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I can’t believe that it’s almost time for another Mother’s Day – one of my favorite days of the year! I can usually count on being pampered and feeling appreciated on Mother’s Day, which is probably why I love the day so much. I also love receiving homemade gifts and crafts that my kids have made for me for Mother’s Day. In fact, I still have a couple of the crafts that my kids have made over the years hanging in my bedroom because I love them and the memories of when they made them so much!
I came up with the idea for this thumbprint tree from similar projects that I have seen over the years on the internet. While it is not a completely original idea, I thought it turned out quite nicely for a quick DIY gift for a mom or grandma. I’m obsessed with using blank white canvases to make DIY wall hangings and gifts. There’s just so much you can do with a blank canvas!
Because my kids are teenagers, I had them help me make this Mother’s Day craft. I was pleased that it was easy enough for just about any age kids to be involved in (with some parental supervision) but that it turned out nice enough to display or give as a gift.
Want to see how easy this thumbprint tree was to make?
Supplies Needed:
Instructions:
1 – Sketch a tree to cover the majority of the canvas. You can make your tree look however you’d like, but make sure you include lots of branches. I had my 16-year-old son sketch our tree, because I know he’s good at that kind of drawing.
2 – Squeeze a small amount of paint onto a paper plate.
3 – Dip a finger into the paint and blot on the plate or paper towel until there is just a small amount of paint left on your finger.
4 – Make several finger prints on the branches of the tree and some at the base of the tree, if desired.
5 – Tip: we used a different color paint for each of the kids in our family. The kids each used “their” color to cover the tree with lots of “leaves.”
6 – Allow the paint to dry and then display on the wall or wrap it up as a gift!
© 2017, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
]]>Crafting is a passion of many, but it can cost a ton of money. If I had my way, I would craft all day, but that can get super expensive. The key question is…how can you save money crafting? When it is a favorite pastime, you have to find ways to make it work financially for you. Here are 6 ways to save money on crafting.
Hobby Lobby and Joann Fabrics are great places to shop for crafting supplies. I noticed that when you sign up for their texting options, you get great offers! Signing up only takes a few minutes, but you can earn coupons up to 60% off. Truly a great way to save on crafting.
Have you thought about this? Chances are that you have a ton of crafting supplies and so do your crafting friends. Don’t be afraid to swap crafting supplies with someone else. You will be able to get a few things you need without spending a dime.
I know this tip is no surprise to you, but it’s a great reminder. Shopping in the clearance aisle can save you so much on crafting supplies. Matter of fact, this is the only way I’ll shop for crafting supplies. I do not like paying full price for anything, especially when it comes to crafting supplies.
When the summer months hit, I hit the garage sales for crafting supplies hard. Crafting supplies can always be found at garage sales. If you have a good imagination, you can get creative with what you find at garage sales. Buttons, fabric, ribbon, etc. are a few of the things I often find at garage sales.
As fun as it is to shop at crafting stores, don’t pass up second hand stores. Since people donate all of their junk, you could come into contact with crafters heaven. I LOVE looking around second hand shops to see what I can find to add to my crafting collection.
Know other crafters in your area? Team up and buy crafting supplies in bulk. Auctions and online websites have crafting supplies for sale. It amazes me what I can find when I’m looking for something. Split the cost with your crafting friends or keep all of the supplies for yourself!
How do you save money on crafting?
© 2017, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
]]>This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Gorilla Glue Company for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
I love this time of year! Although this native California girl would be happy to live in a warmer, snow-free state the rest of her life, I admit that I love the way fresh-fallen snow looks. Snow is pretty inevitable in Maryland during the winter, so I should probably just embrace it.
I DID have a lot of fun creating these little wintery scene Christmas cloche candle holders this week. They are the perfect reminder to me that snow can be beautiful and peaceful and festive (and not only cold, messy, and slippery!).
I couldn’t have made these easy Christmas cloche candle holders without the help of Gorilla hot glue sticks! They were the perfect tool to create my fun little craft. We use hot glue for lots of projects around the house, but I must say that I was surprised at how quickly and easily these cloches came together. Each cloche took about 10 minutes to create, start to finish! I was thrilled with how the finished Christmas cloche candle holders turned out.
You’ll be amazed at how easy these were to make! I picked up some cheap stemmed glasses and a few other supplies, and my project was done in about 30 minutes, start to finish!
Supplies Needed:
1. Turn each glass upside down and trace the shape with a pencil on your piece of cardboard; cut out the circles. Lay out “winter scenes” with trees and figures to see what will fit best inside each over-turned glass.
2. Use Gorilla hot glue sticks and your hot glue gun to attach your trees and figures to the cardboard circles.
3. Fill each upturned glass with a small amount of fake snow.
4. With the “scenes” sitting on a flat surface very close to the corresponding glass, run a consistent bead of hot glue along the entire circle. Quickly and carefully turn it upside down and place on top of the matching glass, Press gently but firmly so that cardboard circle adheres to the glass. Run another bead of hot glue around the outside of the glass where the cardboard and the lip of the glass meet. Let dry upside down.
5. Repeat for the remaining glasses. Allow the glue to cool completely before turning the glasses upside down (your cute winter scene will now be right side up!). Shake gently so that the fake snow falls to the “ground” of your cloche.
6. Place a candle on the base of each overturned glass. Enjoy!
Gorilla Hot Glue Sticks are only available at Walmart

Enter to win a VISA gift card worth $250 on the widget below. Good luck! Gorilla Hot Glue Sitcks $250 Gift Card Giveaway
© 2016, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
]]>I love making my own bath and beauty products, not only for my own benefit, but to give as gifts to friends and family. I use my DIY sugar scrubs every single day in the shower (they are amazing for cleaning and moisturizing my face, and my homemade sugar scrub makes the best shaving “cream” ever!).
My youngest son, even though he’s 11 now, still prefers taking baths, and I admit that I do love a nice relaxing bath (especially when I’ve got the house to myself and I can relax and soak for as long as I’d like!). There’s nothing more soothing that a hot bath and a fizzing bath bomb.
This week, I made some peppermint bath bombs, and because they holidays are coming up soon, I decided to form them in some fun and festive clear ball ornaments. Not only do the pop-together ornament balls make an ideal mold for bath bombs, but the ornaments themselves make an adorable gift “package.”
If you’ve never made fizzy bath bombs before, here’s what you need to know: when baking soda and citric acid are mixed together and then added to water, a chemical reaction occurs. As the bath bomb dissolves, the reaction between the baking soda, citric acid, and water creates carbon dioxide, which results in lots of bubbles. Those bubbles not only make the water feel fizzy, but they release the soothing scent of the peppermint essential oils into the air, too.
Peppermint is not only one of my favorite scents of the holidays, but it is one of my favorite scents year-round. I especially love peppermint essential oils for soothing a headache or helping clear or calm my sinuses, which is a constant problem for me during the winter months. If peppermint is not your thing, or you’d just like to shake things up a bit and make a different scent, you can use any essential oils or leave them out altogether.
Recommended: for an even more festive scent, try Candy Cane essential oil blend, which combines peppermint, lavender, orange, and vanilla. It’s heavenly!
Ready to see how to make your own bath bombs?
Ingredients
Instructions
A couple of helpful notes:
© 2016, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
]]>I know I am not the only one who has kids that are about to lose their mind waiting for Finding Dory to come out (okay okay, I am just as excited as they are). As a fun pre-treat while waiting for the movie we made up these adorable Finding Dory Fizzing bath bombs.
These Finding Dory bath bombs make a great moisturizing and detoxifying soak for littles ones and would be a fantastic homemade gift or to give out at a Finding Dory themed party!
(Psst…They’re great for mom and dad, too!)


To use: add 3-4 bath bombs to warm bath water and watch them fizz away, leaving behind a yummy scent, a light color, and softened skin.
You can use any essential oil you like to scent these with – lavender for bedtime, orange to wake them up, or peppermint/eucalyptus when they have a cold. If you don’t have essential oils at home, ask me about them. I’m a huge advocate and love to suggest great oils!
PS – be sure to print out my Finding Dory coloring pages and activity sheets and stay tuned for my movie review coming up soon! – Laura
© 2016, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
]]>I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz….Star Wars: The Force Awakens is available to own (digital download now and Blu-ray/DVD this week). If you loved it as much as we did, I’m sure you’ve already made plans to buy it. If you are still waiting, grab your copy today (Amazon affiliate link).
With the recent resurgence of Star Wars mania, my house has not been immune to the force. We ran out to see the newest movie when it came to theaters, we bought the Star Wars shaped food, merchandise, etc… Yet we still can’t get enough, we love them all – Luke, Leia, Chewie… We also love coming up with our own crafts and fun little vignettes.
Succulents are a great plant for terrariums because they require very little care, making them great for children’s rooms.
I took a trip to the Dollar Store-spent $4, plucked succulent cuttings right out of my own yard (or you can pick up some brand new ones at Walmart for a few bucks), and raided my sons Lego collection to create this fun living play space. Frugal, easy, and adorable… terrariums are a great activity to create with your child. We made this one together and he loves having it sit on his dresser among all his other beloved Star Wars items.
Note: I’ve included affiliate links to the supplies on Amazon so they’re super easy for you to find. If you make a purchase from my links, I get a small (and I mean small!) commission, but you pay the same as you normally would. If you don’t already have an Amazon Prime account (which gives you free shipping!) you should totally give it a try!

Enjoy your new Star Wars succulent garden!
© 2016, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
]]>Have you tried creating your own homemade bath products yet? You are definitely going to want to give this Chocolate Covered Strawberry Sugar Scrub a try right away, whether you’re a seasoned maker-of-homemade-bath-products or if you’ve never tried it before.
The only thing I love more than creating DIY beauty and body products is making them smell good enough to eat! While I wouldn’t recommend a big spoonful of this, it is much safer than any store bought version, it’s much cheaper to make, and so easy to put together you won’t believe it! Beyond one simple ingredient all you have to do is raid the pantry for a few supplies and you have a wonderful body scrub to keep or gift. Moms, friends, teachers – they will all love this deliciously scented easy spa treatment that they can do in the comfort of their own home.
Homemade sugar scrubs are the perfect way to soften and moisturize your skin in a snap; you can repeat this treatment in the shower several times a week for healthy glowing skin. After you use this chocolate covered strawberry sugar scrub, be sure to add a little whipped chocolate body butter. You’ll love the way your skin feels…and smells!
1 – Scoop out a generous amount onto damp skin, massage in a circular motion, rinse completely away, pat skin dry with a towel.
2 – Sugar scrub will be good stored for several months in an airtight container.
Here’s a simple label you can use for the top of your jar. I’ve included one graphic image, and there are 2 easy ways you can use this. First, save the image to your computer.
Option #1 is to go to Avery Design & Print Online and use their free templates program to print them off on their stickers. Just enter design #22807 in the “start a new project” box and then click go. That will bring you to a page of lots of templates. If you want to use my design, click on the blank white circle (the first “design” there) and click next again. You’ll then see a big “graphing” circle in the middle of the screen. Click on “images” on the left menu and upload this image. Drag it til it fits the entire space provided. Viola! You should see the design populating the entire sheet to the right. You can print them on Avery labels OR you can just print them on any paper. (get the Avery circle labels here)
Option #2 is to open up a word document and insert this image as a file into a blank document. You can add as many as you want on a sheet, dragging to make it your desired size. I would probably opt to print on card stock versus regular printer paper.
If those options sound too complicated, then you can always add a scrap of fabric under the rim of your mason jar or tie a simple ribbon around the lid. Instant present-ready!
Be sure to check out Food Fun Family’s other homemade bath products:
As pictured above:
DIY green tea sugar scrub
Mint sugar scrub
Ginger white tea cocoa butter soap
Whipped chocolate body butter
Frankincense and Orange Whipped Body Butter
Shea butter lotion bars
© 2016, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
]]>I love to create crafts, and Valentine’s Day just seems to be made for fun DIY projects. I usually don’t consider myself a very crafty person. Actually, I take that back. I can make nice-looking things. I just need a really good idea – I can copy just about anything. But ask me to come up with an original idea? Most of the time I’m totally lost.
That’s why I’ve turned to a few fellow crafty bloggers to put together this list of 10 gorgeous but easy Valentine’s Day crafts for adults.
Whether you’re looking for a little something handmade to decorate your house for the Valentine’s Day season or if you’d like to make something as a gift for someone special, these easy Valentine’s Day crafts are sure to please!
1 – Button Heart Canvas Wall Art from Food Fun Family
2 – Valentine’s Day “I Love You Because….” Dry Erase Frame from Food Fun Family
3 – Canvas and Button Heart Art from The Logbook
4 – Heart-Dotted Sharpie Cups from Organized 31
5 – Handmade Valentine’s Day Felt Arrows from An Extraordinary Day
6 – 3D Hanging Paper Hearts for Valentine’s Day from An Extraordinary Day
7 – Pipe Cleaner Heart Garland from We Know Stuff
8 – Marbled Votive Candle Holders from Director Jewels
9 – Easy Valentine’s Day String Art from Crafts ‘n Coffee
10 – DIY Love Banner from April Golightly
Do you have any Valentine’s Day crafts (for adults OR for kids) that you’re working on this year? I think my kitchen needs some of those 3D paper hearts (don’t they look so cute hanging in the window?) and I KNOW that my kids would love to help me make some pipe cleaner heart garland (and bonus: we have pipe cleaner already!).
Now if only I could figure out what to do with all of that red burlap and paint stirring sticks. I’m taking ideas. Please share your favorite crafts or what you’ve been working on in the comments below.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
© 2016 – 2017, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
]]>Learn how to make this easy DIY Ginger White Tea Cocoa Butter Soap with just 3 simple ingredients!
During this past year, I discovered how easy and rewarding it is to make my own skin care products. When I was talking with my sister months ago, she mentioned that she had a favorite lotion that had white tea and ginger, and so when I was at Trader Joe’s a few weeks after our conversation and stumbled upon Organic Ginger Pear White Tea, I decided that I had to buy a box and see what I could make with it. That box of tea has been sitting in my bedroom waiting for months, but I finally got around to making my first bath and body product with it.
It smells so heavenly…and after reading about the benefits of both white tea and ginger essential oils, I couldn’t wait to start using it!
Please note that affiliate links are used in this post. I appreciate your support!
This soap couldn’t be easier to make because it uses a melt and pour soap base (in other words, you can skip the complicated part of soap making and simply enjoy the process of making your own, beautiful, fragrant soaps).
Homemade soaps make amazing gifts! So if you’re looking for a last-minute holiday gift or you simply want something to soothe your dry winter skin, then this soap is a perfect project. With just a few minutes of work, you can make your own unique soap.
Here are a few things that ginger essential oils can do:
I am personally not a tea drinker, so I was excited to learn that white tea’s incredible antioxidant benefits could be enjoyed with topical use. Here are just a few of the things that I read about the benefits of white tea:
Please note: the above information was found through my reading about both white tea and ginger essential oils, but should not be mistaken for medical advice. I am an independent distributor of Young Living essential oils, not a doctor or medical professional. Please do your own research and talk to your doctor with questions. If you have questions about essential oils, feel free to send me a message!
Get the instructions to make this homemade soap HERE:
© 2015 – 2016, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
]]>Christmas Crackers are a fun, simple, and inexpensive way to add a little treat to your kids’ table, Christmas Tree, or Christmas packages.
Now, if you have never heard of Christmas Crackers, here is a quick lesson for you – They were invented in the UK in the mid 1800’s by Tom Smith, a London Sweet Maker. Today, a Christmas Cracker is traditionally given next to your Christmas dinner plate. While they used to be quite fancy and much larger, these simple tissue paper ones are easier to put together but just as cute.
You need just a few craft supplies that are probably already laying around your house and of course some small candy and trinkets to fill them with. These can be made for children but easily modified for a fun adult party favor too.
Our Christmas tree and home decor is woodsy so I thought it would be fun to make them match with our theme. You could make yours with any theme or color scheme. And since they are so simple to make, they would be a perfect kid’s craft – let the kids put together their own Christmas crackers for friends or siblings.
Here are the visual steps:

Decorate crackers and then carefully poke holes in the paper where the 2 halves meet to make it easier to break apart
That’s it! How easy is that?
© 2015, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
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