DIY – Short Stop Designs

Printable Advent Calendar + 30 Activity Ideas

November 6, 2023

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We’ve reached the end of the year and the busiest season of the year! My kids ask every year for an advent calendar and they absolutely love it. We’ve done a variety of advent calendars: candy, socks, activities, you name it! I will admit, their favorite has definitely been the candy ones, but I know they also love getting into the holiday spirit with Christmas activities.

Here is an advent calendar that you can print off and use for years. Knowing that every year is going to be different, you can also change the text so that you can plan the activities based on your schedule. The text can be changed in Canva and is free and easy to use!

Here’s what you’re going to need:

Cardstock
Advent Printable Calendar Cover (Green & Pink / Red & Blue / Red & Green)
Activity Page – Edit in Canva
Cutting Mat
Precision/Exacto Knife
8×10 Frame
Tape

How to put it together:

Print out the Advent Calendar Cover on cardstock.
Using a cutting mat and precision/exacto knife, start cutting 3 sides of each box on the Advent Calendar so that it opens up like a door. You don’t want to cut off all of the sides on each box.
To print out and/or change the text on the Activity Page, go to Canva and edit the text on the template.
To print out the Activity Page, select “Share” at the top right corner, choose Download and for file type, choose PDF Print. Once you’ve selected the file type, click download.
Line the Advent Calendar and Activity Page behind it.
If using a matted frame, tape the pages to the matte and line up the 2nd page. If using a frame without a matte, sides down to fit a 8×10 frame.

See the video on how to put the Advent Calendar together: Instagram Video

Need some ideas for your Advent Calendar?

Watch a Christmas Movie
Look at Christmas Lights
Bake Cookies
Make a homemade gift and deliver to a friend/neighbor
Wear an Ugly Christmas Sweater
Look at Christmas Lights
Make a holiday craft
Write a letter to Santa
Read a Christmas Book
Hot Chocolate Bar
Make a Ginger Bread House
Make Magical Reindeer Food
Donate a gift to someone in need
Go Ice Skating
Listen to Christmas Songs
Send Christmas Cards
Have a Sleepover by the Tree
Visit Santa
Watch a holiday show
Visit a Christmas Market
Play in the snow
Make a Christmas Ornament
Play board games in Pajamas
Wrap Christmas Presents
Try a new Christmas Cookie Recipe
Donate Food
Take family pictures
Go Sledding
Leave Cookies for Santa
Attend or Host a Christmas Party

Fall Photo Booth Props – Free Printable

October 26, 2023

We’ve reached the busy season, and that typically means lots of parties and get togethers to celebrate the holidays. I love this time of year (like most of you) and there’s usually a lot that goes into getting ready for a party. Coming up with the food menu, activities, decorations, etc.

One of my favorite things at a party are the photo booths! I love that there are so many fun ideas to create a cute back drop and capture a moment from the party. If you’re having a photo booth, you’re definitely going to need some props! These props are the perfect addition to your Fall photo booth and you can make them at home!

These are easy to put together and add a little fun and silliness to your pictures! Who doesn’t love that? Here is what you’ll need to put these together:

–Fall Photo Booth Printable – Download here

-Color Printer

-Heavy Cardstock

-Scissors

-Wooden Dowels

-Glue / Tape

Looking for more props and want the full set? Grab them in the shop! Click on the image below:

DIY ‘HOME’ Wall Art

July 23, 2020

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We moved into our brand new home the day before Thanksgiving last year making this our 7th home! This does not include all of our transition periods staying at one of our parents’ homes in between a few of those moves. We have lived in 4 different states, California, Idaho, Washington and currently Texas. It has been quite the adventure for us and our kids.

With every move I’ve found it usually takes me months before I’ve formed a plan of how I want to decorate my walls. My entry was lacking a bit of a warm welcome, and I finally found a solution! It was during the early stages of quarantine that I needed a small project to keep myself busy with all the free time we had after work, when the kids would normally occupy our evenings with sports.

This project was easy, not unbearably time consuming, and just what my entryway needed! I found everything I needed on Amazon:

Wooden Letters (12″) – Letter ‘H’ – Letter ‘M’ – Letter ‘E’
15″ Faux Boxwood Wreath
White Acrylic Paint
Paint Brushes
Command Strips

All I needed to do was paint my letters white, and then after they dried I hung them up on the wall with 2 command strips on each letter. For me, the easiest way to hang it was starting from the bottom and then moving my way to the top so I knew how low I wanted my letters to be. I hung the wreath up with a nail to complete the farmhouse look. You could definitely change up this look during the holidays to make it more festive!

DIY Valentine’s Day Foil Print

January 23, 2017

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I was pulling out some of my Valentine’s Day decorations this past week and realized I how little I had. I’ll be honest, I have never been too worried about going all out for Valentine’s day, but this time I felt like there were parts of my house that could use a little more “love”. I wanted to be a little bit more crafty with this one, and took out my Minc and started to come up with some different ideas. This print was one that stuck and it has been a fun addition in my house!

If you’re looking to add another decoration in your home, here’s what you’ll need:

Materials:

Minc
Foil – Hot Pink Foil | Light Pink Foil | Gold Foil (optional)
XOXO Printable 8×10 or 5×7 – (Make sure to print from a laser printer. The foil will not stick if printed on anything other than a laser printer).

Start by turning on your Minc (I usually set mine at a 3). Print out page one of the XOXO Printable and cut out a piece of the hot pink foil so it fits over the letters.

Place your foil on top of the X’s and stick it inside the foil transfer folders. Once it’s in place, run it through the Minc.

Peel off the foil after it’s gone through and and put it back into your printer making sure it’s facing the right way so that it will print out page 2 of the XOXO printable.

If you’ve printed it correctly, you’re page should look like this. If you didn’t, that’s ok. It took me a couple tries to get this right…

Do another rough cut of your light pink foil this time and set it on top. If you’re adding the gold foil to the “hugs & kisses” this would be the best time to do it. I’ve found that putting it through the Minc as little as possible helps keep from distorting the foil that was there previously.

Once that’s through, peel off the remainder of your foil and stick your new piece of decor in a frame and admire it.

If you don’t have a Minc, not to worry! I’ve also made the same printable in color HERE. If you’re looking to buy a Minc, they’re available at Joann’s, Michaels, Amazon, and many other stores.

Easy Mini Valentine’s Day Donuts

January 10, 2016

mini valentines donuts

It has been crazy these past few months. We moved into our new home, I worked full time for the holiday season, and celebrated our youngest’s 2nd birthday. Now it’s time to get back to working on this little blog of mine.

We’re getting pretty excited for Valentine’s Day at our house. So yesterday, I decided to do something fun with my kids while dad was out of the house. These mini Valentine’s Day donuts are so easy to put together, my kids understood what to do pretty quickly, and they’re 5 (almost) and 2. The best part, you only need 3 ingredients!

Ingredients:

Package of Glazed (or plain) Mini Donuts – like Hostess or Little Debbie’s

Candy Melts – feel free to choose your favorite Valentine’s colors

Valentine’s Day Sprinkles

mini valentines donuts 4

Dip your donut into a bowl of melted candy chocolate.

mini valentines donuts 5

2. Let any extra candy melts drizzle off of your donut and set on a cooling rack.

mini valentines donuts 2

3. Grab your favorite sprinkles (look how cute those hands are! I know this picture is pretty much unnecessary but it was too cute not to share).

mini valentines donuts 3

4. Sprinkle your hearts desire on your donut.

mini valentines donuts 6

5. Let your donuts sit and dry off for a little bit until the chocolate has hardened. And you’re all done!

Super easy and great to do with your kids. The only downside is the clean up. Like I predicted, the sprinkles got everywhere, but it was totally worth having them do something that didn’t involve sitting in front of the TV or iPad!

What a perfect gift to give away for Valentine’s Day too!

mini valentines donuts 7

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DIY Woody Costume

October 6, 2015

Ok, I’m so excited to share with you the what I call my “semi-homemade” Woody costume I put together for JD this Halloween. It was super simple, and fun to put together. Here’s what we did to get the look:

Yellow shirt. We got ours from Crazy8 on sale for $4.99! And, I love that he can just wear it anytime after Halloween is over.

Jeans. We already had these so that part was easy peasy!

Cowboy vest. I got the materials for $4.20 from Joann’s. Take advantage of their coupons! I used the tutorial for the vest from Simply Crafted.

Hat, belt & gun holder were 25% off at the Disney Store, so we paid just under $10 for these items.

Bandanna – We found this baby for a $1 at the Dollar Tree! I was going to use the leftover fabric from the vest, but saw the bandanna at the Dollar Tree and thought, “why not?”

Badge – you can make your own or just buy yours online at Amazon for $5.

Boots – Ok, these were the most expensive thing we had to buy for this costume, but I could not stand those foam boots they use for costumes, and even though I am not a fan of cow boy boots, we found these really awesome Toy Story boots that light up from Sears for $30. So, if you already own a pair, or can borrow some from a friend/cousin, then this will be the least of your worries. To justify this purchase, he will definitely be putting these to use when he helps out in our backyard with dad.

And that’s it! JD had fun going on a hunt for all of these items, and kept us busy on days where we needed to pass the time.

My absolute favorite part about this Halloween is how cute these two boys are in their Toy Story costumes! Stay tuned to see how my Jessie costume will turn out…

Father’s Day Gift – “Sweet Reminders”

June 16, 2015

My husband is leaving for four months for Army training tomorrow and we are all so sad about it. I wanted to make something so he’d remember how much he means to us and wanted my kids to take part in it. He loved it, and before he opens a piece of chocolate he gets to see a reminder of why he is the World’s Greatest Dad!

This is such a fun little project to do with your kids and to let their Dad know how much he means to them. All you need is a mason jar and some Hershey’s Nuggets to wrap these printables around. For the Hershey’s Nugget wrappers, I’m sharing the one we did for my husband and you can pick and choose whatever best fits your Dad (or Grandpa) or have fun coming up with your own reasons of why your Dad is the World’s Greatest Dad. It’s the perfect “sentimental” gift to give for Father’s Day and a “Sweet Reminder” of why he’s awesome!

Hershey’s Nugget Wrappers – written | blank

World’s Greatest DAD – blue | green | orange | yellow

World’s Greatest GRANDPA – blue | green | orange | yellow

World’s Greatest GRAMPS – blue | green | orange | yellow

Father’s Day Gift Tags

June 15, 2015

I was asked by the Relief Society in my ward to make a tag to attach to these awesome “bow tied” sweet treats for Father’s day. I was totally in love with this idea, and wanted these gift tags to fit the theme of the candy. These gift tags go perfect with any gift, and I’ve created them in four different colors to match any candy or gift wrap to give to Dad this weekend. What will you use these gift tags for?

Father’s Day Gift Tags – download here

Printable Birthday Calendar

May 4, 2015

I have been wanting to make one of these Birthday Calendars for a long time, and I’ve finally done it! I had seen so many cute ideas on Pinterest, but was always worried I’d mess it up. You see, when it comes to painting on wood, I find a way to screw it up and then I’m done with that project. I never want to see it again basically. Although, I remembered something my super talented SIL and friend (Tammy & Liz) did last year and I absolutely loved it!

I wanted to create something just like that, but didn’t want to have to deal with a painting fiasco. So, I came up with a solution and a printable that you can use too. It is extremely easy and all you need is:

Materials:

A Printer

Scissors

Picture Frame (make sure the surface is flat)

Drawer Knob

White Card Stock

Glitter Paper

Birthday Cake Printable (Download for 5×7 | 8x10)

Chalkboard tags + a small piece of string

Glue (Modge Podge)

Glue Gun

Instructions:

1. Print out your background from the following options below.

2. On a separate sheet of paper, print out the “birthday cake” and cut those pieces out. (I’ve tried printing on glitter paper, and it did not work out well, so DON’T do it!)

3. Trace the “birthday cake” onto the back of the glitter paper and cut those pieces out.

4. Glue the glitter “birthday cake” pieces onto the background you printed out.

5. While you’re waiting for the glue to dry, hot glue your drawer knob at the bottom (center) of your picture frame.

6. Once everything is dry, stick the Birthday Cake Background into the frame and hang up your family & friend’s birthdays that you’ve written on the chalkboard tags onto the drawer knob and you’re done!

Easy, right? I’ve created 3 different backgrounds in 12 different colors. So pick your favorite and have fun creating you’re own Birthday Calendar!

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Spring Baby Shower + Free Printables

April 28, 2015

Last weekend I threw a baby shower for my friend, Stephany, who’s having her first baby! I’ve had so much the last couple of weeks channeling my girly side and planning this baby shower, since most of the stuff I do is for my boys. We had fun eating, smelling “poopy” diapers, tasting baby food, avoiding the word “baby” and seeing how much the daddy-to-be knew about babies. It was the perfect way to get the mommy-to-be excited about her baby!

Today, I’m also sharing the printables I used for this party and hope that it will help you plan your next baby shower. If you haven’t played any of these games, you should definitely consider them at the next shower you host!