Homemade Flags...for the Game!

The intention of our birthday party was to have a flag football game....but we got some unexpected snow fall and chilly weather...so the game itself only lasted about 20 minutes...then they all came out and pulled out the games we had from last year's party....which will also be shared :)) 

However, in preperation for the game...I commissioned my mother to make penalty flags...you know...those yellow things the refs have hanging out of their pockets....and used every 13 seconds in the games this past weekend? Yeah! Those!

Anyway....she got a genious idea for them....and dug out an old yellow t-shirt she had tucked away....she's really big into re-purposing old cloths (there will be more on this later!).  She purchased two bouncy balls at Party City...for steal at $0.22 total...with taxes!  She took the bouncy ball and wrapped the center of a piece of cut up t-shirt it....she tied it down with a twisty tie thing from a loaf of bread....of where ever those come from ;)

Here is the finished product!  The kids thought they were pretty cool and played with them all afternoon...calling penalties on each other left and right (true NFL refs in the making!)!

Thanks Momma!!!

~Brandie

Homemade Happy Birthday Banner!

I love love love banners!  Banners and Streamers are my specialty when it comes to decor for a birthday party!  For this football party...I used two whole rolls of streamer...it's pretty serious!

I have been searching forever for a way to make my own personalized banners without spending an arm and a leg...and Pinterest finally came through!  I found a pin that led to a blog where another blogger created a pdf file for each and every letter of the alphabet with a triangle line for cutting!  It is amazing.  They print in black (I had found some others that printed in colors or patterns....making it hard to personalize!).  You can use whatever paper will fit in your printer....solid color/pattern/card stock...I love it!  The possibilities are endless with this!!!  Here is a link to her blog....so you can do the same!  Shanky 2 Chic  I have not yet explored her website in full...but I can only imagine that she has other amazing things!

Here is what they look like fresh out of the printer...

...and here is the finished product!  I chose a football ribbon attached to the wall and used clothes pins to attach the banner pieces to the ribbon!  I also did my son's name and hung it from the table top goal post we made :))

~Brandie

Table Top Goal Post!

Ah!  The many posts to my son's 9th birthday party are HERE!  First project first....the table top goal post!  This is something I have been wanting to do for a very long time!  In fact, now that I know this is very inexpensive and easy.....I will be "life-size" ones for the backyard!  How could any true football fan not!

Here is the supply list for making this awesome addition to ANY football decor!

PVC Piping:  We used 1/2 inch by 10 foot $1.25
90 degree joints (non-thread) x 2 $0.46 each
Tee joints (non-thread) x 2 $0.46 each
Cap ends (non-thread) x 2 $0.36 each
Yellow Plastic Spray Paint $3.67

You could technically use 6 cap ends if you want to cap off the base....I didn't....I just capped the top.

All of these supplies and costs came from Home Depot....making it easy to find!

Here are the measurements of the cuts we made....we used a hack saw (which is weird thing to use if you have done so....reminded me of one of those scary movies from my childhood)!

 top half pieces (2) 23 inches
cross bar (two pieces into the tee joint) 12 inches
stand piece 5 inches
base pieces 4 @6 inches and 2 @ 6.5 inches

The two 6.5 inch pieces are in the middle....basically, we used every last part of the PVC piping we bought. Once the pieces were cut, we sanded them....to get the black print off so that the yellow paint would stick...here is what we used...they are sanding blocks.  Because my fiance uses them when he works...we had some laying around the house.  I am not sure of the cost, but I can't imagine them being more than a couple of bucks!

Because they are blocks...they are easy to grip and frankly, they are my favorite thing to use when sanding!

Here is the goal post pre-paint...I was going to take a pic of the pieces before we built it....but in my excitement...I forgot!

And here she is on display before the kiddos arrived!  It was huge hit...the kids thought it was super cool!  I am very excited about having it now...because I use it several times this coming fall...and if things go the way I want...we will be having a Super Bowl party and she will be out for that!

~Brandie

Teacher's Gifts-2012 Christmas!

My boys had intended on giving their teacher's their Christmas gifts on the last day of school before Winter Break.  But....we had our first snow of the school year that day!  So...on the first day back from break, they took them in!  I love putting together teacher gifts....I try really hard to think outside the box.  I even let the kids help choose what we give.  I also get the same thing....but different colors.  Here are some pics of what the boys and I put together!  The teacher's loved them and one (my oldest son's teacher) told him it was his favorite gift!!!

Here's the photos!  I wish I could have posted these before hand...but it is a surprise and I don't want the teachers to see (I can only dream that they come here!).

I covered the bottom of the box with chocolate candy.  I chose non peanut butter candy so that they could be opened in the classrooms with peanut allergies.

 These are my favorite piece!  I found these on accident at Walmart...and I fell in love!  I was able to find three...but one of them is a gold tone. 

 I then put a wooden back massager, mini pedi kit, a bottle of finger nail polish (Christmas red), a bottle of polish remover, and a coffee cup (for hot coca) in there.

I topped it off with a "treat" bag filled with hot coca mix, a candy cane and marshmallows to accompany the mug.  The boys were very excited to give these to their teachers!  I also included a little note in light of the CT tragidy....letting the teachers know how much I appreciated them and how lucky I felt to have them in my kids' lives!  They help me do my job in raising them, so this was very important to me.  My teachers also help me deal with personal issues my boys are having....I could never express how appreciative of that I am.

There is tons more to come...as I intend on gifting to my teachers for Valentine's Day, Easter and Teacher Appreciation weekend!

~Brandie