One of the crafts that we had for the kids at my daughter’s birthday party was Zoo Animal Magnet Kits from Oriental Trading Company. I always wonder how the crafts are going to be shipped, and how much assembly will be required when they get here, so I thought I’d lay out a before and after of one of the magnets. The black rectangle is the magnet that gets glued on the back. All of the pieces can be assembled with standard school glue. Isn’t he a cute little monkey with his curly pipe cleaner tail? …read more

The day after the Groundhog excursion for my daughter’s birthday, the traditional caffeine and sugar sponsored madhouse (AKA the birthday party) occurred. Don’t worry, the caffeine was strictly for the adults who were silly enough to stick around to help (thanks for being silly enough to stick around and help! ).
Inspired by our recent jaunts to Kids’ Club at Michael’s, we decided on an “Arts and Crafts” theme for the birthday party. Each child was given a canvas tote bag to decorate with fabric markers, a zoo animal magnet to assemble, and a felt pillow to …read more

More birthday party theme ideas. I know my daughter would LOVE LOVE LOVE a princess themed party. She wears a dress and tiara around the house every day, anyway, so the costume aspect might not be that big a change, but I think she’d love to be treated like royalty for a few hours. Wouldn’t we all?
Head on over to Holly’s Corner to read about her survival of a pirate party and a princess bash all in one day! Whew. She should have been treated like royalty after a day like that!

We’ve mentioned birthday party themes a couple of times here, but never have we mentioned a magician themed party. But that’s because no one has those anymore, right? Those are as out of date as relay race parties in the backyard, right?
Wrong! We attended a birthday party tonight, and it was our first party with a magician. The kids LOVED IT. They had a blast! They were entertained, they sat still, got a kick out of the bunny (yes, there was the cliche live bunny), and loved the animal balloons that they got to take …read more

Are your kids as craft crazy as my daughter? Well, if you have a Michael’s Arts and Crafts store in your area, I have an answer to your Saturday morning, “What are we doing today, Mom (or Dad, Grandma, etc.)?!” Unless, of course, your Saturdays are already chock full!
Every Saturday morning, Michael’s offers Kids Club. From 10am until noon, they have a craft room open for kids from ages 5-12 to participate in the featured craft of the week. The cost is $2 in the U.S., $3 in Canada. For your fee, you get instruction …read more