America the Beautiful – 4th of July Banner

America the Beautiful – 4th of July Banner

by | Jun 22, 2022 | Craft Tutorials

Ready to decorate for the 4th of July?  This garland with the words from “America the Beautiful” helps children to learn about the U.S. while using their creativity to illustrate the lyrics.

O beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

You can find our printable for the “America the Beautiful” Star Garland on Etsy, or you can use the idea to create your own – keep reading for instructions below.  The garland is part of our 4th of July Party Bundle on Etsy.  The 4th of July Party Bundle includes the garland, cupcake, toppers, as well as a trivia quiz and scavenger hunt, all based on “America the Beautiful.”

“America the Beautiful” 4th of July Party Bundle – on Etsy

4th of July star banner

Star Banner

4th of July Cupcake toppers America the beautiful

Cupcake Toppers

4th of July games America the Beautiful

Scavenger Hunt and Trivia Games

We found it helpful to learn a little about the song before doing the garland project.  While the chilren made their illustrations on the stars, we listened to “America the Beautiful” too!  A fun way to squeeze a little “school” into the summer… shhh!

To inspire your drawings of the lyrics to the song, you could pull out photo albums from family trips, or check out some of the books and videos below that show depictions of the lyrics.  Simply click on the book images to find them on Amazon.

Let’s make a garland!

4th of july banner garland

Print and Cut Stars

Print the stars on white cardstock, then carefully cut them out.  (You can find the garland printable on Etsy.)

4th of july banner garland

Decorate the Stars

Use colored pencils, markers, or crayons to decorate the blank stars to illustrate the words of the song.

Punch holes and string onto ribbon

Punch a hole on the top left point and the top right point of each star.  Cut about 10 ft. of ribbon (1/8” or 1/4” width works well).  String the stars onto the ribbon.  For each star, push the ribbon from the front into the left hole of the star, pull it along the back, and then pull it through the right hole to the front again.   Alternate stars with lyrics and blank stars (or stars with your images).  Or for a shorter banner, just use the stars with lyrics.

Decorate your home or yard.  Some variations include using skewer sticks to decorate your garden or walkway, or using only the lyric stars for a shorter garland.  Weather permitting, the garland could be hung outside for the day.

If you are looking for other 4th of July party supplies, we also have “America the Beautiful” themed cupcake toppers and games.  You can find our 4th of July “America the Beautiful” Party Bundle  in our Etsy shop.

Looking for a delicious AND nourishing gluten-free cupcake recipe?  Try our gluten-free almond flour cupcakes!

4th of July Cupcake toppers America the beautiful

Happy 4th of July!

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

American Girl Doll Birthday Party Ideas

American Girl Doll Birthday Party Ideas

by | Jun 21, 2022 | Craft Tutorials

Ready to play?  We are excited to share with you some fun ideas that can be used for an American Girl Doll (or any kind of doll!) themed birthday party.  These ideas could even be used for a really fun play time any time of year!

American doll t-shirt decorate

Decorate a t-shirt for your doll

We used fabric markers to decorate doll t-shirts.  They all turned out differently and were so cute!  Tip: make sure to protect your drawing surface, and even put waxed paper between the front and back of the shirt, as these markers can bleed through the fabric.  We used these t-shirts by Emily Rose – they are easy to get on and off the doll, as they have a Velcro closure in the back.  We used these Tulip fabric markers.

American girl doll money

Doll purses with money

We gave each girl a little purse for her doll.  Our daughter made them out of felt with a simple stitch around the edge.  If sewing is not something you want to do, you could simply make a wallet out of paper and tape.  You can find a free printable with doll sized money here.

American Girl doll party ideas

Doll party hats

Our free printable makes it easy to make doll birthday party hats.  Click here for the printable – party hats in 4 colors.

American Girl Doll shopping bag

Doll shopping bag

The girls at our party were given a shopping bag for their “shopping outing.”  We used extra small white gift bags and glued on stars, to give it an American Girl Doll look.  The bags we used were not available at the time of typing this post; however, these bags seem similar.  Bags that are about 4.5 by 4.5 by 2.5 inches work well.  You can find our free star printable here.  The bags can then double as a party favor bag, as the girls collect items on their play shopping outing.

American girl doll cafe
American girl doll cafe

Doll Cafe

Our 10-year-old made signs from foam board for each of the little shops.  The girls could “buy” treats from the cafe and pretend to have a cafe outing.  We thought we would have an adult be the “shop keeper” at each shop, but it turned out the girls did not need any help having a really fun time all by themselves.  Though not pictured here, we think this pastry set by Sophia’s looks great!

American Girl doll shoes

Doll shoe store

The girls also took their dolls shoe shopping… yes, it did take a while to pick just the right pair!  We found a set with a nice variety of shoes here.

American Girl doll jewelry

Doll jewelry making

The girls got to make simple necklaces and bracelets for their dolls, using stretch cord and beads.

gluten free cupcake birthday party

Cupcakes!

After all of the fun doll play, the girls enjoyed birthday party treats, including gluten-free cupcakes.  Click here to go to our delicious and nourishing gluten-free cupcake recipe!

Enjoy the party!

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Lemonade by the glass {easy, no refined sugar, low-carb}

Lemonade by the glass {easy, no refined sugar, low-carb}

by | Jun 3, 2022 | Snack and Dessert Recipes

Cheers to summer!  Are you ready to enjoy a fresh glass of lemonade with no worries about too much sugar?  Follow this simple recipe for a refreshing glass of lemonade any time!

lemonade supplies

Gather your kitchen supplies

Cutting board

Knife

Juicer

Spoon

8 oz (or larger) glass and (optional) a liquid measuring cup

lemonade

Gather ingredients

1 fresh lemon (or about 3 T lemon juice)

1 individual packet of SweetLeaf (or a spoonful or honey if you prefer)

Cold water

Ice (optional)

 

Let’s make lemonade!

lemonade

Step 1

Wash your lemon, then carefully slice it in half.

lemonade

Step 2

Juice the lemon.

lemonade

Step 3

Open SweetLeaf packet and pour it into the bottom of your glass.

lemonade

Step 4

Pour the lemon juice into your glass.

Step 5

Add cold water to your glass (either measure about 1 cup, or fill your glass directly from your faucet).

Step 6

Stir well.  Add ice (optional).  Enjoy!

lemonade low carb

After you make one glass of lemonade, you can decide to use more or less lemon juice and more or less sweetener the next time you make it.  Simply adjust the quantities to your liking.

Some books to enjoy while you sip your lemonade…

lime tree

Lemon or lime?  Just for fun, a little story about our “lemon” tree.  This is a photo of the tree we bought last year that was labeled as a Meyer lemon tree.  We were so excited to have a lemon tree when we learned that in our climate (growing zone 7), it can thrive in a pot outside and just be brought inside for the coldest months of the year.  So far we have only had green “lemons” so we are wondering if perhaps we actually bought a mislabeled lime tree.  It is full of blossoms again this spring, so we’ll keep you posted if we can make lemonade sometime this year with some homegrown lemons.  That would be exciting!

Do you have a lemon or lime tree?  We would love to hear your advice on growing citrus trees in the comments below!  

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Fruits of the Holy Spirit – Multilingual Activities

Fruits of the Holy Spirit – Multilingual Activities

by | Jun 1, 2022 | Craft Tutorials

To celebrate the beginning of summer vacation, we have some fun fruit activities for you!  A “Fruits of the Holy Spirit” activity for Pentecost, a French and English fruit matching memory game, and some fun fruit play kitchen toy ideas!

Fruits of the Holy Spirit – Les Fruits de l’Esprit Saint

Pentecost is one of my favorite holidays, in part because I love the fact that on the first Pentecost everyone could understand each other, though they spoke different languages.  We have a “Fruits of the Spirit” activity you can do on Pentecost or any time of year.  We have a version in French, a version in English, and a blank version where you could write in the words in a language of your choice – all are totally FREE to download!  In this way, you can teach about both the Fruits of the Spirit and the words for these ideas in another language.

Fruits of the Holy Spirit French English Francais

Fruits of the Holy Sprit Printables

Simply print out the versions of your choice on white cardstock.  We find it works well to color them before cutting them.  You can use colored pencils, crayons, or markers.  While you color together it can be a great time to talk about the meanings of the fruits.

English Version

French Version

Blank Version (write in the words of the 12 Fruits in a language of your choice)

fruits of the holy spirit basket

Fruits of the Holy Spirit Basket or Bowl

You could simply place your cut out fruits in a basket or bowl.  Our 7-year-old thought it would be fun to pick one from the basket each day starting on Pentecost, and think especially about that fruit for the day.

fruits of the holy spirit tree

Fruits of the Spirit Fruit Tree

If you would like, you could draw a large tree on long piece of easel paper.  Then children can tape or glue the fruits onto the tree.  As they are placed on the tree, you could talk about the meanings of each Fruit (of course you would want to explain that really different types of fruit don’t grow on the same tree… this is just for fun, perhaps a bit like ornaments on a Christmas tree!).

fruits of the holy spirit esprit saint

French and English Fruit Matching Memory Game

To learn the names of fruits in French and English, try our fun memory game!  The fruit images used in this game are the same fruits (plus a few more) that we used in the Fruits of the Spirit printables; however, this time the idea is to learn the actual names of the fruits (for example, “a strawberry” is “une fraise”).  The printable is in full color.  The game has the names of 18 fruits in French and English, for a total of 36 memory cards.  You can find it in our Etsy shop by clicking here. New to French? No worries, scroll down for clickable audio for each word.

french fruit memory game

Print and cut the game squares

Simply print out the game printable on white cardstock.  Print it double-sided.  This way the polka dot print will appear on the backs of the fruit images.  It should be printed in color.  Once it is printed, cut out the 36 fruit squares.

french fruit memory game

Game set up

Once the squares are cut, place the fruit images face down on a flat surface.

french fruit memory game

Play the game

Follow typical memory game rules.  Take turns turning over 2 cards.  If they match, the player keeps the cards; if they do not match, the player turns the cards face down again.  Play continues until all cards have been matched.

french fruit memory game

Learn French!

Our 10-year-old had so much fun learning  the names of fruits in French with this game!  A rule could be added that in order to take a matching pair, the names of the fruits must be said in French, or even said each time that the cards are turned over.  Ready to play?  Get the download at our Etsy shop!

Click on the play buttons below to hear the name of each fruit in French. (If you are using a phone or tablet, you may need to turn your device to the landscape direction – sideways – in order to see the full images with the words.)

Great job learning the fruit words! Ready to play the game? Get the printable game on Etsy and have fun playing today.

Jouons! Let’s play!

Let’s Play with Fruit!

For the littlest ones in your family, simply playing with play kitchen fruit might be a fun way to think about the Fruits of the Spirit, and also to practice naming the fruits in other languages.  Here are a few play kitchen fruits we think are fun…  Simply click on the images to be connected with an Amazon link.

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Lemonade Slime (with YouTube tutorial!)

Lemonade Slime (with YouTube tutorial!)

by | May 28, 2022 | Craft Tutorials

Looking for a super fun screen-free activity for a hot summer day?  Try making this lemonade slime!  It is super stretchy and so fun to play with.  It even smells like lemons!  Gather your supplies (listed below), then watch our YouTube tutorial to find out how to make this delightful lemonade slime.

slime supplies

Gather these supplies, then watch the video below...

 

Looking for more screen-free summer activities?  Learn to make these beautiful cherry blossom origami corner bookmarks!

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.