Summer Fun Pail...!

Thursday is the last day of school for my Loves...!

Summer Fun is ready to happen...!

I cannot wait. I love spending time with my family.

Last year, I had some fun things waiting for them when they came home from school...and that really set the tone for the summer. So, I decided.....to do that again...!

Since they are in dire need of Flip Flops for the summer...I just had to go pick up a pair for each of them at Old navy.  2 for $5....Old Navy Flip Flops last too.

I made this Printable Tag that you can Download HERE if you would like.

We are heading to the Beach this Weekend, so a Dollar Bucket from Michael's was the perfect thing to put the Flip Flops inside...as well as some Summer Fun Goodies.

All in their favorite colors of course....Journals, Glo Sticks, Coloring Books, Sun Glasses, Candy.  

I also made a Summer Fun Tag to Download Here.

Use it to Customize it however you want to fit your families needs...!

Hopefully, the Downloads work for you.

Have some SUMMER FUN friends...!

Can't Go Wrong With A Theme....

We decided to use our children's classroom themes for teacher gifts and goodies this year...!

I figured you can't go wrong with a THEME.

My Sons' 6th grade class were the Mighty Leaders.

They did a whole Patriotic Theme throughout the year. There was even Patriotic Songs playing at Open House. So, my son made his Teacher this Flag Card for her Gift.  

 We made Strawberry Shortcakes for the students.

 My Daughter's 3rd Grade class are the Great White Sharks.

She made her teacher this Shark Card that we saw used as an invitation on a Party Website.

 Her class goodies were Blue Jello Ocean with Whipped Cream Waves and Gummi Sharks.

 My Daughter's 1st Grade class are the Gecko's.

Here is the card she made her teacher....!

 All year they have been studying the Rainforest, so we thought the class would enjoy some Dirt Chocolate Pudding with Crushed Oreos and Gummi Butterflies.

Going with a Theme really made it fun this year. I think next year, I probably will do the same with whatever the class studies or if their teachers come up with their own themes.

The kids were proud of their classes...!

Friday Book Project {Pig Kahuna}

I had been eye balling this book Pig Kahuna by Jennifer Sattler at Barnes N Nobles. Since I knew the Scholastic Book Fair was coming to our school, I had patience in buying any books for awhile.

Just my luck....Pig Kahuna was one of the top books. Paperback and $4.99. Score...!

For our Friday Book Project, I read Pig Kahuna to the kids then decided to have them make their own "Daves" from the story.

In the Book, Dink and Fergus are looking for Treasures on the Beach. They then turn the Surfboard into "Dave" with the stuff they collected on the beach.

My children went outside to collect their own treasures to make their own Surfboard People.

I printed a Surfboard Template from online, they each cut them out and traced the template onto the color cardstock that they chose.

The kids all decorated their Surfboards with the Treasures they found outside.  

Pig Kahuna is a great summer read....!

S'MORE READERS...!

Hello Casa Camacho Readers...!

Sorry for leaving you for a bit....my computer was being really wonky and I guess I have been too...!

Just a busy time of year.

Thought I would share an idea that I used for our GO GREEN! Awards Ceremony for Girl Scouts.

These were the treats that we put out on the table for the guests.

My S'MORES Trail Mix. Mini Marshmallows, Chocolate Chips and Golden Graham Cereal put inside those clear Pretzel Bags found at any Craft Store.

I have both of my Printables at 4Shared to Download.

Here is the Girl Scout Printable.

Here is the Parent S'MORE Printable.

Enjoy...!

I love me S'MORE READERS like you...!

Edu-Vacation.

What? You mean to tell me you don't know what an "Edu-Vacation" is...!

Basically, it started off with my son having a substitute this entire week. He hasn't learned anything and all the students have been acting up and he has been getting silent lunches even. I told him that he didn't have to go to school Thursday and Friday. He said "What are you going to teach me at home?" Hhmmmm.....well....I wanted so badly to take him to the beach to study the ocean but we couldn't miss my daughter's Cheerleading Practice because they are getting ready for Cheer Camp.

So, we decided to turn our day into an Edu-cation....Education and Vacation combined....equals Education but the kids didn't get it....so we called it "Edu-Vacation" and it stuck...!

We stayed around our town and tried everything new.

We went to the 24th Street Cafe for Breakfast.

 This was a new place for my bigger kids.  We then headed to the Bakersfield Museum Of Art for some culture and learning.

After a snack because they are kids after all and eat a million times a day, we tried the Buena Vista Natural History Museum in town.  

We all really learned alot.

 It was a great experience. I can go on and on about all the "learnings" but I won't. Whew?!

The family ended the day finishing up our Shark Week Documentaries on Netflix and Daddy bought some ice cream treats.

 If anybody asks, it wasn't a Ditch Day...it was an Edu-Vacaction. I'm going to write that on the note tomorrow. {Wink!}

Homesick Pillowcase.

When my husband was a Wildland Firefighter, he was gone basically all the time. All summer long and many times in the winter. The kids were always missing Daddy. Since he was in the mountains, his phone never had reception.

One night after hearing the kids pray that they missed their Dad, I took some old photos that I had already made into Transfers {a quilting project of our Love Life...awe....that got too big for me to handle...boo} and ironed them on some old pillowcases. One for each of the kids. You know what, they LOVED them. They slept with them every single night. It's been years and they still had them on their beds before we moved.

 

 The pictures are pretty hilarious.

They are of us when we first met....our dating stages throughout marriage.

The story of this particular photo was...... one day I knocked on his door at 5 in the morning when we were dating and I told him to get dressed because we were going to go to the beach.

So, without combing his hair, without a jacket {he's wearing my sweater from my car!} he came with me.

He always tells me....."I thought you were the craziest person I had ever met. I thought you would have mellowed out over the years, boy was I wrong!"

I may be a bit crazier now, because with kids....I have SO much more stuff I want to do and try...!

Just because I'm a Stay-at-home Mom, raised in church doesn't mean I'm boring....it makes me alot of fun...! I'm not exactly normal..! LOL

Trust me though, this idea worked wonders for my Homesick Babies.

I've often thought about buying cuter pillowcases and redo the pictures.....because I just love the idea so much.

Happy Earth Day...!

At Girl Scouts the past month, I've been talking about Upcycling.

A big part of being a creative person, is taking something and looking at it....and seeing it's potential, what it can be.

Anyone can go buy something at the store that is cute, but it takes a creative person...to take something you already have a mold it into something else.

If you have ever been to my house, you would see almost everything on the walls/tables/counters/couch is handmade. I love it. My decorations are handmade with love and time from each of my family members. It's a part of us.

Being on a tight budget never stopped me from turning our house into a home. Creating that space for my family to escape from the outside world in comfort.

Upcycling is taking stuff that you are going to throw away or not use anymore and creating something else from it.

The idea of talking about this particular subject with my Troop came from the girls always complementing me on my clothes or jewelry or bags...etc. They always seem so impressed when I tell them how I make it.

• Old T-Shirts- can be made into scarves, jewelry and t-shirt bags.
• Jeans- can be made into purses, wreaths, bows, jewelry.
• Cardboard Boxes- projects, bookmarkers, scrapbooks.
• Plastic Grocery Bags- can be ironed and made into paper for mini albums.
• Old CD's- craft projects, ornaments.
• Wood Pallets- making a GS Bridge with them.
• Paper Bags- puppets, projects, scrapbooks.
• Milk Cartons- can be used as a basket, projects.
• Jars and Cans- vases, containers to organize.
• Old Paper- scratch paper for kids to draw on the other side, make lists with.
• Sandwich Bags- reuseable when washed out.
• Water Bottles- reuse and wash out, crafts.
• Yogurt and Applesauce Containers- use for paint.
• Toliet Paper Rolls- scrapbooking, projects.

*We reuse Canvas when we get tired of what we have made.

*Old Frames that don't match a theme or the house are just repainted.

*I try to buy plain color fabric or tableclothes to reuse on various holidays. The same with vases, and candles. I just decorate them to match the theme.

This is just a little list of materials reused around the house to get your mind thinking.

These are things that we personally use them for but if you google "Paper Bag Projects" for instance, I'm sure you will find many uses for them. In my Labels on Crafting, you will see many of my projects are upcycled.

Our Girl Scout Cookie Boxes were cut and made into mini scrapbook pages, decorated with paper and stickers and pictures.

Personally, if I wash something out to use and haven't used it within a couple weeks...I send it to the recycling pile because I don't like clutter in my home. However, I know people that have containers organized in their garage for different uses. Most of the time though, I'm good about keeping on my schedule.

Hope this inspires you to look around your home, your fridge, your trash and see what you can create and come up with...!

Remember the quote:

"From Trash To Treasure"

Dr. Suess Fabric.

What to do with Dr. Seuss Fabric?

For now, I made some fabric flowers and shirts...!

 

 

 

 

 

I literally drool every time I look at this fabric...!

*Shirt Pattern purchased at Walmart

*Fabric by Robert Kaufman

Sequence Writing

Normally, I don't post other people's ideas like this.

Oh....but this is so cute...! When I was in my daughter's classroom, I saw these on the wall.

I thought they were the sweetest things I've seen in awhile.

Each child made one to match what they looked like.

Maelyn was so embarrassed that she made hers without bangs...!

It's Sequence Writing on How To Blow A Bubble.

I just love love it...!

Anyways, Brilliant.

Carry on friends...!

*I am not sure where she got the idea, just simply sharing the idea for my teacher blogger friends. 

Girl Scout Gift.

It's Girl Scout Appreciation Week...!

While Girl Scouts is a Rewarding Job in itself, often we don't get Thank You's. As a leader, you're in a volunteer position and it is long hours of planning, creating, crafting, paperwork....and going places.

For my Leaders {in case you are looking for ideas} I created Collage Mousepads for them off Costco.com. $3.99 and they get cute pictures of them and their Troops. Plus, everything is online now with the "Go Green" Theme this year.

For the Girl Scout Council, my girls and I...made these little treats for them.

"You Blaze The Trail For Us Volunteers!"

 

My girls went to pass them out at the Office and then left the rest for the Part-Time Workers.

They seem to think it was cute...!

Girl Scouts is so much fun, but extremely hard work if you want your girls to get the most out of every opportunity.

Happy Appreciation Week to all my Sister Girl Scouts!

Postcards.

Happy Monday World...!

It's going to be a Whirlwind of a week for me....!

I had gotten a few comments from people on how I make my "postcards" that I send out.

So, in true blogger fashion....I thought I would create a post on it.

Whenever, I am Swamped and need a quick Invitation or Thank-You because even when I'm busy, I TRY to give out a little something to family and friends.

What I do is upload a photo into my favorite Photo Editing Program.

I might take pictures ahead of time for an Invitation. For a Thank You, I usually do a picture that corresponds with the gift or party.

 Use the text option in your Photo Program and write a message on the picture itself.

You can add clip art or whatever you choose. I like just text in cute fonts and colors.

This Thank You is for relatives that sent presents...!

 

 After I upload the photo to Costco.com for one hour pick-up, I get to work on the back of the Postcard.

In Microsoft, I simply type out the Thank You's or You're Invited....

then print...!

I also print out the addresses to send.

I have like no paper right now. I need to go shopping from printing out a bazillion Girl Scout fliers. 

However, many times I just do one large rectangle that fits the back of the 4X6 postcard/picture.

Today, I just cut out the little squares of writing.

Cardstock also makes the picture more stable.

 Once I go pick-up the pictures, I adhere everything to the back.

 

These seriously cost a buck to print at Costco for all of my guests or Thank You's.

Postcards stamps are cheaper than regular stamps.

Aren't they cute though for a few bucks and super easy?

I get compliments on them all the time...!

How To Train Your Dragon Party.

My little Dragon Trainer wanted a Dragon Party.

I wanted to throw a Tangled Party.

She told me that I get to have a Tangled Party for MY birthday, but she wants a Dragon Party.

I think I just might do that....!

 Noe made her a Freezer Paper T-Shirt of "Toothless" her favorite Dragon.

 My Dragon Trainers....!

 The Tables were Decorated with Brown Tableclothes.

Dinosaur Nests and Dinosaur Eggs were scattered down the middle.

I made Dragons out of Toliet Paper Rolls to put at the ends of the table. The red, yellow and orange streamers were the flames coming out of their mouths.

I printed out a couple of pictures of Carmendee to put on the Tables.

The wind kept blowing, so we put some of the swords on the streamers.

Dragon Fruit Snacks also helped weigh the decorations down.

The Party Favors were Swords and Shields made out of cardboard and duct tape.

They got to color their Shields before fighting.

 

 

 We chose these wood tables at the park over the metal ones to give that Viking look...!

 Carmendee's Throne for the party.

This had to be the best idea that day.

She felt so special in her throne that she didn't want to get up.

 Daddy made her a special shield, sword, ax and Viking hat.

She is guarding them with her life.

 Coloring their Shields.

 Food Table....

Spaghetti and Dragon Eggs {Spaghetti and Meatballs}

Dragon Scales {Doritos}

Dragonberry Fruit Salad

Dragon Food {Goldfish}

Dragon Eggs {Jelly Beans}

Swords in the Stone {Cheeseballs with Sword Picks to spread on Crackers and Bread}

Fire Roasted Marshmallows {Chocolate Covered Marshmallows}

 

 

 

 Pin The Tail On The Dragon.

 

 The girls picking on big brother Noah spinning him around.

 

 Passing the Dragon Egg around before it blows up.

 The Viking Crew.

 

 Toothless Dragon Cake.

 My Viking Princess.

She smiled the entire day....!