Maggie's blog

This past Mother’s Day I received a very thoughtful gift from my husband so I wanted to do something clever for Father’s Day. My husband is a difficult guy to shop for so I decided to create something unique that couldn’t be purchased at stores. Here are the steps I followed to create my “we’re nuts about Dad” snack jar: ...read more

I can’t believe it’s time to start thinking about a new year with new possibilities. New Year’s resolutions can be hard to maintain, so this year I came up with a fun idea for my family. We each contributed four resolutions so that at the beginning of each month we can draw one and help each other complete our resolutions throughout the year. This way we hold each other accountable and spend time together in the process.

Here are the steps to create a family New Year’s Resolutions box:

Happy holidays! Christmas is just around the corner and this year I was inspired to create a special tree for my son to decorate. He loves to help decorate the Christmas tree, but he doesn’t get to hang as many ornaments as he would like because they are so fragile. I decided to make a tree just for him out of durable, kid-proof materials at FedEx Office®.

My son is four years old and currently my husband and I are trying to teach him responsibility. We want him to learn the value of being rewarded for hard work and to take pride in his accomplishments. He heard the word "chore" for the first time a couple of weeks ago, but it has been difficult for him to truly understand what we are trying to teach him. Since time management can be a difficult concept (even for adults!)  I created a chart with daily and weekly activities so he can see what needs to be done around the house and we can track his progress daily. At this point, the actual tasks are limited but I can easily modify this as he grows, even into a teenager! (With slight alterations this can also work for the entire family.)
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Halloween is just around the corner and this year I want to throw a kid-friendly Halloween party since so many of my friends are parents – like I am!

I was inspired to make this a kid-sized face cutout for the children to have their photos taken with when we received our fall stationery at the FedEx Office® where I work. All the cute pumpkins and ghosts got me into the Halloween spirit. Since it's for children, I wanted to create something festive but not too scary for the little ones. This cutout would also work well for a school carnival or neighborhood event, since it can easily be used year after year.

Here's how I created this one-of-a-kind photo prop: ...read more

Sometimes it is difficult to find artwork that is unique and personal. In my home, I have a couple of paintings I really like, but wanted to add something different created just for my family. I decided to make 3D letters made of a collage of photographs. You can choose color or black and white photos depending on your decorating preference. 

Here are the steps to create your very own family masterpiece:  ...read more

Teachers have a tough (although rewarding) job and today I wanted to share an idea for something to make their job a little easier, and fun too!   ...read more

I like to make many of my own designs but sometimes I just don’t have the time! I was looking for a simple idea for summer entertaining ideas and came across an idea at thoughtfullysimple.com that I would like to share.