Jars of summertime fun!

Hiya everybody!

How are you all? Are your kids all finished with school yet? Ours have been done since the beginning of June, so we’ve got a good start on our summer vacation already.

Are you wondering what you’re going to do to keep the kids busy all summer long? I was. We don’t have an awful lot to keep our kids busy around here and when kids get bored they get to picking on each other, and whining, which in turn drives mom up the wall. I wanted to find a way to keep the kids as busy as possible so we can all remain civil over the summer months.

This idea is not original with me. I got the idea from this blog and thought it was such a wonderful idea.

Basically you take two jars and fill one with fun things the kids can do every day and the other with things to do once a week. This idea goes along with my chore chart from yesterday’s post because the kids don’t get to pick anything out of the fun jars until all their chores are completed. Plus I made them color coordinated too so the jars look great stored right next to the chore chart.

I made my labels by printing out the words on patterned paper and then cut them out using my Nestabilities dies and adhering them with foam tape. I prettied it up with a grosgrain bow, some crinkled seam binding, and a hat pin threaded with some flowers and beads.

The little slips of fun are tucked inside. I have lots of room to add more.

If any of you would like a copy of our lists, just let me know. I’d be happy to share it with anyone who’d like to try this and needs some ideas to get started.

I thought I’d share just a few photos of Chloe’s birthday party too. I wasn’t behind the camera most of the time, so I didn’t get a lot of photos, but I’m glad for the ones Nathaniel and my mother-in-law took for me.
We went with a princess theme, although we didn’t do the princess costumes. The front porch was our castle with the lamp posts acting as castle turrets and the walkway leading up to it was the drawbridge. I had a red “carpet” rolled out, but the wind kept blowing it away, so I rolled it up before all the guests even arrived.

The birthday girl waiting for her guests to arrive. Nathaniel took this one.

The pony pinata was the highlight. We used a pony since it was the closest thing I could find that went along with the princess theme. We also read princess stories and played medieval inspired games.

Here the frosty cups of strawberry and vanilla ice cream are waiting to be consumed by the hungry kids. I also did a mini dessert bar of sorts with a selection of pink and white candies and cookies with little bags for the kids to fill to enjoy later.

My mother-in-law took this one of Chloe blowing out the candles on her princess castle birthday cake.

I reused the tissue paper flowers that I made for my sister-in-law’s bridal shower we had a few weeks ago. The colors worked well and they looked nice hanging beneath the big window on our front porch.

And then we opened presents and had lots of free play time for the kids. Chloe loved her party and we all had a lot of fun with her little friends and the siblings and parents that stayed to enjoy the party with us.

Thanks for stopping by!

fun jar supplies: all supplies from Stampin’ Up! except seam binding (no source) and pearls (Queen & Co.).