Virtual Birthday - Quarantine Birthday Idea!

If you're like me, I'm sure you know someone who has had a birthday during Quarantine 2020!!!  I've seen drive-by parades all over social media!! My daughter has her 13th birthday coming up and we've been brainstorming some ideas about how we can celebrate if we're still stuck at home.  While our plans could change at any moment, we are considering a Virtual Birthday!  This idea may work best with older kids who have their own phone or device, but you could tweak it for younger kids too!  Obviously more parent involvement will be needed for the younger ones!

FREE VIRTUAL PARTY PRINTABLES

PARTY LOCATION: 
FACETIME, ZOOM, MICROSOFT TEAMS, SKYPE, ETC.
Your invitation will be very important in detailing all the details of the party.  You may need to set up a video conference ahead of time and provide a passcode for your guests.  Not everyone has an Apple device with access to FaceTime, so you will need to figure out these details ahead of time and include them on your invitation. Etsy has great invitations available (my shop has two--see below), but you can just create your own from your phone using Canva or any other free app!  
EXAMPLE INVITATION 1

EXAMPLE INVITATION 2

PARTY TIME:
Select a one-hour party time slot for the video call. Some conferencing hosts have time limits, so you may be forced to adhere to these restrictions.  Kids get bored and may not be used to extended video calls, so keeping the call under one hour will make it easier to maintain their attention span.

DROP OFF "PARTY KITS" WITH FOOD, GAMES, CRAFTS, FAVORS, PHOTO PROPS:
This is where you can be creative!!!  An hour before the scheduled party, drive around to each of the guests' homes (if they are local) and drop of a party kit!  Examples include:
-Printed party games like BINGO, Scavenger Hunts, Word Games, Apples to Apples or my personal favorite: "Who Knows Her/Him Best" where guests use dry erase boards or paper to answer a question about the birthday girl/boy.  If they answer the same as the birthday honoree, they get the point!

-Photo props for guests to wear during the call like sunglasses, birthday hat, feather boas, temporary tattoos, crowns or tiaras, necklaces, etc.

-Food like pre-packaged cupcakes, donuts, & cookies, bags of chips, juice boxes.  Keep it simple and sanitary by including items that are already packaged, but add a cute ribbon or sticker to make it more personal!  Make time to sing Happy Birthday and eat the cupcakes all together!!!

-Craft sets like scratch art, LEGOs, canvases with paint--activities that could be done by the guests during the call!!!  

-Favors.  This one is tricky for me because I like to opt for a craft over a favor, unless it is useful or disposable!  I personally do not care for trinkets like bouncy balls, whistles, bubbles, etc.  But that is just me!!!  I love favors like candy that be consumed, crafted jars that can be used to store pencils, photo frames with a photo from the party, gel pens or fancy pencils.....you see where I'm going, right?!!!  

PLAN EVERY MINUTE!
Create an agenda for the party.  This will help keep you and the guests on track to get through all your activities.  You can plan time for socializing, games, eating, photos/screenshots, and even a quick one-on-one chat with the birthday girl/boy and each of the guests!

In order to keep these printables FREE, I do not offer customization.  Please visit my Etsy shop for custom order inquiries and price quotes!

Clipart from:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RaccoonGirlDesign
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MilachiDigitals
https://www.etsy.com/shop/pointandpoem

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Don't forget to subscribe to my posts by email!

For your personal and classroom use only.  Professional printing okay.

Jamie My Fashionable Designs

Etsy | Blog | Facebook | Instagram 

Free Instagram Stories Backgrounds

Hi everyone!  Please enjoy these brand new backgrounds you can use on your Insta-stories!  

ABOUT ME- BLUE/GRAY

ABOUT ME - GOLD

TODAY I'M FEELING

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT

In order to keep these designs FREE, I do not offer customization.  Please visit my Etsy shop for custom order inquiries and price quotes!

Gold Background by https://www.etsy.com/shop/JennyLDesignsShop 

For your personal use only.  

 Jamie My Fashionable Designs

Etsy | Blog | Facebook | Instagram 

Free Printable Owl Birthday Invitations!

Hi everyone!!  I have been adding several new designs to my Etsy shop lately, including some instant download thank you cards.  It inspired me to create some birthday party invitations!  I hope you'll enjoy this set of owl-themed party invitations in 4x6" JPG format.  Print and write in the info or import into Word or your favorite photo software if you want to type in the info.  :)Jamie

Pastel JPG

Primary Colors JPG

In order to keep these printables FREE, I do not offer edits or customization. However, please visit my Etsy shop for customization inquiries and quotes!

Background by https://www.etsy.com/shop/tinkerncodigital
Clipart by https://www.etsy.com/shop/Prettygrafikdesign

Kids Craft Project: Marble Painted Mason Jars

Hi everyone!!!!  Well, summer is in full swing here!! We were at Girl Scout camp all week last week, so I'm finally catching up on all the laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.!!

My daughter's birthday party was a few weeks ago....20 nine year-old girls at our house! Thankfully the weather was beautiful and we were able to carry out our carefully planned game of The Amazing Race!  We also made these marble painted Mason Jars!

My inspiration was these jars I saw at the Target Dollar Spot:

Supplies Needed:

Mason Jars with lids (any size)

Acrylic Paint

Craft Rope -(got mine at Target's Dollar Spot May 2016, but here is an alternative)

Tags, Stickers, etc. & Hole Punch

You just squeeze in a few squirts of paint into the jar (5-7 squirts to start), put the lid on and shake it up!  Some paints are thinner and may work better.  Add a drop or two of water if your paint is too thick. Add more paint if necessary.  Then turn upside down to let the paint drain down the jar and into a bowl.  You want the coat of paint to be as thin as possible to make drying time fastest.

The colors will mix and blend together into a beautiful marble effect! Some used two colors, others used 10 colors!  It was cool to see their creativity and the end result! The metallic and glitter paint was absolutely gorgeous!!

The girls added rope and tags with their initials.  It takes at least 48 hours for the paint to dry completely.

They look adorable with artificial flowers!  They'd also make great pencil or accessory holders!

....or with 4th of July coming up....flag holders!

Thomas the Train Party!

I can't believe my little boy is 5 today!!!!!!  We had a busy weekend of celebrating his birthday, as well as my niece's (where I made an appearance as Cinderella!!!)!

The decorations were my little attempt at a Pinterest-decorated Thomas party....and were probably more stress and exhaustion than they were worth!!!!  I know I saved a lot of money creating tags, labels, a banner, and even a wreath myself, but it was hours of work.  I think next year, we'll just go to Sky Zone!!!! We borrowed a bounce house to use that day, but it was cold and rainy, so that plan got nixed.

Mason has sooooo many trains and accessories, so it made decorating almost free!!

I got both a cake and cupcakes to add some color to the table.  The goody bags had train tattoos, Thomas stickers, a Thomas stamper, the BINGO game, Thomas candy melts that I made with a mold I got last year on Ebay, and some misc candy/snacks. I made the labels in Photoshop.

I got the little bins from Dollar Tree and glued on sandwich cookies with a hot glue gun.  

This was my beginner's-level attempt at a mesh wreath!!  You can't see if from the photo, but there are little Thomas & Friends trains attached!

I love an excuse to get out my popcorn machine!!!!!! 

Drinks were just water and juice pouches. This table was also for the gifts. 

I put a train cutout sticker (cut on my Cricut) on mini canvases and the kids colored over them with markers.  Then when they removed the sticker, there was a little white train!

I also made a Thomas mini BINGO game for the kids to play!!! Email me if you'd like the file! 

It was a wonderful party and the kids had fun just playing around in our basement! I wish the weather had been better for the bounce house and outdoor activities, but that was out of my control!!  Next year;)

:)Jamie

Free Printable: Gift Card Wraps - 8 designs

Am I the only person who stresses about gifts for all the birthday parties my kids get invited to???!!!  First, there's the shopping part, where I'm scrambling at the last minute trying to find a "useful" gift.  Second, there's the gift-wrapping part.  Third, there's the card.  Then after all that, I'm thinking why didn't I just get a simple gift card?!!!

So, I hope this free printable is useful to you and saves you time and stress!!  Simply print one of the designs below that I have created below, wrap your gift card in it, tape or attach a sticker, and sign the receiver's and giver's name!  Click on an image below to download.

Zebra background by VonDigitalDesigns on Etsy.

Plaid, Crayon, Floral, and Cupcake background by PrettyGrafik.com.

Frames by Coloryourway on Etsy.

Dinos by Dailyarthub.com.

Created by Jamie/fashionablemoms.blogspot.com for your personal use.

Painting for Beginners!!!

My little girl celebrated her 8th birthday on Memorial Day!!  I can't believe it's been 8 years since I gave birth to her and now she has finished 2nd grade already!  We'd been having her birthday party at a park the last few years so we could: 1. Basically invite an unlimited number of people, 2. We wouldn't have to get our house ready and 3. We wouldn't have to clean up afterwards! But this year, she wanted.....a SLEEPOVER!!!

So that's what she had.  I told her she couldn't invite every single friend, and that we would keep things simple.  She narrowed it down to just a few friends and we had a very talented teenager come and teach the girls how to make a painting!!! (Then the girls moved on to cake, presents, watching a movie, playing Sleepover BINGO, and I think by 3:00AM most of them were asleep!!!!).

OK, now back to the whole painting lesson!!

I had never been to one of those painting classes that you see on Groupon all the time, so I had no idea how this worked.  But my friend, whose daughter was teaching us, knew the whole deal.  Here are the supplies we needed based on my daughter's choice of this (advanced level) painting from Pinterest (yikes!):

SUPPLIES:

2 - 2 oz. containers of acrylic paint in each of the colors of green, purple, and white

1 - 8 oz. container of acrylic paint in each of the colors of blue, read, and yellow

1 large paint brush and 1 small paint brush per girl

Baby Wipes

Paper Towels

Cup of water for each girl

Paper plate for each girl

Canvas for each girl

Paint smocks or old shirts for each girl

She simplified the painting for 8 year-olds and did step-by-step instructions for the girls!

This was the lovely almost-finished product of our artist (who happens to be only 13, can you believe it?!!):

It was so fun to see the girls' different paintings!!! 

I made the painting placemats for the girls using some gift wrap, zebra cards, plain white paper, a name label, and my laminator:

Oh gosh, I can't believe I'm posting these pics, but I got very inspired during and after the party to paint my own paintings!!! I am a very new beginner to painting!! But I'm loving it!!!!

Here is the one I did during the party:

And I made a cupcake based on a similar one I found online:

And then I got inspired to paint a tree for our family room....

I can't wait to go buy some more canvases!!!!  Who knew painting could be so relaxing and fun?!!!  I think in my older age, I'm not so worried about making mistakes, so I just go with it!

The party was a success!