JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans. Join now (it's free).
Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.
Blog Posts by Tag
In the past 30 days
Blog Posts by Date
Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
Paperless Post®, an online card and invitation company, reached out to me with an interesting question. How would I celebrate Christmas in July? Well, it’s summer. I’m thinking about fresh lemonade, cold watermelon, popsicles, and swimming with my kids. And many of us are thinking about the beach.
Ah, of course! I’ll team up with my favorite beach buddy characters. Dive in with me into the creative relm, and let’s plan a splashing Christmas party.
For starters, my friend Crab will take care of the decorations.
Mrs. Octopus will bake her most festive treats.
Puffer fish will plan the party crafts and games.
Mr. Whale will round up some festive holiday music.
Can you guess his favorite song? Frosty the ......
Star fish will bake his famous gingerbread star cookies.
Turtle will bring dreidels and chocolate gelts,
and share some Chanukah love too.
And you can trust that I will handle the invitations.
Thanks for joining me with this fun post. Will I see you at the party?
0 Comments on Christmas in July? as of 7/13/2016 2:41:00 PM
My girls, though years apart, are big Harry Potter fans.
We had a lot fun recreating Hogswarts and Diagon Alley in our home.
Enjoy the party photos, and hopefully you'll find some inspiration for your Harry Potter party!
Mandrakes! How fun are these? To make them, you'll need Goetz Caramel Creams. Work on the Mandrakes one at a time. Roll and blend two pieces of candies together. Heat the blended caramel in the microwave for about 5-8 seconds. Shape the warm caramel to form the Mandrakes. I used a skewer to create the eyes and mouth. Top the Mandrakes with faux plastic leaves.
For the base, bake chocolate cupcakes in Wilton Pot Shaped Silicone Baking Cups. Once they are cool, frost them with chocolate frosting, and add the Mandrakes. Garnish the frosting with crushed Oreo Cookies for the dirt.
The kids loved being sorted into houses! The house ties are made from felt and yarn.
What's a Harry Potter party without wands and Hedwig? I purchased the wands and stone backdrop (below) from Oriental Trading.
The witches and wizards enjoyed stopping by Gringotts bank for coins, which they used to purchase robes, wands, and candy from Honeydukes. The signs you see in this post are printables from Printyca.
The Honeydukes' candy station was a big hit. I found the candy printatables from Printed Instinct on Etsy.
The cockroach clusters are made with crushed pretzels and melted semi-sweet chocolates.
The house banners set the tone for the dinner table, with a flying snitch. The Hogwart crestis by Geijvon Taen. The house banners are printables from TheDesignDarling.
The Potion Class was hands down the highlight of the party.
The experiment used dry ice. I was very careful to prevent kids from direct contact with the ice. There are many tutorials online for this experiment.
Hooray! I've accomplished one of my New Year's resolutions - a much needed website make-over. Please swing by and check it out. This year, I'm looking forward to developing new book ideas, fun novelty formats, and spending more time enjoying arts, crafts, and baking with my family. Happy 2016 to all!
0 Comments on Happy Website Launch! as of 1/1/1900
Over the past few summers, I donated copies of my books to Life Connection Mission,a non-profit organization serving the poorest children in the Western Hemisphere.
It was very heart warming to see the happy faces from the pictures,
and hear about how the children enjoyed having the books.
and invited authors, illustrators, and our children's book community to join me in sending more books to Haiti. The responses were overwhelming,
and the books were distributed to the children this summer.
Some books were given to the homeless shelter; many to the preschool, 1st grade teachers, and church supported by Life Connection Mission, to be shared with the community's children.
On one special occasion, children were invited for dinner with the goal of taking
pictures to encourage people back here in the U.S. to sponsor them,
and help send them to school. The children received small gifts,
and the younger ones were given picture books. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to sponsor a little girl close to my youngest daughter's age.
I am thankful for the generosity and kindness of our contributors,
Life Connection Mission,and the amazing people who spent their summer in Haiti for their endless hard work and dedication.
Thank you Life Connection Mission, for sharing these wonderful photos.
0 Comments on Books and Smiles for Haiti as of 9/3/2014 11:28:00 AM
Ever since Frozen™ hit the big screen, it's been a favorite "everything" with my daughter. The songs, books, dolls, clothes - you get the picture.
It was no surprise she asked for a Frozen™ birthday celebration, and after a long winter this year, snowflakes were the last thing I wanted to think about.
Voila! A Frozen™ party without a single snowflake!
Instead of a snow garnished cake, I went with magical wintry breeze cupcakes.
I melted and piped white chocolate swirls and embellished them
with clear sugar sprinkles for an icy effect.
Making these treats was fun!
The girls loved the Frozen™ ring that topped the blue frosting.
The party wand favors were a hit, and easy to make.
I hot-glued tulle pom-poms to the bottom of clear plastic tubeswith a white fluffy pom in the center. Fill the wands with blue and white Sixlets™candies and attach a Frozen™ ring to each of them; they snap on perfectly.
The cap of the wand should be on the bottom for easy access to the candy.
To make the pom-poms, wrap two shades of tulle around your hand about 7 - 9 times, and tie the center. Cut the loops and fluff them.
You can find great tulle pom-pom tutorials on youtube.
I couldn't resist including summer fun party favors too, perfect for boys. Fill small beach buckets with colorful chalk, bubbles, and shovels. I printed and attached this Olaf picture from the Disney™ website.My daughter loved her summer Frozen birthday, and we are looking forward to catch Frozen on Broadway!
I had the pleasure of participating in a fundraiser event to support asthma.
It was fun putting together this cheery and colorful arts and crafts wagon for the auction. There are some creative ideas here for school baskets and kids with big imaginations. I filled it with Model Magic™, Floam™,
sidewalk chalk, Playdoh™ and tools, water color, markers, colored pencils,
art paper, stencils, craft scissors, and a big sweet lollipop.
I love holiday celebrations, also because it's an opportunity for me bake in spirit. With some Rolo™, Airheads Xtreme Bites™, and green sugar sprinkles, these rainbow leprechaun cupcakes are fun and festive!
0 Comments on Happy Saint Patrick's Day! as of 3/17/2014 7:39:00 PM