DIY Party Hats for Kids & Toys with Free Template

Celebrate their birthday in style with these quick, DIY party hats! We’ve taken the guess work out and created a template to print and trace. We’ve also included a smaller template to create matching hats for their favorite doll or stuffed animals! Look for the free downloadable template just after the video.

Supplies:
12 x 12 Scrapbook Paper
Free Template
Ribbon, pom poms, buttons, etc. to decorate
Packing or Scotch tape

click to download party hat template

Be sure to print two (2) copies of the template as the smaller is printed inside the larger one.
Have fun party animals! xo

craft forest updates_click to subscribe

The Mother Lode: Mother’s Day Printable Coupon Book

Growing up my mom was not the “traditional” mom that some of my friends had. She didn’t really bake, worked two jobs, and could weld like the lady in Flashdance (minus the wet, torn sweatshirt). But she made me laugh; she was always making up weird little songs for us to sing [car, car, C-A-R, stick your head in a mustard jar], taught me to change my oil, and most importantly to be my own person.

Now that I’m a mom, I do a little baking, am lucky enough to have only 1 job (and to get to work from home), can’t really weld (though I’ve always wanted to learn to do metal sculpture), make up weird songs for my kids [car, car, C-A-R, stick your head in a mustard jar], and raise my kids with humor, and a bit of sarcasm. And I find myself so thankful that our lives were anything but traditional.

This week we’re celebrating moms of all sorts with a gift they can give to themselves. Things like 10 minutes of complete silence, a trip to the restroom all by yourself(what?!), and one whole afternoon with no fighting!

funny mothers day coupon book

Spoil Surprise the mom you love the most (ummm, you) with the Mother Lode printable coupon book this Mother’s Day! And don’t worry about printing this into the perfect little book – just print ’em out and hand them wearily to your small people for a moment of silence, or two if your lucky!

mothers day coupon for silence

Motherhood is awesome, but we could all use a break every now and again. Print this one out and then head to a wonderful place. Alone. Where no one needs for you for a second. The restroom! Ahhh. We won’t tell anyone if you’re actually playing a game on your phone in there or reading the article you’ve been trying to read for 3 weeks!

mothers day humor

So, mamas, download this free coupon book printable for the gift of a break. Did I mention that when you use up your coupons, you can just print more?! Yep.  What are ya waiting for? Get to printing, woman!

diy mothers day printable coupons

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mamas! What would we do without you?! Sorry gotta go, someone spilled something and the other is bleeding!

xo, Jennifer

P.S.  While you’re at it, be sure to print a set of Mother’s Day classic Mom temporary tattoos!

Free Tattoo Printable, Mother's Day from Craftforest.com

Free Printable: Mother’s Day Tattoo Sheet

Free Tattoo Printable, Mother's Day from Craftforest.com

I’ve always wanted tattoos, but luckily I didn’t get the tribal ring around my belly button that I wanted at 17 (when my stomach was all flat and hadn’t had two babies and several years of cake) or the bar code I wanted on the back off my neck as some sort of statement against consumerism or something (what?! why??). Oh, teenage Jennifer, you crack me up.

I still want a tattoo and might get one to honor my grandmother later this year, but for the moment I’m all about non-permanent forms of expression. I love printable tattoos and have especially always loved the classic Mom tattoo. So we combined both in this free tattoo printable just in time for Mother’s Day!

Mom Tattoo Printable_craftforest.com

We’ve created a template that is reversed to look great after printed. You’ll use temporary tattoo paper – you can pick it up online or at your local craft store.  Or you can try this way with regular computer paper and tape. There are a few (thousand) tutorials that also include tracing paper, backs of printable label paper, but we’re going easy with the premade stuff.

DIY Mom Tattoo Printable

This ham didn’t want to stop posing for pics and said things like “man, I look tough lovin’ my mom.” Yes, honey. Yes, do you. He later added about 15 more but then refused a photo shoot. Go figure.

DIY Mother's Day Tattoo Printable Free

Duck face and some tats, do I know how to raise ’em up right, or what?! To my credit the face was all hers. It’s her “tough girl who looks cool” face just in case you were wondering. Oh, and she wanted Love Rocks on her fingers, but I don’t quite know how to spell or count sometimes, so we ended up with Love Rock. Whatever. It’ll wash off soon.

Free Temporary Tattoo Printable_craftforest

We had a great time with these and the best part is you can’t mess ’em up. Here’s how to print and put them on if you’re using tattoo paper. First download the free Mother’s Day temporary tattoo printable template and print on your tattoo paper as the brand instructs.

Temporary Tattoo Paper_Mother's Day Tats

The paper I used had a two step process. Print, let the ink dry and then coat with a glossy second sheet. This stuff is tricky and you pretty much get one shot. Mine had a wrinkle in it already so I tried to position it to the white space so it wouldn’t hit any of the tattoos.

DIY Tattoo Printable

Next cut your tattoo out close to your design.

Using Tattoo Printer Paper

Peel the top layer off the design and position it where you want your tattoo. Wet a towel or just put some water on the tattoo. And press firmly into place. Let it sit for about 15-20 seconds and then peel the backing off. (Sorry we didn’t snap pics of this part, but I trust ya got it.)

Free Mother's Day Printable

And voila! Happy, tough looking kids that love their mamas (and grandmothers, and you!).

Hope you have as much fun with these temporary tattoos as we did! Happy Mamas/Aunts/Grandmas/Dads doing it all/Maternal figure Day, my dears!

xo, Jennifer

craft forest updates_click to subscribe

Free Printable: Random Acts of Positivity

Pharrell wants you to be happy, and so do I!

We’ve all heard of the Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) movement, but what about some random acts of positivity?

I was recently in a restaurant bathroom, of all places, in Wichita that was covered with positive graffiti. Things like “It’s okay to be your true self” and “I think you’re smart” filled the stall walls. It was pretty great and I meant to grab my phone to snap some pics, but I was distracted by the sweet potato fries. (Yum! Go to Monarch if you’re in Wichita, KS. So good!)

Then on the drive back to Kansas City I saw some roadside signs on the toll road portion of I35 that were handmade, wooden planks painted with positive messages like “URGR8″( almost crashed trying to figure that one out) and “I <3 U”.

be lovely, random acts of positivity

I thought about both the whole way home. Then I thought about the millions of “hang in there, baby” type pins on Pinterest and the ones I’ve shared with a ladies group I’m in. We all love (and love to hate) these quotes and the feel-good articles on sites like Upworthy. Positivity seems to be on trend, and that’s kind of cool. Oh, and my nieces and daughter are obsessed with the Pharrell Williams song Happy. Such a great little song, it almost makes it okay that Lola plays in twenty times in a row.

I kept wondering how I could make someone else feel “great” and “loved” when they’re in the restroom. Minds out of the gutter,  kids. I wasn’t expecting to be uplifted at that moment and it was kinda nice. That small gesture made an impact.

bathroom positive graffiti

This really long build up is to tell you that I want to start a Random Acts of Positivity (RAOP) movement and maybe you wanna play along? I’ve created a positivity printable that you can print on full sheet sticker paper, cut out, and stick everywhere. Tour the bathrooms in all your favorite joints! Pop one on the back of a stop sign (is that illegal??). Or stick ’em up at the dog park! Anywhere and everywhere.

Random Acts of Positivity Sticker Sheet

You never really know what people are going through and sometimes just a smile, or a random compliment can change everything.  Sorry to get all Oprah on ya, there. I wish I could put a car under everyone’s chairs! But all I can do is put up a sticker where they might see it.

I want to tell them (and you) things like “you’re beautiful!“, “that was a great decision“, “you’ve got this!” You know the things that we all sometimes need to be told (and can rarely say to ourselves).

So, whata ya say? Will you print these out and post them in your cities? Let’s make someone feel good, even for a second.

be kind it'll freak people out

I’m asking you to please print the stickers, cut ’em out, post them around your town! I’d love to see where these end up. Send us pictures! Post to our Facebook with hastag #RAOP, tweet us at @craftforesty. We could be onto something, babies.

xo, Jennifer

CLICK HERE to print your Random Acts of Positivity Sticker Sheet