Basketball Party: Photos and Free Printables!

We had a busy weekend celebrating (and cleaning up 😉) my son's birthday at his basketball party with 23 of his friends!  I wanted to share some photos and free printables that I created to turn my porch into a concession stand!  Enjoy!

-DECOR-

I used a white foam board from Dollar Tree and created the menu header and CONCESSIONS banner in Photoshop.  

[CONCESSION STAND MENU PRINTABLE]

[CONCESSIONS BANNER]

We used an old backboard (borrowed from my friend) for drinks, and other various basketball items for decor (mini scoreboard, Little Tikes hoop, trophies, orange balloons,  basketball hoops)

I considered getting all the NBA plates, cups, etc. from Party City, but decided to go the the much cheaper route and use pumpkin-themed items from Dollar Tree!  

I cut out a foam board for this frame and made letters and cutouts on my Silhouette Cameo. 

-ACTIVITIES-

[GUESS HOW MANY BALLS SIGN AND CARDS]

While there were mostly boys at the party, I decided to plan a craft (mostly in case the girls were bored with the outdoor games), but this pumpkin glitter globe was a HUGE hit with all the kids!!!!!

Dollar Tree is beginning to put out all their Christmas stuff, so I snatched almost two cases of these DIY Snow Globes!!  Each child filled their globes with glitter and glow-in-the-dark-stones from Dollar Tree (couldn't find them online, but they were in the craft section at our store).  We hot glued the stack of pumpkins (pulled off of Halloween straws I found at Walmart and Michaels) onto the base. We opened up the pumpkins and put a glow stone inside as well.  We added about 2 drops of glycerin and filled the globes with water. Very age-appropriate for 2nd graders and above!

We prepped each globe ahead of time with all the supplies.  Here you can see how the stones glow in the dark!!!

-FAVORS-

I forgot to take a pic of the favors, but here was a video I posted to my instagram stories the day before.  Each child got a basketball keychain with his/her name on it, Gatorade, candy, and chips

When they entered the party, we gave them all a lanyard with their name on it.  If you'd like to purchase the printable, visit my Etsy shop and message me for a quote!

It was a great party for under $300!

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

Basketball Clipart by:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PixelPineClipart

For your personal use only.  Professional printing okay.

Jamie My Fashionable Designs

Etsy | Blog | Facebook | Instagram 

Free Printable Planner Page: Football Theme!

Happy Friday!!  Enjoy this football-themed planner page!  It's 8.5x11", not dated.

[FOOTBALL PLANNER PAGE]

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

Background by: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PeculiarPrintables

I post new planner pages every Friday!  See the link "PLANNER PAGES" at the top to quickly find each week's new page.  Sometimes I'll include non-dated pages too!

For your personal use only.  Professional printing okay.

Jamie My Fashionable Designs

Etsy | Blog | Facebook | Instagram 

Football Party on a Budget: Concession Stand Setup

Hi everyone!  I wanted to share some pictures from the Football Party we had for my son's 7th birthday over the weekend.  I took many of the Concession Stand ideas from Pinterest, purchased most of the decorations from Dollar Tree, created a couple banners, and used what we already had!  If you're planning a football party, Super Bowl party, tailgate party, etc., I hope you'll find some of these ideas useful!

Each guest had to "pay" for the concession stand items based on the "prices" above 😉. They loved it!!!!

Black Foam Board - Dollar Tree

MENU Banner - Made myself

Concession items included cotton candy, ring pops, chips, candy, soft pretzels w/cheese dip, popcorn, Gatorade, water and pizza.  My 5th grade daughter and her friends worked the stand, replenishing the food, taking "payment", making popcorn, etc.

Table Cover and Football Plate (on display) - Dollar Tree

2-Tier Wire Rack - Target Dollar Spot Spring 2017

Flags - Made myself

Football Cooler - Borrowed from my sister, but available at Walmart

I used a projector to project an image of a football field onto the wall.

CONCESSIONS banner - Made myself

Orange cones - Dollar Tree

Jim's Men's Referee Shirt - Amazon

My glitter football shirt - Made myself

Name tags - Made myself

I used paper cups on the chandelier (similar ones are at Dollar Tree)

Football hanging decor - Dollar Tree

Football Glass - Dollar Tree

Favors were Football Glasses from Dollar Tree filled with a trail mix (Lucky Charms, various flavors of Cheerios, Fruit Loops, M&Ms, Football Candy Corn, Mini York Peppermint Patties)

Label - Made myself

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If you are interested in purchasing the printable items shown above (favor labels, name tags, banners, flags, etc.), please contact me in my Etsy shop for pricing!

 Jamie My Fashionable Designs

Etsy | Blog | Facebook | Instagram 

Free Printable Basketball BINGO

Hey everyone!  Do you all have your brackets filled out?  As I'm typing this, we're only about one hour away from tip-off of one of the most exciting times of the year (for me, at least!!)....MARCH MADNESS!!!!!!  Here is a free printable BINGO game that can be played during the games on TV, live at the game, or regular play with callout cards.  Enjoy!!!

Download HERE!

Background by https://www.etsy.com/shop/Pikaboodesign
Created by Jamie/fashionablemoms.blogspot.com for your personal use.
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!

Unique Gift Idea for Scouts, Sports Teams, etc. - Custom Photo Book

Hi everyone!!
I wanted to share an idea that I did last year for my Brownie troop.  This would also be great for sports teams, dance, student gift from teacher, etc.!!  I made each girl a custom 4x6" photo book with pictures from the year.  In this post, I will give some tips and ideas on how you can make a booklet like this (I will save the step-by-step of how to use a comb binding machine for another post!).

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

-Photos

-Front Cover-laminated is best! 

-Back Cover Paper

-Plastic Comb Binding Spines (size will depend on how many photos you are using)

-Comb Binding Machine (Don't own one? Check your child's school!  If you bring your own binding combs, they will probably let you use their machine! I know that FedEx, Staples, and OfficeMax also offer a binding service!)

OR -Instead of a binding machine, you could punch holes and use ribbon instead!

I'm considering offering these kinds of booklets and/or booklet covers in my Etsy shop..... message me if you're interested!

My Mom (a retired teacher) bought my book-loving daughter one of these machines for her birthday last year.  They are fabulous and we have used it many times for numerous crafts and books!

It's so simple.  You just stack all the photos together and use the machine to punch a row of holes in the paper.  Then you lay the comb binding spine through the prongs, pull the handle up to open the binding, insert the photos, and pull the handle down to close the binding! Since I used 4x6" photos, I cut the comb binding spines and was able to use one spine for two books.

I chose colorful pieces of scrapbook paper for the back covers.

New in my shop!

Hi, everyone!!!  I wanted to share some new certificates available in my shop!! Enter code BLOGGER for $2.00 off!

Baseball Certificates

Check out the latest design from my Etsy shop: Baseball certificates! Enter coupon code BLOGGER for $2.00 off! If you would like this in a softball version or any other sport, just let me know at checkout in the Note to Seller.

baseball clipart by Cocoamint
created by

March Madness Facebook Covers: Florida Gators, Wichita State Shockers, Arizona Wildcats, Virginia Cavaliers

March Madness is here!!!!!!!  Woohoooo!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!  Here are some Facebook covers for the #1 seeds: Florida, Wichita St, Arizona and Virginia.  Click image to download. I will create more teams based on comments and popularity:)

For instructions on how to change your Facebook cover image, click HERE.

AND of course I had to make one for my home state and fave team in the tourney:

created by

Tips for Taking Kids to Sporting Events

I grew up in a college town. My parents met each other at Ohio University as students, got married, found jobs in the town and never left!  And they are HUGE basketball and football fans.  So as kids, my sister and brothers and I went to many, many games.  Usually it was not really a choice for us since mom and dad both enjoyed the games and they rarely used childcare for us.  Fast forward to now.  Jim and I have taken our kids to college basketball and football games since they were newborn babies.  Mason was only 3 weeks old when he attended his first Bobcats football game!!!

My Dad and Mason (at 3 weeks)

We love the games and the kids love going too....for the most part!!!!  I have learned a lot over the years about what to bring, how to handle restroom issues, what to do if it's too hot or too cold or rainy, and most of all what to do when boredom hits!  The following tips are from my experiences at basketball, football, and a few baseball games we've gone to with the kids.  However, I'm sure this advice will be helpful with many sports, including high school, college and even professional!


1.  START WITH LESS IMPORTANT GAMES: If your kids have not been going to games since they were born, then it's best to start them at high school games or college games where the conference title is not on the line.  I'll never forget the 2012 Mid American Conference men's basketball championship game.  Ohio was on the verge of winning the tournament.  There was something like 2 minutes left in the game and Mya grabs my arm to tell me she has to pee.  I think I may have told her to pee her pants, no lie.  We had awesome seats not too far up from the court.....which meant we had a long way up those stairs to the bathroom.  So I scooped up the 4 year-old and ran up those stairs like I was training for the freakin' Olympics.  There had been a timeout, so we were back in plenty of time for the final minutes (including the thrilling ending and confetti)!  LESSON LEARNED: Take the child to the restroom at the 10-minute mark no matter what.  Don't risk missing the ending of the most important game of the year!! In our case, Ohio went on to play in the Sweet 16!!

2.  ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE KIDS: iPods, iPhones, iPads, etc. are excellent.  Just don't count on WiFi or even 4G in some venues.  Make sure the favorite apps are already downloaded.  Movies and TV shows are the best!!!!  Also we pack notepads and crayons or markers.

A lot of teams have fun stuff for kids before and even during the game.  Our kids look forward to all the blow-up slides and bounce houses at the football games!  The band performs across the street before the game and the cheerleaders and mascot take pictures with the kids.  So look online for kids' clubs the team has or any kiddie games and fun!

3.  SNACKS: This is tricky now that security personnel check bags and purses when you enter an arena.  I just hide the snacks.  Once I forgot to hide them, and the security guy just asked, "Are those snacks for the kids?" to which I said yes.  He just waved me on.  So I guess the event staff isn't too concerned with kids' food, at least in this particular case.  We love to buy popcorn at the games, but I will pack other things like fruit snacks, fruit, and suckers as well.  Bring empty sippy cups and water bottles because you may not be able to get things like juice boxes through security. Be prepared to drop $3 or $4 on a drink at the arena.

p.s. Cotton Candy is only $1.00 at Dollar Tree and $3.00 at the venue. Find a way to sneak it in!!

4.  HAVE A PLAN....IN THE EVENT OF...: Our most difficult games were when our kids were still napping.  It's usually at that two-year-old stage where they won't just fall asleep in your arms anymore.  Of course we can't control the game times, so if all else failed, either Jim or I would just go out to the car with the kids (especially during football games).  My parents have a parking pass at the stadium, so we were just steps from the car.  It's good to have a backup plan "just in case" because it can be very disappointing and frustrating during a game if you're stuck with a screaming kid and your car is parked 18 blocks away.  Bring along a babysitter or grandparents for the kids to sleep on or to walk the kids around if they get restless.

Give your kid his/her own seat if possible.  If they do want to fall asleep, you can rig up a bed.

5. HAVE FUN!!!! Take your flags, pom poms, noisemakers, glow sticks, etc!  Kids will remember the fun times they have at the games and they'll be excited to go again!