Which means the kids have been in school for almost 2 months
already. How is this possible?
If your kids are anything like mine, the allure of the new
school year is fading fast. Now that we are coming to the end of the first quarter,
homework is picking up. Tests, projects, and papers (and papers!) are coming
home every day and I don’t blame them for being straight exhausted at the end
of the day. They do so much at school!
Add a little smile to their day
With Halloween just around the corner, I’m looking for ways to lift my kiddos spirits during their long school days. A little note or a joke in their lunch box is one of their favorite things!
These free printable Halloween lunch box jokes will bring a smile to your kid’s faces during the school day. Corny Halloween jokes are the best! Plus, then they can share with all of their friends!
Enter your email below and a link to download your free printable PDF will be emailed to you! Two sheets of 6 lunch box jokes are included and are formatted to print on 8.5×11 paper. Just print and cut apart!
Don’t forget the treats!
And for those school Halloween parties on the horizon… check out my Halloween treat bag toppers in my Etsy shop!
They are a $4 INSTANT DOWNLOAD and they are made to fit ‘snack-size’ baggies of treats. Download, print as many as you need, cut out, and staple or tape in place on the top of your baggie full of Halloween treats!
Fill the bags with popcorn, candy corn, Halloween fun-size
candies, M&Ms, or even non-candy items for a fun school treat.
These are also great for treats for extra activities: girl scouts, boy scouts, soccer teams, day care, and more!
As always, custom designs are available. Contact me with any
questions!
Grab your printable Halloween jokes below!
Happy Halloween time to you and your family!
If you are looking for more free printables check out my:
I love to bring meals to families with new babies but sometimes, the thought of what to make another family is so overwhelming. I refer back to this post ALL the time because all these meals are easy and perfect to pack up and take to someone else. This post makes it so easy to be able to help out another family without stressing.
Anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of a meal train or a gift of a homemade meal, knows how much of a gift it is! After our twins were born, people we didn’t even know very well dropped off meals for us. It was such a lifesaver. I will never forget how much those acts of kindness meant to us!
Meal Train Delivery Note
So today, I’m sharing this free printable to attach to those meals. Print, cut, and write out the name of your recipe, baking (or freezing!) instructions, and a quick note to your friend. #ditchthestickynote Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a such a difference to someone in need of some meal love.
You can use these printable notes when you sign up for a meal train to bring a meal to a new mom, to a friend who just had surgery, or even on a quick batch of cookies or muffins for a neighbor.
Enter your email below and your free printable PDF will be emailed to you! Each note is approximately 5″x 4″. Your PDF comes set up with four on the page. Use a couple now and save the others for future meal trains!
Remember, even if finding time to plan and make a meal for someone else seems like just another thing to add to your long to-do list – do it anyway. Your seemingly small act of service can make a huge difference to someone’s life. It’s a simple way we can show our love for others.
You can find the original post – 10 Favorite Meals to Make for New Moms here!
Maybe it feels like we’re barely past Valentine’s Day but there is just something about St. Patrick’s Day that makes me think of SPRING. Maybe it’s all the green or maybe it’s just that the Midwest is hardcore longing for an end to our terrible winter this year. Our kids have had so many snow days that the school has had to extend their school days for the rest of the year to attempt to make them all up. #ugh
So even if Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate and bring us some warmer weather for St. Patrick’s Day, we have to brighten up the mood somehow right? There is just something about having kids that makes you want to celebrate the little things.
On St. Patrick’s Day, we’ll do green pancakes for breakfast and we may just wake up to a little bit of luck from a leprechaun. This cute free printable is a fun way for your leprechaun to leave a festive little note for your kids to wake up to.
Maybe he’ll bring some Lucky Charms for all or leave Rolos (or chocolate gold coins) because we all know leprechauns love their gold! Or maybe he’ll even turn our milk in the fridge green! Because you know leprechauns and their tricks!
And guess what?
This printable is free for you too if you need a little leprechaun luck in your house this year! Just enter your info in the box below and your free printable will be emailed to you lightning fast. (If you don’t see it within a minute or two, check your promotions tab or other folders!) If you aren’t quite in the St. Patrick’s Day mood yet, hover over one of the images above and pin it for later!
OR you can also use it as an insert in a little basket of green goodies for a neighbor or friend!
Keep scrolling for new products for 2023!
However you use it, I hope the luck of the Irish is with you this year and you have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!
Update 2023: Here we go again! NEW St. Patrick’s Day printables are available this year too including a ‘leprechaun treasure’ scavenger hunt!
It comes with 7 clues that lead around your house to a leprechaun treasure of your choice! Think candy, green treats, gold coins, or small gifts! $3 instant download available now! Click the image or the link below!
Update 2021: This year, there is even more St. Patrick’s Day Printables for you to choose from! Click the photos or links below to head to my Etsy shop for these expanded choices!
Who else remembers the stress of school picture day growing up? Your mom would send in your envelope with a giant photo package that included an 8×10 of your face. Whether it was the worst picture of your life or not, it was going to hang on the living room wall for the next year. #somuchpressure
Probably the number one question I get constantly from people in my Etsy shop is “What size print should I get?” or “How do I choose the right size print for my space?”
Back in my school picture days, an 8×10 print seemed HUGE and for some reason that misconception is still hanging around today. But here’s the thing. Spoiler alert: An 8×10 really is not that big.
Really think about that 8×10
Have you ever noticed that no matter how beautiful it is, when people hang a small piece on a large wall it gets completely lost.
It looks like a tiny art island in a sea of wall. Look at this 8×10 compared to a 16×20. (Family wreath print available here.)
And again when compared to an 11×14. It’s amazing the difference that a large print can make!
How to choose the right size for your wall
If you want to get technical, according to Nations Photo Lab there is a mathematical formula you can use.
They recommend measuring the length and width of your wall space, not including the space covered by trim or furniture. Then, multiply the width by .57 and .75 and then the length by .57 and .75. This should give you the range of the size of artwork that you will want to hang.
OR basically you want your artwork to cover 2/3 – 3/4 of your wall.
If for you that is a large amount of space and you don’t like the look of one big print, try putting several different prints together to make up the same space.
I love the combination of a family print with family photos! Grouping prints together in odd numbers creates a natural center. You can evenly space the same size print as I did here, or use different sizes of prints and frames in a gallery wall.
Remember, everything in my shop can be personalized with colors found on my color chart. I’d love to coordinate a print with your beautiful family photos to display! (Color choices are not limited to what is shown on the chart. Contact me if another color is desired.)
Bigger is always better
If you are going to guess, bigger prints are always better. Especially if you have a print with a lot of detail like my family tree print. If it’s printed 8×10 (or smaller!) no one will be able to read the names. But a 16×20 completely changes the look.
If you are looking for a place to have your prints and photos printed, I always recommend Mpix.com (aff. link). I love the quality of their work and even though I order from them a lot, I have never had anything damaged or misprinted.
Large prints and pictures have a huge impact when you are decorating your home! I always feel like if I’m going to invest in a print/photos, then I’m going to take the time and spend the money so they look their best!
Do you need help trying to figure out what to have printed? Check out this post:
(This post contains affiliate links that may provide a small commission to me at zero extra cost to you. Click to see my full disclosure here.)
It seems like we just finished putting away our holiday decorations and already here we are only 2 weeks away from Valentine’s Day!
Chances are, your kids need Valentine’s to take to school, daycare and anywhere in between. Don’t spend time in the crowded, picked-over grocery store. I’ve got you covered right here!
This post has links to 14 of my favorite themed Valentine’s in my Etsy shop along with Amazon links to treats that go along with them. Order them both from your couch and you’re done! #Momwin
All my Valentine’s are instant downloads and all you need to do is print and cut at home. Have your child sign their name and attach one of the treats that has arrived from Amazon!
All the sports Valentines can be made in team colors if you wish – just send me a message on Etsy or email me at lovingourprints@gmail.com and I will create a custom listing for you.
Isn’t Amazon Prime the best? Happy love day!
Looking for some free printables for kids? Check out:
Despite the 87 degree temperatures here in Iowa on Wednesday, we are all about the fall fun in our house lately. We tried out a brand new pumpkin patch this year and for once managed to go at a time when the crowds were low.
The boys are finally all the perfect age to enjoy every activity and had an absolute blast. Josh and I almost didn’t know what to do with ourselves because we’ve had babies or small toddlers that needed constant help for the last 6 years!
Our kids are also at awesome ages for baking and crafting little Halloween decorations. We made these adorable suncatchers with contact paper, leftover party streamers and construction paper.
And these Jack O’Lantern luminaries with old (clean) milk jugs, a permanent marker, and orange Christmas lights.
But I’m here today to talk about my favorite thing we’ve made so far! A handprint pumpkin keepsake plaque! I’m a sucker for handprint art – we all know how fast our littles grow – and I never want to forget how teeny tiny their hands were! This plaque is super easy to make and you can look back on it for years to come.
You need:
Ceramic Plaque (I found mine at Michael’s craft store but they are only sold IN store)
Paint – any kind
Paintbrushes – fine tipped
Pencil and eraser
Permanent marker in desired color for writing
1- Paint the face and sides of your plaque the desired background color. Don’t worry about streaking or making it perfect. Some pieces will be covered up and the rest of the imperfections give it character! Let dry.
2) Lightly paint your child’s palm and fingers. Don’t glob on the paint or the handprint will be difficult to see. Position the plaque in a sturdy place. Ask your child to spread out their fingers as best they can and gently place the hand onto the plaque. Carefully press down each of their fingers and lift their hand straight up. (I flipped ours upside down so our pumpkins would be larger on the bottom than on the top. You can decide how you want yours to look!) Let handprints dry.
3) Use a pencil to draw on your writing and details. Erase as needed with a regular eraser.
4) Paint over using one color at a time. The material of the plaque allows paint to dry very quickly but I still waited a little while in between each color to make sure I didn’t smear any wet paint. Use permanent marker for any writing and for writing your child’s name and age near their handprint!
5) Once finished, erase all leftover pencil marks and display on a small easel!
These little hands grow so fast! I love having their prints in memory form so I can always remember how tiny they once were.
Update 2021: This year, there is even more Fall Fun Printables for your littles for you to choose from! Click the photos or links below to head to my Etsy shop for these expanded choices! $3 instant download! Our sweet kiddos love these fall themed coloring pages and activities.
(This post contains affiliate links that may provide a small commission to me at zero extra cost to you. Click to see my full disclosure here.)
Happy Wednesday everyone! I’m here talking about cakes again and I’m excited because this is the fun part. If you missed last week, I posted about how to bake birthday cakes and this week it’s all about easy ways to decorate them! You absolutely have to have solid, flat, delicious (obviously!) cake layers if you want to decorate a cake yourself so go back and read all those tips in Part 1 before you bake your cake.
Just as a side note, all my decorating tips are to be used with frosting. I’m not a fondant girl and I don’t think I’ll ever be one. 😉 Fondant doesn’t taste good and personally, I’m making my cakes so that they look cute but also so they taste delicious! Just taste the very best homemade frosting that I’ve been using for years (recipe down below in step 2) and I think you’ll see why.
I love to search Pinterest for cake inspiration. It is such a great idea resource! I find a few inspiration pins and then always put my own spin on an idea! You can check out my cake board here.
Decorating seems to be the scary part for everyone – I know it was for me when I started making my kids cakes. I promise though, these easy tips are all you need to make an amazing cake PLUS I’m going to share the very best homemade frosting recipe that I’ve been using for years.
If you followed all the steps in Part 1 for baking a flat (not raised in the center) cake then you really shouldn’t need to do much trimming off the top if at all. You do want your cake layers to be as flat as possible so if you see any raised areas, just easily trim them off with a serrated knife.
I love using cake shape as an easy part of my design. You can do this by carving the cake or using different size cakes to form a shape. I made this Paw Patrol cake by using a double layered 9 inch round cake and four cupcakes to form a paw.
I made these “2” cakes for my twins by carving 8 inch round cakes and an 8 x 8 square cake with the below tutorial from Cakebaker that I found on Pinterest for easy ways to make number cakes!
Whenever you carve a cake, I prefer to do the carving with a serrated knife on a separate cutting board and then move my carved pieces to my cake board. Doing it that way prevents tiny pieces of cake from getting stuck all over your board. (TIP: I put a tiny bit of frosting on the cake board where I am going to lay my cake so that it doesn’t slide around when the board is moved!)
Step 2: Mix up your frosting and color it!
I’ve made a lot of frosting when I’ve been baking but this recipe I’m going to share is my very favorite. I’ve been asked for this recipe a bunch of times when I bring my cakes places because it’s really amazing.
2-4 tablespoons of milk (I usually use the full 4 to make sure that the icing is not too thick to spread)
Cream butter and shortening together with a stand mixer or hand mixer. Mix in the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar, mixing between each cup you add. Gradually add the milk, until you reach the right consistency.
The amount of frosting you need to make depends on the size of the cake you have. In order to have enough frosting for a base coat and any frosting decorations I want to do, I listed below how many batches of my frosting I make up. It’s just a guide though, you may need more or less depending on how thickly you frost your cake and how many colors of frosting you need!
8 inch round double layer cake – 3 batches
9 inch round double layer cake – 3 batches
10 inch round double layer cake – 3-4 batches
Half sheet cake (12 x 18) – 4-5 batches
I strongly recommend that you mix up these batches individually or the frosting doesn’t mix properly. For example, if you need 3 batches do NOT triple the recipe in your mixer. Mix the recipe up 3 times. It’s worth it.
Use gel food coloring to color frosting in the amount you need for your design! I always use gel coloring instead of the traditional liquid. It gives brighter, deeper colors and also doesn’t add liquid to make your frosting too thin! In my experience, the color does get deeper with time. I’ve had trouble trying to mix up a bright red that just wouldn’t change from a dark pink. I used it anyway and the next morning it was very red!
Step 3: Stack your cakes
If you are making a single layer cake (like a half sheet cake) – you can skip this step!
If you are making a double layer cake, put a dab of frosting in the center of your cake board and place one layer of your cake with the top facing up. (The flat side that was in your pan should go against the board for a flat, level base.
Put a good layer of frosting in between them. It always needs more than I think. Nobody wants a dry cake!
Then place your second layer on top of the frosting, with the top side down and the flat side up. It’s okay if there is a bit of a gap in between the layers- you can fill that in with frosting!
Step 4: Give the whole cake a base layer of frosting
Before you begin, make sure your frosting is the right consistency to spread. It should not be too stiff or it will not spread easily and will pull off the top layer of your cake! If it’s too thick, just mix in a little more milk in half teaspoon increments.
With your frosting knife, take big dollops of frosting and place a few of them over your cake. Gently spread them around until the top is covered. Then carefully do the sides, making sure to fill in any gaps between your layers of cake. You want a good, thick layer of frosting. Your knife should not be scraping the top of your cake, only touching frosting if that makes sense.
If you have a small gap between the bottom of your cake and the board, don’t worry. We’ll cover that up. If you have carved your cake and find that your cake is breaking apart as you frost, you can always follow the below step for putting frosting in a piping bag and pipe on your frosting with a large tip. Just gently smooth the top out.
Step 5: Add your decorations!
This is the fun part! Now that you have your base layer over all your cake, you can go back and add anything you want. Place your frosting tip of choice in your piping bag, snip off the end and place it into a glass. Then fill up your bag with frosting, leaving enough room that you can twist it closed at the top.
There are probably hundreds of piping tips out there but these 5 are my favorites and the ones I most use.
# 1M – I always use for frosting cupcakes or for piping borders on cakes
# 12 – I use for general decorating, filling in shapes, or borders on cakes
# 3 – I use for fine decorating details and any writing I do
# 233 – Grass, Elmo’s hair, dog fur, anything fun like that. I love what this tip can do.
# 47– I think it’s purpose is supposed to be a basket weave or straight ribbon but I love using it for a border.
I’m not very good freehanding my designs so I love to use guides. I’ve lightly traced around cups, straight edges, etc. with a toothpick, then piped over it with frosting to make a design. I also love to print images off the computer on regular paper, cut them out and gently lay them on the cake to trace the shapes (especially with character cakes!). I traced the shield and the bone in the Paw Patrol cake I mentioned earlier.
I used a ruler to mark the web on this Spider-Man cake and traced the Batman shape from something I printed online.
And this soccer cake, I laid a smaller cake pan on top and lightly traced the shape for the soccer field!
I also love to decorate cakes with small toys or edible items. It’s an easy way to make your cake fit the theme without having to free-hand difficult decorations. The soccer balls and goals on that soccer cake and the Paw Patrol pups were perfect for those cakes. The train tracks on these “2” cakes were made with upside down Hershey bars, black icing and small toy trains. I loved using tractors and crushed up Oreo “dirt” to decorate this construction themed cake too!
Finally, I always place a border around the bottom of the cake to cover up the messy gap where it sits on the board. You can do anything with this you choose. Sometimes I just do dots of frosting, sometimes I try to be fancy with the basket weave tip.
** You can also use these white couplers if you want to use the same color frosting with different tips. You place the larger piece of the coupler inside your bag and snip off the end. The tip fits on the coupler outside the bag, and then the other piece of the coupler screws in around the tip to hold it in place. You can unscrew that and replace the tip with another without having to get a new frosting bag.**
Also, if you mess something up don’t panic! Either roll with it or scrape off your mistake, replace your base layer of frosting and try again. 😉 I may have done that a time or two.
That’s it! If I can do this, you can absolutely do this too. If you have any questions, contact me or post in comments! Your cake does NOT have to look perfect to be perfect for your child!
(This post contains affiliate links that may provide a small commission to me at zero extra cost to you. Click to see my full disclosure here.)
Today I’m talking about one of my favorite subjects- birthday cake! It’s birthday season in our house and I’ve been in the kitchen a lot lately baking cakes, treats for school, etc. I was thinking the other day how I much I enjoy making their cakes myself but how intimidating I used to find the thought of it. And so this post was born. I’m going to share all my easy tips and I promise when you are done reading, you absolutely can do it yourself too. I’m going to break this down into two parts – today’s post will be all about baking the cakes. Next week in part 2, I will share my easy tips to decorate them.
Growing up, my aunt always made all of my birthday cakes. I’m pretty sure I asked for a Barbie birthday cake (you know the kind with the actual doll in the middle of a dress made of cake) for at least 5 years in a row. I remember being so excited to see it and watching out the window for her to arrive at my party with my cake.I never even realized that was something special that she did for me until I was in college. I somehow thought that everyone had an aunt that liked to decorate cakes. 😉
Years later, I found out that my grandma used to decorate cakes and sell them out of her home when my mom and my aunt were little. She would of course make their birthday cakes too and taught my aunt how to bake and decorate them. My grandma died when I was really little so I don’t have very many memories of her. I had always loved to bake and hearing that she did too made me feel connected to her in a way that I hadn’t before. I have always made my kid’s birthday cakes myself because I want to but also because it makes me feel close to her. I love that I come from a line of cake bakers and I like to think this is in my genes. (That’s a thing, right?)
PLUS it’s way cheaper than store bought, it can look exactly how I want it and the look in my boy’s eyes when they come down on their birthday party morning and see the cake I made is priceless.
When I had my own kids, I started making their birthday cakes and learned a lot from my aunt and A LOT from trial and error. If you have ever wanted to bake your child’s birthday cake but were too intimidated to try, follow these easy steps. I promise you. It’s way easier than you think it is!
I love baking half sheet cakes (12 x 18) for their birthday parties which is what I did in the pictures here. I love half sheet cakes because they feed a ton (30-40+ people in my experience), have an easy flat surface for decorating and are thick enough that they look great without needing to have layers stacked. However, you can follow these steps for any size cake pans. I included notes in each step for how I bake 8 inch, 9 inch and 10 inch round double layer cakes.
3 cake mixes + eggs, oil and water per the mix instructions – I like to use 2 of one flavor and 1 of another but you can always use 3 of the same! **See my notes below in Step 3 for amount of cake mix needed for other size cakes**
Take your cake pan and lay it on a sheet of parchment paper. Use a pencil to trace the outline of your pan and cut it out with scissors. Place it in the bottom of your pan. I usually don’t line the sides of my pans but I do spray them with cooking spray. You absolutely can line the sides if you want to, and it’s fine to let parchment paper stick out over the sides of the pans.
It’s tempting, but don’t skip this step. Especially with larger cakes, sometimes pieces of your cake do stick in the pan even when you spray it well. And that SUCKS.
TIP: If you are having trouble with the parchment paper curling and not staying flat in your pan, spray your pan with cooking spray so it has something to stick to. It’s not necessary, but I always do this so that my paper lays where I want it to. The last thing I want is the paper moving while I pour the batter and having half of my cake stick to the pan.
Step 2: Wet and wrap your baking strips
Baking strips are like a hidden secret that I discovered years ago. If you’ve ever baked a cake before, you’ve probably seen how the middle of the cake commonly domes up when it bakes. That’s fine for cakes you are planning to spread with frosting and leave in your 9 x 13 pan. It’s not good though when you need to remove your cake from the pan, stack it with another and decorate it. You can try to trim off the dome, but you lose a good chunk of your cake and your edges are funky and crispy from baking unevenly.
Wetting these baking strips with cool water and placing them around your pan helps the cake cook more evenly. They get rid of the dome and the crispy edges. You can buy these strips OR you can be cheap like me. I use cut up strips of old (clean!) bath towel that I wet and safety pin around my cake pan. It does the same thing and costs nothing but is a little more work without that Velcro of the baking strips.
Step 3: Mix up your cake
A half sheet cake needs 3 cake mixes to fill for a nice, thick cake. I like to use 2 cake mixes of one flavor (here that is the funfetti) and 1 of another (here that is the chocolate) so that we can have two kinds of cake for the party. If you dump both your mixes into the pan at the same time, the bigger mix will fill approximately 2/3 of the pan and the other the remaining 1/3. It’s funny because people always love the line of pieces that are a mix between the two! Use a small spatula to smooth out the cake mixes to fill the corners of the pan.
I use 1 cake mix divided into two pans for 8 and 9 inch double layer cakes. When I do 10 inch double layer cakes, I use 1 full cake mix for each layer.
I don’t even attempt to make my own cake from scratch when I bake a half sheet cake because I know exactly 3 mixes fill it nicely and I don’t know how much a homemade batch would fill. I have made my own cake when baking 8, 9 or 10 inch round cakes. I’ve tried several different recipes and I’m going to be honest. They didn’t taste as good as the box mix so I hardly ever do it anymore. Because why do more work for something that doesn’t taste as good. #just saying
I have ‘doctored’ the cake mix though before with good results. Although absolutely not necessary, adding 1 extra egg to each cake mix and/or replacing the amount of vegetable oil called for with melted butter makes a more rich cake.
Step 4: Bake cake
Bake your cake according to package directions for 8 and 9 inch cakes. For 10 inch cakes, also bake at 350 degrees but for approximately 10 minutes longer than it says for the 9 inch cake. Keep an eye on your cakes! For the half sheet cake, I bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
Here’s a pro tip from my aunt: The general rule of thumb is to bake a cake until a fork inserted in the center comes out clean. That is actually too long. Once a fork comes out clean, the cake is already overbaked and too dry. Once the top of the cake is set and if you gently push down in the center with your finger and it springs back, then the cake is done. That’s the secret to a delicious moist – not dry – cake!
As a general rule, I always set a kitchen timer for at least 5 minutes less than the box recommends and keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t over bake.
Step 5: Dump and cool
Once you pull it out of the oven, set your half sheet cake still in the pan on top of the oven for 30 minutes to let it cool. Then carefully place the cake board on top of your pan and quickly flip it over to dump it onto the board. Let it cool the rest of the way before decorating which is probably at least an hour.
If you are using 8, 9 or 10 round layer cakes, let your cakes sit in the pan for 15-20 minutes and then dump onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
5 easy steps and your cake is baked. And it’s delicious! I’ll be back here next Wednesday with part 2 – How to decorate a birthday cake!
Thanks for stopping by! You can find me on Instagram here. Or on Pinterest here!
Happy Wednesday everyone! We’ve been having some really beautiful warm December weather in Iowa the past week or so which has left my boys with some serious concern about Christmas not coming if there hasn’t been snow. I will admit that I’m usually all about the snow in December! The feeling lasts until mid-January when I am OVER all the snow and ready for spring. My older boys have been super annoyed about having to wear a winter coat in the morning to school and then – and I quote – “roasting like warm marshmallows” in them by recess time. I think this warm weather is about over and I think we are all ready for the weather to feel like Christmas time too.
It was time for my annual trip to the Dollar Store for Christmas wrapping paper last night and made out like a bandit. 😉 I love getting all my wrapping supplies there: paper, tissue paper, boxes, ribbon/bows and TAPE. All. The. Tape. Partially because I go through a lot and partially because I always misplace half of it. Tell me I’m not the only one.
I love buying wrapping supplies at the Dollar Store because then I can afford to buy a bunch of different pretty papers plus the character wrapping paper that our kids love without spending very much. Our Santa always wraps his gifts in gold paper (or puts big gold bows on larger items) so I dig through the wrapping paper bins and buy up all the gold too. 😉
One thing I never buy there though is gift tags! I love me some cute gift tags and the ones in stores just don’t really do it. I created these gift tags for our gifts this year and you can download this FREE printable too! Right here! Print them, cut them out, tape on or string them on a ribbon and a super cute gift you have! OR you can buy this label paper and print them on that instead. I love using label paper because you cut them out, peel off the back and they are stickers ready to go!
And don’t forget about those gifts from Santa!
PLUS, I also created these cute Santa gift tags! You can find those to download here.
Update 2021: This year, there is even more Christmas Gift Tag Printables for you to choose from! PLUS, these are editable in Adobe Reader (free to download) to add your child’s name! Click the photos or links below to head to my Etsy shop for these expanded choices! $3 instant download!
I considered trying to have all my wrapping done this week so I didn’t have to worry about it but then I realized that wrapping to me isn’t a chore. I love to wrap gifts! Josh and I always settle in with a Christmas movie and hot chocolate while I wrap gifts a little every night the week or so before Christmas and I like it that way. 😉
Do you dread wrapping gifts or look forward to it like me?
Don’t forget to pin for when it’s time to get your wrap on. 😉 (Hover over or tap the upper left corner of the images above.) Happy wrapping!
If you like these gift tags, check out the Christmas printables in my Etsy shop!
I don’t care what the calendar says, it’s officially fall in our house! My pumpkin candles are lit, we have already hit up the apple orchard and I’m searching out all the pumpkin spice in the stores. (And I’m excited to see what crazy stuff they’ve come up with this year!)
Today, I’m joining with some sweet bloggers to bring you a list that’s full of all the fall you’ve been looking for. Read on for some of the best recipes, ideas for fall family fun, decor, fall crafts and more!
