I’m not sure how many times this coupon will print, so hurry!  The coupon is good Monday, April 13 through Saturday, April 18.  Print the coupon here.

image from michaels

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

image from michael’s

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

• 50% off entire stock of floral items
• 50% off entire stock of greenery and trees – includes tabletop arrangements, bushes, and garlands
• 50% off entire stock of baskets – includes natural storage solutions
• 50% off entire stock home and portrait collections, collage wall frames and framed art
• 50% off packaged foam stickers, shapes, and value pack bases, now $1.49
• 50% off mini ready to paint wooden shapes, now $.12
• 50% off Cuddlebug and Cuddlekids machines and accessories
• 50% off collectible and display cases
• 50% off straight and narrow ribbon
• 50% off Cricut cartridges
• also up to 80% off Christmas merchandise

Happy savings!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

image from Michaels

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

1st turkey – I know this one looks a little funny, but it was done by my daughter when she was only 16 months old.  We made our own patterns for this one.  We just drew the turkey body, cut out some feathers, and that little red gobbler thing under the turkey’s chin.  What is that thing called anyway?

Click to read more.

2nd turkey – This one is made by tracing the child’s feet for the turkey body.  You just trace their foot once onto brown construction paper, double the paper and cut it out so that you’ll have two feet.  Then you trace their hand onto different colors of construction paper.  I double those up too so that I only have to cut out four hands.

Last picture – This pumpkin patch was done using the children’s hands.  You put orange paint on their knuckles and press their knuckles down on the paper.  Then you use their pointer finger for the pumpkin stem.  After it dried, I added hand drawn vines.

Sorry I don’t post as many children’s activities as I used to.  My children’s activities are now posted at my other website, Little Fun; Little Learning. 

Enjoy!

P.S.  Please include links to your children’s craft below.  Or you can write out the instructions in the comments.  I’m always looking for new activities.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Do you have any thrifty Father’s Day ideas?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Parents love handprint crafts.  They are great keepsakes.  I love a thrifty craft.

For the lion, I made a mixture of yellow and brown (just a little) paint to make that sort of mustard color.  I painted the children’s palms with the paint and made a handprint on paper.  For the lion’s mane, I cut up small strips of brown construction paper and rolled them around a pen to get them to curl.  Actually, I had one of my student’s help me with this task because she loves to help.  We glued the strips for the mane, made a tail of yarn, and then I added the face.  Definitely cute and simple.

For the lamb, I traced the children’s hand onto a black piece of construction paper.  If they had good cutting skills, I let them cut out their own handprint.  Then we added torn pieces of cotton for a fluffy look, wiggle eyes, and a drawn on mouth.  I’m not too thrilled with the face on this lamb, but you live and learn.  I’m sure there’s something cuter that could be done.  Maybe next year.

So, what do you think?  Do you like them?  Do you have any arts & crafts ideas for us?  I’m always looking for thrifty craft ideas.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Last week at school the students made Valentine cards.  I let them add hearts to the cards with my foam stampers and some hearts cut from construction paper.  I used their hands to make a heart.  To make the heart I put paint on each of their hands and pressed their hands (fingers down), overlapping the thumbs.  Handprint art is always a hit.  They also used heart stickers to decorate the cards. 

Last week they also made Valentine bags with white lunch bags.  They used markers and hearts that I had cut from construction paper to decorate their bags.  I hung them on the bulletin board so that they could get Valentines in their bags throughout the week.

This week we are going to make heart collages.  I used the die cut machine (love that thing!) to make hearts of various shapes, sizes, and colors.  We are also going to marble paint hearts.  To do this I am using hearts that I have cut from large paper.  I am dipping marbles into different colors of paint.  I will put the large heart paper in a box top (a copy paper box top works well) and then add the marbles on top of the paper.  The students will turn the box top all different ways to make marble designs on their heart.  Maybe I can take some pictures and post them later.

Here are some other sites for kid’s Valentine ideas.

Kids Domain - make chocolate candy hearts, heart bracelets, heart pins & magnets, candy pots, and more.  We will definitely play a game of Heart Bingo this week at school!

Family Fun – finger puppets, coupons, stained glass hearts, love bugs, and more.

DLTK’s Growing Together - wreaths, valentine boxes, animal crafts, and educational crafts.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Food:

Anne Marie has a great vegan pumkin pie recipe for all to enjoy.

I had to include the sunbathing turkey from Simply dumb! I couldn’t resist.

Our own, Kailani, gives us 12 reasons to be glad the Thanksgiving turkey burned. Now that I could use

Holiday thoughts:

Pass the Torch lets you in on what she is thankful for. There are also adorable pictures of recess and why she is thankful for homeschooling.

Gayla at Mom Gadget shows us her favorite Thanksgiving picture. How adorable!

Super Mom shares her thanksgiving reflections with class!

Samantha from Double twin trouble shares her stress over her very first thanksgiving and reminds us that it is about family and not the turkey or pie. So true!

GNMParents reminds us of the difference between being thankful and being grateful. I really like this one.

Thrifty Mommy wants to know why Christmas has already come when we haven’t even cooked the Thanksgiving turkey yet!

Muse at Me-ander tells of how her Thanksgivings were a little different from the norm. Quite interesting.

Jaime Anne gives a touching portrait of her mother and reminds us all to tell our parents thank you for all they have done for us.

Carolyn from SharpBrains has a great way to relieve the stress of the holidays while reminding us of why it is so important to eat a variety of good vegetables.

Karen from Miscmum in Australia wants to offer us a fresh view on Thanksgiving from an international perspective.

Holly form Holly’s Corner gives us a touching story of her first adoption and how her blessigns just keep coming.

Christina from Are we there yet? has a hysterical story of the missing turkey. Remind anybody of a certain movie, A Christmas Story, and a Red Rider Bee-Bee gun?

Decorating and kids:

Kerri from Play Library shows us her kids’ adorable Thanksgiving Turkey placemats. Check them out and maybe you too can have a turkey gobble up your plate next year:)

Lori over at Fun Play Dates has some sweet ideas as to how to keep your kids active and happy with fun games for the holidays.

Matt Smith has a great decorating idea for the romantic in your life. We will definitely do this next year!

Mike at Career and Kids has some great ideas for easy Thanksgiving crafts to do with your kids.

More4kids reminds us to instill a sense of thankfulness in our kids. It is taught and learned by example, not picked up on accidentally.

A readable feast gives us a great list of children’s books for Thanksgiving.

Scribbit has adorable turkeys from pine cones that would beautify any Thanksgiving table setting.

Lisa at Parenting Toddlers reminds us of the classic toddler turkey hand. I love these.

I hope I didn’t miss anybody. If I did, please let me know and I will make sure I include it. Thank you so much for all your input and I hope you enjoy everyone’s sotries. They are touching and just what the doctor ordered for Thanksgiving. Now go and eat way too much turkey and then pass out on the couch.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy