Here Comes The Sun: Sunshine Party Just for Kids

here-comes-the-sun-yellow-sun-felt-banner

As you know, we’re thrilled about summer. We’re spoiled by the Colorado sunshine. There’s nothing like a sunny, blue-sky Colorado day. We celebrated sunshine with our little darlings, and it was so much fun! Oriental Trading Company helped us make a bright and colorful party – they were the source for all our party goods.

Not only is this party all about the sun, but it helped us introduce the Beatles to our kids. Here Comes the Sun is a classic, so you can bet the kids had “doo, doo, doo, doo” stuck in their heads, just like we did.

All the details from the party are below.

here-comes-the-sun-party-with-two-girls-wearing-sun-sunglasses

DIY Felt Banners
Cut the felt into a banner shape. Cut and trace paper (or stencil) letters onto colorful felt. Once all the letters are traced, cut them out. We made banners with the lyrics to the song, Here Comes the Sun. Glue (hot glue worked great) the letters onto the white felt banner. Find tree branches or wood rods to hang them. We used hot glue to roll them on a tree branch. We made DIY Tassels to hang on the bottom of each one from felt. First we cut strips of felt, then cut tiny strips 3/4 way up each piece, and rolled it into a tassel. We used hot glue to keep it rolled tight.

here-comes-the-sun-felt-banner

little-darling-diy-felt-sign

girl-pointing-to-a-felt-banner-with-the-words-its-alright

DIY Sun Decor
A sunshine party is not a sunshine party without, well, the sun. Buy yellow tissue paper fans, open them up, and then glue a circular piece of orange paper in the center. Easy-peasy.

diy-yellow-tissue-paper-fan-sun

girl-with-sun-sunglasses-smiling

here-comes-the-sun-felt-signs-tissue-paper-fan-sun

Sunshine Craft
Our girls love to craft, so the highlight of the party was the sun sand key chains from Oriental Trading. They made colorful sand art that they now proudly carry on their backpacks.

When they weren’t crafting with sand, they were doodling with chalk. The girls drew variations of the sun and its rays, and hopped on each one. They were walking (or hopping) on sunshine.

girls-crafting-with-sand-art

sun-sand-art

sun-sand-art

diy-sun-sand-art

girl-holding-up-plastic-sun-for-sand-art

chalk-walking-on-sunshine

Other Details
A fun favor from the party was a sweet new pair of sunny shades.

Popcorn is always a favorite snack for our kids. We served the popped goodness in bright yellow popcorn boxes. We pulled the sun shapes from extra pairs of sunglasses for a fun popcorn box detail.

We absolutely love, love the glass milk bottles. They were perfect containers for the sand, as well as juice for the girls. A straw was taped to each bottle with yellow patterned washi tape.

boy-eating-popcorn-with-a-yellow-popcorn-box

glass-milk-bottles-filled-with-juice-and-a-straw-taped-to-the-outside

glass-milk-bottles-with-colorful-sand-and-sun-sunglasses

sunglasses-sunshine-party-for-kids

Enjoy the summer sun!

Oriental Trading sent us some items of our choosing for this post, free of charge. We’re so happy they did! All opinions are honest, and our own. No other type of compensation was received. Thanks for supporting the companies that support j. sorelle. We love Oriental Trading, even before this post.

A Colorful Summer Party with Sunglasses and Ice Cream

summer-vibes-girl-with-sun-sunglasses-colorful-rainbow-of-sunglasses

Summer vibes are strong in our houses right now, and it feels so good! It’s so close we can practically taste and smell all the wonderful things about summer – watermelon, cocktails on the porch, pool days and fun in the sun. The 2016/2017 school year is almost over, so we’re celebrating all the vibrant shades of summer. Nothing is brighter than ASTROBRIGHTS® Papers. Nothing is cooler than a stylish pair of sunglasses. And, nothing is sweeter than ice cream cones. All together they make one heck of a School’s Out For Summer party.

The most amazing thing about this party is that paper is the main component for all the décor. In fact, not just the décor is made of paper, the activities are primarily paper, too. Everything else – the bubbles, chalk, juice, music, candy and ice cream (the real deal, non-paper version) is just an added (but not necessary) bonus, and most can be found around the house.

It’s time to COLORIZE the start of summer, ya’ll. Here’s how to kick it off bright!

DIY Sunglasses Piñata

diy-sunglasses-pinata-black-and-bright-coral-gigantic-sunglasses

Parties are just more fun with a piñata. If we had nothing but a piñata at our kid’s birthday, they would be thrilled and not notice anything else was missing. But, they can be expensive, and if you do things last-minute like us (actually, just Jessica and Jodi procrastinate, not Jenna), it costs too much to overnight ship a piñata. Luckily, we had cardboard, duct tape and ASTROBRIGHTS paper on hand to help me make the coolest piñata around town – a pair of sunglasses.

First, draw the shape of the glasses on cardboard. We used an 8×10 cut out of each lens and drew a larger tracing around it. Once everything is drawn, use an X-acto knife to cut the cardboard glasses shape. You will need a front and back, so once one pair of glasses is done, trace it on another piece of cardboard and cut it to create a second pair. Next, cut 3-inch wide strips of cardboard for the sides. Carefully bend the strips to fit the curves of the glasses.  Use small strips of duct tape (or masking tape) to secure the strip in between both pieces of cardboard glasses. We only had zebra print duct tape in our crafting bin, but we suggest using clear tape, or brown masking tape for this step. Before the entire thing is bordered, leave a small opening large enough to fit your hand in it. Drill (or punch with scissors) two small holes on top of the piñata. Insert the rope into one hole and use your hand to pull it along the inside so it can go up and out the other hole. Also, at this time, stuff the piñata with small toys and candy. Once it’s filled and the rope is attached for hanging, close up the last part of the piñata with a strip of the 3-inch cardboard and duct tape it.

IMG_9856

cardboard-sunglasses-cut-out-with-zebra-duct-tape

Once all the edges are securely taped, begin to cut 1.5-inch to 2 inch wide strips of paper. Use scissors to fringe the strips. Start to glue (Elmer’s Glue works here) each strip on the cardboard glasses. One crucial tip is to begin at the bottom and work your way up.

diy-sunglasses-pinata-black-and-bright-coral-gigantic-sunglasses

Once the entire thing has strips of fringe, cut out two large (8×10 size each) lenses for the glasses. Add glue to the back of them, and add them to the sunglasses frame.

We used Rocket Red™ colored paper, not card stock weight, for fringe around the piñata and Eclipse Black™ for the shades. How cool are those shades? Plus, it was pure entertainment for the kids as they hit it to find the goodies inside.

diy-sunglasses-pinata-black-and-bright-coral-gigantic-sunglasses-boy-hitting-pinata

diy-sunglasses-pinata-black-and-bright-coral-gigantic-sunglasses-girl-hitting-pinata

diy-sunglasses-pinata-black-and-bright-coral-gigantic-sunglasses

DIY Summer Vibes & Rays of Sunshine

summer-vibes-paper-backdrop-colorful-sunnglasses-arched-like-a-rainbow

We don’t know about you, but we can’t get through summer without our most favorite accessory, sunglasses. Thus, those little round (or square, oval, butterfly, oblong or aviator) must-have frames were the source of inspiration for our main backdrop, the rainbow of sunglasses.

The first step is to cut out colorful frames for all the glasses. You can use an electronic cutting machine like Silhouette America Cameo to cut the glasses, or trace and cut one you find online. We used Terrestrial Teal™, Outrageous Orchid™, Sunburst Yellow™, Rocket Red™ and Martian Green™. Add Eclipse Black™ lenses behind each frame. For the rays of sunshine radiating from the sunglasses, cut 3.5 inch strips of paper. Add them to a wall, and you’ve got yourself a pretty rainbow of sunglasses. To save the wall from any paint removal, use 3M Removable Putty. It worked great.

summer-vibes-paper-backdrop-colorful-sunnglasses-arched-like-a-rainbow-kids-playing-and-crafting-on-a-white-picnic-bench

summer-vibes-paper-backdrop-colorful-sunnglasses-arched-like-a-rainbow-kids-playing-and-crafting-on-a-white-picnic-bench

summer-vibes-paper-backdrop-colorful-sunnglasses-arched-like-a-rainbow-kids-playing-and-crafting-on-a-white-picnic-bench-and-blowing-bubbles

girl-wearing-black-paper-sunglasses

colorful-summer-vibes-paper-wall-decor-and-a-giant-pair-of-green-paper-sunglasses

summer-fun-bubbles-chalk-glasses-for-kids

DIY Mini Ice Cream Parlor

ice-cream-as-tall-as-me-diy-paper-ice-cream-awning

Ice cream on a hot summer day is just pure joy. Our goal was to re-create that feeling of an ice cream parlor and happiness on a summer day with an ice cream activity for the kids. We all know how quickly our children grow. We mark their height at the beginning of the school year, or when they are young, but we don’t do it at the beginning and end of the summer. We’ve never marked their height with ice cream before. Why not start now? It was a huge success – like creamy, vanilla ice cream combined with gooey, chocolaty brownies, drizzled with caramel and topped with a cherry success. Yes, it was that good, and fun!

To make the DIY paper ice cream awning, use scissors to round one side of the paper. Line them up along the wall, and use 3M Putty to hang them along the top, straight-edge part. For the awning, we used Pulsar Pink™ and Celestial Blue® colored paper.

ice-cream-as-tall-as-me-diy-paper-ice-cream-awning

Trace and cut letters for the phrase, “Ice Cream As Tall As Me,” and add it to the wall under the awning. If you have a Silhouette electronic cutting machine, that will save you time, but it’s not a deal breaker for this project. Next, cut out triangles in the shape of ice cream cones. Tape the cones to the bottom of the wall. Cut out ice cream scoops 6 inches tall, which will help you give a “more accurate” estimate of each child’s height. Next, cut out sprinkles and cherries, so the kids can decorate their ice cream scoops with sprinkles, and finish their tall ice cream with a cherry on top. This was our kid’s favorite part.

paper-ice-cream-scoops-and-colorful-paper-sunglasses

paper-ice-cream-scoops-and-colorful-paper-sunglasses

paper-ice-cream-scoops-and-colorful-paper-sunglasses

paper-ice-cream-scoops-and-colorful-paper-sunglasses

One by one the kids ran over to their cone and stacked their ice cream. If only they could actually order an ice cream this tall. One can dream, right?

kids-taping-ice-cream-scoops-on-a-wall

boy-standing-in-front-of-paper-ice-cream-awning-and-ice-cream-scoops-as-tall-as-him

ice-cream-as-tall-as-me-stacked-colorful-ice-cream

baby-boy-standing-next-to-ice-cream-scoops-and-holding-bubbles

We enjoyed real ice cream shortly after the breaking of the piñata, and it was oh so yummy. The countdown is on – 17 more days of school, and then school’s out for summer! You can bet we will have our shades on!

baby-boy-with-sunglasses-on-his-back-and-a-newsboy-hat

This post is in partnership with ASTROBRIGHTS. We were crafting with and coloring on ASTROBRIGHTS paper long before this post. It’s always been a fave product of ours. Thank you for supporting the brands that support j. sorelle. ASTROBRIGHTS was one of the first, so we are very grateful.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means j. sorelle receives a small commission from the sale of certain items; however, the price is the same for you, whether it’s an affiliate link or not. 

DIY Trolls Valentine’s for Kids

trolls-valentine-troll-hair-ring-finger-lasers-confetti

Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling has been on repeat in our home, car and phone speakers since the beginning of summer. We dressed like Poppy and Branch for Halloween. We’ve seen the movie a hundred times. So, it should come as no surprise that our Valentine’s this year are colorful, bright, a little hairy and Trolls themed!

We just can’t get enough of our little colorful, tiny, song-loving friends.

Jenna made the adorable printables available here for a whopping $1.  Let your kids tell their friends, “I see your true colors, and that’s why I love you.”

trolls-valentine-troll-hair-ring-finger-lasers-confetti

We opted for Trolls rings for the girls in the class, available at Michaels or Amazon. For the boys, they will have fun playing with finger laser rings available at Amazon. One printable for both girls and boys! YAY!

Print, cut, stuff the bags and staple the label on. It’s that easy…plus it’s a non-candy Valentine for the win!

trolls-valentine-troll-hair-ring-finger-lasers-confetti

trolls-valentine-troll-hair-ring-finger-lasers-confetti

trolls-valentine-troll-hair-ring-finger-lasers-confetti

trolls hair-ring-confetti-diy-valentine

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

DIY Oscar Party for Kids

diy-kids-jungle-theme-oscar-party-avatar-girls-

Hollywood’s award season is upon us. Although our kids have only seen some of the animated nominees, this year we wanted to include our kids in the celebration of all things movies. So, we created a DIY Oscar party fit for our jungle kings and queens. Those of you who are Avatar fans will rejoice in this party too, because flashes of bright blue have been incorporated in celebration of Pandora, the World of Avatar, a new, magical world set to debut at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park in summer 2017.

Momtastic has the party, and all the cute details here. It’s a must see.

diy-kids-jungle-theme-oscar-party-avatar-girls-

We were able to work with a bestie, Meredith of Meredith Moran Photography, which is always a good time. Gabriella and Stella had so much fun, and would totally rock the red carpet. Our DIY leaf vests from our Trolls Halloween costume made an appearance, too!

jungle-party-blue-backdrop-girl-adventurers

 

 

DIY Cardboard Box Entertainment for Kids: Indoor Golf

diy-indoor-golf-game-for-kids-cardboard-box

When Christmas is less than one week away and it’s too cold to go outside, we like to transform a cardboard box into a DIY Holiday indoor golf game. It’s totally worth it because it entertains our kids for hours.

Cardboard boxes have always been, and will always be such a versatile toy, capable of endless hours of activity and creativity.

If you feel like bringing a little golf indoors like we did, see the full tutorial we shared at Momtastic.

For those of you that look at this and see way too much work like most people, you must know…you don’t have to paint a thing or make it fancy. A plain cardboard box with small openings gets the job done. And, if the kids want to be the lead artist, let them.

diy-indoor-golf-game-for-kids-cardboard-box