I love using the kids’ fingerprints in crafts! It’s a fun way to treasure their tiny fingerprints which will only be tiny for such a short time. Clara and I made some St. Patrick’s Day cards using her thumb print with a green ink pad to make a series of hearts which formed the shamrock […]
Easy Balloon Birthday Card
March 10, 2011 by
While Emily was at school, Clara and I enjoyed working on a special surprise birthday card to give to Em later this month. It was super-easy and lots of fun to make! We used construction paper, and drew lines with black marker for the balloon strings. Then Clara had lots of fun adding all the […]
Pillow Boxes from Cardboard Tubes
March 9, 2011 by
Emily and I had lots of fun making these super-cute pillow boxes to hold little treats to give to her friends! They are made with recycled cardboard tubes — Yay for crafting with recyclables!! First, she painted cardboard tubes. We chose to use several shades of green paint for St. Patrick’s Day treat boxes! Once the […]
Complimentary Placemats
March 7, 2011 by
After the girls went to bed, Mark and I thought it would be fun to make up our own breakfast placemats filled with compliments for one another using pieces of colored paper which were laminated with clear contact paper. This way, we can start our day with lots of positive thoughts, and it was a […]
Valentine Sweets for My Sweetie
February 8, 2011 by
A warm welcome to our newest sponsor, Happy Heels by Hannah! Hannah and her sister sew and sell fleece blankets that are designed to keep babies warm in a car seat — brilliant! Frugal Family Fun Blog readers can get 10% off their order by using coupon code — FFFB10 Sponsors help make this blog […]
Homemade Valentine’s Day Gifts
February 7, 2011 by
I visited NBC’s studios in Philadelphia for a fun segment to demo some easy homemade Valentine’s Day gifts — frugal and festive!! In case you missed the show, here’s the clip! Coming up this week… a super-fun giveaway, and lots more frugal crafty goodness!! Yay!
Heart Tea Tags
February 4, 2011 by
These heart tea tags were a fun after school project for Emily, and they make quick, easy, (and frugal) Valentine’s Day gifts! I had a small box of tea from the dollar store, and Emily snipped off the tea tags with her kid-friendly scissors. Easy, peasy! We didn’t have any heart stickers on hand, but […]
Crafting with Leftovers — Valentine Collage Placemats
January 27, 2011 by
These Valentine collage placemats are the perfect excuse to use up leftover craft supplies, and there is very little post-clean up involved. I love that it kept Emily happily entertained for a long while, and she has plans to make more of these for grandparent gifts!! She did almost this entire project on her own, […]
Battery-Free Toys We Love
January 25, 2011 by
Recently, I asked readers on Facebook to share their favorite battery-free toys with us. Here’s a summary of the responses, and I think this would be a great go-to list for a gift guide, or if you’re looking for alternatives to TV to keep the kiddos entertained during cold Winter days! A big THANK YOU […]
Kid-Made “Sandpaper” Letter Set
January 12, 2011 by
This “sandpaper” letter set was made by Emily as a gift to her little sister — and Clara adores them! I have seen similar sets in pricey catalogs. We used 2″ felt alphabet stickers ($2.80) and 3″ wooden disks ($0.24 each x 26) from the craft store. For a grand total of just $9.04! Emily […]
Easy Crazy Crayon Party Favors
January 7, 2011 by
We’ve been de-cluttering around here, and we found LOTS of broken/old crayons (they were everywhere!) I thought it would be fun to make “crazy crayons” a la Martha Stewart with a Valentine’s Day twist! Emily helped make them and she can’t wait to give them to friends! Gather old/broken crayons that you have on-hand. Do […]
Friendship Necklace Kits
January 6, 2011 by
These friendship necklace kits make fun (and frugal) party favors that the kids can make with very little grown-up help! I’ve included a printable template for the bag toppers sized for standard zip lock sandwich bags as a nice finishing touch, which has space on the back for “To:” and “From”. Emily really enjoyed this […]
Personalized Gifts Kids Can Make
December 18, 2010 by
Need a personalized, meaningful gift for that special someone on your holiday list? Here are some fun ideas for gifts the kiddos can make! These whimsical photo tea tags feature fun photos of the kids, and serve as a great reminder to “hang in there”. They make great gifts for any tea lover! (Mmmmm… tea!) […]
Last Minute Holiday Gifts Kids Can Make
December 13, 2010 by
Emily helped demonstrate some frugal homemade gifts kids can make on The 10! Show this morning! We had so much fun crafting these quick and easy gifts with LuAnn! The kiddos love to help stir up homemade bath salts, and they make great gifts for teachers, neighbors, grandmas, or anyone else you know who could […]
Rainbow Sprinkles from Highlights High Five
December 10, 2010 by
This little gem of a handmade gift idea comes from Highlights High Five magazine — rainbow sprinkles to use as a fun topping for yogurt or ice cream! As soon as Emily saw this craft featured in the December issue, she begged to make it! If you don’t already subscribe to Highlights High Five, I […]
Around the Web — Handmade Holiday Gifts for Baby
December 4, 2010 by
Now is the perfect time for some quick weekend sewing projects. Here are some frugal handmade gift ideas for the littlest ones on your holiday list! I used this free pattern from Stardust Shoes to make several pairs of cloth baby shoes as gifts, and it is one of my favorites! Aren’t they just the cutest?? […]
Handmade Holiday Gift Guide — Manly Man Edition
November 28, 2010 by
The holidays are almost here!! Need some holiday gift ideas for the men in the family? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered — all in frugal style, of course. Get the kiddos involved for some crafting fun! Handmade Gifts for Him: Macho Manly Man Pocket Handwarmers for Men – Kids can help stuff these with […]
Lil’ Mushroom House
November 10, 2010 by
This sweet lil’ mushroom house was so easy and so much fun to make! Plus, it’s made using recycled materials — making it a super-frugal project! It would make a great handmade holiday or birthday gift, and there is only a little hand sewing involved. I used an empty oatmeal canister for the base, and […]
