Free tutorial courtesy of Nellie Bug's

Tell me what you think!

Boredom busters!

Be Creative - Make Something!

I found this in an old Microsoft Word document I had saved. I have no clue where I got it, so if it's yours let me know and I will link you. :)

Be Creative - Make Something!



Decorate a T-shirt, pillowcase, or tote bag with fabric paint markers or tye-dye Shirt/Pillowcase products
Paint rocks or seashells Creativity for Kids Deluxe Rock-A-Doddle Painted Rocks
Decorate a wooden or acrylic picture frame with paint markers, stickers or buttons/accessories Picture Frame Products
Write a poem
Write a short story or book. Make a cover, draw pictures, write the story. Create your own story Free make your own about me book Book for boys or Book for girls
Bake cookies, brownies, cake, or make puppy chow or Elmer's Tasty Treats Activity Kit or see Kids cookbooks
Make your own popsicles out of fruit juice or chocolate milk, sno cones, ice cream, cotton candy Products to make your own treats and books about ice cream Host an ice cream social. Ask friends to make an ice cream recipe (homemade) to share. Set up an ice cream bar for everyone to share their treat. Encourage reading by suggesting kids read a book about ice cream and then get together to share the treat and tell about their book.
Paint a porcelain piece, use a pottery wheel, or decorate a flower pot Porcelain & Pottery
Create things with play-doh, clay, silly putty or slime Playdoh/silly putty/clay/slime
Use trash from your house (or that you find in the neighborhood), glue pasta shells or a ball of string to make a piece of art.
Decorate a roll of paper with stamps, markers, stickers for fun or to be used for gift wrap. Decorate brown lunch bags too. Paper Roll/Stamps/Stickers
Make a homemade pizza
Work on a Paint a paint by number painting Paint-by-number
Latch hook a rug or make a pillow Rugs & Pillowcase kits
Start a journal or diary Journal/Diary
String necklaces or bracelets using thin licorice, string, or plastic string. Add candy pieces (Life -Savers, Fruity Cheerios or anything with a whole in the middle) or use beaded jewelry Bead Jewelry Kits
Paint or color a picture to match the colors or theme in your room.
Make homemade candy
Make your own soap, lip balm, perfume Soap, lip balm, perfume
Make candles Candle making
Make a scrapbook, poster or college "All about me". Cut out pictures and words from magazines, the newspaper or print from your computer. Put it together to describe yourself (favorite food, color, age, hobbies, music, clothes, dislikes too). You could make one for your family, vacation, best friend, pet or anything you want. Scrapbook about me
Use sticks, pennies, buttons, paperclips, rubber bands, pieces of torn paper, candy, glitter, rhinestones, stickers to spell out your name on a paper. Glue it and frame it for your room. You can include a baby picture or a picture of you now.
Make shrinky dinks Shrinky Dinks
Make your own cards for your friends or family's birthday Make your own cards
Cut out pictures from a magazine of items you want for Christmas or your birthday to make a wish list.
Make a mosaic Mosaic
Learn about photography and then take pictures of family and friends. Put the photos in a scrapbook (see above) or make a collage for your room. Camera & Photography Books
Make a pot holder Pot holder
Knit, Crochet or Cross Stitch and Lacing Cards
Burn a "Keep Out" Sign or your name on wood to hang in your room Wood burning kits
Build a model airplane or car Model Airplane, Car
Build a birdhouse, ship, car out of wood Building, Carpentry Kit

Games & Challenges also see CJKidz Games Page

Build something with legos, lincoln logs or blocks. Have a contest with friends. Set a timer and see who can build something in a short period of time. When the timer goes off, stop. Legos, construction blocks
Play board games Family & Friends Games
Have two people challenge each other to see who can blow (using a straw) a piece of cotton across the floor to a finish line (players will need to lay down on the floor). This can be a relay race and played as a team.
Play with conversation cards Conversation Cards
Put together a puzzle. Start by setting up a table where you can leave the puzzle. Each day, add a more to the puzzle until it is done. You could also challenge your friends. Get two puzzles with the same number of pieces. See who can get further in a short period of time, or who can complete their puzzle first. Puzzles
Play cards (Slap Jack, Crazy 8s, Old Maid, Black and Red) Card Games
Play tic tac toe Tic tac toe
Play seek and find
Play hangman 50 states hangman 50 Countries Hangman
Play hide the shoe (or toy). Someone hides an object in one room of the house and another child finds it.
Start a story and part way through pause to let someone else take over the story. After that person has added to the story, they pause, and let the next person takeover until everyone has added to the story. If there are only a few people, go around twice. It's fun to see how the story changes as each person adds. Go fast!
Play no giggle game. One person sits in the middle of the circle. Others tell jokes, make silly faces or act silly to make that person laugh or smile. You cannot tickle or touch the other person. The other person tries to not smile or giggle. Take turns trying to make players laugh. You can use a stop watch or clock to see who can go the longest keeping a straight face.
See how many people you can make smile without talking. You can try this by just smiling or waiving to others. To help you, you could just send the message by wearing a shirt that has a funny message, or a be happy shirt See boy and girls CJKidz "Bee Happy" shirts. Do it in competition with a friend to see who can get more people to smile without saying a word.
Invite friends over to play giggles games from this book Games and Giggles Just for Girls (American Girl Library)
Sit on the steps, have your friend hide a penny in his/her hand. Try to guess which hand it is in. Move up one step each time you guess correctly. If you have two players, see which one gets to the top of the steps first! Penny Games (Chicken Socks)
Put several toys or household items on a tray. One person shows it to other players. Then, remove one item without other players looking. Players then must guess which piece was removed. Or, use the items on the tray, have the players look at the tray for 30 seconds. Then ask them to write down what was on the tray. The player that remembers the most items, wins!
Have a race with your stuffed animals or plastic horses or dinosaurs. Lay out pieces of paper on the floor. Roll a dice with friends to have the horses, stuffed animals move depending on what is rolled on the dice. The first one to get to the finish line wins!
Guess Who I am. One person thinks of an animal or cartoon character. The other players have to ask questions that can be answered only by yes or no answers. (i.e. for an animal- you could ask, do I have wings, do I swim, am I brown. For a cartoon character, you could ask, am I boy or girl, do I have red hair, am I funny etc.). Keep asking questions until they figure out who or what they are (or give up!).
Put a bean bag on top of your feet or shoes. Race another player to a finish line without letting the bean bag fall. If it falls off, you have to go back to start and begin again. See more games with Bean Bags and Bean Bag Toss Games

Pretend Play - Use Your Imagination

Set up a room to look like a school room. Play school. Take turns with a friend to be the teacher. Play school
Play with horses, cars, barbie, dinosaurs, stuffed animals
Use tools and read construction books to build something or learn about building Tools and Construction Books
Cars and Trucks Race cars using a large piece of cardboard or box leaning on a sofa. Drive cars on a car mat. Use trucks to dig in sand or dirt.
Play beauty shop with your dolls or stuffed animals. Clean them up, wash them or their clothes, brush or fix their hair.
Play pet hotel. Get out your stuffed animals and have them check into your hotel. Check them in, pretend feed them, wash them, eat at your hotel restaurant, care for them, take them for a walk. To give you ideas, watch Hotel for Dogs (Widescreen Edition) or Hotel for Dogs (Full Screen Edition)
Play dress up or fashion show with friends See Fancy Nancy to get ideas
Invite a friend to play pirates or astronauts Astronaut (also check out the NASA kids web site below) Pirate
Put on a swimming suit, fill a large tub with bubbles. Use bowls, spoons, measuring cooks, water can, funnels and pretend cook with the bubbles. Or, get out the bath toys and fun soaps and play. Put down towels around the tub as this can get messy. Bath bubbles/Toys/Soaps CJKidz Soaps
Fill a big plastic tub with flour or sand. Use little rolling pins and cups to smooth or build up the flour or sand. This can be messy so take outside or put a tablecloth or bedsheet underneath the area of play.
Play grocery store. Get a cash register,pennies or play money. Use several items from the pantry. Shop, check out, bag the groceries. Grocery Store
Pretend that you are a Mad Scientist and try an experiment Mad Scientist & Experiments
Invite over friends, grandma or aunts and have a tea party. Dress up and host the party yourself. Tea Party Supplies
Pull out the dinosaurs, dig up their bones or play with them in a sandbox, dirt or play mat Dinosaurs

Show Your Talents - Put on a Show!

Practice and put on a puppet show for friends Puppet Show
Learn several magic tricks and put on a magic show Magic Tricks
Read a book and then act it out or put on a play for family and friends
Put on your dancing shoes and perform a dance recital with music. Dress up in costumes, sing, dance and put on a show. Dance Music, Games, Costumes, Shoes
Dress up in costumes, mom's clothes or play clothes. Put on a fashion show Fashion show
Get a joke book, find jokes on the internet, or make up your own. Put on a comedy show Joke Books
Have several families get together for a talent show. Each family (or families children practice their talents for several weeks by themselves and then get together to put on the show! Talents can include singing, dancing, blowing a big bubble, telling a joke, playing the piano,twirling a baton using a hola hoop, displaying your art pictures.
Be a fortune teller - have guest ask you questions. Fortune Teller
Host a movie afternoon or night at your house. Use pretend tickets, make popcorn, candy, juice or soda. For a fund raiser for charity, sell tickets to your friends for the movie and snacks and give the proceeds to charity.
Host a book reading night at your house. Tell parents and kids to bring their favorite books. Come in pjs with pillow, lay on the floor, read one short book together (take turns or a parent reads) then read individual books on your own. Older kids can also read to younger ones.
Host a play date with a theme. Choose a theme and tell guest to bring one item that goes with that theme (i.e. Thomas the Train, everyone brings one Thomas the Train item). If the children are old enough to understand sharing, take turns playing with the other children's toys. Get ideas for themes on our birthday page
Show off your cheerleading skills
Put on a concert (guitar, drums, piano)

Let's Get Physical - Don't be a couch potato!

Jump rope Hopscotch
Ride bikes Take a hike
Play on the playground at the park Roller blade
Ice Skating Kick Ball
Basketball Soccer
Swim Play miniature golf
Frisbee Horseshoes
Bad mitten Kayak
Hockey Archery
Paint ball Paddle court/Paddleball Paddle Games
Ride a Scooter Hoola Hoop

Outdoor Fun

Run through a sprinkler
Play with water toys, squirt toys, water balloons, float ducks in a pool and fish them out with strainers
Play with sidewalk chalk - draw pictures, write your name, draw your house, draw a hopscotch and then use it! Chalk Outdoor products from The CrayolaStore.com!
Use chalk to draw 10 circles on a driveway or street or concrete patio. Number each circle. Write the numbers 1 to 10 on separate pieces of paper. Put them in a bucket or container. Play music as children walk on the circles. When the music stops, the children stop and stand on a circle. Pull out a number from the bucket or container. Whoever is standing on the circle that matches the number pulled from the container wins. Play again.
Relay races:

Running race....Put on gloves, hats, jewelry that has to be passed between team members, or use extra large shoes, Potato Sacks, or wear a big hat to make the race more difficult.

Relay race using water...use two water cans and 3 buckets. Fill one bucket with water. Have two teams. The players dip their water can in the bucket filled with water to fill. The race the player from the other team to run and dump the water in their water can in their teams bucket. Then return the water can to the next player on their team. The team that fills the tub first wins. Water Cans & Buckets

Relay race using an egg....each team takes a plastic egg (or real one) and carrys it on a spoon. They should walk or run approx. 20 feet, turn around and return to the next player. If you drop the real egg, your team loses. If you use a plastic egg, the child must go back to the starting line and begin again. Spoon & Egg Game

Swimming relay race...use a big T-shirt that must be passed between swimmers. One swimmer puts on an oversized T-shirt over their swimsuit, swims the lap, but then has to take off the wet shirt and pass to the next team member. Repeat with all team members.

Play with bubbles. If you are playing with friends see who can make the largest bubble Bubbles & Bubble Machines
Hold a carnival, lemonade stand or sell cookies for fun or to make money for a charity See our families giving back page for ideas
Scavenger hunt with two teams. Hide the pieces of two simple wooden puzzles. Each team must find the pieces to their puzzle and put it together. Or, make a list or use pictures of 10 things found outside - flower, grass, rock, leaf, stick, etc. Whichever team finds all 10 things first wins!
Set up a tent or build a fort in the yard. Pretend to camp out and sleep out over night. Make smores, hot dogs over a bbq pit, use flashlights, look at the stars, tell scary stories in the dark.
Play tag or freeze tag
Go horseback riding
Go fishing
Take your dog for a walk
Learn about and/or catch bugs, butterfly, lightening bugs Insects/Butterflies
Plant flowers or a vegetable in a garden Gardening Tools and Books
Choose your own sports or outdoor play on this link More sports and outdoor play ideas
Use your Noodle! Learn something. Brain Food

Learn a magic trick Magic Tricks
Learn one new foreign language word Foreign Language Books, Toys, Software, DVD
Learn a fact about your body, hair, teeth (why hair tangles, how to braid, how many bones you have, what causes cavities)
Research the city or state next to yours. How far away is it, what is the capital, where is it on a map or globe States, Maps, Globes
Look through a science book or web site to find a science experiment. Then try it . Science books, toys Mad Scientist
Learn one new word from the dictionary, the spelling and the meaning
Learn one new fact about recycling or the environment Going Green/Recycling/Environment
Learn three new safety tips - strangers, fire, water Safety Books
Learn two facts about bats, or reptiles, birds or dinosaurs
Take in interest in Math. Practice math problems Math Matters Book Series Funbrain (Will take you out of this web site) Coolmath4kids (Will take you out of this web site)
Learn about germs or hand washing Books on germs hand washing
Look through pictures, talk to family members (especially grandma & grandpa) to learn information about them. (i.e. what was their first job, how did they meet their spouse, what was school like when they were kids). Write it in a book for a keepsake Quizzes, Questions, Books to learn about family, friends, and yourself
Learn how to use a yo-yo YoYos, How To & YoYo Trick Books
Learn about a food or clothes from another country
Think about and write down 3 things your are grateful for. Do it each night at bedtime. Keep your journal. When you're mad or don't get what you want, remind yourself what you do have.
Learn about money,saving and investing Money & Saving Books, Toys & Banks
Yuck! Learn about something really gross Gross Books, Gross Science & Slime
Take a cooking class or try a new recipe Kids Cookbooks & Easy Bake Oven
Learn information about being blind and braille www.afb.org/braillebug


pbskids.org You've Got Braille


Braille Magnetic Letters
Books, toys, products learning about Braille
Learn sign language

Books & Flashcards on Sign Language



pbskids.org Sign Design


Learn about manners Manners books
Learn about being handicapped
Learn about two (or more) Presidents of the United States Books about the President
Learn about our solar system Solar System/Space NASA KIDS' CLUB

Sightseeing/Visiting/Travel

Go to the zoo
Go to the park and have a picnic, feed ducks
Visit a museum
Visit the library - pick out books to bring home or read at the library
Visit the Humane Society or Pet store
Visit grandma & grandpa or an aunt and uncle. Play cards, slap jack or tic, tac, toe
Go to the movie theatre
Go camping or on a float trip
Ride bumper cars or go carts
Attend a sporting event
Go to the conservation center in your state
Visit a cave
Pick out the top two tourism sites in your city or the next and then visit them
Visit a store that makes candy or cookies (take a tour if they allow it)
Visit a farm - learn about what they grow and learn about the animals on the farm
Visit an art museum

Misc.

Trade toys with a friend for one week and switch back at the end of the week
Look through your toys and choose five which you want to give away. Put them in a box to give to another child, your neighbor, cousin or friend

Sapphire is 4!!!!

Honest Reviews

Do you think posting honest reviews is a bad idea? I have bought many things lately and have some reviews I want to post but some of the products weren't so great. So I don't want to upset/offend anyone..... but I don't want to LIE and say their product was great, either.

So, what do you think? If I purchase the product and want to post a review, is it okay to be honest all the time? Or only when it's a 100% positive review?

Let me know what you think!!

SALE!!!!!!!!!!

BIG SALE NOW TIL 10PM CST!! Please tell your friends. :) I'll give you a .50 credit for each friend that purchases something. It's not a lot but it adds up! Just PM me with the names of your friends who ordered. Thank you!!

Super busy

Getting ready to go to the library. Just wanted to share a few cute, recent, pictures. :)

Sapphire made this tutu all by herself!!



Grace is sick of pictures sometimes.


I can't believe how fast Nell is growing.

Something controversial, you say?

So someone told me in order to get more responses, I need to post about something more controversial. I don't really have anything too controversial to write about, so I'll just ramble a bit and see if it gets anyone interested I guess. LOL (This sort of turned into a RANT more than a BABBLE lmao.. sorry!)

First of all, I'm opening my blog up to questions.. if you have any questions for me you can post them in the comments or email me (sadielankford(AT)ymail(DOT)com) and I will answer them. You can obviously remain anonymous by emailing me. No question is off-limits. I will do a Q&A once a week, or once every other week depending on what type of response I get.

Now I've mentioned my partner, Rachel, before.. but nobody batted an eye. Today though, I'd like to touch on the gay marriage issue. Can we talk about California? Cali-freakin-fornia? Just for one minute. SERIOUSLY, California?? Are. You. SERIOUS? Make up your stinkin' mind! You want gay marriage legalized, then you want it overturned, then yay it's legalized, now it's on hold until someone (who?) decides whether it's "constitutional" or not. Well was it constitutional to NOT allow blacks to marry? Would it be constitutional to tell disabled folks, or folks with ADHD, or even folks with red hair that they could not get married? Why can't I marry the woman I love? Why is it even up for a vote? Because of your religion? Because of your God? Because you don't agree with my lifestyle? Really?

Well guess what? Maybe I don't agree with your lifestyle. So now what? Do I get to vote against straight marriages? No, you say? Why not? Hmm. It boggles the mind, doesn't it?? I get that many people are religious, it goes against the bible, blah blah blah. I used to be one of those people, believe it or not - but that can be discussed in another post. :) So really, why is it up to YOU if two loving, consenting adults can get married? Some will say "Oh it opens the doors to brothers and sisters marrying". Um, no it doesn't. Let's see.. two loving, consenting, NON-RELATED people marrying. Could we word it like that? Would that make you happier?

What if we don't call it a "marriage"? I'd be happy for it to be called an apple-cake. I really don't care. I just want the SAME LEGAL RIGHTS that all of my friends have. Why do I have to pay the SAME amount of taxes as my neighbors, yet they have more RIGHTS than I do? I don't get it. Can someone explain it to me? Please? It'd be greatly appreciated.

You don't have to vote for it. But why vote against it???

And for those that argue that marriage is "just a piece of paper", or "the only real benefit to getting married has to do with taxes", please see this list of 1,400 legal rights that are conferred upon married couples in the U.S. and tell me that it's "just a piece of paper".

Go ahead.

Do it.

First day of school!

This is going to be a long one! And very random. :) So please be patient lol.

SCHOOL
Wednesday was the girls' first day of school. Grace started kindergarten, Jenelle started third grade. Grace was SOOOOOOO excited at first. But when we walked to the bus stop and she saw that there were about 25 other kids waiting for the bus, she freaked. I mean FUH-REAKED out.





Thank God for big sisters...





WORK
I have been working hard lately on the business. With two of the girls in school it just leaves one home with me. However, it's been more of a curse than a blessing. :/ She is going to be 4 on August 30th, but is very much the "baby" of the family. When her sisters are not here, she mopes around. She gets into stuff. She is just insane. So I have looked into putting her in daycare or preschool for a few days a week. We will see how that goes.

Here are some of my latest projects:











If you are crafty and would like to make items like these, check out my ETSY SHOP for my tutorials. They are all under $10 and I will always keep it that way! :)

PICTURE DAY
Today was picture day already! I didn't get a picture of Jenelle as she walked out the door :( but I did get a few of Grace the night before as a "practice" run. :) I made the pom pom bows to match every color in her outfit. They were super fun. I think they are my favorite bows to make so far!!



ME
I cut my bangs (for the first time ever) and dyed my hair black. I LOVE it. :)





End

Okay so I think that about covers everything. :) Oh, and Sapphire is MAD that her sisters are going to school. Especially mad at Grace. She feels like she abandoned her. It's sad, really. She fights with her as SOON as she gets home because of it. :( Well I've taken long enough on this blog, Jenelle needs help cooking dinner and the kids are going bonkers!! LOL Hope everyone is having an easy transition back into school!!

And if you happen to read this today, I'm having a HUGE GAME on my Facebook page at 9PM CST tonight.

First ebook!!

I just finished my very first eBook!! I saw that folks were selling them for $15 and thought wow.. no way! So I made it for $5. :)

nelliebugs.etsy.com is where you can find the ebook if you are interested. It teaches you how to make your own professional boutique style tutus. I will be writing another one soon on how to start your own tutu business.

Some ladies have told me I might put myself out of business, but other people are already writing these things so I might as well get in on it while I can! I want everyone to be able to AFFORD these things (tutus, ebooks, supplies, whatever)... and I keep seeing people OVER CHARGE for them. I know how it feels to look at something and be like wow.. wish I could afford that. Well, now you can!! :)

If you have any ideas on what other ebooks I should write, let me know. I already did tutus, will done one on tutu businesses, and maybe on the new woven headbands I make?? Those were a hit at the craft show! All ideas are appreciated. Thanks!

How is everyone's summer??? Kids going back to school soon? MINE ARE!

WOOT!

Show at the mall went well. I met my goal. Well, after I paid my help and paid for food and gas I didn't quite make it LOL but I did better than expected. On Friday, it was SO slow. I was like OMG what did I get myself into?! Saturday wasn't much better, but Sunday was INSANITY! I did more in 7 hours on Sunday than in 12 hours on Friday and Saturday.

I came home to about 8 orders. And two people saying they haven't received their orders yet. But I have delivery confirmation on one of them and it says it was delivered on the 31st. So I don't know what to do there. :/

I am thinking about setting up at the Apple Butter Festival in October. Not sure yet though. There are just SO many people that do tutus/bows. I have to be able to set myself apart.... still working on that.

The countdown begins

I should be posting this on my business blog, but I've been slacking on it lately so I am just going to post here today. I have a lot of work to do. :)

Countdown to my BIG SHOW: 5 days. Only 5 days left to get a TON of stuff done. This show was $250 to get into. I've never paid more than $40. I was told to expect to make $1,000-$4,000. I'm still waiting on word from the credit card processing place to see if I was approved to accept plastic. If not, the sales will probably be on the lower end of $1,000 unfortunately. It's the tax-free back to school weekend. People come out of the woodwork for this! And it's at the mall. There are only like 12 vendors set up throughout the mall, so it isn't over-saturated or anything. I'm going to be setting up by the movie theater. I hope that's a good thing. :)

My newest craft is the woven headband. I hope to get at least 10 of them done today. I made this one last night.



If you have any tips for me, please feel free to leave them in the comments! I need all the help I can get. :)