- Simple Crafts and Printables

Apple Marshmallow Pops

13 Comments / Uncategorized / By Valerie

This week my daughter Keira starts Pre-Kindergarten. It is crazy how next year she will already be in kindergarten! Time really does fly by. We decided to celebrate with some apple marshmallow pops! Instead of actually being productive and getting everything organized we made some cute marshmallows :). Luckily Keira’s not at the age where we have a huge list of supplies she needs for school. These marshmallows are a fun and easy way to get kids excited for back to school. You can put them in school lunches for the first day too! read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!

Pirate Party Desserts

2 Comments / Birthday Party, Cupcakes, Desserts, Pirate Party / By Valerie

Yo ho yo ho a pirate’s life for me! Maybe not a pirate’s life with all the pillaging and lack of bathing but a pirate party I can get on board with. Especially the pirate party desserts! This week my blog is having a pirate party with desserts, ships and sword diys. We just came back from Disneyland last week. Pirates of the Caribbean is one of my favorite rides at Disney. It was also the only ride I took my daughter Keira on that she we afraid of. She loved the Haunted Mansion. For some reason she loves ghosts but the pirates were a bit too much for her. I wouldn’t be doing my job as a parent if I didn’t frighten my child a little at some point. She is going to need something to talk to her therapist about when she grows up(I hope you can sense my tone, I’m kidding). For the pirate party desserts I made pirate cupcakes arrgghh and treasure chest brownies. read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!

Melted Ice Cream Cake Pops!

11 Comments / Desserts, Ice Cream / By Valerie

What better to make in the middle of summer than melted ice cream cake pops! Everything melts here in Arizona if it is left out for more than 5 seconds. With all of my ice cream party fun this week a lot of melting is going on. I accidentally left a mini chocolate in my purse the other day. Most people carry chocolate with them at all times right?! It was melted all over everything in my purse after being outside for just half an hour. Nothing like the feeling of reaching in your purse to come out with a melted chocolate fingers. read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!

Ice Cream Cone Balloons

6 Comments / Decorations, DIY, Ice Cream / By Valerie

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream cone balloons! This month is Ice Cream Month and Sunday was National Ice Cream Day. I thought that was cause for a celebration and this entire week is ice cream week on my blog, woohoo! You can check out my other ice cream posts for Pizookie Pops: https://simplecraftyfun.com/2015/07/pizookie-pops/ and Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches: https://simplecraftyfun.com/2015/07/donut-ice-cream-sandwich/. I am having a lot of fun with ice cream and celebrating this national holiday to the fullest. I wonder who gets to determine what day is ice cream day and all the other fun made up days. That sounds like an amazing job, where can I sign up?! My daughter likes to decide when it’s ice cream day too. She will wake up and say today is ice cream day, I want ice cream. Then I will say it is 6 in the morning and I am pretty sure it is banana day that’s what my calendar says. Then we go back and forth finally settling on Cheerios. This is a common occurrence in my house. She is persistent, I will give her that and she knows it’s best to ask before I have had my coffee. Needless to say she has loved all of the ice cream fun we have been having this week. I am on her good side for now. read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!

Donut Ice Cream Sandwich

3 Comments / Desserts, DIY, Ice Cream / By Valerie

Arizona in the summer is so insanely hot you have to get really creative to stay sane! Lots and lots of swimming is involved. I am also eating everything frozen or with ice cream. I think things taste better with ice or ice cream. Iced coffee is clearly superior to regular coffee in the summer. Frozen lemonade is better than regular lemonade. The other day I was in the mood for a donut but I thought what could I do to take this donut up a notch? That’s when I thought to add some ice cream. Yes, it was everything I dreamed of and more! I made some homemade cotton candy ice cream to put in it but you could use any kind of ice cream including store bought. read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!

Pineapple Centerpieces

5 Comments / Centerpieces, Crafts, Decorations, DIY, Pineapples / By Valerie

A while ago I saw a centerpiece with flowers in a pineapple. Since then I have wanted to try that out. It is trouble when I am having people over and I see pineapples on sale. I bought like five pineapples! I didn’t use fancy flowers just some flowers I thought looked pretty from the grocery store. At first I was going to do painted pineapples with flowers in them. I still think that would be fun with bright color combinations, maybe next time ;). Instead I did painted pineapples and pineapples with flowers in them separately for variety. read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!

Easy Pineapple Pinata

8 Comments / Birthday Party, DIY, Pineapples / By Valerie

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Sticking with my pineapple obsession/theme I have an easy pineapple pinata. This pineapple pinata is a pull string made with a paper lantern and tissue paper! You could also use the paper lanterns for decoration if you don’t want to have a pinata. I’m all for the pinatas! Yes, sometimes I like to really hit a pinata but I also like to pull a string and have candy fall from the sky :). Living the dream, most of my dreams involve candy. I have attempted to make a pinata before but it was a bit too complicated for me. This is easy breezy and looks really cute! read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!

Pineapple Cupcakes!

21 Comments / Cupcakes, DIY, Pineapples / By Valerie

This post may contain affiliate links

Pineapple cupcakes! By now if you follow my blog you will know I have a slight obsession with cupcakes! Yes, it is a bit of a problem but they are just so cute and yummy at the same time. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? I have not mastered other desserts but cupcakes are just my favorite! I am also obsessed with pineapples they are just so fun and I love the pineapple decorations trend! I decided to make these cute cupcakes that look like pineapples. I also tried to make pineapple frosting but that failed. Instead I made a buttercream frosting with a hint of coconut. Buttercream is the best for piping. These are perfect for a pineapple party, a luau and summer celebrations! read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!

Firecracker Toppers with Sprinkles Inside!

4th of July, Crafts, Cupcakes, Desserts, DIY / By Valerie

4th of July is all about the fireworks and firecrackers! Also it’s about the food, there will be so many BBQs going on this weekend it is the best time! So I decided to put those two wonderful things together in a fun topper. These firecracker cupcake toppers with star sprinkles inside turned out so cute! I used them for cupcakes but they would be perfect for a cake or even on some fruit. Sometimes my watermelon needs some sprinkles to make it extra appealing.

I live in Arizona and they are selling firecrackers and fireworks all over the place. Call me crazy but I personally don’t want to be setting off fireworks in the desert when it’s dry and 110 degrees. I like watching fireworks but I will stick with the professional show. Actually with a 4 year old I think we probably wont be up late enough for any kind of fireworks. We will just have to settle for all the food and pretend firecrackers. That’s more my style anyways. read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!

Fireworks Craft

3 Comments / 4th of July, Crafts, DIY, Holidays / By Valerie

I just cannot believe it is already going to be the 4th of July this week! It really snuck up on me. I might say that too much because a lot of holidays somehow sneak up on me. Besides Christmas since they start putting out decorations in July, you can’t miss that one. I wanted to make a little craft with Keira but I was trying to avoid a mess. What says 4th of July more than fireworks?! It seems like all of our crafts are messy and as much as I love making a huge mess I don’t always like to clean up. This fireworks craft was so easy to make and can also work as a decoration for the 4th. All you need are pipe cleaners in any colors you want (I went with red, silver and blue) and scissors. read more

About Valerie Jackson

Hi I'm Val! I love making simple crafts with my kids using free printable templates. Come craft with us!