Free Christmas Gift List Printable

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? There is only 159 days until Christmas, that is 22 shopping weekends left to get everything bought, wrapped and ready for gifting!

As part of our Christmas in July sale, here is a free printable Christmas gift list planner that you can use to get yourself organised!

Download the free Christmas gift list planner printable

And remember, you can't buy love, but you can buy handmade and that's kind of the same thing!

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Birthday Party Planning with EtsyKids

'You say it's your Birthday!' by kathydee

Celebrating May with a "Happy Birthday" from the talented EtsyKids Team.

Mr & Mrs Spectacles Ban... DevinPrather $16	PRINTABLE Matryoshka Do... yourblissfulda... $10	Dora the Explorer POLKA... chachalouise $50	Yellow Polka Dot and Wh... ThELaUgHyGiRaF... $3.5
BALLOON BUDDIES, Ladybu... kidsloveletter... $12	BARNYARD BASH Girls Far... SweetThreadsCl... $27.95	Rainbow Heart Garland -... HandmadeCuddle... $12	Cowboy Birthday Hat for... aunttscloset $9.99
Crayon Roll - Sesame St... HappyBabeeandB... $6	Party Hats EtsyKids Tea... sugartogs $12	Goldfish Cupcake Topper... YourlittleCupc... $10	Blue Chevron & Floral P... WearYouGo $29.95
Beach Birthday Invitati... BusyChickadees $10	Taylors Treasures - 4th... taylorstreasur... $14.95	Extra Special HAPPY BIR... thenook $20	Sweet Pink Lemonade...P... TeaPartyDesign... $8

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

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Who’s Parenting the Pet?

Submitted by Nancy Keesling of TutuCuteandMoore!

Having a pet is a great way to help children learn empathy and responsibility. Although adding a pet to your family is a warm and fuzzy experience, keep in mind that you may be doing most of the cleaning, feeding, and grooming care. So, the real question is “Are you ready for a pet?

Regardless of the time and energy it takes to be a pet “parent”, having a pet can be a wonderful, rewarding experience. Here are just a few fab things about including a critter in your family:

• Pets make loyal, lovable friends
• Pets teach you how to take care of others
• Pets teach you about responsibility
• A pet can help you learn about animals
• Playing with pets can make you feel happy
• Having a pet can keep you from feeling lonely or depressed
• Pets are good for your health
• Your whole family can share the benefits of having a pet in your lives

Pictured right, Patriotic Bowtie from IrishHooksAndYarn / below, My Pets reusable coloring book from babyzebracreations / below right, Dog Days Party Printable Invitation from smallfrynotables.

Fun Facts on Dogs vs. Cats

Think you’re an expert when it comes to pets? Well, take a look at these fun facts...

• Pet lovers are guardians to nearly 100 million dogs and cats in the United States, and spend about $35 billion on their furry friends each year. That’s a lot of lucky pets.
• Studies show that people with pets live longer, have less stress, and fewer health problems. Sign me up.
• 94% of pet owners say their animal pal makes them smile more than once a day. More like once an hour for me.
• Max wins as the most popular name for pooches. Other popular dog names are Jake, Buddy, Maggie, Molly, and Bear. Wrigley is our favorite; we had three by that name!
• 95% of cat owners admit they talk to their cats. And what’s wrong with that?
• In Belgium in 1879, 37 cats were “hired” to carry bundles of letters to villages. But the service didn’t last long because the mail cats just wouldn’t cooperate! Really? Can’t imagine cats not cooperating.
• A cat will almost never meow at another cat...that’s because cats only meow to get our attention. Yep, and they won’t stop until you take notice of their needs.
• A dog named Laikia became the world's first astronaut in 1957, when she was sent into space by the Russian government.
• Abraham Lincoln loved cats. In fact, he had four of them while he lived in the White House. His favorite was named Tabby.
• Tests done by the University of Michigan proved that cats have better memories than dogs. The study shows that while a dog’s memory lasts no more than 5 minutes, a cat's can last as long as 16 hour. Cats rule, dogs drool.
• Dogs can hear sounds that are too faint for us to hear. In fact, their hearing is so good they probably rely more on sound than sight. But the common belief that dogs are color blind is false. Dogs can see color, just not as well as we do. They can tell the difference between blue, yellow, and gray, but probably don’t see red and green.

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Boredom Busters for Kids and Adults

Here in NE Kansas schools, the local Colleges and Universities canceled classes again for the third day in less than a week.  Unheard of.  We are covered in a beautiful thick blanket of heavy, heavy snow - perfect for making snowmen.  In fact, the children are just now putting the finishing touches on a snow family to stand watch out front.   

If you have some crafty little souls in your house who are complaining of being BORED - heaven forbid - let us suggest these patterns and printable PDFs that will allow you to quickly get them engaged in a productive project that won't end in 30 seconds.  If these don't match your children's skill or interest level, don't fear, we have an amazing archive of projects, tutorials, and activities - check out all the categories you can search in our sidebar, bottom right!    

Barn Farmhouse Skin PDF, Instant download from DollsAndDaydreams

Funky Fleece Hat PDF Pattern from monkeysbug

Peasant Swing Top and Dress, PDF sewing pattern from AveryLane

Paper Doll PDF Printout, instant download from DollsAndDaydreams

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Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

On The Go Diaper Pouch from Loubugsboutique

Cat in the Hat Boutique Hair Bow from Avabowtiquee

Dr Seuss Knot Dress Thing One and Thing Two from GROOVYGURLZ

Cat with a funny hat Personalized Invitation or Thank You Cards Printable from PinkPickleStudio

Whimsical Cat in the Hat Hair Clip from CravingCuteness

Cloth Diaper Cover - one size from Zookies

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Valentine's in a HURRY!

Still looking for the perfect Valentine's for the kids to take to school or to mail family and friends?  Here are five EtsyKids Team Members who offer custom personalized Valentine's that you print yourself!  They will email you a digital file you can print yourself!  Quick, simple and oh so affordable!  

Retro Pink and Brown 5x7 Printable Photocard from GreenBeansieInk

Valentine Printable, iPhone design for SweetHearts box from MadeByAPrincess

Valentine Printable Cards, Forest Woodland from polkaprints

Owl DIY Printable Sticker or Favor Tags from kidEprints

Personalized Printable Boy's Airplane Valentines from PamperYourParty

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

Looking for more than just a card for Valentine's Day?  Lots of EtsyKids Team Shops have top quality Valentine gifts made up and ready to ship out to you today.  See what we have to offer here. 

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Chinese New Year - Lantern Printable

Today is Chinese New Year!! 2012 is the year of the dragon

To celebrate I have a fun printable to share with you! Chinese Paper Lanterns

Download in black & white
Download in colour


1.  Print out the lantern. You can print off the black and white version if printing onto red paper, or if you want to make a fun colouring activities with the kids.

2. Cut out the lanterns. Cut along the solid black lines, and fold along the dashed black lines.


3.  Starting at one end of the lantern, glue or tape each of the tabs onto the next panel of the lantern. Keep going all the way around the lantern, for the top and bottom tabs. When you reach the end, glue the last tabs onto the first panel.

4.  Punch two holes at the top of the lantern (where indicated with black dots). Thread the lanterns onto some string, or onto some fairy lights like I did. Do not place a flame inside the lanterns.

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How to make cupcake toppers tutorial

Today April of kidEprints has a lovely tutorial to share with our readers. kidEprints sells a variety of lovely printable tags including a lovely collection of valentine themed ones!

April has written a really useful tutorial on how to turn printables into cute cupcake toppers.

The first step is to print your digital file. If printing with a JPEG image, treat it like a digital photo and try not to use any margins. Photo printers are the only printers that will allow for borderless or no margin printing. If you need to use margins, use the smallest size available (usually 1/8 inch).

Next, using your paper punch, centre the image and punch out a topper, repeat for all of them.

Place one topper face down and glue a lollipop stick to the centre back. The best glues are thick and acid free, or you can use a hot glue gun. You can find lollipop sticks and most major craft stores.

Add a bit of glue around the outer edge of your topper and stick a second topper on top so your cupcake topper is double sided. Place in your cupcake and you're done!!

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Thank you letter printable

Courtesy of Steffi of Toastie Studio

I have to admit I am terrible at sending out thank you cards after Christmas. Half the time I send them out so late I should just ring and say thank you.
This year I saw in the shops some thank you cards for kids and knew I wanted to design my own. I think having a fun design and letter format can make writing thank you letters more fun for kids! So here are two designs for a thank you printable.

You get two letters per sheet of paper. Simply print at 100% scale and trim down.

Download: Red Girl / Blue Boy

I also have other thank you card printables in my etsy shop, including ones like this where you can design the character and colour scheme yourself.

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St. Martins Day Tutorial

{This post is brought to you by Stephanie from Toastie Studio}

It makes me sad seeing all the fun Halloween posts in blog land over the last few weeks. So many beautiful costumes made and decorations but in the Netherlands no one really celebrates it.
But we do celebrate St. Martins Day on 11th November!
On St. Martins night kids walk around the neighbourhood with handmade paper lanterns or candles. They knock at your door and sing you a little song about St. Martin in exchange for some candy.

Although St. Martins Day is not celebrated everywhere in the world, I am sharing a little tutorial to make paper lanterns today. You can always use the tutorial to make some lanterns for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
And if you like this printable check with my etsy shop in the coming weeks as I expand into party and celebration printables.

You will need:
Template (download here, includes small and medium template)
Coloured card
Tissue paper
Glue
Decorating materials, this can be what ever you have on hand, pencils, glitter, stickers, felt etc.

Print off the template onto your coloured card stock and cut around the edge and cut the 4 squares out of the panels. Score along the fold lines to make it easier later on.
If you are making the medium lantern, glue the two pieces together so it looks like the small lantern template and keep some scrap card to make the hanging loop.

Cut your tissue paper into squares big enough to cover the cut out panels and glue them into place on the back side of the lantern.

Turn your lantern over and take your decorating materials and make your lantern look super pretty! You can really use anything to decorate it with.

Once you have finished glue the end tab of the lantern to the other side so you get a square.

Then glue each of the tabs on the top two sections all the way around making the lanterns shape.

Now glue on the little handle strip, or use ribbon if you prefer.

In the Netherlands you can buy little sticks with string on one end and an electric candle attached so you can hang them from the stick to go out and sing with. But you can always leave them on the table with an electric candle inside.

NOTE these lanterns are made from paper, do not use a real candle in them as its a fire hazard!!

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Crafting for a Cure

Breast Cancer touches the lives of so many. My grandmothers were survivors, my mother is a survivor, many good friends are survivors. 

October is a month filled with pink ... pink to remind us of the devastation that Breast Cancer brings to each man and woman whose body it attacks and the importance of supporting amazing charities that provide essential research funds, moving us closer and closer to finding a cure. 

Three amazing EtsyKids team members are Crafting for a Cure, donating 25-50% the sale of their item to a well deserving Cancer Charity.  Make your dollar do double duty and purchase one of these items.  You will not only receive an amazing handcrafted tooth fairy pillow, blanket or print, but you will help researchers find better drugs and treatments, better methods of detection, better preventative practices with the portion of your purchase going to worthy charities.  

Tooth Fairy Pillow, Miss Petunia Pretty Pants by kookycritters

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, $5 from the sale of this Critter will go to nationalbreastcancer.org.

No Monkey Business - Find a Cure Activity Blanket & Plush Toy Set by myminimocs

50% of the proceeds from the sale of this limited edition blanket & plush toy set will go to a Breast Cancer Awareness Charity. 

Believe in Yourself, 5x7" Print, Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month by ZavalickDesigns

During October, $5 of the sale of these prints (pink design only) will be donated to the American Cancer Society

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Back to School Printable from Creative Mamma

School is starting back up all over the nation and super talented EtsyKids team member Joy Charde, the talented lady behind Creative Mamma, created a fun Kawaii Back-to-School printable to share.

I know you'll find great ways to use this multipurpose pack ... book labels, blank cards - use them as lunch box notes or messages to the teacher, weekly homework planner, and of course bookmarks.

Print off a couple sheets of book labels, blank cards, or bookmarks, cut them up and send them in as a little surprise for your child's teacher. They will appreciated and will quickly be put to good use in the classroom.

You can find more of Joy's sweet printable designs on her website Creative Mamma, and in her shop, TheArtOfJoy.

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Freebie from Blush Printables:: Little Letter to Santa

Special post courtesy of Jen at Blush Printables.

When I was little, my brother and I used to leave a note out for Santa to read. We always set it out next to his plate and cookies, and we always left a little treat for his reindeer, too!

So here's a set of your very own free 5x7 printable letters to Santa. They come in three sets: Each with a coordinating color scheme, both with and without text.

Each Letter is a finished size of 5x7 and can be printed at home.

To use:
1. Download the Free Santa's Letters. The zip contains 6 files!
2. Print on cardstock (I use 110lb white matte)
3. Trim to size.
4. Have your child sign his or her name OR write their own personalized message to Santa!


A special thanks to Blush Printables for sharing this free printable. You can see more of Jen's beautiful designs in her etsy shop, Blush Printables, where she offers DIY Invitations and accessories for weddings, showers, birthdays and events. Blush is participating in our EtsyKids Christmas in July sale and is offering 15% off photo cards.

Jen has a beautiful blog that you won't want to pass up. She shares lovely pieces of inspiration and designs for brides and more recently babies! as she patiently awaits the arrival of her own little bundle. Jen is also extremely generous to her readers and offers amazing freebies throughout the year. So don't miss out and become a regular reader of Blush Printables.

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Summer Reading Kit for Kids: Free Printable!!

Today's post comes courtesy of theartofjoy.etsy.com.

Summer is a perfect time to visit your local library or bookstore and discover new books! When I taught elementary school, I would try to find ways to get my students excited about reading…

One of the things that I made for my students was a reading log and whoever had the most books read received a special prize from me the next school year. The kids loved it! This time around, I’ve created a whole Summer Reading Kit (two designs to choose from) for you to enjoy! You can download both designs from my blog.

I hope you find some wonderful new books this summer! We'd love to hear about your a recent good read and if you're looking for local summer reading programs to help reward your children reading through the summer, check out these summer reading programs.

• Your Local Public Library - 2011 Theme, One World, Many Stories
  
  


• Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program - Imagination Destination
  
  


• Borders Summer Reading Program - Double Dog Dare Challenge
  
  


• Half Price Books, Summer Reading Program - Feed Your Brain

Thanks Joy for sharing this printable with us! You can see more of Joy's work on her blog, creativemama.com and in her shop:

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On the third day of Christmas, the EtsyKids Team gave to me...

...three art prints!

Reproduction of the original acrylic painting of Wendel's Workshop from Gold Dust Galleries. Wendel is one of Santa's little helpers and this is his workshop. If you close you eyes really tight (and use your imagination), you can almost see him inside making lots of toys for little girls and boys for the upcoming holiday season!

Custom Digital Portrait Silhouette from Petit Debutant. Winner will receive 2 high res 5x7 files, one right facing one left facing.
(For personal use only.)












'Tonight, I'm dreaming my way to the moon.' 8 x 8 inch art print from Twinkle Star Art. Featuring a boy blasting off to space in his rocket. He dreams of gazing at the planets and stars through his telescope while flying all the way to the moon.








Three french hens are hiding in a few item listings from EtsyKids members. Find just one of them and you could win one of these art prints!

Today's clue is: MacDonald's abode

When you think you've solved it and know what the keyword is, go to Etsy.com and type your keyword + etsykids team into the search, and start looking!

Once you have found the image, send a conversation to Little Pags Boutique with 'EtsyKids 12 Days of Christmas' in the subject line, and a link to the item where you found it by midnight (Eastern time) November 30th. All correct entries will be entered into a random drawing for a prize!

Don't forget to keep track of where you find each day's image so you can enter the grand prize drawing at the end!

For complete instructions on how to play and contest rules, please click here.

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A big thanks to BuggaLove and My Mini-Mocs for creating the images, and Little Elephant Company for coming up with the clues!

Written by:

The Clever Kitty

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