DIY Resin Pencil Charms

These DIY Resin Pencil Charms are the perfect back to school accessory!

I've been so excited to share this back to school resin project with all of you! With just a little resin and glitter, you can create some DIY Resin Pencil Charms to use as custom backpack charms or you can use them for a one-of-a-kind jewelry gift for your favorite teachers! 

DIY Paracord Bracelets

This post is sponsored by Disney Book Group and contains affiliate links. As always, I only share things that I use myself and truly recommend!

Learn how to make your own two-colored paracord bracelets!

Last summer we took on the Percy Jackson Challenge, and my daughter has been obsessed with Greek mythology ever since. She has read The Trials of Apollo series from Rick Riordan multiple times, and is SO excited for the release of book #5 coming this October!

With so many summer camps cancelled this year, young readers can still go to camp - at Camp Half-Blood! We did all kinds of fun activities at our at-home camp, like reading books and making paracord bracelets to represent Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter from The Trials of Apollo series!

**Don't forget to scroll to the end of the post for an awesome giveaway!!**

DIY Yardstick Paracord Jig

Build your own Paracord Jig from a yardstick to help make paracord projects a breeze!

My daughter just got into making paracord bracelets, and was getting frustrated by trying to tie freehanded or with the clips taped to the table. I found a bunch of paracord jigs for sale online, and knew there was some way we could make one. Then I found an amazing trick for making one out of a yardstick - genius! It costs almost nothing to make, and can be completed in an afternoon. The bonus is that my daughter is SO happy using this jig for her paracord projects, and is completed in half the time!!

DIY Teacher Apple Earrings with 12 Free Earring Cut Files

These handmade apple earrings (with FREE cut file) will make the perfect gift that any teacher will love!!

Guess what? Today is a BONUS Totally Free SVG day! This collection is all about earrings that are one-of-a-kind! These cut files are easy to use with your Cricut or vinyl cutting machine to make custom earrings for yourself or to give as a gift. My contribution to the earring cut file collection are these adorable apple earrings that would be perfect for teachers!

DIY Surprise Balls

Kids will love making DIY Surprise Balls filled with all kinds of fun surprises to share with friends!

Looking for a fun activity to keep kids busy? Trinkets (and so much more) wrapped in yards of colorful crepe paper, Surprise balls are a ton of fun to make, and even more fun to open! My daughter had a blast using this awesome Craft-Tastic Make Your Own Surprise Balls kit to make adorable surprise balls to share with her friends!
*Read to the end of the post for an awesome giveaway!

DIY Luna Lovegood Costume

Accio costume! Whether you're a wizard or a muggle, this Luna Lovegood costume is perfect for Halloween or cosplay!

For Halloween this year, my daughter asked me to help her put a costume together to look like Luna Lovegood, a friend of Harry Potter. We are both obsessed with Harry Potter, so this was a fun challenge! Instead of going store-bought, we were able to DIY/thrift everything we needed for this costume which saved us a lot of money and allowed us to get creative. If you also admire this unique character, this costume is perfect for Halloween and cosplay!

*Check out all of our Harry Potter projects!

DIY Resin Cactus Charms

Make yourself a "prickly pair" of cactus charms using sparkly resin! 

Cactus and succulents are popping up all over, especially in home decor and fashion. I've been wanting to make myself some new jewelry, and these adorable Cactus Charms are just what I was looking for. With just a bit of glitter and resin, I was able to make the cutest cactus jewelry - and I'm excited to share it with you so you can make some for yourself!!

Percy Jackson Camp Half-Blood Necklace

This post is sponsored by the Disney Book Group. As always, I only share things that I use myself and truly recommend! #PercyJacksonandtheOlympians

This summer, our goal this summer is to read through the entire Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. We've been using our Percy Jackson bookmarks and are just starting on the third book, The Titan's Curse. While reading, we were inspired to make a Percy Jackson-inspired Camp Half-Blood Necklace. It's such a fun book-inspired project and we're sharing the tutorial (and free printable  templates) so you can make one for yourself!

How to Train Your Dragon Shrink Charms

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #TrainYourDragonAtWalmart http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

When a new movie comes out, my family enjoys spending time together having a movie night filled with snacks, activities, and of course, watching the movie together. The How to Train Your Dragon series has been one of our favorites, and after seeing this last movie, I'll admit it's a little bittersweet seeing the series come to an end. To celebrate the DVD release of How to Train Your Dragon 3, we decided to make some How to Train Your Dragon Shrink Charms that can be made while watching the movie at home!

DIY Waffle Necklace

Love waffles? Whip up one of these DIY Waffle Necklaces that looks both darling and delicious!

Waffles are one of my favorite comfort foods. It's one of those meals that you can have for any meal AND dessert (PS...have you tried my Chocolate Waffles? Delish.). Did you know there is an International Waffle Day on March 25th, and a National Waffle Day on August 24th? Yep, two random days to celebrate waffles. These random holidays sure are strange, but they can be a lot of fun. You can celebrate Waffle Day by making make your own DIY Waffle Necklace, or make one just to show off your love of waffles!

DIY Stuffed Animal Collar for our Joy for All Cat

Kids will love making their stuffed animal pets a custom collar in a few easy steps!

Thanks to Hasbro for our new cat, and to Craft Project Ideas for the craft supplies used in this project. This post also contains affiliate links, which means if you use my links, I’ll get a bonus to help keep projects like this coming your way. As always, I only write about things I’m passionate about and truly recommend!

Spirit Riding Free Bottle Cap Necklace

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Snyder’s-Lance Inc, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #Pop4Spirit http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

Season 6 of Spirit Riding Free is headed to Netflix on August 17th, and we can't wait! My daughter loves our "girls-only days" and asked if the two of us could spend some time together catching up on episodes of Spirit Riding Free to get ready for the new season. Since I love the series as well, I enthusiastically made plans for our own wild adventure including printable Spirit Riding Free activity pages, a DIY bottle cap necklace, and some delicious homemade Caramel Popcorn to share!

DIY Friendship Bracelet with LEGO Friends

Celebrate National Best Friends Day with a DIY Friendship Bracelet tutorial inspired by LEGO Friends!

This is a sponsored post and also contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are my own.

Today is National Best Friends Day, and what better way to celebrate than with the LEGO Friends group?! These girls are great examples of being a good friend and supporting each other. We've got some fun, new sets that you can get in the LEGO Friends line, as well as an awesome DIY Friendship Bracelet tutorial so that you can tell your own BFFs just how much you appreciate them!

The first sets we collected after the Friends "makeover" were the bedrooms of Mia and Stephanie. These sets are a lot of fun to build, and I love how each of the Friends bedroom sets reflect each of their personalities and hobbies!

Stephanie's Bedroom Set has a blue heart-shaped base and perfectly reflects Stephanie’s sporty personality. It has its own mini golf putting green with a ball and golf club, plus a little doghouse for her pet dog, Dash! Her nightstand drawer opens to store accessories, and she's also got a crate to hold her sporting supplies. This 95-piece set comes with a Stephanie and Dash figure, and includes accessories like a mobile phone, trophy, alarm clock, golf club, golf ball, water bottle, bag, dog bowl, and a bone.

Mia's Bedroom Set has a green heart-shaped base to perfectly reflect Mia’s outdoorsy spirit. She has a treehouse-style bed with steps, a little house for her pet bunny underneath, and has a skateboard and ramp to practice new tricks! This 86-piece set comes with a Mia figure, her pet bunny, Twister, and includes accessories like a skateboard, paddle, walkie-talkie, carrot and a basket.

Emma's character is creative, caring, and loves to craft! Recommended for ages 6-12, Emma's Art Stand contains 210 pieces and offers age-appropriate build and play experience. The pieces come in separate pre-packed bags, and include stickers and instructions.

The art stand is colorful and is full of tiny details! My daughter was able to build the set all on her own with the easy-to-follow instructions, and was so proud of herself once she finished building!

Emma's art stand trailer is filled with her artwork, which she can tow throughout Heartlake City when inspiration strikes or for setting up shop to sell art pieces to friends! This little trailer can be hitched up to the back of her mint scooter for easy transport.

While in the park, Emma can sit at the easel to work on her latest masterpiece - her best friends are always her greatest inspiration! My daughter was excited to put her LEGO Friends figures together in the background so that Emma could draw them all as a group before the art sale.

Swing the windows open on the trailer to display Emma's paintings for sale. If you look closely, you can see that all of her paintings are inspired by her best friends. There is one painting of Andrea singing, another of Stephanie kicking a soccer goal, one of Mia's Treehouse, and a painting of Olivia's Mission Vehicle!

If you open the back of the art stand, you can help Emma run the cash register. Inside the art stand, there's a bed for her cat, Chico, to take a nap. She can also keep her helmet on a stand and out of the way. You can also remove the top of the art stand for easier access during play.

Good friends are always supporting each other. So we gathered a bunch of LEGO figures to come and support Emma's art sale! I love how LEGO inspires imagination and creativity. My daughter has spent hours playing with this set, lining people up to pay for art, chatting around the easel, and even combining other Friends sets to create her own little LEGO Friends world.

When Emma's art sale is complete, she can close up the art stand trailer, hook it up to her scooter, and head home! She's got a separate helmet headpiece (with a cute braid in the back) to wear for safety. Her cat, Chico, can also ride along on the back of the scooter.

DIY Friendship Bracelet Tutorial

When I was growing up, Friendship Bracelets were all the rage. Since today is officially National Best Friends Day, we were inspired by the friendship between the LEGO Friends characters to make a friendship bracelet to share with all of YOUR best friends! These Chevron Friendship Bracelets are so fun to make and are a craft you can take anywhere.

The only supply you really need to make Friendship Bracelets is thread. This pack of Rainbow Friendship Thread is similar to embroidery thread and comes in brilliant colors to make bracelets to fit every personality.

When making Friendship Bracelets, it works best to use at least 3 colors. Inspired by LEGO Friends, we decided to use light and darker pinks, a purple and a blue like a lot of the bricks in the Friends sets.

For a kid-sized bracelet, cut a length of each thread to about 70 inches long. Hold all of the threads together and fold them in half. At the fold, tie a knot about 1/2 - 3/4" down to leave a loop above the knot.

Hold the loop and knot down on a table with some take, or poke a safety pin through the knot and stick it through your jeans (or stable fabric) to keep it steady.

Spread out all of the threads. Arrange the four different colors of thread in whatever order you'd like on the left side, then mirror that same color pattern on the right side. Now your bracelet is prepped and ready for you to begin!

Use the pattern image below to guide you through the steps of assembling the bracelet. The instructions are also written out step-by-step underneath the image.

Step 1: Starting with the string at the far left (dark pink), tie a knot over the string to its right by bending the first (dark pink) string at a 90º angle and lay it over the second (blue) string, making the two look like a "4" shape.

Step 2: Bring the end of the first string under the second string, then back up and through the "4" loop, creating a knot. Hold the second (blue) string taut and pull the first (dark pink) knot all the way to the top of the second (blue) string. Tie TWO of these knots.

Step 3-4: The first string (dark pink) will now be between the second and third strings on the left-hand side. Tie two more knots following step 1 and 2 to the third (light pink) string.

Step 5-6: The first string (dark pink) will now be between the third and fourth strings on the left-hand side. Tie two more knots following step 1 and 2 to the fourth (purple) string. The first (dark pink) string will now be in the center.

Step 7: This time, start with the string at the far right (dark pink) and bend it at a 90º angle and lay it over the second (blue) string, making the two look like a backwards "4" shape.

Step 8: Bring the end of the first string under the second string, then back up and through the backwards "4" loop, creating a knot. Hold the blue string taut and pull the pink knot all the way to the top of the blue string. Tie TWO of these knots.

Step 9-10: The first string (dark pink) will now be between the second and third strings on the right-hand side. Tie two more knots following step 1 and 2 to the third (light pink) string.

Step 11-12: The first string (dark pink) will now be between the third and fourth strings on the right-hand side. Tie two more knots following step 1 and 2 to the fourth (purple) string. The first (dark pink) string will now be in the center.

Step 13: Now you need to tie the two first (dark pink) strings together. Bend the right-hand string at a 90º angle and lay it over the left-hand string, making the two look like a backwards "4" shape.

Step 14: Bring the end of the right-hand string under the left-hand string, then back up and through the "4" loop, creating a knot. Hold the left-hand string taut and pull the knot all the way to the top of the left-hand string. Tie TWO of these knots.

Step 15: One line (dark pink) of the bracelet has been completed! Repeat all of the steps, starting with the outer strings and working your way in. This will create lines in each of the colors. You will start to see the chevron shape form as you keep knotting lines.

Keep working on the bracelet until it is at the right length to fit your wrist. Ending the bracelet is very easy, and you have a few options. You can tie the ends of the bracelet together, or you can braid the loose ends and tie it on that way.

Another fun way to end the bracelet is to add on a bead! Almost any shape or size bead could work for these bracelets. My daughter chose to use a shiny blue Bright Pearl Pony Bead.

Pull 4 of the strings (from either side) through the bead.

Bring the other four strings through the bead, but going the opposite direction. Pull both ends of the groups of strings to bring the bead to the end of the bracelet.

Tie a knot below the bead and pull it tight, then tie it again so that the knot is secure. Trim the ends near the knot to look neat and short.

Put the bracelet on by bringing the ends together and threading the bead through the loop.

The more you practice, the faster and easier it will be to make Friendship Bracelets. Have fun making all kinds of colorful bracelets this summer for your friends. You could even make yourself bracelets to represent each of the LEGO Friends in their signature colors! The possibilities are endless.

Who is your favorite LEGO Friend character?

Monster High Bottle Cap Necklace

"Ghouls" everywhere will have fun making their own Monster High Bottle Cap Necklace!

Thanks to Fizzy Pops for making this post possible. As always all opinions are my own.

This post contains affiliate links.

Have a Monster High fan in your life? These Monster High Bottle Cap Necklaces are GORE-geous and surprisingly simple to make. My daughter can't wait to show off these latest jewelry creations and I'm excited to share how you can create some Monster High jewelry for yourself!

To make a creepy-cool Monster High Bottle Cap Necklace, you'll need:
Elastic Cord
Beads - we used solid and striped gumball beads, flower beads, faceted beads, and silver spacer beads
Binder Clips
Bottle Cap Pendants
Epoxy Stickers
Free Printable Monster High Bottle Cap Images
1" Circle Punch
Super Glue

Cut two pieces of elastic cord about 9" long and tie the ends together on one side. Doubling the elastic cord will make the necklace stronger, and tying them together will keep them from slipping apart. Place a binder clip over the knot.

Thread the beads on in any pattern you'd like. As you string the beads, make sure to place the bottle cap pendant in the center.

Carefully remove the binder clip and tie the ends of the elastic cord together. Tie in multiple knots. Hold the elastic on both sides of the knot and pull tight. Add a drop of super glue over the knot and keep holding until the glue dries (doesn't take too long). This will help prevent the knot from coming undone and the beads falling all over the floor around you! (...ask me how I know)

Add some super glue or clear, strong craft glue (E6000 and Beacon are my faves) to the center of the bottle cap pendant. You don't need very much.

Print out the 5"x7" Free Printable Monster High Bottle Cap Images on photo paper. Choose which image you want to use and cut it out with a 1" circle punch. My daughter's first choice was a hot pink Frankie-inspired heart!

Carefully place an epoxy sticker over the design. Be careful not to touch the back of the epoxy sticker or touch the image too much. You'll be able to see your fingerprint on the finished product!

Use a popsicle stick or something with an edge to rub the back of the image to help get the air bubbles out. Press the epoxy image into the bottle cap. Let it dry for a few hours.

Trim the tied ends of the elastic cord about 1/2" away from the knot. Now you can put the necklace on to show off your inner Monster High fashionista!

This is another necklace my daughter made using the Monster High Skullette image. She wears it all the time and is so proud of putting the entire thing together herself. We have always enjoyed making chunky bead bottle cap necklaces, and are looking forward to showing you how we made more at her Monster High Birthday Party!

Who is your favorite Monster High character?

Free Printable Superhero Valentines

Calling all superheroes! Save the day with these Free Printable Superhero Valentines!

Thanks to Oriental Trading for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

My family is all about superheroes, especially my husband. He's even got a superhero-themed classroom! He wanted some Valentines to share with his students, so we teamed up with Oriental Trading to put together something FANTASTIC! Kids will love giving and receiving these Free Printable Superhero Valentines.

Print the Valentine cards on cardstock and cut them out with scissors or a paper cutter. If you punch a hole in the top, you can use these as a gift tag to attach to a larger superhero toy. Or you could tie a superhero pencil or superhero eraser to the top of the card. There a lot of fun superhero-themed items out there, but we decided to go with Superhero Rings!

These rubber Superhero Rings will add some ZAP and ZING to your superhero Valentines! The rings come in red, yellow, blue and white with encouraging words in comic book format.

To attach the rings to the Valentines, you'll need to use a craft blade to cut a 3/8" x 1/2" rectangle in the top section of the card. The rectangle doesn't have to be perfect, just close to the right size.

Fold the sides of the ring together and push it through the hole in the card. The back of the ring should be flat against the front of the card. Once you let go of the ring loop, the ring will stay in place. If you want it to be more secure, you can add a piece of tape through the ring on the back of the card.

Fill out the to/from section and the Valentines are ready to be handed out! There 8 Valentines on the printable and you are welcome to use these at home and in the classroom. For best results, print the Valentines on cardstock.

Download Free Printable Superhero Valentines

Some things you should know before downloading:

*Artsy-Fartsy Mama printables are for PERSONAL USE ONLY (home, school, libraries, 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, you may use ONE photo and credit must be given to Artsy-Fartsy Mama and linked back to this post.

Who's your favorite superhero?