For some reason the 4th of July doesn’t inspire me to do as much crafting and decor as other holidays throughout the year, though I still want to have a bit of festive decor around the house to celebrate! Paper crafts seem to feel perfect for this particular holiday, like these super simple patriotic flowers from Live Laugh Rowe. Low cost, minimal effort and an adorable outcome- hooray!

{Make patriotic paper flowers}

I’ve spent the last few days dreadfully sick and stuck in bed. Days like these make me so glad I’ve got a good craft stash that the little lady can go through and use to create some projects on her own. Crafts like these pencil holders from A Diligent Heart can be a great option for kids to create more independently. Set them up at a table with the supplies and let them get crafty while you rest and recuperate.

{Make craft stick pencil holders}

What is the secret cure for messy face? If you are a "fun time mom" like me, then your kids live life to the fullest (especially during summer), which means getting messy! My boys always seem to get food all over their face — I take it as a sign that they are enjoying themselves, but… sometimes you gotta wipe the fun off of their face!

My cure for messy face?

1. A sense of humor! I let them get messy and don't freak out about it. But then…
2. Keep calm and use a paper towel, preferably saving money by using Scott® Towels!

Did you know you can get an array of Scott Paper Products at Dollar General? Woot! Awesome budget brand at an awesome budget-friendly store!

What Scott® products are available at Dollar General you ask?
- Scott® 1000count bath tissue, 9 pack
- Scott® 1000count bath tissue, 4 pack
- Scott® Towels (Mega Roll, Choose-a-Size) 6 pack
- Scott® Extra Soft Bath Tissue, 12 pack (Big Roll)

Cure Messy Face, then Get Free Music!

And now, when you purchase $6 worth of Scott® products at Dollar General, you’ll receive 3 FREE Music Downloads!

Everyone loves music. Everyone loves a good deal. And everyone needs paper products for a super-sweet prices! Well, that’s where Dollar General can step in and help — Dollar General is THE place to get your Scott® products for a steal of a deal!

For a limited time, when you visit Dollar General Stores (offer valid in-store only) and purchase $6 worth of Scott® products, you’ll receive 3 FREE Music Downloads!

How to Get Your Music:

1. Go to a Dollar General store.
2. Purchase $6 of Scott® products.
3. Find your download code (there will be an alphanumeric and QR code) on your receipt.
4. Go to the URL on your receipt.
5. Enter your code and download your music!
6. Full details available here: Scott Paper Products

We’re getting down to the wire, friends. Just a few more days until we get to celebrate the incredible men who give of themselves day after day to love and bless and raise our children with us! My husband loves having photos of the family in his office at work, so I wanted to give him an updated picture of him and the little lady to display on his desk. But I didn’t just want to pop a photo in a frame, I thought I’d step it up just a bit for Father’s Day! This project took me about 5 minutes, and cost a grand total of about $2.

 Supplies:

• computer
• frame- $1
• one hour photo printing (like Costco, Walmart, Walgreens)- about $1 for a 5×7

• Select a recent photo of Dad with his kids, and upload it to a FREE photo editing website. My two favorites are ipiccy.com and picmonkey.com. These websites allow you to add filters and effects to your photo if you’d like, and to create text on the photo. I chose to add the phrase “I have a hero his name is Daddy.” I think that’s a pretty perfect way to sum up how my little lady feels about her Dad.
• Save your edited photo to your computer.
• Upload your edited photo to a one-hour photo printing service. I prefer walmart.com and costco.com most of the time. They’re both near my house, and I’ve never been disappointed with photo quality. TIP: be sure to preview the photo as it will be cropped for the size you select. I would’ve preferred to order an 8×10, but that ended up cropping some of my text, and I didn’t want to re-edit the photo. A 5×7 worked perfectly for me.

Now you’ve got one hour (or less!) until your picture is ready, so stop by the dollar store on your way to pick up the photo and grab a frame. Once you’ve got the picture, just pop it in the frame and wrap it up for Father’s Day!

For Father’s Day this year I really wanted to get one of those awesome silver keychains with the little lady’s handwriting imprinted on it. After doing a little research, however, I discovered that it was way out of my budget. So I decided to create a very quick, easy and CHEAP version using shrink plastic!  You can do it too, lickety-split!

Supplies:

• shrink plastic- on hand (or available at your local craft store for less than $1 per sheet)
• hole punch- on hand
• sharpies- on hand
• keychain- on hand

• Cut a shape from the shrink plastic using a paper punch or scissors. I find that a circle works best for keychains made of shrink plastic because it’s less likely to snag or break.
• Use a hole punch to make a space for the keychain to hook through. Be mindful of not punching too near the edge or it may snap after awhile.

• Have your child write on/decorate. I asked her to write a message on one side and draw a picture of her and daddy on the other side. I also asked her to not write any letters very small, as they will shrink and may be difficult to read.

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place shrink plastic on cardboard or wax paper on a cookie sheet.
• Bake for 2-3 minutes. If you haven’t worked with shrink plastic before, be aware that it will curl up in the oven. DON’T FREAK OUT! This is totally normal and it will flatten itself back out- I promise!
• Once it has finished shrinking, remove from oven. If it’s not completely flat, immediately place a flat bottomed bowl or glass on top while it’s warm. It’ll flatten right out, and will be completely cool within a few minutes

• Attach keychain to the disc. You’re done!

Wrap this in a little box for Dad, or use it as a tag for other wrapped gifts. Dad’s sure to love it!

This is birthday party BRILLIANCE! Love and Olive Oil just blew my mind with these DIY pixie sticks. Not only are they incredibly cute, they’re probably about fourteen thousand times better than the traditional version as far as ingredients are concerned. Are they a health food? No. Though I’d bet that you could nix the sugar from the recipe and still have a totally yummy treat that would be completely junk-free. I’m not even going to tell you how she did it…you’ve got to go take a look for yourself!

You can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be making these for my little lady’s next birthday!!

{Make homemade pixie sticks}

Are you new to crafting? I like to think that paper crafts are a great “gateway craft” because they’re usually quite simple and don’t require much financial investment. This pop up father’s day card from All Things Paper looks trickier than it is, I promise. There are really clear step-by-step directions for the origami letters, and older kids will have a great time exploring origami and helping with the card. Practice the steps with scrap paper first, then make the finished product with proper patterned paper suited to Dad’s tastes.

{Make a pop up Father’s Day card}

Step up your Father’s Day plans this year with this collection of FREE printables from Sweet Rose Studio, including a banner, cupcake toppers and dad-tacular quote prints. What a glorious way to help celebrate Dad! These party printables will help you make  him feel loved and appreciated, and the kids will get a kick out of setting up a shindig just for him!

{FREE Father’s Day printables}

Some of my proudest moments as a parent have been in creating healthy treats that my little lady LOVES. One of the secrets to my success in this area is to make everything as cute as possible. These frozen yogurt cupcakes from Fit Sugar are certainly cute, in a familiar cupcake form, and made from healthy ingredients. You may also like to know that each mini cupcake has only 30 calories! Be sure to have the kids help you make them!

{Make frozen yogurt cupcakes}

HELLO CUTE! This DIY washi tape dispenser from Craft and Creativity is just about the sweetest little project I’ve seen in awhile. It’s a relatively simple craft using simple cardboard items she had on hand. (Be sure to scroll down just a bit to see the directions in English!) You can easily modify the project to hold more rolls of washi tape if needed (because, really, who among us has only 5 rolls?!). Your craft desk is about it get a whole lot awesomer.

{Make a washi tape dispenser}