Birthday Buttons

There's nothing (at least when you're a child) like letting the whole world know that it's YOUR special day!

I found these buttons, several years ago, at the Dollar Store. (I haven't been able to find them there since.) But I recently saw them at TARGET for around $3 in their party section.

I also thought it would be fun to make a more personalized button.

**This is a button that either the birthday child OR you, as the mom, could wear on their birthday!!**

I found some 2 1/2" buttons at JOANN's for 50 cents each!

1- With this button, I used a wallet-sized baby picture of my daughter and cut it to fit the circle.
2- I then put some number stickers on it for the year she was born.

3- I placed the picture, facedown into the button.

4- For added fluff, I just wrapped a pink ribbon around the front (on the outside of the button and simply taped the ends to the back of the picture...

5- Snapped on the back and walla! Done!

6- Oh, and I finished it off by making a bow and hot-glueing it to the ribbon.

I {Angela} have some more BIRTHDAY posts scheduled for this week and next; including birthday decorating ideas, my daughter's Princess Party (that just happened Saturday), and {my} birthday binders including some FREE printables for YOU!

{Heather} has some awesome things in store for us as well!! You won't want to miss out, so check back daily! Have a fabulous week!!

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Books I'm Excted About {Concerning Marriage and Family}

For Marriage, I like these books...

What I'm focusing on right NOW, as a parent...

A couple of my kids are old enough for the "Big Talk", so for the past several months I've been searching for the best advice and help from experienced parents that share my same values. I want to go about this vital teaching step properly and carefully. So I will share with you what I found in my quest, starting with this book by Laura Brotherson. The last 3 chapters talk about how to prepare and teach children about sex in a safe, healthy way.

Laura refers her readers to this book, by Linda and Richard Eyre; and I found it to be a perfect addition to Laura's last 3 chapters.

The Eyres then refer their readers to this children's book (as a great tool to use in the "Big Talk").

And I love and trust Brad Wilcox. My friend has this book and says it is fantastic (for the kids).

One of the best parenting books (in my opinion)...

And some that I'd like to get...

Of course the best family manuals I have in my home are...

Do YOU have any good ones to recommend?? PLEASE SHARE!!

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NEW {ETSY} STORE!

My new Etsy Store {online store to buy handmade items} is up and going! Please check it out.

My items are small in number but there's more to come. Pin It

{Birthday} Binders

I started these binders last year for our kids to put some favorite memories of their Birthdays. The Birthday Binders hold. . . . . .


1-"Favorite's" page(inspired by Carlene Tanner). I filled out this one for my son because he's only 4 but I like the girls to fill out theirs. It will be fun later on for them to see their handwriting as a child. I went to Walmart to buy this cute paper(& 1/2" binders) to print the information on.

"Favorite's" Page*My favorite: food, dessert, candy bar, color, movie,

activity in my spare time, subject in school, besst freind, toy,

primary song, day of the week.

*When I grow up I want to be. . .

*For my Birthday I got. . .

*My favorite part of the day was. . .

2-On the backside of the "favorite's" page I take a picture of them & write down "Mom's Top Five Favorites about {child's name}.


3-The night before, they get to choose & write down what they will eat for their special day. Then we hang it on the fridge.

Other items to fill the notebook: hand drawn pictures, letters to the child or hand/feet prints.

This binder will be a treasure to look at to see all the changes from year to year. I'm so excited. Pin It

Happpy Birthday Traditions!

I {HEART} BIRTHDAYS!

I love birthdays, because it's a perfect time to focus on ONE child / family member and make them feel extra special! 

What are some of your BIRTHDAY TRADITIONS??

Here are some of ours...

1. We DECORATE!! (including the birthday wreath for the front door, pillowcase, table cloth, chair back, Happy B-day banner, framed baby picture, etc.) 
**I have my decor ideas ready to share with you next week!!**

2. Birthday child gets to choose all MEALS and say all prayers.

3. B-day person gets to use the special RED PLATE (charger)

4. Birthday child gets to go on a DATE NIGHTalone with Mom and Dad on weekend night closest to b-day.

5. Birthday child gets to wear a BUTTON that shows it's his/her birthday.

6. Birthday child gets to sleep on the Birthday PILLOWCASE for a whole week.

7. They get to have a "friends" PARTY every other year. (even #'s starting at 6th B-day)

8. They fill out their Birthday Questionaire, which is kept in their B-day Binder. (will share that, plus the printable with you in the next week or two when I recover file from other crashed computer)

Happy Happy Birthday!! Pin It

{Birthday} Gift Bag

To save money for summer, at the end of the school year I cut off the pant legs to my kids' pants & magically they are shorts. It usually works out great because most of their pants have holes in them.

These pant legs were just too cute to throw out. They will make a great Bag for a Birthday Gift.


1-With the cut off pant leg cut a piece of fabric 5 inch wide x the length around the "top".


2-Fold in 1/2 and iron.


3-Then fold both sides into the middle and iron.


4-Pin it around the "top"


5-Sew a decorative or straight stitch around the top and bottom of fabric band.


6-Turn inside out and sew up the bottom.


7-To sew the side "divits" fold bottom corner into a triangle and sew across.


8-This is what the "divits" will look like from the outside.


9-Using a pull thru tool (safety pins work just as well) pull the ribbon thru the opening in the side.


10-Now just add some personal touches & you are ready to give a great gift! Pin It

Happy Birthday Creative Homemaker!

TheCreativeHomemaker blog is 2 years old this month! So we want to celebrate by posting lots of birthday inspiration! Heather and I have several birthday ideas to share with you, so check back regularly.

Be sure to click on our BIRTHDAYS TAB to see ALL of our birthday posts.

Also, watch for us on TipJunkie's birthday bash next week!!



*We may even do a birthday giveaway or two, so stay tuned!* Pin It

Backwards Birthday Party

For my son, Colton's 10th birthday, we did a "Backwards" party. 

I made invitations written backwards, and asked the party guests to come with their clothes on backwards.

  I bought a cake from Sam's Club that already had just balloons on it.  Then I wrote the backwards/upside-down birthday greeting on it, myself.

I also added some upside-down cupcakes for even more fun.  Of course we had cake/icecream for dinner, then I served them pizza for dessert after our activity.

This was the beginning of basketball season, and most of the party guests were on Colton's team.  So we took the boys over to the church and played some backwards "hoop" games in the gym court.  Then we came back and watched the movie "Remembering the Titans" and ate pizza.  Turned out fun!

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Bicycle Theme Birthday Party

About this time last year I was in the middle of planning my son, Cody's 8th birthday party- a BIKE party! It turned out to be a lot of fun!

Here are some specifics of what we did for this party:
*Invited guests to bring their bikes
*Decorated our bikes
*Surprise visit from a police officer
*Bike rally around the park
*Water bottles wtih homemade strap for each guest as pary favor!

Cody's birthday is July 2, so I like to do something patriotic for his birthday. I like to try and create some kind of fun cake that match the party's them, so I attempted a bicycle tire cake... not my best one, but I tried!

Also, I surprised my B-day boy and guests with a visit from a local police officer. He was awesome and drove up with lights and sirens....

And he gave a great lesson on bicycle safety and proper helmet wearing. He even brought some little things for each child to take home. This police visit was a HUGE hit at the party!!

I brought a bunch of things (in patriotic colors) to decorate the bikes, like plastic red & blue plates, pens, stickers, streamers, etc. And I let the kids brigade around the park while I got the food ready to serve.


As a party favor, I gave each guest their own water bottle with a special label and shoulder strap that I made for each one. (I used a variety of grossgrain ribbon- from Walmart- and let the kids chose which one they wanted, then wrote their names on them with a Sharpie.) I found a tutorial for this on a blog, but lost the link when my computer died!! (Please let me know if it was YOU so I can link up!!) But HERE is where she got the tutorial to make hers.

*The things I did different from FamilyFun's directions were:
1- Used GROSSGRAIN RIBBON instead of belt webbing (so much cheaper and easier!!)
2- Used "Fray Check" on the ends of my ribbon instead of nail polish (either one should work fine)
3- SEWED the ends together instead of the dungeree button.

Also, I felt inspired for this party theme from THIS website. Pin It