Kid-Friendly Friday: Graduation Edition

 Can you feel it? The end of the school year is upon us! The kids are squirmy- so ready for summer to start. Today's project is another kid-friendly project to celebrate those graduates, from kindergarten to college. (This one is much easier and quicker than last week's project!)

Egg Carton Graduation Caps
Materials:
Egg carton (Make sure it's empty!)
Cardboard (cereal box)
Paint (in desired school color.)
Paint brush
Embroidery string (in desired school color)
Scissors
Button (no bigger than 3/4in. in a matching color)
Glue
Marker (optional)

Step One:
Cut off one section of the egg carton. Also cut a 2.5" square from the cereal box.Paint one side of cardboard and outside of egg carton. Let dry. Paint the other sides when ready. Let dry.
Just a note: I used Folk Art Metallic paint in Blue Sapphire. I love the subtle shimmer of these paint colors.

Step Two:
While the paint is drying, we'll make the tassel. Cut 14-6in pieces, 1-5in piece, and 1-3in piece of string. Match the ends of the 6 in. pieces and fold them in half. Take the 5 in. piece and tie a knot around the bunch, about a finger-width from the fold. Wrap the rest of that piece around to create the thick part. When you can't go any farther, add a dab of glue to ends. Cut off any stray ends. Take the remaining 3 in. piece of string and thread through the loop. Tie off end and trim.

Step Three: 
Now it's time to put the cap together. Glue the cardboard square to the flat side of the egg carton, and the button to the middle of the cardboard. When the glue has dried, wrap the single loop of the tassel around the button. Voile!

Some notes~
If the tassel looks too long, feel free to cut it to a more manageable length. These would be great place markers for a party or as a decoration on a table. Write names on the top with a Sharpie. Or the school name, or the year, or decorate the top with a design, or....

Thanks for stopping by! Come back for another Cupcake Saturday tomorrow.

Today's Party Trivia:
- James Madison proposed 12 amendments, ten of them were ratified and became the Bill of Rights
- Universal Pictures was incorporated today in 1912.
- Today is World Ocean Day

A Gift for a Grad

We hope everyone is having a nice week so far. Today's project is a gift that any graduate would like to get. It is a three piece gift set that we came up with.

The first piece is a gift box we designed. It is modeled after a graduation cap, complete with a matching tassel. The sides and top of the box have also been embossed, to add a special touch The box measures 5"x5".

The next piece is a picture frame. The blue mat will hold a 4x6" picture.This is a perfect way to show off such a special day. The mortar board is also 3D.

 The last piece is a card. It is a 4x4" card that has a matching graduation cap. The inside of the card was designed to hold a gift card. This card fits nicely into the box.

 Thank you for looking. Come back tomorrow for another project!

Today's Party Trivia:
- Houston, Texas was incorporated in 1837
- In 1956, Elvis Presley performed "Hound Dog" for the first time. (I picture a young Forest Gump teaching him those moves...)
- One of the first personal computers, the Apple II, went on sale in 1977. (Oh, the hours spent playing the Oregon Trail and the Gold Rush game, where the people were made up of little squares)

Congratulations Cards

Hi there! We hope everyone had a nice weekend. Today's projects are two cards we made that would be perfect for a graduation celebration. Most of the time when we think of a graduation, we think either high school or college. But what about the little ones in elementary school?? They should be able to celebrate their "moving up" too, right? That's just what our first card was designed to do. Here it is:

How cute is that little owl? The front says "Hoot, Hoot, Hooray!" and the inside says, "You're on your way!" I love that little sentiment!! What little kid wouldn't like getting this card?! The second card is a "mature" graduation card, for the teenager or adult in your life.

There are three little flowers on it (of course you need some sparkle on such an occasion). The graduation cap pops-out just a bit, as well. The inside of the card says 'Congratulations Graduate", with plenty of room to write a special message of your own.
Thank you for looking and come back tomorrow for a gift that would please any grad!
We would also like to wish our friends Annie & Tyler a very happy 1st anniversary today!

Today's Party Trivia:
- In 1876, the first "express" train ride from New York City to San Francisco arrived on the West Coast today. The trip took almost 84 hours. I guess it's quicker than the horses...
- In 1896, Henry Ford completed the construction of his first gas-powered automobile. He called it the "Quadricycle"
- Massachusetts sets a minimum wage in 1912, making it the first state to do so.

Our Theme This Week...

We hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend so far. We have been busy working on this week's projects. Now that it is June, that means we're getting close to the end of the school year. With the end of the year, that means there will be a few graduations. This is kind of a weird theme for us because we don't actually know too many people who are graduating, except for a few of our track kids back home. However, we thought that this was the next logic theme for the year. And, on the positive side, some of these can easily be tailored for us to use afterwards!
Here is today's project. Like most of our recent Sunday posts, this is an invitation to celebrate!

It is a rather simple card, which makes it perfect for an invitation. It could also be used as a congratulations card for the graduate. Below are two more pictures, one of a blank inside and one filled-in.

 And, lastly, this is a picture of it up-close. As you can tell, there is a rosette on it, to add a little extra "oomph" to the card!

Thanks for looking and stop by tomorrow for another graduation-themed project!

(And, before we forget, a very "happy birthday" to J-Dawg ;) Hope you eat lots of ice cream today!!)

Class of 2011

Since today is the last day of school, I have decided to show this card. It is one that we made for the seniors on the track team this year.

And now that summer is finally here, tomorrow is the big day! We have been waiting for almost a year to start our roadtrip. Hopefully we won't get sick of each other over the next two months, or I'll be the one left in Montana!!