Who can resist penguins – they are just so cute! My very talented friend Jen at Nothing But Penguins has shared this free printable, do it yourself Penguin holiday gift tag craft with us. Simply print as many as you need to dress up all your gifts and have fun making them.

Printable Penguin Holiday Gift Tags

Click on the image above to view and print the activity full size, or you can download the Penguin gift tags as a PDF file.

You need your basic craft materials such as scissors, glue, a hole punch, and some pretty ribbon. Beyond that, let your imagination be your guide.

Having a penguin themed party or just have a thing for penguins? Here are more penguin gift tags, matching invitations and favors.

Misfit Penguin – American Greetings – Kids Holiday Card Ice Skating Penguin – American Greetings – Kids Holiday Card SALE Holiday Penguins Cellophane Bags SALE Studio basics: photo birthday party invitations, Surfing Penguin Penguin Love – Amy Suther – Valentines Holiday Card Red Snow Penguins – Motormouthpress – Holiday Party Invitation Two Snowy Penguins – Great Arrow Graphics – Holiday Card

Friday the kids were doing the snow dance as the forecast was for the biggest snow we have had in years! They have had fun playing out in the snow, throwing snowballs, and trying to build a snowman.  We decided to keep the snow fun going with this super simple craft we found at FamilyFun.com – Snowball Soap.

You need 4 bars of ivory soap, 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and if you want to really make them fun, some little plastic penguins to hide inside. We couldn’t find the penguins anywhere near us so we made the snowballs without toys.

Using a cheese grater, grate the bars of soap and transfer to a large bowl. Little ones need supervision for this part!

Gradually add the lukewarm water (we added a few drops of peppermint extract to the water for a nice minty smell) and work the mixture to the consistency of clay. Shape the mixture in to snowballs.

Once you shape the snowballs, place them on a tray to dry. Ours took about 24 hours to completely dry. If you are adding the toy penguins you add them as you are creating the soapballs. We also thought it would look nice if you sprinkled the snowballs with a bit of glitter before letting them dry.

When they are dry, package them up in a cute gift sack and give them as inexpensive gifts. We gave some to the kids in our neighborhood today and they loved them.

One quick note of caution before cleaning up your work utensils – rinse them COMPLETELY in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher. I failed to do this and my dishwasher was FULL of soap suds. I had to run the load twice and do an extra rinse cycle. Yikes!

It may be April, but I spent my weekend working on a homemade skeleton costume for my daughter. No, I am not super prepared and making sure her Halloween costume for the year is ready 6 months in advance, rather she is in a play this week with the part of a skeleton in an ancient ruin. Since we were given some creative latitude, she wanted a girly skeleton. Your average party store does not stock Halloween costumes at this time of year and I was not on the ball enough to order one ahead of time, so I was destined to make it myself.

We found a cute costume called Hip to the Bone as our inspiration:

For the homemade DIY version of this girly skeleton costume you need:

• Long sleeved black t-shirt (found on clearance at Target)
• Black leggings (already had)
• Black skirt or skort (found on clearance at Old Navy)
• Piece of pink tulle or similar fabric (was a remnant we had from a previous project)
• White fabric paint
• Pink puff fabric paint
• Marvy Uchida Fabric Ball & Brush Marker fluorescent green
• Paint brush
• Painter’s tape
• Printable bones stencil (print on cardstock and cut out with a hobby knife)
• Printable ribs stencil (print on cardstock and cut out with a hobby knife)
• Printable heart stencil (print on cardstock and cut out with a hobby knife)

Start off by placing a piece of cardboard between the layers of the shirt and use painter’s tape to hold the heart stencil in place. Use the pink puffy paint to fill in the heart – don’t worry about making it perfect. Remove the stencil before the paint dries completely. Let the heart dry for at least 4 hours.

While the heart on the shirt is drying, cut out the leg bone stencil and tape it to the lower leg of the leggings. Be sure to place cardboard between the fabric layers. Since we are adding a skirt to the costume, you just need a bone on each lower leg, not the thigh bone. Using the white fabric paint, fill in the bone stencil – it may take a few coats. Let the paint start to dry and remove the stencil before the paint is completely dry. Repeat on the other leg. Once the paint was dry, I outlined part of the bone with a glow in the dark fabric marker.

Once the heart is very dry, place the rib cage stencil over top of it and tape into place. Paint each of the ribs with white fabric paint and outline areas with the glow in the dark fabric marker, too.

This is how the rib cage of the skeleton costume looks when its done. You will need to paint the bones on each arm, too. Remember there is an upper arm and a lower arm. The lower arm is actually made up of two bones so I used the same bone stencil but did not fill in the inner part of the bone all the way.

To give the costume a girly look, I made an apron out of a remnant piece of pink sparkly tulle. I cut holes in the top edge and ran a piece of ribbon through it. We tied the apron around my daughter’s waist over top of the skirt rather than attaching it permanently – that way she can wear the black skirt on its own if she wants.

Drum roll, please… the finished project…

And guess what? I think I have her Halloween costume for this year ready to go already!!

I love fairies. I always have, so imagine my surprise to find out there is a holiday to celebrate Fairies! I visited a website called Fairy Day. I was inspired to celebrate this day and thought I would share what I made to celebrate it with you.

I found the most adorable and easy to decorate fairy cookie cutter on Etsy – here is the listing. My cookie cutter was $2.25 plus shipping. I was thrilled at the size of the cookie cutter when it arrived and I quickly made up a batch of sugar cookies to try these out.

If you have a fairy enthusiast in your home why not use this celebration as a springboard into reading this summer?

This summer “holiday” for fairies is a great time to introduce the kids to a wonderful line of books called Rainbow Fairies by Daisy Meadows. These very easy to read book series are sold individually and have 7 books in each series. I personally have more then 80 of them in my collection. They are perfect to read to preschoolers or along side of your child. They are written at a second grade reading level and are the perfect summer book series for you little fairy enthusiast. I also recommend the series of books based on art work by Cicely Mary Barker her fairy art work is so endearing and her child like fairies images stay with you.

Enjoying my Fairy Sugar Cookies with tea and my favorite book and wishing you a very Happy International Fairy Day!

~Karen Owen (Karenmomofthree)

Here are more Fairy books, party ideas and Fairy crafts for you to do in celebration of International Fairy Day or for anyday!

How to Host a Flower Fairy Tea Party Tinker Bell’s Tea Party (Disney Fairies) Disney Fairies Porcelain Tea Set Fairy Crafts: 23 Enchanting Toys, Gifts, Costumes, and Party Decorations Fairy Crafts: Green & Groovy Fairy Parties: Recipes, Crafts, and Games for Enchanting Celebrations Kids’ Arts & Crafts: Kids Fairy Threading Card – Fairies Lacing Cards Fairy Painting Craft Kit Each Fairy Party Deluxe Favor Set Fairy Party Ultimate Birthday Box Fairy Party Centerpiece Garden Fairy Deluxe Party Pack Disney’s Fairies Deluxe Party Pack The Rainbow Magic Collection: Ruby the Red Fairy / Amber the Orange Fairy / Sunny the Yellow Fairy / Fern the Green Fairy Volume 1: Books #1-4 The Rainbow Magic Collection: Sky the Blue Fairy/ Inky the Indigo Fairy/ Heather the Purple Fairy Volume 2 – Books 5-7

My sister-in-law turned 60 this past weekend and her wonderful daughters put on an amazing party for her. One of my favorite parts of the dessert table was the “60 Sucks” Lollipop Tree.

It was so easy to make! All you need to make your own “It Sucks” display is a piece of FloraCraft Styrofoam Block that can be purchased at any craft store, some fun fabric or a container to cover the floral foam, the desired number of lollipops and a sign declaring what age, event or concept “sucks”.

For other decorations they found The Party Continues 60 Glitter Cutout banners, made sweet sugar cookies and wrote the number 60 on them with icing, and placed fun containers with my sister-in-law’s favorite candies on all the tables.

Check out CelebrateExpress.com for a great selection of birthday themes and supplies for all ages and save $20 on orders $100 or more!

Happy Birthday to me and welcome to the July 13, 2010 edition of all things family.

Heather Mann presents Make a Vuvuzela (Stadium Horn) posted at Dollar Store Crafts, saying, “Make a World Cup-inspired stadium horn noisemaker out of dollar store stuff.”

Heather Mann presents Make Your Own Memory Game posted at Croq Zine – The Blog, saying, “A simple and fun game for preschoolers to make and play.”

Dan presents Firefly Party for Fun Summer Outing posted at My Dad Blog, saying, “It’s summer time! So do something unique for your kids’ friends and meet some parents as well – host a Firefly Party! We did and it was great.”

Phil Lopez presents 10 Best Christian Games for Family Fun posted at Christian Colleges and Universities.

BWL presents A Birthday Party On A Budget posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, “With birthdays come birthday parties, gifts, and sometimes a cash shortage. But, there are ways to help minimize your costs and still have a great birthday party on a budget.”

Madeleine Begun Kane presents The Tenor Of Our Anniversary posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

Charles Chua C K presents F.A.M.I.L.Y. Way to Bring Up Your Children posted at All About Living with Life.

Pamela Jorrick presents Independence Day posted at Blah, Blah, Blog, saying, “Our family 4th of July didn’t go as planned, but it did make me realize how lucky I am to know what a family friendly celebration is.”

Linette G. presents 5 Fun Baseball Cupcake Ideas posted at The Kid’s Birthday Fun Review, saying, “For a baseball end of the season or birthday party.”

Elizabeth Marsten presents Edible Summer Crafts posted at Glue Gun Crafts.

Shannon presents Celebrating a Birthday While Traveling posted at Party Elf.

Jen presents Happy Birthday Cupcake coloring page posted at Projects for Preschoolers.

Wendy presents Ice Cream Party Games posted at Fantasy Jr.

Char presents Happy Birthday Coloring Pages at Printables4Kids.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of all things family using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Welcome to the June 1, 2010 edition of All Things Family. We are celebrating all things summer in this edition. Kick back, pour a nice glass of iced tea and enjoy the reading.

Let’s Party

• Shannon presents Host a Craft Birthday Party posted at Partyelf, saying, “Keep your party guests entertained by hosting a Craft Birthday Party with these ideas.”
• Heather presents The Princess and the Frog Birthday Cake posted at Celiac Family.
• Heather M. presents How to Have a Dollar Store Wedding posted at Dollar Store Crafts, saying, “Here are some great ideas for saving money on your wedding, or any party.”
• Digerati Life presents Water Fun Activities To Cool You Off This Summer posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”
• Pamela presents Double Digits posted at Blah, Blah, Blog.
• Randa presents Scavenger Hunt Lists and Ideas at FreeStuff4Kids.

Get Crafty

• pickel presents Grown In My Heart » Blog Archive » 4th of July Crafts posted at Grown In My Heart, saying, “4th of July Crafts”
• Jen presents How to Make a Silly Bug Headband at Projects for Preschoolers – how cute!
• Wendy presents Kids Flower Crafts at Craft Jr.
• Char presents Printable Princess Tiara craft at Printables4Kids.com – perfect for any princess!

Family Reading

• Philip Dean presents Parenting Should be a Group Sport posted at Random Acts Of Parenting, saying, “I am convinced that our “go it alone” parenting style is neither intended or healthy. I like to consider it a group sport. Here is a short explanation why.”
• Madeleine Begun Kane presents Bugged By Mosquitos posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.
• Dana presents Parenting in the dark posted at Roscommon Acres.
• katie presents Blended Family – An Ex Perspective posted at Blending Ex’s… Stick that in your Cuisinart.

Whether you are having a pirate themed birthday party or just celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19, here are some fun printable coloring pages, puzzles and games with a pirate theme!

• Printable Pirate Party Invitation
• Pirate Coloring Page and Pirate Color by Number
• Ahoy Matey Pirate Word Search
• Pirate Hat Craft (as seen to right)
• Pirate Coloring Pages
• Milk Carton Pirate Ship
• Plenty of Pirate Crafts
• Popsicle Stick Pirates
• Make Polly’s Treasure Chest