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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Cricut Explore Air 2 vs. Silhouette Cameo 3

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Cricut Explore Air 2 vs. Silhouette Cameo 3

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When it comes to cutting machines, which is best: Cricut or Silhouette? Whether you’re team Cricut or team Silhouette, there is no wrong answer. They are both incredible machines that will take your creativity to the next level. For years Silhouette was the one to beat, but the Explore machines have pushed Cricut to become one of the best crafting tools around!

Cricut Explore Air 2 vs. Silhouette Cameo 3: How the Cricut compares to competitor machines
Monday, July 24, 2017

Free Printable Harry Potter Hogwarts House Bookmarks

Monday, July 24, 2017

Free Printable Harry Potter Hogwarts House Bookmarks

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Download and print these Free Printable Harry Potter Hogwarts House Bookmarks to save your spot with your favorite Hogwarts House!

Free Printable Harry Potter Hogwarts House Bookmarks to save your spot with your favorite Hogwarts House!

Are you a Harry Potter fan? I sure am. My daughter and I have been reading the Harry Potter series together for years, and it is so fun to share the love of this magical world together! We've even taken the quizzes on Pottermore to find out which Hogwarts houses we belong in (goooo Hufflepuff!). This inspired me to create some Harry Potter Hogwarts House Bookmarks as part of the annual Happy Harry Potter Series with other talented Harry Potter-loving bloggers!

Free Printable Harry Potter Hogwarts House Bookmarks to save your spot with your favorite Hogwarts House!

Just in case you are *gasp* new to Harry Potter, the students at the School of Hogwarts are divided into four houses, thanks to the Sorting Hat. Each house bears the last name of its founder: Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff.

Gryffindor values courage, bravery, nerve, and chivalry. Gryffindor's mascot is the lion, and its colors are red and gold.
Hufflepuff values hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty. Hufflepuff's mascot is the badger, and their colors are yellow and black.
Ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit. The house mascot is an eagle and its house colors are blue and bronze.
Slytherin values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness. Their mascot is the serpent, and the house colors are green and silver.

Free Printable Harry Potter Hogwarts House Bookmarks to save your spot with your favorite Hogwarts House!

Once you've figured out which house you belong to (by quiz or by choice, either way is great!), download and print out these bookmarks with each house crest and color to show some Hogwarts house pride. Can't decide? Use them all! They're the perfect size to save your spot and to share with friends!


Some things you should know before downloading:
*Artsy-Fartsy Mama printables are for PERSONAL USE ONLY (home, libraries, classrooms, etc).
*You may NOT modify, re-sell, redistribute, or claim the design as your own.
*Please do not remove the credits/watermarks.
*If you'd like to share this project, credit must be given to Artsy-Fartsy Mama & linked back to this post.

Free Printable Harry Potter Bookmarks at artsyfartsymama.com

Check out last year's Free Printable Harry Potter bookmarks with four of our favorite characters!

Free Printable Harry Potter Hogwarts House Bookmarks to save your spot with your favorite Hogwarts House!

Which Hogwarts House are you in? Let me know in the comments!

For more Potter-iffic fun, enter to win this amazing Harry Potter Prize Pack Giveaway, including:
  • $50 Amazon gift card
  • Make Love Not Horcruxes Book Bag and Custom Hogwarts House Tie Necklace from Rae Gun Shop
  • Bookish Swag from CrateJoy, which has loads of HP and fandom-related subscription boxes
  • Four Stunning Harry Potter Printables from Sisters What!
  • The Unofficial Guide to Crafting the World of Harry Potter Book
  • Wizard School quilt for Harry Potter fans oversized throw size from Pieces by Polly

Happy Harry Potter Giveaway!

Enter to win this amazing prize pack by using the widget below.
Make sure to check back as new ways to enter will be added throughout the series!
Wednesday, July 12, 2017

DIY Race Track with Jump

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

DIY Race Track with Jump

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RevUpF8 #CollectiveBias

DIY Race Track and Jump inspired by Fast & Furious #RevUpF8

My husband has always loved cars, and comes from a family of car fanatics. Ever since my daughter was born, he's been playing cars with her. They love racing and, of course, making the sound effects to go along. We were inspired by the new line of Fast & Furious toys to create our own race track with jump for them to fly through the air! The race track and jump are easy to make, and is such a fun way to create memories together with your kids and spend time together as a family.

My husband and I have been watching the Fast & Furious films together since they first came out, and are so excited to pick up a copy of F8 on DVD that was released on July 11th. 
Over the course of eight films that have successively stoked passion in an ever-expanding audience, Fast & Furious is a global box-office blockbuster that continues to entertain audiences of all ages. The newest chapter in this popular and enduring motion-picture serials of all time is The Fate of the Furious.



Inspired by the movie's real cars and characters, the new Fast & Furious line of diecast vehicles and playsets can be found in the toy aisle at Walmart! Playsets will be found on the lower shelves, while the diecast vehicles will be hanging up on display.


Before we made our race track, we played indoors with the the Frozen Missile Attack playset. This set includes die cast vehicle, diorama background, launcher, accessory pieces, and a mobile device stand to use with the Fast & Furious mobile app to record the action and add special effects!


Fast & Furious fans of all ages will have hours of fun recreating iconic movie moments launching the vehicle through the playset, avoiding missile fire from the molded MMV vehicle and speeding away just in time to dodge the incoming avalanche!


My husband was feeling nostalgic as he put the set together. It was easy to assemble, and my daughter and husband were launching Dom Toretto's iconic diecast Ice Charger vehicle into danger in no time! It was so fun to watch the two of them re-enacting Fast & Furious scenes and making memories together.

DIY Race Track and Jump inspired by Fast & Furious #RevUpF8

Another fun way to recreate movie moments and have fun with Fast & Furious vehicles is to make your own race track with a jump to send them soaring!

To make your own race track, you'll need:
1 white 20x30 foam board
1 white plastic poster sheet
3 - 3 ft 3/16 Balsa wood sticks
strong glue
spray paint
craft knife

DIY Race Track and Jump inspired by Fast & Furious #RevUpF8

For the race track, cut a 4" x 30" rectangle out of the foam board using the craft knife.

To create the jump at the end of the track, you'll need 3 foam board triangles. Ours measured about 1" x 8". Next, cut a 4" x 8.75" rectangle out of the plastic poster sheet.

DIY Race Track and Jump inspired by Fast & Furious #RevUpF8

Choose your favorite color of spray paint and paint the Balsa wood sticks. My daughter chose a pearlescent teal color. Paint a few coats, but make sure to let the sticks dry before painting another coat.

DIY Race Track and Jump inspired by Fast & Furious #RevUpF8

Once the sticks have dried, cut them to 30" with the craft knife. Mark the center of the race track. Add a little bit of glue along one side of the sticks, leaving about an inch without glue at the end of all three sticks. Place the sticks down on the foam board on each edge and down the center with the unglued ends all on the same side.

DIY Race Track and Jump inspired by Fast & Furious #RevUpF8

To create the jump, we'll be using the three foam board triangles and Balsa wood sticks. There will be extra pieces of wood from when you cut it for the race track. Cut 3 pieces into about 3 1/2" long and 4 pieces into about 1 3/4" long. Start with the outside triangles and glue the ends of the 3 1/2" long sticks in between. Let the glue dry.

Line the third triangle in between the two triangles and mark where the sticks are. Cut three 3/16" notches out of the bottom of the triangle where you've marked. Carefully press the triangle down over the sticks and adjust any of the notches if needed.

Add some glue to the ends of the 1 3/4" long sticks and place the 4 of them in between the 3 triangles toward the top. You may need to trim the sticks to fit. Let the glue dry.

Last, add some glue along the top edges of the foam board and lay the piece of plastic poster sheet on top. The sheet was cut longer than the jump, so line it up with the upper edge with the excess hanging off at the bottom. You can connect the jump to the race track by carefully sliding the edge of the poster sheet in between the unglued wood sticks and the foam board at the end of the race track.

DIY Race Track and Jump inspired by Fast & Furious #RevUpF8

Now that the race track is ready to go, we needed more cars to race and fly off the jump. Besides the Ice Charger vehicle from the playset, we also found a diecast of the tank, Ripsaw, from F8 and a couple of other diecast vehicles from Fast & Furious films!

DIY Race Track and Jump inspired by Fast & Furious #RevUpF8

Prop the race track on something like your couch, a small chair, or take it outside and use bricks like we did! Get ready to race by lining up two vehicles at the top of the race track. Gently tap the backs of the vehicles and watch them go!!

DIY Race Track and Jump inspired by Fast & Furious #RevUpF8

The DVD for F8 was released on July 11th, so you can send the iconic Fast & Furious vehicles flying down the race track and off the jump while watching your favorite Fast & Furious vehicles in action on the screen!

Who's your favorite Fast & Furious character?

Friday, July 7, 2017

What Materials Can Be Cut with the Cricut Explore?

Friday, July 7, 2017

What Materials Can Be Cut with the Cricut Explore?

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine. This post contains affiliate links.

There's so many different materials you can cut with the Cricut Explore Air machine, which means there's endless projects you can create!

Find out what materials you can cut with the Cricut Explore machine!
Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Help Stop Bullying with Pottymouth and Stoopid

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Help Stop Bullying with Pottymouth and Stoopid

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Thanks to JIMMY Patterson Books for the opportunity to share this "awesometastic" book. Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own.

Help Stop Bullying with Pottymouth and Stoopid & Free Printable Anti-Bullying Bookmarks! #PottymouthandStoopid

See this girl? ↑ She's pretty amazing. She's a bookworm, a scientist, a fashionista, ultra-creative, a super smarty pants, and one of the friendliest girls you'll ever meet. I've always tried to teach her that being "different" or "weird" is good, and that our differences are what make us so special. We homeschooled up until this last school year, where she skipped two grades for her age! For the most part, going to school was such an awesome experience for her - especially since my husband works at the same school. She made a lot of great friends, and learned so much!
Monday, July 3, 2017

Free Printable Shark Bookmarks

Monday, July 3, 2017

Free Printable Shark Bookmarks

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Dive into Shark Week with these Jawsome Free Printable Shark Bookmarks!

Dive into Shark Week with these Jawsome Free Printable Shark Bookmarks!

Shark Week is starting on July 23rd. Are you ready?! My daughter is so excited that she's picked out a few books from our local library. Just for the occasion, I designed some Shark Week-inspired bookmarks to save your spot in the books you're reading this summer!

Dive into Shark Week with these Jawsome Free Printable Shark Bookmarks!

After you've printed the bookmarks, use a paper cutter or scissors to separate all the bookmarks. Next, use scissors to cut around the nose of the sharks. Guess what? That's all you need to do. Set those sharks free to attack your library!

Dive into Shark Week with these Jawsome Free Printable Shark Bookmarks!

There are 6 shark bookmarks that are free for you to print and use for personal use. For best results, print the bookmarks on cardstock and laminate.


Some things you should know before downloading:
*Artsy-Fartsy Mama printables are for PERSONAL USE ONLY (home, libraries, classrooms, etc).
*You may NOT modify, re-sell, redistribute, or claim the design as your own.
*Please do not remove the credits/watermarks.
*If you'd like to share this project, credit must be given to Artsy-Fartsy Mama & linked back to this post.