World Cup Croquet or Kick it Through the Wicket

Sunday was not only Father's Day, but also my hubby's birthday. He specifically told me not to go all out... and he really meant it! I decided to keep it low key and we played this awesome game I found on the FamilyFun website. I tweaked it a little to make it World Cup themed, but other than that, I just followed the instructions on their website. Here's what I did (and here are a few things that were left out of their instructions): First, get a hold of 9 wire hangers (I got mine from my mom because I don't have any- maybe I need to dry clean a little more). Untwist and bend each hanger like so: Clip the curved part off the end leaving the curly bits- they will help the wicket stay in the ground). To make it all World Cuppy, I printed 2 copies each of 9 countries' flags that my hubby either loves or hates. Then cut them out, glue each pair back to back and laminate with clear packing tape. Turn your attention to the wickets next and using colored plastic tape, wrap the wire in which ever color and design that tickles your fancy- we just stuck to the flag colors. Attach your flags to the top of the wicket with clear tape and you're ready to play. This game is just like croquet only instead of wooden balls and mallets, you use your foot and a soccer/playground ball. Make a course pressing the wickets into the ground. How large/small/difficult/easy you make the course is up to you. Taking turns, each player gets one kick a turn to get their own ball through the wicket course. The first one to make it through all nine wickets wins. Simple and pretty easy to adapt to most ages and abilities. We played this quite a few times and because everything is still in great shape, I'm sure this will become a summer staple. Wouldn't this be fun at a soccer practice or birthday party?

Speaking of parties: I'm linking this up to Today's Creative Blog (see my sidebar)! Have a great day!

Wrapping with Wordle and Dad Frame for Father's Day

I needed a last-minute idea for my Dad since his real gift is still making its way through the mail so we had this cute box of Mrs. Field's cookies in the cupboard (I'm totally stealing the template for this cute box) and decided to wrap it up and give that for the time being. Just wrapped it in cute paper with coordinating gross-grain ribbon and added a Wordle tag to the front that was personalized for my Dad and his interests. I accidentally printed up a large version first so I used it to wrap the fishing thing my daughter had picked out for him... they looked like a cute matching pair. If you have not tried messing around with Wordle- drop everything and try it now. Warning- it can get addictive!
For my husband's Father's Day gift from the children, we used a 3-opening frame we've had laying around for years but I just HATED the yellow color. I have seen these frame throughont this whole season and they turn out so cute... I wonder who take their kids' photos? But more on that later... This was a great opportunity to teach Abby to sand... wha ha ha! Missed a spot! Ha ha ha!! Then we spray painted it black- good. Then we cut a D and an A on the Cricut and had a fun photo shoot- good... and bad. Taking photos of kids with flimsy cardstock letters- not so good. Then the photos were printed, cut and placed in the frame- good. Then a glass pane broke- bad. Then my dad cut me a new one- good. Then we gave it to my hubby with some printable cards- the first coloring the babies have ever tried and even though they kept trying to eat the crayons- it was all good. Very good. (Notice the star crayons we made last year... I guess they do look a lot like candy.)I hope everyone had a great day celebrating the men in their lives! Happy Father's Day!

Daddy Bingo

Having just moved states, there wasn't much in the funds for lavish birthday gifts this year so when my dear husband turned 30, we decided to focus on the fun factor. We made and played Daddy Bingo. We spent all afternoon looking for images that represented all the things he liked- family, stores, movies, actors, candy bars, sports, etc. We found 75 and put them all on three 5" X 5" grids. We printed another document with all the clues written out which I cut out, folded up and placed in a basket. We used starburst squares for markers (another of his faves) and had so much fun celebrating the unique person we love. It was a great birthday activity and I think he felt really special on his special day.