Plushie Monsters - The Perfect Present, Goodie Bag Gift or Act Activity at a Little Monster Party

Plushie Little Monsters and Pals - The Perfect Gift, Goodie Bag Treat or Art Activity
(created by my daughter!)

When my daughter came home from her beginning sewing class with these little monster plushies pictured above, I couldn't control my glee. "They are sooo cute," I exclaimed! I was so impressed what a little scrap fabric, some trim, buttons and felt could create, and best of all how easy it was, even for a beginner seamstress like my daughter.

Of course, I also thought how perfect these little plushies would be for a Little Monster party. One quick search on Pinterest proved that many folks agree! For the young party guest, you can easily create simple felt plushies to hand out as a goodie bag gift, or if party guests are older, you can set up a "make your own monster" table art activity. Below are a whole host of plushie links to get your little monster juices flowing!

Plushie <3: Lean How to Make Stuffed Animals and Rag Dolls - This site is plushie heaven! So many adorable ideas, patterns and how-to's you won't need to go much farther than this.

Mix and Match Felt Monsters on It's Always Autumn - A wonderful Little Monster plushie how to including pictures and patterns to step you through the process.

All About Plushies - Tutorials, Patterns and Inspiration on Pure Pleasure Design - Wow! Here is a list of plushie links that will have you crafting for days! Plushie sites, plushie tutorials, plushie patterns, you name it, it's here.

Little Monster and Other Plushie Ideas on Pinterest

... And some of my fav little monsters:

• Party Plushies - From La-bas, dans l'herbe...
• SuperHero Monster Plushie - From La-bas, dans l'herbe...
• Monster Rag Doll - on You Can Make This
• Simple Little Monster Take Home Favors - One Charming Party
• For the Monsters, Inc. Fans - Mike Wazowski Plushie by teczowo.flog.pl

Look forward to seeing your plushie monster creations!

Decorate a Butterfly or Cheery Cherry Journal: Party Craft Idea

Decorate a Journal Craft Project

Here is a great craft idea, perfect for a Butterfly Party or Cherry Party, or any day you feel like crafting. The end result will make a great diary, journal or summer writing book during those months without school!

1. Buy some inexpensive Composition Books.
2. Buy some fun, colorful scrapbook papers.
3. Trace the outside edge of the book on the back of the scrapbook paper, to get the correct size to cover the front. Repeat this for a back cover as well.
4. Use a glue stick and glue the decorative paper to the front cover (and back cover) of your book.
5. To decorate with cherries, buy some red and pink buttons at the local craft store. These will be the cherries. Cut out leaf shapes with more scrapbook paper.
6. Glue the buttons and leafs to the cover. Add green glitter as the stem.
7. Your finished Cherry Journal!
8. For a butterfly journal, follow steps 1-4 for covering the front and back of your book. Then, using scrapbook paper, cut out butterfly wing shapes.
9. Glue butterfly wings to the front of the journal.
10. Add glitter accents for antennae and edging. Your Butterfly Journal is complete!

Gothic Style Halloween Party: Art Activities and Game Ideas

Gothic Style Halloween Party Art Activities
Depending on the timing or day of your party, an area set up with some art projects may be a perfect activity for your Haunted Halloween party.

Witches Book of Spells

Create a Spell Book
There's nothing more ghoulish than a bunch of evil spells to turn your guests into toads, snails or gargoyles! You could make this easy by writing a few spells an having kids decorate the page, or write up several lines that folks can use to mix and match to create their own wicked spell. Here are some examples of some spells, serious and silly:

• Sample of Varied Spells
• Samples of Playful Spells Written by Children
• Funny Spells for Halloween
• Simple Guide to Writing Your Own Spell
• Magic Spell Tips

Example Downloadable Halloween Coloring Page

Haunted Coloring Pages
Here's a links to many, many Halloween coloring pages online. Some are a "cute" and some are "scary." Pick the ones that fit your party best!

• Google Search for Halloween Coloring Pages

Design Your Own Gravestone
A morbid project, perfect for your gothic Halloween affair! Cut out gravestone shapes from card stock and have all guests decorate their own tombstone with an epitaph. When done, hang them all on a wall, and create your parties' own graveyard! You could turn this into a game, by having guests create their own tombstone, but leave off their name. Again, hang these on a wall, and have guests guess who's tomb is whos!

1950's Articulated Paper Glow in the Dark Skeleton

Pin the Bone on the Skeleton
Buy a pre-made "jointed" skeleton (or create your own paper skeleton) and disassemble so you have all the bones in separate pieces. Start by placing the skull on the wall, and then blindfold guests, hand them a bone/body part and let them guess where to put it. You could give them a hint by telling them which bone they have (i.e., "You have a foot bone.") or just let them guess by the shape and size of the item in their hand! In the end, you will have one mixed up bag of bones!

Gothic Style Halloween Game Ideas
Here are some frightfully fun game ideas for your Halloween party.

"There was an abandoned church at the end of the street
that no one went near for years...
until one fateful Halloween evening..."

Tell Ghost Stories
When was the last time you were told some ghost stories? This can be a great idea for your haunted party. Make sure to set the mood. Turn off the lights and only have a few candles flickering to read by. All gather around in a circle, by a fireplace preferably, and begin reading. Make sure to have lots of pillows and blankets available so folks can be comfortable, and have a place to hide when they are afraid! Here are some links to some ghost stories and tales online:

Build a Haunted Tale
An alternative to just reading a ghost story is to make the story a group effort. Have everyone sit around in a circle, and begin with one person who starts the story. He/She should only make up a few sentences, or until there's enough suspense to move on to the next person. As the story moves around the circle it should build and build, and hopefully be very different than what the first person thought it would be! To start the game, you can begin by providing a title, or have the group create a title once it's complete!

Flashlight Tag
Flashlight tag could be played in a dark house, a dark yard, or better yet, a graveyard! The rules are pretty simple; the person who is it has a flashlight. If you are "tagged" by the light, then you are out. The last person tagged becomes "it."

In general, flashlights can be a game unto itself if there are little kids around. Make sure to have plenty on hand for an evening of fun!

Enjoy!

Football, Tailgate or Big Game Party: Art Activity and Game Ideas

Football Saturday (and Sunday) is just around the corner... here are more Football party ideas-- some great arts and craft activities and game ideas for your affair!

Arts and Crafts Ideas for your Football Party

These art activity ideas are great for a big game party at home, or if little ones will be at your tailgate party, consider bringing a small folding table and setting out these activities for some pre-game fun.

Make Your Own Pennant

You can cut pennant shapes from poster board

or buy pre-cut pennants online. Set these out

with crayons or markers and make some colorful

pennants to root for your team! Below are some

online options for buying pre-cut pennants:

• Canvas Pennants
• Paper Pennants
• Felt Pennants

Make “Green” Cheerleading Pom Pons

Girls will love this activity and be even more excited when they are done... they can cheer on their team in style. Best of all, this is a great craft using recycled materials.

• Empty your plastic bag bin, and if need be, ask friends and neighbors for their extra plastic bags.
• Sort the bags into colors if you’d like, then cut into 1” wide strips.
• Lay the plastic bag strips, several 15” pieces of cut string, and colorful electric tape on a table for kids to assemble their own pom pons.
• To make the pom pons, have kids gather a bunch of plastic bag strips together
• Tie the bunch together in the the center.
• Now, fold the bunch in half and bound the folded edge with colorful electric tape.
• Make sure to leave the extra string hanging loose.
• Tie the extra string in a loop, so kids can wrap around hands to be held.

Now let, the cheering begin!

Face Paint in the Team Colors

Hire a professional face painter, or perhaps just your local teenage

babysitter for some face painting fun. Print out some college

logo and mascot examples as well as NFL logo examples for

helpful guides.

Football Coloring Pages

Check out your team’s website and search for “coloring pages”

to see if you can find any art pages for kids to embellish.

Here are some examples:

• NFL Coloring Pages

Game Ideas for your Football Party

Of course, watching the game is the main attraction of this party, but perhaps you have a large crowd coming or want some half time entertainment ideas... here are some game ideas for your next Football Party:

A “Friendly” Game of Flag/Touch Football

This scene has been played out in many movies and TV shows! Do you remember the scene in the Big Chill when the old friends head out at half time to play ball? How about the hilarious Friends Thanksgiving episode where they play a “friendly” game while the turkey cooks!

Now it’s time for you to have some “friendly” competition at your party with a little scrimmage. Pick up some flag football supplies and find a humorous trophy for the winning team. All will remember the fun!

Football Trivia Game

Print up some of your favorite football trivia questions and quiz your friends of their knowledge during half time. Offer a prize to the winner like tickets to another game, a football jersey, or even just a gift card to the local coffee shop. Here are search results for football trivia questions:

• Football Trivia Questions

Cheerleaders Unite

Are some of your party goers not interested in the scrimmage, but would rather cheer from the sidelines? Put those “Green” pom pons (from the Art Activity section above) to use and make up some cheerleader routines! The funnier and sillier, the better! Here are some websites with some basic cheers:

• Basic Cheer Moves
• Basic Cheerleading Jumps
• Some Cheerleading Yells and Chants

Sing the Cheer Song

Show your team spirit and gather the crowd to sing the cheer song loud and clear! Make sure to look up the words on the college/teams website, so you get it right! Here are some sample College Team Fight Songs (note, some teams have recently moved divisions, so you may need to click the old division to find your team):

• PAC 10 Fight Songs
• Big 10 Fight Songs
• Big 12 Fight Songs
• and more...

Flower or Garden Party Arts and Crafts Activity: Posie Masks

Here's a fun art and craft activity for your garden or flower party - a pretty posies flower mask. This craft can be designed to be for very young ones or also can be great for older crafters too-- the masks make fun photo opportunities once made! (For younger crafters, many of these steps can be made before hand, and all little ones have to do is tape and glue!)

How to Make a Flower Mask

Supplies Needed:
Paper Plates
Scrapbook Paper
Wooden Dowel (found at craft stores)
Tape or glue
Scissors
Exacto knife (handy for cutting out center hole in paper plate)

1. Pick out some pretty posies scrapbook papers.

2. Create a simple petal template, and then cut several petals from different paper designs.

3. Cut out a hole in a paper plate (for your face.)

4. Tape or glue (glue will hold better, but may take a while to dry) petals to the paper plate ring.

5. Extra Pizazz-- cut a donut shape from a scrapbook paper for trim inner edge of flower mask. You could also use other embellishments like glitter or gems.

6. Now it's picture time!!

Would love to see how your flower masks turn out!

Y'er Authentic Pirate Map: Arts and Crafts Activity

Ahoy me mateys--
Here's an art project perfect for your Pirate party, or any day: making a authentic pirate map. It couldn't be easier to set up, and I have to admit, it's a project that I've done many times with my kids and each time they love it.

Here's What you Need:
Paper Grocery Bags
Pens
Some ideas to give (if needed) to add to map: dock, treasure, volcano, ocean, boats, sharks, whales, pirate ship, cave, palm trees, pirate flag, etc.

Step One: Tear map-like shapes from your paper grocery bags.

Step 2: Step up table with crayons, pens and more, and have kids create.

Step 3: And thar' she is-- authentic Pirate maps, perfect for treasure huntin'!

Pretty Posies Basket: Arts and Crafts Activity

Close Up of B.Nute productions' Pretty Posie Party Invitation

It's a tradition at my kids' school to decorate a paper cone "flower basket", fill it with flowers and leave it on a neighbors door for may Day. It's fun to see the class parading around the neighborhood, baskets in hand.

My Kid's May Day Flower Baskets

This tradition inspired me to create my own "printable" art project, perfect for your Pretty Posies Garden Party! Just select the link to download the art below... then decorate, staple, hang with a ribbon and fill with posies. This is a great project at your child's Garden party... print out several copies of the basket, set up a table with crayons, and let the kids have fun. Depending on the age, they can cut it out, or you can help. Buy some inexpensive posies or flowers from your yard, and fill so they can take home as a treat!

Click to Download this Printable Pretty Posies Basket