’s the one with the yummy grilled corn-on-the-cob recipes on the cover. Yay! The article is called “Life Of The Party: Use Your Noodle” and it shows how to make five clever and easy pool noodle …

It’s July and everything is green and growing. We escaped the city for a bit to vacation in the country at a farm that we rent each summer for backyards and grilling and s’mores and sprinklers and county fairs. Today I’m sharing July color palette inspiration for your paper crafting projects and wedding colors. Last …

Today I’m bringing more color palette inspiration for your paper crafting projects. Last month I showed you an ocean of violets in bloom purple and green palette and April featured a cheery spring color palette inspired by a Nashville quilt. This month’s palette inspiration is yellow and bright red. School’s out for the summer — …

School’s out and it’s time to travel! The kids and I took a three-week road trip with several stops along the way. Packing for road trips can get tricky — especially choosing which toys and travel activities to take along for the kids. As a creative person, I think it’s important to bring some creativity-building, …

Here’s an easy idea for DIY Father’s Day decorations: Colorful paper tie napkin rings, tie garland bunting decorations, and a tie card. It’s a kid-friendly activity and a festive way to Colorize your Father’s Day brunch. The kids think Father’s Day is kind of like a birthday and so they wanted to decorate for “Daddy …

Today we had some time to kill before dinner so we made these easy DIY bracelets on the deck. This kid’s craft kept both my 5-year-old and my 3-year-old interested and occupied for a good 30 minutes with very little supervision which was exactly what momma needed after a super packed Memorial Day weekend.

Here’s a fresh and sun shiny DIY nursery wall art idea: Personalized sun prints made using sun paper and alphabet magnets. Liam’s room is getting a makeover so I decided to make a bit of DIY artwork for his room to keep company with his super adorable Minted monster artwork. Chicago has been sunny and …