April 2, 2016 by Krista

30 Minute DIY Musical Gift Box

WELCOME!!

Hey, I’m glad you’re here today! I’ve got a fun project for you and I can’t wait to share it! Have you ever wished there was a little more personal, fun way to gift a gift card? Well, what if I told you you can turn a musical card into a gift box that plays music when you open it? And it’s really pretty simple to do. Ready to give a gift card that won’t soon be forgotten? Let’s go!

Do you like to give gift cards or cash for gifting occasions? Let’s face it, everyone likes to get a gift card or cash. No one opens a birthday card and thinks “oh, I hope there’s NOT money inside! That would be terrible!”

But gift cards and cash have a bad reputation of being thoughtless gifts. Wait, is there such a thing? It’s far from thoughtless, but there’s no denying that a gift card or cash can be less personal.

If you want to up your gift card or cash giving game and put that personal touch right back into your gift, I’ll show you how. You’ll need a musical greeting card for the best results, but you can definitely cut out the musical part and just use a regular card too.

Do you have someone in your life that is particularly hard to buy gifts for? Maybe more than one someone? I have two. My husband and my dad.

These are the guys that if they want something, they go out and get it. If they can’t afford it, I sure can’t either. Truly, the best gift for them is a gift card that they can use when the whim strikes.

But, gift cards can feel impersonal. No one wants their gift recipient to feel like their gift says, “Here’s something I picked up on my way here, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” So, I worked to find a better way to give those hard-to-gift-to people in my life what they want and let them know that the gift really is from my heart.

DIY MUSICAL EXPLOSION BOX

Materials Needed to Create your own DIY Musical Explosion Box:

– Two 12″ x 12″ pieces of scrap book paper – card stock will make a sturdier box, I used card stock for the bottom and regular paper for the top.
– Musical card
– Ruler
– Pencil
– Pen cap or something with a blunt edge you can use to score your paper – it’ll make the folding easier
– Glue stick – a hot glue gun and glue sticks will work even better.
– Clear tape
– Scissors
– Craft knife – like an X-acto

Directions to Create your own DIY Musical Explosion Box:

Want a sneak peek at the whole project, check out how easy it is to make your own Musical Gift Box!

1. Take the first piece of your 12″ x 12″ paper (the card stock piece, if you’re using only one piece of card stock) and measure 3 inches in on all four sides with the ruler. You’ll want the outside of your box to be face down on the table. Mark three inches and then use the ruler to draw straight lines to form a grid-like pattern. This means the bottom of your box will be 6″ x 6″ and the sides will be 3 inches tall.

2. Use the pen cap or whatever blunt edge object you are using to score the paper on the lines you just drew. Fold on your score lines. Curl the corners into the box. Don’t cut or tape them though. These will help push your box open when you take the lid off and make the music play. Put the bottom of the box aside.

3. Take your musical card and unseal the inside of the card to reveal the music speaker and electronic board. Cut the plastic switch from where it is attached to the front of the card. Cut the front flap off of the card.

4. Cut the speaker and electronic board out of the song card. Be careful not to cut the wires. If you need to move the speaker closer to the electronic board, you can just pop it off the card back and then tape if back down. As long as you don’t damage the wires, it should still work.

5. Tape the little plastic piece you cut from the front of the card to the side of your card stock box with the clear tape. Use the craft knife to cut the tape along the edges of plastic piece. You’ll have to play with the placement of the speaker and electronic board to get it right. You want the plastic switch to interrupt the contact on the board when the box is closed, but to open the contact when the box pops open. Check out the step-by-step video for more direction on that.

6. Set the bottom of the box aside and take your last piece of 12″ x 12″ paper and measure and mark 2 and 7/8 inches in on each side. Create a grid-like pattern on the page with your measurements. It’s just like you did on the first piece, minus an eighth of an inch. This will help your lid fit on your bottom box piece better.

7. Score and fold on the measurements. This time fold the corners out and use the glue stick or a small dot of hot glue to secure the triangular flaps. Folding them out will keep anything from getting caught on the inside when you’re trying to get everything inside the box. Do this will all four sides.

8. Use the inside and front of the song card to decorate the top and inside of your box. You can use another piece of 6″ x 6″ scrapbook paper to cover the speaker and electronic board or use the inside of the card to cover it. Just make sure you don’t tape or glue anything over the plastic piece that needs to move when the box opens so the music will play.

9. Find a fun way to attach your gift card so it isn’t sliding around loose inside the box. You can make a little spring for it to bounce on, or stick it on one of the flaps. Or use the gift card as your switch that makes the music play when it’s removed. Check out the video for more info on that.

10. Fold up the bottom of the box and stick a finger in each of the curled corners to hold it in place and slide the lid on top. Wrap it up and give it to your unsuspecting ~~victim~~, er, recipient.

11. Bask in your awesomeness and know you’ll be giving the perfect gift!

The art of card giving is NOT dead! We live in this time of instant gratification. With all the digital technology, we don’t often have to wait long to send and receive communication with friends and family, even when we are separated by hundreds or thousands of miles. But snail mail is still going strong. Send a song card to create a memorable moment.

My kids (and myself!) love to get birthday cards in the mail. It’s a great way to let the special people in your life know that you were thinking about them, that you love them. A song card can help you express yourself with music. And, sometimes, music can speak louder than words.

Let’s do this project together!

Gather your materials and then watch this video for step-by-step directions
on creating your own DIY Musical Explosion Gift Box!

January 26, 2016 by Krista

Valentine Prescription for Love Printable Labels

Valentine’s Day is coming up quick! Have you started thinking about it yet? Mr. Napping and I will be celebrating 8 years of wedded bliss a week before V-Day. I wanted something simple and fun that could kick off our anniversary week. So, I came up with these fun prescription for love printable labels. It’s a simple little project and a cute little gift, but only takes a few minutes to put together. So, warm up your printer and get ready for Dr. Love to spice up your love life!

PRESCRIPTION FOR LOVE
PRINTABLE LABELS

Materials:
– Printable Prescription for Love Bottle Labels (or you can use the extra spicy versions)
– Clean Medicine Bottles
– Glue Stick
– Scissors
– Washi Tape
– Candy that will fit through the neck of your bottle

Directions:
– Print out the Prescription for Love labels and cut them apart.

– Clean off your medicine bottles, if you’re reusing them. I used an empty infant pain reliever bottle, an empty allergy medication bottle and an old prescription bottle. I had to soak the labels off in hot water and scrub the sticky off. This is the hardest part.
– When the prescription bottles are clean and dry, glue the label to the bottle. Put the glue on the back of the label, on the end that doesn’t have any text on it. Stick the label on the bottle and wrap the label around the bottle. It will overlap a bit, but that’s okay!

– Glue the end of the label down with the glue stick.

– If your lid has a label on it, you can use washi tape to cover it up. I just put a couple strips on the top and bottom of the lid and then one down the middle to cover the edges of the tape.
– Fill up the bottle with your candy. You’ll want something small enough to get in… and back out… of the bottle without too much trouble. Round candies or long and skinny candies seemed to work best.

There are two sets of Prescription for Love labels for your printing pleasure. One is more lovey dovey and one is a little more spicy. There are also two sizes of labels. One that is two inches tall and one that is three inches tall. Those seemed to be the most common sizes of bottles when I was looking though my medicine bottles.

Please note: These labels are not intended to be used with children – I don’t encourage anything that associates medication and candy for children. So, please don’t use them with children! Share all the love-inducing candy you can with your sweet special someone though. Valentine’s Day is all about sweet right?!

December 21, 2015 by Krista

Fill in the Blank Printable Coupons

This is a last minute stocking stuffer I’m giving to my kiddos and it’s so easy, I figured I’d share it with you too. These fill in the blank printable coupons are super versatile and you can use them for more than just your kids. Use them for your sweetie too. Because they are fill in the blank, they work for everyone. It’s an easy gift that will keep on giving through the year.

FILL IN THE BLANK PRINTABLE COUPONS

Materials:
– Pen, Markers or Pencils
– Scissors or Paper Cutter
– Fill in the Blank Printable Coupons
– Hole Punch
– String or Yarn

Directions:
– Print out the high resolution Fill in the Blank Coupons. Click the link or the image to download the high resolution file.
– Use the pen, markers or pencils to fill out the coupons however you want.
– Cut the coupons apart with the scissors or paper cutter.
– Punch a hole or two in each coupon, string the coupons together on the string or yarn and tie them together. Alternatively, you could staple the coupons together or put them in an envelop. Whatever method you want to use to keep all the coupons together. You can also embellish the coupons more if you want.
– Gift your coupons to your lucky recipient and enjoy some fun moments and memories for the next year. I purposely didn’t put an expiration date on mine, but you can write one in if you’d like.

That’s it. Super simple, right? And it’s free! I know I definitely don’t need to spend any more money on Christmas, but this is still a meaningful gift. And I love that I was able to make one for each of my kiddos (well… the older two) and my husband without having to spend a lot of time create extra templates and doing redesigns.

August 25, 2015 by Krista

DIY Dry Erase Organizer Printables – Calendar, Menu Planner, Shopping List

Do you ever wish you were more organized? I sure do. Sometimes I have to be content with organizing the big things and that’s where this Organizer Printables set – that you can make reusable with dry or wet erase markers – is going to come in handy!

We are working on our third week of school here and the routine is finally starting to iron out a bit. But, it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

I need a good system. And, with any good system, comes some great organizers.

One thing I want in my organizers is that I can re-use them. I don’t want to waste that much paper and re-using the organizers lets me develop a system that works for me through trial and error.

I couldn’t find exactly the organizer printables I was looking for, so I made some. And, it’s super easy to make them reusable with this easy Dry Erase Organizer Printables Set and tutorial! Ready? Let’s do this!

DIY DRY ERASE ORGANIZER PRINTABLES

Materials:

– Thermal Laminator (This is the one I use)
– Thermal Pouches Letter Size (these are my preferred pouches)
– Printable Organizer Set (free download!)
– Dry Erase or Wet Erase Markers (I like these wet erase ones – the writing lasts better)
– Pen or Fine Tip Sharpie

Directions:

– Download and print out the Organizer Printables Pack. Click the link, download and save the file to your computer and then print out the pages. You can use them all or just pick and choose which pages you think will work best for you because I want these to be helpful for you. The pages are formatted to 8.5×11″ and the file is in PDF format.

– Turn on your Thermal Laminator and let it warm up completely. The little ready light will turn blue when you’re ready to go. Make sure the laminator is ready before you try to use it; you’ll get the best results that way.

– While the laminator warms up, put each organizer printables page into a thermal pouch. Pull the two layers of the pouch apart – one side of the pouch is sealed. Lay the page on one side of the pouch and fold the pouch back over.

– When the laminator is ready and your page is positioned in the pouch, line up the pouch on the paper tray of the laminator. In complete honesty: I loved everything about this laminator, except the paper tray. It has a fabulous fold up design, but because of that it is not very sturdy. I never had the tray collapse or anything, but it was pretty flimsy. But the cord wrapped away into the bottom of the machine and that almost made up for the unimpressive paper tray. And it had zero effect on the outcome of the pages.

– Gently slide the page into the machine until it starts to pull it through. Let go and the machine will pull it through.

– When the page completely comes out the other side, lay it down on a flat surface until it cools to prevent any curling or weird wrinkles.

– Use the dry or wet erase markers to fill out the organizer printables. I prefer the wet erase markers because they don’t wipe off as easily and my kids think it’s hilarious to wipe off my planners. The wet erase markers give me a slightly better chance of keeping all my info intact.

– Use your DIY Dry Erase Organizer Printables. I don’t actually keep all the organizers on my fridge, but I wanted to show them to you all at once. The menu planner and shopping list are my absolute favorite; the calendar and weekly planner pages are close seconds.

TIPS FOR USING YOUR ORGANIZER PRINTABLES

There are some pages that you may want to keep the information on and not have them be reusable. The important dates or important people pages, for example. I keep the important dates page next to our calendar to help keep me inline and not forget anything.

Use the important people pages as it fits your needs best. I have one page that has a list of important phone numbers on it. We keep it in a special drawer. I filled it out and then laminated it. It is not reusable because the info on here doesn’t change. My boys know where it is and know, if they have an emergency and there is not an adult that can help, that page will give them phone numbers to call. I also keep one that IS reusable as a baby-sitter reference, because I haven’t designed a baby-sitter reference page since my family is usually our sitter.

April 9, 2014 by Krista

Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Art Activity

Here’s a fun activity to do with the kiddos. The Olympics may be over, but they will come around again (isn’t it great?!) and how fun would it be to do your own Olympics as part of this too?! So, here’s Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row with this super fun Letter O is for Olympics art activity. Take it away, Sinea!

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Guest post by Sinea Pies

Many thanks to Krista for inviting me to guest post on her blog. Whenever I have an opportunity to guest on someone else’s site, I want it to be special. This opportunity came at the perfect time! I’m sharing the most recent craft that I did with my preschool class. I loved it. The children loved it. Their parents loved it and I think you will love it, too.

Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Collage

My eleven preschoolers are such a sweet group. As you know, no two 4 year olds are alike. Each time we do a new project, I anticipate what I will see.

Aliyah is a perfectionist. She takes her time to get every detail right. Due to her deliberacy, we often have to wait for her to finish up.
Caleb goes for accuracy. He wants his project to look just like mine or like the real thing, such as when we did our lion craft. He didn’t want the mane to be orange and yellow. A lion’s mane is brownish-tan and that is exactly how his looked. (Beautifully done, I might add.)
Evan takes everything on with gusto. He had glue all over the page before he noticed that it should only go on the ringed outline of the “O”. No worries. Glue dries and he had fun.

It was letter “O” week. Though logic said “Owl” was the way to go, Katie, my assistant, said “No, we HAVE to do the Olympics!” And I am so glad we did.

Our craft was something I found pictured on Pinterest. Isn’t Pinterest great? It is like visiting the World Library of Ideas. We glued Fruit Loops™ onto a page to form a letter “O” as well as completing the Olympic rings.

Preschool Letter O is for Olympics template

This is the template I used.

How’d it go? After 14 weeks with my students, I have come to know them pretty well. If I gave them ALL the cereal at once, those rings would never have been made. Katie agreed. Rings first, big “O” later.

Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Fruit Loops

So, I came in prepared with snack-size zip bags, one of each color. I called upon my “Teachers Helpers” to go around and leave one piece with each of their fellow students.

Everyone carefully glued them into the Olympic rings. Not all of the rings were the right color but, no biggie, this is preschool! When I heard the familiar “Teacher, I need more Fruit Loops” it was time to give them the rest of their cereal. It worked very, very well.

Preschool Letter O is for Olympics Craft

Busy little hands making their “O’s”

The finished product! Pretty, huh?

Supplies for your Letter O Art Project

Fruit Loops™ cereal
“O” template printed on card stock
Elmer’s® glue
little cup for the glue
cotton swabs

Directions for your Letter O Art Project

Squirt some glue into a small cup.

Using a cotton swab, dab the rings of the Olympic symbol with glue and attach a piece of cereal in each.

Now, rub glue onto the big “O” and attach cereal all around.

Some children will go “multi color” and others may want to separate it into groups of color.

Enjoy!

Sinea Pies is the inspiration behind Ducks ‘n a Row. Admittedly not nearly as organized as she’d like to be, Sinea encourages her readers to join her as they head toward the goal of “The Beauty of an Organized Life” together.

Ducks ‘n a Row also visits the world of cooking/baking, time management, home/office decor, health, fashion, education, faith, Fido (dogs) and, most recently, preschool. Having years of experience as a high school guidance counselor and school administrator, she is now having fun teaching preschool and sharing with her readers!
Follow Sinea (pronounced SEENA) on social media: Facebook/ Google+ / Pinterest / Twitter / Sverve and please stop by for Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop on Ducks ‘n a Row, as well.

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Thanks so much for sharing this great preschool activity, Sinea! I would have a hard time with this project… Fruit Loops are my favorite cereal and I could eat a whole box of them by myself. But for the sake of learning, maybe, just maybe, I might be able to part with a few handfuls while Big J and Little J glue them to their papers… who are we kidding? They’d eat them too. But I can’t blame them… I’d be sittin on the couch shoveling the sugar-frosted cereal into my mouth too. Visit Sinea for more excellent ideas over at Ducks ‘n a Row!

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.

Materials Needed to Create your own DIY Musical Explosion Box:

Directions to Create your own DIY Musical Explosion Box:

PRESCRIPTION FOR LOVE PRINTABLE LABELS

FILL IN THE BLANK PRINTABLE COUPONS

DIY DRY ERASE ORGANIZER PRINTABLES

Materials:

Directions:

TIPS FOR USING YOUR ORGANIZER PRINTABLES

Supplies for your Letter O Art Project

Directions for your Letter O Art Project

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PRESCRIPTION FOR LOVE
PRINTABLE LABELS