Last minute end of the season cheerleader gift bags

If you are needing to put together a last minute gift for a squad of cheerleaders, or SUPER last minute in my case, you have come to the right place! I needed to do the same thing last week for my daughter’s cheer team and I only had a few hours to make it happen.

I knew I didn’t want to spend a ton of money, because I’m frugal like that, but I also didn’t want whatever I put together to seem cheap.

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So off to Walmart I went. My youngest daughter and I trolled up and down the aisles of our TINY Walmart, which carries about 1/4 of the variety that a super center does, but we found some goodies that were perfect for cheerleader gift bags.

We went for a pamper yourself theme that the girls loved! And I only spend $60, not counting what I already had at home.

Here’s what I filled the bags with. Each girl got one of the following

• small tin of Nivea lotion (find it on Amazon here)

• clear nail polish

• nail file (purchased in a pk of 12)

• bath bomb

• coiled hair tie

• popcorn bag

• hot cocoa

• 2 mini chocolate bars

Other items I bought to make the gift bags

• roll of yellow ribbon

• roll of blue ribbon

• yellow tissue paper

• blue tissue paper

I already had these materials on hand

• brown paper bags

• vinyl (I used two different brands)

• Cricut cutting machine

• Cricut green mat

• Cricut Design Space

• Cricut Access

• transfer tape

• vinyl squeegee

• clear bags

To keep the bags simple, and because I didn’t know everyone’s name on the cheer squad, I cut out vinyl decals that said ‘ HUSKERS CHEER’ with a megaphone. I used Cricut Design Space and used my Cricut Access for this. Click here to find the link to my project in design space.

I made my decals 5” wide so they would fit perfectly on the gift bags.

I had two different brands of vinyl that I used (Oracal & Starcraft) but any colored vinyl, that’s not HTV, will work. What I had on had were matte and gloss but I would have preferred it all to have been matte.

I used my Cricut Explore and green cutting mat to cut my decals out. You can see how well loved both my machine and mat is lol! If you’re looking for a cart for your cutting machine I HIGHLY recommend the one in this pic. I absolutely LOVE it!

This decal was a little more work than I really wanted to do BUT it was sooooo cute! Each bag had 4 different vinyl pieces to put on the bags. But since they were all the same I was able to get them on the bags pretty quickly.

I used clear transfer tape and a vinyl squeegee to help get them on the bags easier.

I didn’t want to just throw everything inside the brown bags. I thought separating the items out like this made the pampered bags look a lot nicer and fancier. I put the nail polish and file in one bag. The edible treats in another bag. And the lotion, hair tie, and bath bomb in another bag. My cheerleader loved this.

Once I started getting the decals on my older girls and I made an assembly line to fill the bags. We were really pressed for time by this point lol. It worked pretty great. And they learned how to curl package ribbon.

These were so quick to make and had a lot of school spirit to show on the outside with the tissue paper and curled ribbons. The girls loved them!

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy project.

Happy crafting!

Check out more projects made with my Cricut

How to make beeswax wraps, reusable cotton saran wrap

Make your own reusable cotton food wraps

I gotta say I am impressed with these simple yet useful beeswax reusable cotton wraps. If you’ve never heard of these before you’re not alone, my husband had no idea what they were and I’m pretty sure he thought I was crazy when I told him what I wanted to make. You use these cloth wraps in your kitchen to replace saran wrap…genius I know! I had never used beeswax or pine resin before this DIY, I actually had no idea pine resin was a thing to buy until recently. But after seeing how easy this project was I am eager to try others that use these ingredients.

I read several different articles telling how to make them. They all basically used the same three ingredients: BEESWAX, PINE RESIN, JOJOBA OIL. Some however didn’t use the pine resin, or any resin at all, and what I read, and now agree with since I have made them myself, is that you won’t get that sticky saran wrap feel unless you use the pine resin. Technically you can just use beeswax but I wouldn’t recommend it.

If you enjoy this money saving tip be sure to check out these reusable oil bottles for the kitchen.

DIY EASY BEESWAX & RESIN SARAN WRAP

Here’s what you'll need

• beeswax pellets

• pine resin

• jojoba oil

• 100% cotton fabric

• pinking shears

• chip brush

• sauce pan

• wide mouth half pint mason jar

• measuring spoons

• measuring cup

• aluminum foil

• cookie sheet

• cooling rack

• flexible squeegee

• preheated oven at 215 degrees

This is the recipe I used

• 1/2 c BEESWAX PELLETS

• 2 t PINE RESIN

• 1/2 t JOJOBA OIL

The first couple of wraps I made I only used 1 teaspoon of the pine resin and I did not like the way those wraps turned out. So I doubled the resin for the next batch and they turned out SO much better!

1.MELT THE INGREDIENTS

Preheat your oven to 215 degrees. Then mix 1/2 cup of beeswax pellets, 2 teaspoons of pine resin, and 1/2 teaspoon of jojoba oil. The BEST way to do this is to melt it all in a double boiler. I used an old sauce pan and a short mason jar for this. I put a small amount of water in the sauce pan because I didn’t want the jar to float and I knew since I was making a small batch it wouldn’t take much to heat of the jar to melt the beeswax. I used a thin chip brush to do all of the stirring.

2. CUT YOUR FABRIC

while my ingredients were melting I cut my fabric into pieces I thought would be good sizes for what I wanted to use them for. I cut a few small ones that would fit around the top of a jar. Several medium sized ones that would be good to wrap around food. And a couple of large ones that would fit around my larger sized mixing bowls. I used my grandma’s old pair of pinking shears on the edges of the fabric so that the edges wouldn’t fray once I start using the food wraps. Also, you want to be sure you are using 100% cotton.

3. BRUSH ON & BAKE

Line your cookie sheet with foil, shiny side down. Place a piece of your fabric on the cookie sheet. Use the chip brush to brush on the melted mixture. Then pop it in the oven for 5 minutes or so. Do not skip placing it in the over. If you just brush the wax mixture on your food wraps they will be stiff, the mixture won’t be on the fabric evenly and it will result in them not working quite right. Placing them in the oven allows the wax to melt completely into the fabric and giving you a nice even coat over the entire piece of fabric.

4. REMOVE EXCESS WAX

Remove your cookie sheet from the oven. Use a squeegee, here's the kind I used, and squeegee the excess beeswax mixture off of the fabric. I didn’t do this for the first couple of wraps I made and I didn’t like how they turned out, for two reasons - there wasn’t enough resin AND they were WAY TOO stiff and waxy. None of the tutorials I read said to do this step though. So maybe they know something I don’t. But I do know when I went to use the first two to try them out before I made more they were kind of blah and I wasn’t impressed at all with them. After I squeegeed the excess off it made all the difference in the world! I didn’t let the excess go to waste either. I scooped it up and placed it back into the mason jar so it could melt back down.

5. REMOVE & LET DRY

Immediately take them off of the baking sheet and place them somewhere to dry. I lined a cookie drying rack with a piece of foil and then placed the finished wax wraps on there to dry. It didn’t take very long at all for them to completely dry on the drying rack.

6. USE

Once your food wraps are dry you can start using them immediately. I was so surprised at how well these turned out! I’m even thinking about making some to give as gifts to family and friends.

Like with all of my DIY posts if you have any questions please feel free to ask. If you make these at home I’d love to hear how yours turn out!

Happy crafting!

DIY Dollar Tree work for hire chore chart

Easy work for hire board

I don’t know about you but in my house we don’t do allowance. Well, not the traditional allowance anyway. Instead, we have a work for hire board. And I so wish I would have made this sooner. For years my girls have been asking “what needs to be done” for them to earn money for the not so everyday chores around the house. Of course they would ask at the times when my brain was on anything but that and I would have to stop and think hard about what needs to be done and how much to pay for that chore.

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Now my brain doesn’t have that extra stress (yes, it’s a stress when your sweet daughter is asking to do work around the house so she can make some cash and your brain just draws a blank :(! ) Having this work for hire board is WONDERFUL! I clip the money to the chore that needs to be done. Then they do the chore and take their earnings. This gives them so much independence and instills a good work ethic that they will carry with them through adulthood. Everyone is happy! They get paid and I didn’t have to wash the windows lol!

Now, I don’t pay the girls to do everyday things like washing dishes, picking up the living room, washing their clothes. Those are everyday kind of chores. The chores on the work for hire board are more like washing the windows, wiping down the baseboards, deep cleaning the bathroom, organizing the stockpile, etc.

And to make it even better was that I picked up the metal tin I used for the work for hire boar from the Dollar Tree! All together this DIY cost less than $5 for everything. See more of my DIY Dollar Tree crafts.

FREE PRINTABLE- 36 work for hire chore ideas for you to print off. Click the photo below to get the password for instant access to my free resource library.

How to make a kid’s work for hire board

Here’s what you’ll need

• round metal pizza pan, I got mine from the Dollar Tree

• small magnets

• chalk paint

• acrylic paint

• clothes pins

• paint brush

• oracal vinyl (this is where I got mine)

• transfer tape

• vinyl squeegee

• clear finishing spray

• wide ribbon

• work for hire svg

• E6000

Helpful tools

• CRICUT (I use an explore)

• CRICUT CUTTING MAT

• CRICUT ACCESS

ONE-

Use chalk paint and paint the entire front of your pizza pan. I painted two coats on mine, letting the first one dry completely before painting the second coat on. To add a little rustic feel I added some cream colored accent markings to mine. I did this while the second coat of paint was still wet and just liberally added in strokes of the cream colored chalk paint. Let your painted pizza pan dry. I let mine day for several days because I had other things to do before I could finish it up. After mine dried I gave it a quick spray with a clear sealant to give it a protective top coat.

TWO-

Paint your clothes pins. I just used two colors, pink and gray. I painted my clothespins with two coats of acrylic paint to get a good coverage on them. Let them dry.

THREE-

Add a vinyl decal to the top that says ‘ work for hire’. You can make your own or grab one similar to the one I used, get it in my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY. I used gray oracal 651 vinyl for mine. Even though I allowed my painted pizza pan to dry for several days I wasn’t sure if the transfer tape would remove the paint so I applied my decal very gently. I tried not to push the transfer tape down too much and focused on just the decal. Thankfully none of the paint came off of my pizza pan when applying the work for hire decal.

FOUR-

Write the chores on your clothes pins. Ours don’t change too much, they are pretty much the same things that need to be done every month so I used a fine point sharpie to write on mine. When I made mine I wrote on the painted clothespins after I glued the magnets to them…big mistake. It would have been far easier to write on them first, glued magnets second. But now I know for next time AND I know the right way to tell you how to do it so you don’t make the mistake I did.

FIVE-

Use E6000 and glue a magnet to the backside of each of your clothespins. If you’ve never heard of E6000 it’s basically a really strong glue. It does take about 24 hours to fully dry though. Oh, and it does have a bit of a weird smell to it but it is good for crafts lol! Set your clothespins somewhere they won’t be disturbed so they can dry properly.

SIX-

Add a ribbon hanger to the back. Make sure it lines up with the front, you don’t want a lopsided chart hanging up after all this hard work. Use tape to hold the ribbon in place on the backside. Glue to the back side of the pizza pan using E6000. I used the discarded piece of backing from my vinyl to press the ribbon into the glue. I didn’t want all of that on my fingers. That worked great for me! Just like with the clothespins, set the pizza pan in a place it can fully dry without being disturbed.

SEVEN-

After everything is dry hang up and add your clothespins with the money attached to them.

I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial and that it helps and inspires you to create your own. As with all of my posts, if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Happy crafting!

Want instant access to all of my freebies? Fill out the info below and you instantly get the password to get into my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY. This is where I share all of my printable, files, more to share with anyone that wants them to use for non commercial use.

DIY sensory activites your toddler will love

What is sensory play for toddlers?

Sensory play is crucial for your child’s development. I’m not going to spout out all the scientific reasonings sensory play is huge for your toddler…because I am not a doctor or licensed in this field in any way. I am, however, a momma of 4 and have seen what it’s done for our own daughters. And since I’m super frugal and crafty I am going to share with you how you can make your own DIY sensory activities on a dime! If you’d like to read a little more science behind sensory importance read this article from Heather at Growing Hands-On Kids.

Sensory play touches on these five senses

• sight

• smell

• touch

• taste

• hearing

When we let our kiddos explore the things around them they start to understand their bodies. They start to understand just how all these different things work. So when all you see is a mess what they “see” is so much more. They are learning through play. Just as you would learn through doing something, say a new craft technique, or a task at work. We learn when we do and our babies and toddlers are no different. So, don’t focus on the mess. Focus on the wonderful things that are happening inside your little one’s brain.

And a plus is that it’s SO easy to make your own sensory activities at home. More than likely you already have everything you need to create these too.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

If you love this article you’ll also love my post on toddler apple stamping canvas art. This is sensory oriented and makes an adorable keepsake for you!

Here are my top sensory activities to do at home for toddlers

1. Colorful fluffy paint on foil

Here’s what you need

• containers

• paint brushes {or they can use their fingers}

• pan

• foil

• food coloring

• cool whip

Cover a metal pan in foil. Fill containers half way with cool whip. Add a few drops of food coloring. Let them paint. You can wipe off the foil if there gets to be too much cool whip “paint” on it and let them do it all over again.

2. Color sorting with noodles

Here’s what you’ll need

• colored noodles. I made these by placing them in ziplock bags, adding food coloring and shaking. Allow them to dry overnight prior to using.

• bin or bowl

• colored paper to coordinate with the colors of noodles you have

This is a really fun game for kids. This would literally keep our youngest daughter busy for a solid hour! You can even add some drops of essential oil to the noodles when you color them to make it an even better experience for your tot.

3. Racing cars in paint

Here’s what you’ll need

• trash bag

• tape

• toys with wheels

• non toxic paint

Cut the bottom off your trash bag and a slit in the side, so that the bag opens flat. Tape it to the floor, a solid ground not the carpet. Add some paint and let your kiddos explore what it looks and feels like to run wheeled things through it. Even better because they see what it looks like when they start mixing the different colors together. This is super fun!

4. Scented Playdough

Here’s the recipe I used for DIY playdough. I did add food safe scented oils to mine. You can see this one is still a big hit with our older daughters. We bring out the cookie cutters, rolling pins when we play with our DIY playdough. Don’t worry if they mix all the colors together, it’s apart of the fun for them.

5. Water Play

Here’s what you’ll need

• bins

• water

• measuring cups

• floating balls

• large kitchen ladles and anything else that looks like fun to use in the water

This one was HUGE with kids! They love playing in the water. Show them how they can pour a scoop of water from one thing to the other. There are so many senses that are used during water play.

6. Rice Bin

Here’s what you’ll need

• rice, LOTS of rice

• pvc, solid pieces, elbows, and T’s

• funnels

• scoop spoons

• large bin

I saved this one for last because is has been the ALL TIME FAVORITE with the girls! I don’t have exact plans for this DIY sensory rice bin but it didn’t take too much thinking to put together. I just cut pieces for sides, two pieces for the top bar, added some elbow’s, t’s and it was ready to go. I did not glue this together as I wanted to be able to take this apart to store away. You could even do something like this for water play!

There you have it, my top 6 sensory play activities for toddlers from a mom’s point of view. Most of the materials for these activities you probably have around the house, talk about frugal toddler fun! Yes, they are messy but let them get messy. Let them learn. Let them explore. Let them be toddlers and enjoy this time you have with them.

Check out more kid friendly posts below

How to juggle it all during the summer when you're a WAHM

Is it possible to be a mompreneur during the summer months?

Yes, absolutely! Working from home during summertime with kiddos is, let’s just say a little crazy sometimes, but it’s still possible. I haven’t always been a WAHM so I’ve definitely had to adjust how we “summer” these days. And after a few years I think I finally found our happy middle. As long as I keep these 5 tips for how to juggle it all I can keep my sanity too.

Here are 5 tips to help you “summer” better as a work at home mom.

1. Set a MOM IS WORKING schedule.

This does not have to be the same every single day. In fact, ours changes daily. I create handmade décor & craft kits so my days are really pretty flexible and this type of scheduling works well for our family. If your schedule can’t be as flexible decide what days you need to work and be sure the ENTIRE family is on board. And then implement the schedule all summer long. I personally have chosen to work 3 days a week and scheduled off 2 fun days per week.

2. Let them help

If your kiddos are old enough and your type of business allows for it let them help you. Take the time to show them what it is you do. They will have a much bigger appreciation for your work AND they will love that they got to be involved. Some things our girls help me with in our crafty business is organize invoices, write thank you notes to our customers, and help with packaging.

3. Plan a bucket list

Planning a summer bucket list will give them something to look forward to all summer long. Even better, plan it together. Here is the summer bucket list that our family planned. They are all FREE things to do so I don’t even have the stress about finding room in the budget for a ton of summer activities.

4. Take an hour a day to tidy up the house

Keeping a tidy house will help you keep your mind clear. It’s when the laundry starts to pile up, the toys are scattered everywhere, and the bathroom counter looks like an explosion…don’t judge lol we’ve all been there…that your mind starts focusing on those items instead of what’s on the calendar for the day, whether it’s a fun or a work day. I take 20 minutes each morning to do some light chores and 40 minutes before my husband gets home from work we do the rest of the chores that need to be done that day. This has really helped me from getting distracted and staying on task for the day. We are a chore family so all of our girls, even our 3 year old, get involved in the housework.

5.. Take the time to unwind

For the most part I stop working my crafty job when my husband gets home from work. Although I could craft and create all day everyday it’s so important for my sanity, my marriage, and my job as a mom to take time to just let my brain unwind and breath. Enjoy a drink with your husband on the patio talking about your day. Jump on the trampoline with your kids. Take a walk as a family around the block. No matter what it is, take the time to be present with them every day.

I hope this list of managing your summer as a work at home mom helps. Remember to enjoy those precious babies, work will always be there but they won’t be little forever.

Drinking enough water when you're a busy momma, the #1 tip that really works

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I am going to be seriously honest, I don’t drink enough water every single day. Well, I used to not anyway. I’m willing to bet that there are a lot of mommas that feel the same way I used to. Something about knowing I HAD to drink 8 full glasses, 90 OUNCES of water every single day was intimidating {but give me 8 glasses of Dr. Pepper or iced coffee and that’s a whole different story}. I for real struggled to drink enough water most days and I was really feeling the side effects of it.

Some of my side effects were

• skin was looking extra dry and wrinkly

• hungry ALL the time

• urine was dark in color

• feeling super fatigued a lot

• getting a lot of headaches

It wasn’t till I picked up a package of stainless steel straws and used them that I realized it was a mind of matter kind of thing to get myself to guzzle down at least 8 glasses every day. I had every intention of trying these fancy straws out the last two years and just never got around to it {busy mom brain}. One day I finally added them to my cart and I am KICKING myself for not doing it sooner!

Using the straw works because we tend to drink more when we use a straw. And using a stainless steel straw works even better because it is reusable. Just wash and dry when you’re done using it and it’s ready for water drinking the next day!

But I still wasn’t drinking enough water. I was drinking more, but not as much as I needed to be to get adequate hydration. I still felt an overall blah. So I pulled out my stainless steel tumbler to see if maybe that would help.

Holy cow it did! After about a week of drinking from my Ozark 30 oz tumbler I noticed a HUGE difference in the way I felt. For the first time in a very long time I felt truly hydrated! My skin felt amazing. It wasn’t itchy and scaly {even using coconut oil daily wasn’t combating this}. My hair didn’t feel as yuck as it had been. My mind was even clearer! I had a better focus and I actually had energy to get things done AND wake up early!! This is huge for me since I’m not a morning person at all.

This has worked so well for me that I picked up an Ozark 20 oz tumbler for each of my girls. They are loving them and I’m loving that they don’t get all the glasses in the cabinet dirty anymore.

I picked my tumblers up at my local Walmart but here are the links to purchase similar ones on Amazon Prime

• STAINLESS STEEL STRAWS

• OZARK 30 OZ TUMBLER

• OZARK 20 OZ TUMBLER
  

Being a busy momma it is hard to be sure to do all the things but we really do need to put our health and our family’s health at the top of the to do list. Start with drinking enough water. I promise you will be a much more productive momma and you will love your hydrated self!