The Ultimate List of SHARK Party Supplies

Ready to check out the Ultimate list of Shark Party Supplies? These are some of our favorite shark-themed party decorations, invitations, favors and so much more!

Maybe you have a little one who wants a JAWsome Shark Birthday Party? Or maybe like my family, you love sharks so much you are hosting a Shark Week Party!

Either way, this list is full of everything from common party necessities like balloons and tablecloths to unique shark party supplies. Things like a shark sticker for your toilet or shark corn on the cob holders.

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on something and purchase it, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission. Read more about this in our Disclosure Policy.

It’s Shark Party Supplies Time!

If you are having a Shark Party of any sort, this list will help you find the best shark party supplies on Amazon.

Also, make sure you check out our post on How to Throw a “Fantastic” Shark Birthday Party.

It has tons of easy ideas along with two easy shark cake options!

Just a heads-up that there aren’t any suggestions for Baby Shark Party Gear in the list below. But you can check those out on Amazon by clicking here!

Before we jump in, please note all photos & descriptions are affiliate links to Amazon. Clicking on them will take you to the item’s page where you will be able to see prices, availability & details about the items, such as quantity, size & other purchasers’ reviews. Now, on to the list!

“Jawsome” Shark Party Invitations

In this digital time that we live in, I don’t think invitations are still a necessary party item, but they are fun & set the tone for your party.

As a busy mom, I love having an invitation as a reference instead of searching back through text messages or FB Messenger for party information.

Here is an easy fill-in information Shark Party Invitation

There are lots of other options available as well like these:

Join Us for a Bite Invitation

Shark Attack – You’re invited

Join us for a Shark Infested Party

Splish Splash Birthday Bash

One of my favorite invitations for a Shark Pool Party! I love the saying “Come for a swim stay for a bite”.

Shark Party Balloons

Balloons are a classic at celebrations among adults and children alike.

You can use them in so many easy ways! Use them outside your party to set the tone & also help people find the party location.

Or you can use them inside to serve multiple purposes. They work well as end caps for your food tables. Or as place-name holders on the backs of kids’ chairs.

Also, they are perfect for simply making a room feel festive. One of my favorites is this Shark foil balloon:

Of course, there are tons of other shark balloons to choose from too. Here are a few of the best ones I could find.

Silver with White Sharks Latex Balloon

Blue & Silver Sharks Latex Balloons

Combo Set – Large Shark Foil Balloons and White/Blue Shark Latex Balloons

Nautical Colored Latex Balloons with Sharks

Happy Blue Shark Jumbo 36″ Balloon

50 Piece Shark Party Balloon Set

Shark Balloons with Birthday Banner

Latex Shark Balloons with Confetti

Large Mylar Shark Balloons

It’s all about the Shark Teeth!

Let’s be honest, anything with shark teeth is going to be a favorite of all the kids invited! One of the coolest and scariest aspects of sharks is all those sharp teeth.

Here are a few shark teeth items that would work great as party favors or for adding to a goody bag.

Shark Tooth Necklace

Shark Tooth Candy Necklaces

Other fun Shark tooth items include:

Bag of Shark Teeth Fossils

Wire Wire-wrapped fossilized Shark Teeth for Necklaces

Shark Teeth Dig Kit

Authentic Fossilized Shark Tooth

Shark Candy Options

There are so many ways you can use shark candy at your party. First, it is perfect to top off cupcakes or to use as your shark cake decorations.

Another fun idea is to have gummy sharks float in drinks or jello. You can even use them to freeze in ice cubes!

Shark Lollipop Suckers

Shark Candy Necklaces

Gummy Sharks

While the three above are favorites, there are more shark candy options available.

One word of advice, make sure you read the descriptions of the candy very carefully.

Some candy is sold by pounds, and others by the number of items.

It can be very confusing, so make sure you are getting the amount of candy you need and not a lot less than expected.

Shark Teeth Candy Corn

Blue Gummi Baby Sharks

Multi-Colored Gummy Sharks Candy

Trolli Sour Watermelon Sharks

Shark Candy Bracelets

Tableware perfect for when guests have a BITE at your party

One of the easiest ways to make a party theme come together is the tableware. Plates, cups, napkins, and tablecloths can make your table set-up pop.

Here are a few easy tableware sets!

Shark Party Set

Nautical Shark Party Set

Shark Chomp Party Set

Ocean Shark Party

Unique Shark Cups Perfect for Parties

Paper cups are perfectly fine, but if you want to go a little extra then these unique Shark Cups are great to use. If you do go the plastic cup route, they can double as party favors too.

Shark Shaped Cups with Straws

Plastic Shark Design Cups with Straws

Plastic Shark Cups

Now, this temperature-changing shark coffee mug isn’t exactly a party supply, but it’s too fun not to include!

If you are hosting a large group, paper shark cups are your most frugal option. Luckily, they come in super cool designs too.

Blue & Green Shark Paper Cups

Shark Plates for Parties

If you invited people over for a BITE and they are planning on CHOMPing some grub, you will need plates and napkins.

Here are a few ideas if you don’t want to purchase a complete set of supplies like those previously listed.

Shark Splash Dessert Plates

Larger Shark Splash Dinner Plates

Have a Bite Dessert Plates

Shark Zone Dinner Plates

Themed Tablecloths for your Shark Party

Not only do tablecloths help with decorating, but when the party is over you can easily throw them away or throw them in the wash.

Shark Fin Plastic Tablecloth

Disposable Shark Splash Tablecloth

White Center with Blue Sharks on the Side Tablecloth

Machine Washable Shark Predator Tablecloth

White & Blue Shark Tablecloth

Ocean Blue Tablecloth

Shark Photo Booth Props

Having a photo booth, with a designated picture taker, would be a great idea to capture some fun memories.

Adults & kids alike both love photo booths, so these would work great at a Shark Week Party, as well as a birthday party.

Shark Party Photo Booth Prop

Shark in Ocean Backdrop

Photo Booth Props for Shark Party

Shark Bite Photo Board

Shark Themed Photo Booth Props

Fun Hats for a Shark Party

Hats and masks are like mini-costumes, without scratchy fabrics and ill-fitting attire. Hats are easy for kids to put on and take off. They can also be used as party favors & make for super cute photo ops too.

Shark Splash Party Hats

Shark Bite Party Hats

Fin Headbands

Grey Shark Hat

Trucker Hat – Shark Style

Shark Party Supplies & Decorations

My favorite of all shark party supplies – the decorations! Are you decorating with an “Under the Sea” type feel and using lots of blues and greens?

Maybe you are going full-out JAWS mode and using deep blues & lots of red?

There are tons of options for decorating for your Shark party, no matter which color scheme you choose to follow.

The following items are great for subtle ocean elements in your decorations.

Decorative Fishin g Net

Sea Glass Beach Lights

Shark Battery Operated Lights

Blue & White Decorative Sea Glass

Mixed Beach Seashells

Photo Hanging Fish Net

Now the following decorations are perfect for use if you want to go blue with your theme.

Blue Cotton Tassell Garland

Blue Happy Birthday Party Set

Now, if you want to go completely sharky, these next items are perfect for your party!

Printed Confetti Sharks

9″ Shark Centerpiece

Cutout Shark Party Decorations

Happy Birthday Shark-Themed Banner

Dangling Shark Whirls

Even More Dangling Shark Whirls

It’s your Birthday Chum Shark Hanging Decorations

Red Accent Shark Happy Birthday Banner

Jawsome Shark Birthday Party Garland

Shark Jaws Garland

Cupcake & Cake Supplies for a Shark Party

Are you skipping the bakery order this year and making your own cake or cupcakes? Here are some baking shark party supplies perfect for a shark party.

Jawsome Cupcake Collars

Shark Cupcake Stand

Cupcake Paper Shark Fin Picks

Plastic Shark for Cake Decorating

Happy Birthday Shark Cake Banner Kit

Toy Sharks perfect for Toppers

This toy set is what I used to create a Shark Cake for my little guy’s birthday party.

Large Shark & Cage Toy

If that one is hard to find in stock, this one below has a shark cage too!

Shark Attack Playset

Shark Cookie Making Supplies

There are some great cookie cutters to make super fun shark-themed cookies. The surfboard with the bite out of it is my favorite because you can decorate it using so many colors!

Surfboard with a Bite Cookie Cutter

6″ Shark Cookie Cutter

Surfer & Shark Cookie Cutter Set

Hammerhead Shark Cookie Cutter

Shark Fin Cookie Cutter

Wilton Animals Sprinkles

Shark Molds

Molds are great for creating sharks or fins of chocolate, jello, and water (aka ice). You just need to make sure the mold you are buying or using was created for the type of food you want to create.

Chocolate Shark Sucker Mold

Candy Shark Mold

Silicone Shark Fin Molds

Party Favors for Shark Party

The party is over so that means it is time for the Goodie Bags!

I’ve seen heated debates over goodie bags; why they are done & what to put in them. I’m in the boat of liking them.

This is simply because I love the looks on the kids’ faces when they receive them. It’s a fun conclusion to a hopefully fun party.

Drawstring Shark Favor Bags

Shark Party Favor Bags

A few more fun party favor bags include:

Paper Shark Party Boxes

Blue Drawstring Shark Bags

Shark Splash Party Loot Bags

Now you have the bags, but what to put in them? Here are some great shark party favors that kids will love!

Shark Party Favors Kit

Wristbands for Shark Party

A few more ideas to put in those goody bags could be:

Ocean Life Party Favors

Shark Bubbles

Temporary Shark Tattoos

Shark Stickers

Plastic Shark Teeth

Shark Pool Party Ideas & Shark Games

If you are lucky enough to have a summertime party, being able to go swimming creates so many more options!

If you don’t have a pool, there’s always one of the Blast Zone water slides. They might break your party budget, but it would make for one FUN party! It would make for a fun rest of the summer too.

Or maybe you could even find one to rent in your area.

Blast Zone Great White Water Slide

For the littlest guests, there is this inflatable Shark Attack Play Center.

If you are having a swimming party, there are a few fun shark items that your guests will enjoy, like this Ride-On Great White Shark perfect for the pool.

Other fun ideas include:

Fin Fun Shark Fin for Swimming

Feed the Sharks Inflatable Disk Game

Melissa & Doug Shark Catch Game

Inflatable Shark Bean Bag Toss Game

Simply Random Shark Party Supplies

There are no explanations needed. Simply random, unique, kind of quirky Shark party supplies.

What do I mean exactly? Check out this Shark Toilet Topper. Not your normal party supply, but a lot of fun!

Check out these other fun Shark party supplies that will have your guests talking for sure.

Shark Corn on the Cob Holders

Ceramic Shark Sushi Platter

All Sharked Out on Shark Party Supplies

Hopefully, you have found some great ideas for your Shark Party! There are so many fun Shark party supplies it’s hard to not find something fun to help you celebrate.

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Birthday Party Ideas

Ideas on How to Throw a “Fintastic” Shark Birthday Party

If you are looking for some great ideas for an upcoming Shark Birthday Party you are in the right place!

Two of my kids have had Shark-Themed Birthday Parties and they are so fun to plan!

Probably my favorite part is coming up with the fun Shark food ideas and creating the Shark birthday cakes.

While those are my favorites, planning the ocean-themed decorations and supplies is a blast to pick out and arrange too.

Keep reading for tons of ideas on planning a party that Shark Lovers will find “fin”tastic!

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on something and purchase it, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission. Read more about this in our Disclosure Policy.

Phrases for Your Shark Birthday Party

Let’s start with some of the phrases you can use for your Shark party.

These would be great for invitations, decorations at the party, or even on thank you notes.

There are lots of cute phrases you can incorporate into your Shark Birthday Party.

Most of them involve taking an everyday descriptive word and making it just a little bit more Sharky.

For example, are you hoping your Shark Birthday Party will be SHARKTASTIC?

Come up with any fun sentence using the word fantastic and simply switch it out to sharktastic! Another word you can use is FINtastic!

Or maybe you want to invite people over for a BITE at your Shark Birthday Party?

Use words like bite, chomp, nibble, and crunch to further your shark-themed party atmosphere.

Is your shark-loving kiddo wanting to have a JAWsome birthday party? Yep, you can replace awesome with jawsome.

PHRASES FOR SHARK PARTY INVITATIONS

If you want to make your invitations, there are tons of fun shark phrases you can use.

The phrases below fit into the category of being for a swimming party and a non-swimming party.

Swimming Party Shark Phrases:

“Swim on over for Sam’s Shark Party”

“Shark Infested Waters! Join us for a swim in the pool, if you dare!”

“Are you Brave enough to Swim with the SHARKS?!”

“Pool Party – Sharks Welcome!”

“Caution – Sharks in the Pool!”

Non-Swimming Shark Party Phrases:

“Join Sam for a Shark-Infested Party”

“Danger! Shark Zone!”

“Join us for a SHARKTASTIC Adventure”

“Come Enjoy a BITE at Sam’s Jawsome Shark Party”

“Sam’s having a FINTASTIC Shark Party!”

“Want to have a JAWSDROPPING Good Time?”

Shark Birthday Party Invitations

If you aren’t wanting to make your invitations with the phrases above, I highly recommend looking on Etsy.

This is where I turned to find the perfect Shark Birthday Party invitations.

My original plan was to have a blue and green “sea theme” shark party.

However, when I found these invitations, it instantly became a blue and red theme.

Choosing to add the red made the party seem more Shark-ish and less Under the Sea.

The invitations above are from Kimberly at Bloomberry Designs on Etsy. I

love the entire set-up of these invitations from the perfect lettering to the smallest details she designs, like all those tiny waves!

Kimberly was super responsive to my messages and the turn-around time for her to update using my information was very quick.

Even better, since this is a printable invitation, you don’t have to wait for shipping time! Check out these “SHARKTASTIC” Shark Invitations that I highly recommend.

Of course, you can also find fun Shark Birthday Party Invitations on Amazon too, like the ones below.

Shark Birthday Party Cake Ideas

The two cakes I have pictured are from my Mr. Middle Guy’s 5th and Mr. Oldest Guy’s 6th Birthdays.

This is a classic case of Little Brother remembering that Big Brother had a super-cool shark cake & wanting one too.

The cakes are very different, but both have a fun homemade shark theme.

Sprinkled Shark Birthday Cake

I consider this the easier of the two Shark Cakes. Using your favorite cake recipe, you need to use two 9″ Round Cake Pans to make it.

First, you will make the two 9″ cakes. Once cooled, you will need to mix your icing with blue & green food colors. If you want a more blue cake, then skip the green food coloring.

If you want there to be some white left in the icing, carefully fold the food coloring into the icing. When you spread it on the cake it will mix further.

Don’t forget to set a little white icing aside to make waves and pipe the shark.

Ice the bottom cake, then place the top cake on it and ice that as well. Now that you have your cake iced, it’s time to make the sprinkles shark!

MAKING THE SPRINKLES SHARK

This next step is to use a shark cookie cutter to decorate the top of your cake.

I only did one shark, but you could probably fit about 3 on a 9″ cake if you plan with your spacing.

Go ahead and gently place the shark cookie cutter onto the cake where you want your sprinkled shark, but barely push down.

Now you need to carefully put a layer of sprinkles inside the cookie cutter. I used a mix of sprinkles that were black, green, blue, and white.

You could use any color you prefer depending on the color of your icing. If I made this again, I think I would try a deeper blue icing with a silver-sprinkled shark!

Finishing the Sprinkles Shark Birthday Cake

You will need to lightly push the sprinkles you use into the icing. This is how they are going to stay in place when you remove the cookie cutter.

The back of a spoon works well to gently push the sprinkles into the icing, but for the tight squeezes, you will need to use something smaller, such as a toothpick.

Now very carefully remove the cookie cutter and hopefully not too many sprinkles will move around. If they do, use a toothpick and gently knock them off the cake.

Or if that seems tedious, just sprinkle a few all over the cake. The cookie cutter is going to pull up some of the icing too. You can use a toothpick to gently tuck back down any large chunks of icing that come up.

Now it’s time to outline the shark shape with white icing as well as make the waves. Using a pastry bag or my favorite cheat, a ziplock with the corner cut off, pipe around the edges of the sprinkled shark.

Making waves always reminds me of practicing cursive, swooping up and back down. You can add any message you want and your cake is officially complete!

Chomp Shark Birthday Cake

Cake & Icing for the Chomp Cake

This cake is a 9X13 sheet cake with two 9″ cakes on top, so you will need to double your cake recipe. For this cake, I used a Cake Board so that animals could be placed on the sides.

After making all the cakes, place your bottom 9X13 cake layer onto the platter and ice it using your preferred color of ocean blue.

Like the Sprinkled Cake above, I used Food Coloring Liqua-Gel to get the desired blue color. If you want to make some seaweed climbing up the cake, set a little icing to the side.

Now depending on what you are going to be using to decorate your cake, place one or two of the 9″ round cakes onto the iced base cake.

If you aren’t sure how much height you want, try stacking the cakes (before icing) and doing a mock run with your decorations.

For this cake, I felt I needed both 9″ rounds to keep the Shark Cage from falling over too far. Now, ice the round cakes that you used and get ready to decorate!

Sprinkles & Decorations for the Chomp Shark Cake

The decorations I used (sharks, cage, scuba diver & extra sea creatures) are all toys that my boys already owned. I did use most of the items from this Shark Attack Figure Playset By Animal Planet.

It seems to be harder to find that set each year, but this Shark Attack Set has a cage, a scuba diver, and two sharks that seem very similar.

If you are on the fence about the tiny sea creatures, they also make a great addition for bath time, your sandbox, or to take to the beach!

This set of Ocean Sea Animals even has a pufferfish and they are food-grade material!

How to Assemble the Chomp Shark Cake

First, place all of your large items onto the cake. This way you don’t regret putting a tiny lobster right where a shark would have fit best.

After the large items, place all of your tiny sea creatures on as well. At this point, you can use multi-colored sprinkles to fill in around the small sea creatures.

In my opinion, sprinkles are an amazing tool for covering up any “mistakes” you might have in your icing, so sprinkle liberally if needed.

Finally, it’s time to tackle the climbing seaweed. For the seaweed use the icing you set aside and make it green. Take the icing and spoon it into a sandwich-size ziplock bag. Now, the tricky part. You need to cut the corner off one end of the bag in a straight line.

Now, pipe up the cake, going in and out with the bag, to make the seaweed. Practice on something vertical first, if you’re not sure about how to pipe the seaweed.

How to make Shark Cookies

These Shark Cookies are one of my favorite cookies I have ever made! You can use the same Shark Cookie Cutter from the Sprinkled Shark Birthday Cake mentioned above.

I used a bagged sugar cookie mix for these and powdered sugar icing. The icing recipe is below:

ICING RECIPE

1 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons milk

Black Food Coloring or Grey if you can find it

Vanilla if you prefer, about 1/2 teaspoon

A lot of icing techniques teach bakers to make a thicker “border” icing and then a “flood” icing for the fill.

This is a great technique, but I wanted these cookies to not be perfectly flat so I made a thicker icing, dropped a bit onto the shark cookie & then spread it out to the edges with the back of the spoon.

It turned out great because it made variations and ripples that look very realistic to a shark’s skin.

Once the grey has hardened, use black icing to make the gills and the eyes. You will need white icing to make the mouth and some of the bellies of the sharks.

Shark Party Decorations

We kept our decorations pretty simple but used balloons as a big part of the decor.

This Shark Party Supplies Pack is what we use for plates, napkins, and small cups.

This Shark Splash Party Decorations pack was set up behind the cake table.

This large Shark Balloon was a favorite and these Latex Shark Balloons complemented it perfectly.

If you want more decoration ideas to check out then take a peek at our Ultimate List of Shark Party Supplies. It’s a straight forward list of ALL things SHARK. Seriously… we’ve found over 100+ shark party supplies!

Shark Party Favor Ideas

There are tons of shark-themed party favors that work great for use during the party, as well as for goodie bags.

If you want to make goodie bags, using red and blue candy along with a few fun shark items is an easy way to go.

A few candies that worked well were Starburst, Skittles, Jolly Ranchers, DumDum Suckers & Airheads.

A fun addition is to use shark teeth as a way to close the bag. Just make sure the shark teeth you order have a hole in the top or some other way to secure them around the goodie bag.

FAVORITE SHARK PARTY FAVOR IDEAS

The favorite party favor of all was the Shark Tooth Necklaces. These are rubber and therefore you don’t have to worry about them breaking or poking anyone.

I do recommend having some extra string around because the stings in our kit weren’t very long. Once they were put on and tied, the boys had trouble slipping them back off.

The second party favors were paper Shark Head Masks.

These did not stay on the kids as I had envisioned, they kept slipping off their ears. But they still held them on as they chased each other around and they were perfect for funny shark photos during a mini group photoshoot.

Our final Shark party favor is a classic. The super fun Shark Party Blowers.

Now, these didn’t make the honking sound some blowers do, but the paper sound was enough to please my boys and I truly didn’t mind they weren’t super noisy.

Shark Outfits for the Birthday Kid

Somewhere in the birthday shenanigans at my house, having a shirt that matched your birthday theme became a tradition.

Etsy is probably your best place to search for shirts that can be personalized with your child’s name or birthday number.

Then, of course, Amazon is going to have lots of options. I’ve noticed some of their shirts aren’t available for the awesome 2-day shipping, so keep an eye on your time frame.

One of my favorites is this Shark Raglan Tee from 7 ate 9.

Another favorite is this youth Jaws Movie Poster T-shirt!

Games for a Shark Party

There are lots of fun shark-related games but the two games that are favorites are the Trampoline Shark Tank & Parachute Shark Bounce.

TRAMPOLINE SHARK TANK GAME

This Trampoline game is super simple. You place tons of blue, green, white, and maybe a few big red balloons into your trampoline enclosure.

Along with the balloons, to make it a true Shark Tank, you need to also add some inflatable sharks!

Now, the easiest thing is to just let the kid jump and have fun with their ocean trampoline set-up.

Or they can split into small teams with a shark each and use the inflatable sharks to try and knock the other team’s balloon color out of the trampoline.

If you give kids a ton of balloons and a trampoline, trust me they will take care of the fun themselves!

PARACHUTE SHARK TANK GAME

The Parachute Shark Game can be done using a real Parachute or a bedsheet can work in a pinch too.

All you need to play is more balloons and blow-up sharks. Simply place all of the balloons & sharks onto the middle of the parachute and start moving it up and down.

When a shark goes flying off the trampoline, the kids can let go and try to grab it. But, the trick to this game is that if they let go and don’t catch it they are out.

Keep playing until the last two people, adults might need to help them shake it at this point. Whoever is the last one to be holding the shark is your winner.

QUIETER SHARK ACTIVITIES

Also, check out these two free printable Shark Activities for Kids. They are great for downtime during the party or as a great addition to your goody bags!

First, there is this Shark Word Scramble. It’s full of fun shark-themed words just waiting to be unscrambled!

Next, there is also a fun Shark Cutting Worksheet. Kids will love cutting through the silly sharks!

Hopefully, you found some great ideas for your upcoming Shark Party! If you are having trouble finding shark supplies in stores, make sure to check out our Ultimate List of Shark Party Supplies.

It’s a straightforward list of over 100 shark party supplies. Hopefully, it can help you save some time & have an amazing Shark Birthday Party!

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Valentine's Day

Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites Valentine’s Day Treats

Certain things just go together perfectly. For example, ice cream & sprinkles or the classic cookies & milk.

The graham crackers and yummy chocolate in these Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites make them a perfect pair too.

Because let’s be honest, a crunchy graham cracker combined with the sweetness of chocolate equals perfection.

These Valentine’s Day treats are not only tasty, but they are easy to make & super adorable too.

With only a few ingredients and no actual baking, your kids can even help with making them!

Like most yummy snacks, you can enjoy them anywhere.

However, they work great for school Valentine’s Day parties; or for an easy treat while celebrating at home.

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on something and purchase it, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission. Read more about this in our Disclosure Policy.

Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites Cookies

While searching Pinterest for a fun Valentine’s Day snacks to make with my boys, I found Katie at SoDressedUpLifeandStyle and her post on Valentine’s Day Teddy Treats.

She uses conversation hearts to make her teddy treats! It was such a neat idea, but chalky conversation hearts are not my boys’ favorite Valentine’s candy. So with a little brainstorming, the idea to use chocolate was born.

Let’s just say that using the chocolates instead of the hearts was a definite win for this mama! Not only do my boys enjoy these treats, but they are a hit at their school parties too.

Would you take a moment and pin these Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites on Pinterest? You’ll have the recipe saved & it helps our blog grow & continue to put out fun content!

Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites Valentine's Day Treats

Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites Recipe

These Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites are super easy to make.

You only need a few ingredients and the steps to make them are super easy.

Let’s just say even my preschooler is a big helper when we are making a batch of these!

Ingredients for Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites

You only need a few ingredients to make your Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites.

You are going to need your base cookie, which is, of course, made adorable by using teddy bears.

We used these Honey Teddy Grahams and the Valentine’s Day M&M’s.

If you can’t find a Valentine’s bag, you could always pick out the red ones from a regular M&M’s bag in a pinch.

The only other thing you will need is the icing. I recommend a sugar-cookie icing because it dries quickly and very hard.

If you use this icing, you should be able to place all the Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites in a container and have none of the chocolate pieces fall off.

See the icing recipe I use below.

Icing Recipe for Bites

This icing recipe is as classic as they come. All you need to make it is powdered sugar and milk.

Here are the simple steps to make your icing:

First, add 1 tbsp of milk in to 1 cup of powdered sugar. Yep… that’s it.

Now, stir the mixture well until you have a thick icing, it shouldn’t easily drip off the spoon. Add more powdered sugar if needed to reach this consistency.

TIP – it won’t seem like you have enough milk added in the beginning, but DO NOT add more milk right away. This type of icing takes very little milk to change the consistency of the final product.

Making the Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites

First, it’s best if you place all of your teddy bear cookies tummy side up. Set these aside and start working on your icing.

Once you have a thick icing, drop it into a decorating bag. Or you can use a storage bag, like a ziplock, and simply cut a tiny piece of the corner off the bag.

Now, you will simply squeeze a small drop of icing onto the tummy of the bear. Finally, you will place your chocolate onto the icing.

You will need to let the Chocolate Teddy Bears Bites sit for at least an hour to make sure the icing has hardened and the chocolate is firmly attached.

That’s it! You have just made a yummy Valentine’s Day Snack that is sure to be a hit with the kids. But what if you want to take it just one tiny step further?

Keep reading to see how you can personalize your teddy bear bites.

Personalizing your Teddy Bear Bites

If you have a little extra time and want to personalize your Teddy Bear Bites, try using Food Writer Edible Markers.

I highly suggest using a fine-tip edible marker since the chocolates are so tiny. You could get by with a broad tip, but your options for what to draw might be smaller.

So what can you write to personalize your Valentine’s Day snacks? Well, if you can make it fit you can write anything!

Here are a few ideas that we have done that seem to fit well in the space the M&M’s allow.

Hearts

Flowers

Emojis

Arrows

“I Love You”

Your Child or significant other’s name or initials

Truly, you can personalize these any way you wish. I’d love it if you had a fun idea that you would drop it in the comments!

Also, make sure you check out our Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisp Hearts with Fruit Salsa. They are a sweet and crunchy heart-shaped treat perfect for kids & adults both on Valentine’s Day.

Heart shaped tortillas covered in cinnamon and sugar

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Recipes Valentine's Day

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisp Hearts with Fruit Salsa

Are you looking for a unique Valentine’s Day treat? Well, you’ve found it! This Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisp Hearts Recipe works well as an appetizer, snack, or dessert.

Plus it’s the perfect heart-shaped food to show your love to those around you on February 14th.

The crisps are versatile and work great for taking to your kids’ school parties or serving at your Galantine’s Day Brunch.

They are a crunchy tortilla covered in sugar and cinnamon, which is a perfect combo to pair with the sweetness of this fruit salsa. The tortilla crisps are sturdy enough to scoop up the fruit salsa without breaking and the combination of the two is scrumptious.

Of course, the tortilla crisp hearts also taste great by themselves! So if you want to skip the fruit salsa, they will still be a yummy heart-shaped snack.

This means when serving these to kids as Valentine’s Day Snacks for school parties, they will still be a hit without the fruit salsa.

Want to check out another fun Valentine’s Treat for Kids? Then take a peek at our Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites. It’s another minimal-ingredient snack perfect for kids.

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on something and purchase it, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission. Read more about this in our Disclosure Policy.

A sweet & crunchy Valentine’s Day Snack

A coworker brought this recipe to our Valentine’s Day pot-luck and the entire teaching staff fell in love with it.

With a few minor adjustments to make the shells a little crispier, the crisps were near perfection. Also, turning the crisps into hearts was the icing on the cake to turn these into super fun Valentine’s Day treats.

Since that day, it has been one of my favorite Valentine’s Day snacks for adults and kids alike.

Also, any fruit salsa recipe will work, but the sweetness of this recipe complements the tortilla crisps perfectly.

Valentine's Day Cinnamon Sugar Heart Crisps

Super Easy Fruit Salsa for the Win

A perk to this fruit salsa is that it only uses fresh strawberries. In the winter fruit isn’t as readily available in the Midwest, so only needing fresh strawberries is a money saver.

Another great part of this recipe? It doesn’t require that many ingredients. With only eight ingredients total I’ll bet you have half of them in your pantry: white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cooking spray.

Easy Heart-Shape Treat for Valentine’s Day

The use of heart cookie cutters makes this a perfect treat for Valentine’s Day. Of course, you can cut the tortillas into strips if you want to serve this year-round.

If you do need heart cookie cutters I recommend these from Amazon. They are great if you want variation in your crisps sizes.

If you have little helpers in the kitchen, these heart cookie cutters would be great for kids because they have rubber tops.

Cinnamon Sugar Crisp & Fruit Salsa Ingredients

The tortilla crisps only require 4 ingredients, plus the cookie cutters if you want to do heart shapes.

Don’t forget to PIN this recipe to Pinterest so you can find it later!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TORTILLA CRISP HEARTS

1 package Flour Tortillas – burrito size works best when making a large quantity

2 cups White Sugar

2 tbsp Cinnamon

Cooking Spray (or melted butter)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FRUIT SALSA

2 lbs of Fresh Strawberries

2 cans of Peaches

3 TBS Strawberry Preserves

2 TBS White Sugar

1 TBS Brown Sugar

Tortilla Crisp Hearts with Fruit Salsa Recipe

First, you will need to preheat your oven to 350° degrees.

Next, place your flour tortillas on a surface that can handle the metal cookie cutters coming through.

Use any size heart cookie cutter to cut out the heart shapes. I’ve found that metal cookie cutters work best since it does take some pressure to cut through the flour tortillas.

Next, you will need to combine in a bowl the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

I use about one cup of sugar to 1 tbsp of cinnamon, but you can make the mixture with as much or as little cinnamon as you prefer. The more cinnamon you use, the darker the crisps will bake up.

Now that you have your heart tortillas and your cinnamon sugar mixture, it’s time to coat the tortillas.

COATING THE TORTILLAS

You will need to lightly spray both sides of the heart tortilla crisps with cooking spray. Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

You can use melted butter to coat the sides. Just be sure to use a very light coating.

The final step is to place the coated heart tortillas onto a cookie sheet and into the preheated oven for around 10 minutes.

It’s a good idea to check the tortillas after 8 minutes because of oven variations. The tortillas will continue to harden slightly after you take them out of the oven.

If your tortillas seem too soft, it’s perfectly fine to put them back in the oven until you get the crispiness you desire.

TIP – I use the same cookie sheet for about 3 rounds of tortilla crisps. Then I simply scrape off the pan with a spatula and continue using it. If you don’t scrape off the pan, the later batches of tortilla crisps will start to stick and not easily come off the pan.

FRUIT SALSA RECIPE

First, you need to clean your fresh strawberries and cut them up into very small pieces. I’ve found that the smaller the pieces, the easier it is for the crisps to scoop them up.

Likewise, you will need to dice the 2 cans of peaches; discarding the juice. Then add the diced peaches in with the strawberries.

Finally, add to the diced fruit the strawberry preserves, white sugar, and brown sugar. You will then need to mix it well.

That’s it! You now have a fruit salsa that is going to be super tasty with your tortilla crisps.

A few final thoughts for the recipe

Once you have your fruit salsa and cinnamon sugar tortilla crisp hearts done, you can enjoy them right away or save them for your upcoming celebration.

Since my family eats these so fast, I don’t have an exact number of days that storing the tortilla crisp hearts in a ziplock will keep them fresh. I would think storing for up to 4 days would be fine, but possibly even longer. They never last more than a day or two around my 3 boys!

Now the fruit salsa does best being made the day it will be served. It’s perfectly fine to eat if you need to make it ahead, but the sugars do start to make the fruit mushy.

Also, once the cinnamon smell starts escaping your kitchen, you might have some helpers come to investigate.

Little hands might need something to push on if your cookie cutter is metal on both sides, but other than that my boys were able to easily assist in making these.

Perhaps they were so helpful because they were eager to eat all of the cinnamon-sugary goodness combined with the yummy fruit salsa!

4.75 from 4 votes

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisp Hearts with Fruit Salsa

Course Appetizer, Dessert, Snack

Prep Time 30 minutes

Author Holly @ Productive Pete

Ingredients

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisp Hearts

1 pkg flour tortillas
1 can cooking spray
2 cups white sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon

Fruit Salsa

2 lbs strawberries (fresh)
2 cans peaches
3 tbsp strawberry preserves
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar

Instructions

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisps

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Using a surface that can handle being cut on, place your flour tortilla flat onto the surface
Use any size Heart Cookie Cutter (metal cookie cutters work best) to cut out the heart shapes
Combine in a bowl the cinnamon and sugar. About one cup of sugar to 1 tbsp of cinnamon, but you can make the mixture with as much cinnamon as you prefer.
Spray both sides of the heart tortilla crisp with Pam Spray and dip it into the cinnamon & sugar mixture. Coat it well.
Place coated heart tortillas onto a cookie sheet and place into the pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes. Check the tortillas after about 8 minutes due to oven variations.

Fruit Salsa

Clean your fresh strawberries and cut them up into bite size pieces.
Cut up the 2 cans of peaches (discard the juice) into bit size pieces as well and mix in with the strawberries.
Add to the strawberries and peaches mix the preserves, white sugar and brown sugar, mixing it well.

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Organization

How to Organize all your Winter Accessories

Have you entered that time of year when you glance around your home and wonder how to organize all your winter accessories?

The cold weather here in the Midwest means that throwing on some flip-flops and heading out the door is a thing of the past.

In the cold winter months, we are talking about tackling all those gloves, mittens, scarves, and oh-so-many winter hats.

Here in Missouri, we can go from needing a lightweight hat one day to a full-out snowsuit and heavy winter gear the next.

So not only do you have winter accessories, but you have them for the various temperatures Mother Nature can throw at you in 24 hours.

Let’s not forget that the amount of winter accessories multiplies with each member of your family too.

That means you can have quite the collection of stuff living somewhere on the floor if you’re lacking an organizational plan.

How to Organize all your Winter Accessories

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on something and purchase it, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission. Read more about this in our Disclosure Policy.

Taking Control of the Winter Accessories Mess

If you’re here reading this you probably have stocking caps overflowing in a basket in your mudroom where you toss them every night.

Or you have gloves hiding under your entryway bench or piled on top of the dryer.

The worst part about the above scenarios is that it then takes forever to find that one certain mitten your child wants or a hat that fits your youngest without covering his eyes.

Our easy way to store winter hats, gloves, and scarves is the answer to this messy problem.

Read on to see how I took charge of our winter accessories storage issue and you can too. All you need is a simple door to tackle this winter chaos.

How to Easily Organize all of your Winter hats & gloves

Winter Accessories Storage with an Over-the-Door Shoe Organizer

It’s not rocket science, but implementing a simple over-the-door shoe storage organizer was the key to organizing my family’s winter accessories.

Instead of hats and gloves in a basket, or all over the floor, they now have a home.

The best part? Even if the organizer gets a little messy, it’s hidden behind a door so no one will see it!

This isn’t to say my boys put their winter gear in the proper place (we are working on that), but at least when I pick it up, there is a specific place for everything.

Being the Amazon addict that I am, I ordered this OTD shoe organizer and have used it with no ripping or tearing issues for over 4 years.

Why this Shoe Organizer is my Favorite

I like this organizer because it has clear sections so everyone can quickly see what they need.

This makes finding those needed items in the mornings much easier.

The fact that it has 6 rows was also a selling point because everyone in my family has their row with the bottom row being for extras like hand warmers.

The pockets are large enough for scarves, but they might spill over the top a bit.

I keep ours in a closet, but they could easily fit in an OTD organizer if you want to include them.

Originally I had a plan to label the sections with each family member’s name.

However, as my boys get older they are sharing the same hats so I’m glad I didn’t go through with that plan.

It would make sense to do so if your children don’t share their winter accessories.

How to easily Organize Winter Hats & Gloves

Choosing your Shoe Organizer

It seems like a simple concept to order an organizer and get the project done.

But there are a ton of options when it comes to choosing an OTD shoe storage organizer. I mean like a TON!

Let’s take a minute to discuss the different kinds that might work for your family.

SIZE OF THE ORGANIZER

One of the first things you need to think about is the size of the OTD Organizer you want to use.

Perhaps one row for each family member? Or would a smaller organizer work and everyone share?

COLOR & PATTERN OF THE ORGANIZER

They make shoe organizers in all kinds of colors and patterns.

On Amazon, I have seen blue, green, pink, purple, black, white, gray and brown. So if you want to match a room color or have a favorite, there is probably an option for you.

The patterned OTD organizers available are harder to find, but they are available. I love this Blue with Lantern Patterns Organizer.

One more thing to consider is the material of the front pockets.

They can be clear plastic, mesh, or the same material as the shoe organizer itself.

Clear pockets are great for helping children find what they are searching for easier.

Mesh pockets are going to allow more airflow through if your winter items accidentally go into the pocket wet.

The easiest way to Organize Winter Hats & Gloves

Where to Place Your Organizer

Finally, the last thing you need to think about is where are you going to hang it.

You could do the back of your mudroom door or attach it to the wall in the garage by your entrance door.

Other options could be your laundry room door, foyer closet, or even your child’s bedroom.

To get it over the door there will be brackets hanging out on the other side.

If you are putting this where you will see the brackets and they will bug you, using command hooks is a great alternative.

Also, I’ve read some reviews where the hooks in certain kits can scratch your doors, so be careful when you first install your OTD shoe organizer. Command hooks would again be a way to avoid this.

Winter Accessories Storage Complete

If you are in the organization mood, check out our Guide to Organizing Kids’ Shoes too! It’s another step on the path to not tripping when you head out the door.

We have one last tip before you start organizing your gear. If your shoe organizer bangs the door or slides, use velcro dots at the bottom corners.

I will say that when my husband and I open the door, our organizer doesn’t move.

But when our boys open the door it is a completely different story. It’s like having 3 tiny tornadoes in the laundry room.

I had the velcro dots left over from a Halloween party game and they worked perfectly. A little bit of duct tape would probably work too in a bind.

Hopefully, you now have a plan to take control of those misplaced mittens and missing hats. Which should make life easier; which is always a good thing!

Easily Organize Kids' Winter Accessories

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Planner

Ultimate Happy Planner Accessories Guide

Do you know there are tons of Happy Planner Accessories to personalize your planner? I mean stickers, folders, fun paper clips and so much more!

As well as all the fun planner accessories, some products can help make you more productive. There are so many options to make your planner work perfectly for your needs, and be something you enjoy using. Which is the key to continuing to enjoy using your planner.

Make sure you take a peek at our Choosing which Happy Planner is Right for Your Needs. It can help you find the planner size you will benefit from using the most.

Also, our tips on How to Best use your Big Happy Planner are perfect if you are struggling to set yours up.

Check them out if you haven’t done so, they will help you choose the correct planner size and make the most of what the Happy Planner has to offer.

Now, let’s explore the best Happy Planner Accessories to not only decorate your planner; but to make it work more efficiently for your needs.

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on something and purchase it, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission. Read more about this in our Disclosure Policy.

So many Happy Planner Accessories

The Happy Planner has 3 sizes: Big, Standard & Mini. This is your official heads up – I’ve seen the Standard size also called the Medium & the Classic.

When looking for accessories it’s always important to make sure you are buying for your planner size. This is especially true for folders, paper packs, and extension packs. These items are dependent on the number of rings your planner has to hold it together.

Sometimes checking in the comments section on Amazon can be unhelpful because the comments cover a wide range of products available from that seller.

A little cheat I use is counting the rings or holes on the product. For example, The Big Planner has 11, the Classic/Standard has 9, and the Mini has 7.

Big -11 | Standard – 9 | Mini – 7

If you don’t have your planner already, here are my favorites currently for the 3 sizes. The first is the Year to Shine Big Happy Planner. This is the largest Happy Planner.

Next is the Live with Heart Standard Happy Planner. This is the one that is also sometimes called the Classic and it is the medium Happy Planner size.

Finally, there is the Beautiful Day Mini Happy Planner. The smallest of the Happy Planner System.

Planner Accessories that work for all sizes

Remember me mentioning to be careful about making sure you have the correct planner size when looking at accessories? Well, the following accessories can be used with all of the Happy Planner sizes.

These are my favorite ways to personalize your planner with little effort. Let’s jump right in with these fun inspiration cards.

INSPIRATION CARDS

These Inspiration Cards are great for adding to your planner to break up the week.

This pack includes 24 cards – of which 6 are foil and 6 have glitter embellishment. There are circular and rectangular designs in the pack.

PEN HOLDERS

These Pen Holders are made to attach to your Happy Planner. You peel the backing off and place them where you want. No more losing your pen!

PAPERCLIPS

How about Fancy Paperclips? Yes, they have those too!

BINDER CLIPS

If you like to have fun Binder Clips, check they have a fun multi-color set of binder clips, as well as a pink & blue set. You can see both of them below.

BANDS

These Bands are great for securing your planner or marking your place if you don’t want to use the binder clips.

Please note that they sell bands for Mini Binders specifically, so I’m pretty sure these below only work on Classic & Big Planners.

WASHI TAPE

They sell this washi tape in tubes and there are tons of options.

STAMPS

There’s something about using stamps that brings out the teacher in me. The Happy Planner Stamp Set is clear which allows for better placement and it includes 124 stamps. Don’t forget an ink pad too.

They also have a rolling stamp which is perfect for quick use.

STICKERS

There are tons of options when it comes to choosing stickers for your Happy Planner. They are my absolute favorite of all the Happy Planner Accessories.

If you want your stickers to fit perfectly into your planner rectangles or spaces, make sure you double-check which planner system they work with specifically.

Are you wanting general planner stickers to help you stay on track? Then check out these Happy Planner Sticker packs below:

Do you want to keep your planner festive through all of the seasons and holidays? Then try these Brilliant Year Stickers.

What about these Classic Rainbow stickers? How fun would it be to organize your planner with these simple, yet colorful additions!

There are so many stickers in the Happy Planner collection. They even have Sticker Roles!

STICKY NOTES

So what is the difference between stickers and sticky notes when it comes to the Happy Planners? Sticky Notes you can rearrange!

Did you mark “Put away Christmas” on a sticky note for January 1 and didn’t get to it? Peel the sticky note and place it on the day you are (finally) going to put the Christmas away.

No rewriting is needed, just peel and restick. Let’s start looking at some of the sticky notes available. Are you trying to focus on getting one large task done a day? Try these Important sticky notes:

Or do you find yourself writing everything down and then not remembering what is most important? Try the Arrow Sticky Notes out!

Planner Accessories for the BIG Happy Planner

Now we will focus on items that work for the BIG Happy Planner.

THE HAPPY PLANNER PAPER PUNCH

This Paper Punch creates 11 holes. Remember – the Big Happy Planner has 11 rings. Therefore, this Paper Punch can take your documents and make them fit seamlessly into your planner.

Punch your kids’ sports schedules, school reminders, or menus and it is now a part of your planner.

Do you like to create your own weekly cleaning list, grocery list, or to-do list? Punch them and you will no longer have to dig through a folder or a pile next to your planner to find them.

Someone did ask if this would work for the other planner sizes since it would, in essence, make as many holes as the paper would allow. I feel like this is logical, but I have never tried it. Have you? Let us know in the comments if so!

EXTRA PAPER FOR THE BIG PLANNER

There are two paper refills for the Big Happy Planner available on Amazon.

The first is the Big Daily Fill which breaks your day down by every half hour.

Then there is the Big Fill Paper. This pack has 20 sheets of graph paper and 20 sheets of lined notepaper.

FOLDERS FOR THE BIG HAPPY PLANNER

These folders are great for keeping track of things that are small or you do not want to hole punch.

DIVIDERS FOR THE BIG HAPPY PLANNER

These dividers are perfect for making sections within your planner.

Accessories for Standard Happy Planner

It’s time to look at planner accessories for the Standard or Classic Happy Planner.

PAPER FILLS FOR STANDARD PLANNER SIZE

Like with the Big Happy Planner paper fills, these also are available in Daily Planning Sheets.

They also are available as Fill Paper.

FOLDERS FOR THE CLASSIC HAPPY PLANNER

There are these colorful folders available for the Classic size Happy Planner too.

Planner Accessories for Mini Happy Planner

Accessories specifically for the Mini Planner are more limited, but there are still some great finds to help you increase your productivity.

MINI DASHBOARDS FOR THE PLANNER

These mini dashboards are perfect for marking your place in your planner.

FOLDERS FOR THE MINI PLANNER

There are folders available for the Mini Happy Planner as well.

MINI HAPPY PLANNER BANDS

As mentioned earlier, there are planner bands for the mini planner.

There you go! This is the end of the Happy Planner Accessories Guide. I hope you have found tons of fun and useful items to make your planner, and 2020 the best year yet!

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Planner

How to set up your Planner to Stay Organized

Are you looking at those clean pages and wondering the best way to set up your planner to truly be organized this year? Don’t worry, these planner organization tips should help guide you on your way to achieve maximum productivity with that shiny new planner!

For me, there’s nothing more exciting than a new, empty planner. It represents the dream of finally achieving true organization in life!

Second to that is when your planner is finally organized and you get to accessorize it! Make sure you look at our Happy Planner Accessories Guide to find the perfect finishing touches for your planner.

That might seem a tad dramatic, but using a planner typically means you are trying to take control of the busy schedule you, your spouse, and possibly your kids have daily.

The idea of a planner is a great first step in chaos control. But having a system for using your planner can take things to the next level!

That’s how our planner organizational method can help you make the most of your planner.

If you don’t have a new Planner, check out my post on Choosing the Big Happy Planner to Start Your Year Organized. I love the Big Happy Planner system and this planner method was designed for it.

If that’s not your planner of choice, don’t worry because these tips can be loosely applied to any planner system. You’ll just have to be creative as to where you record your information.

How to Organize Your Big Happy Planner & finally be Productive!

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The Weekly Calendar is super important when you set up your Planner

First, let’s look at the 3 sections of the weekly pages. There are numerous ways to set up your planner using these weekly sections.

One way frequently used is as ” morning, afternoon, and evening” planning spaces. You would write down all of your events and to-dos in the time frame that they need to be accomplished.

I’ve tried this way and it became easy to miss important events because they were surrounded by my many to-do’s.

Do you prefer a planner system that lets you separate your to-do’s from your scheduled appointments? Me too!

Do you like having your scheduled items, ones that you can’t skip, highlighted so you don’t miss them? Yep, me too!

So, let’s take a look at how picking your 3 most important planner areas can help you do that!

Pick Your 3 Most Important Areas to Organize

This is the first step in deciding how you are going to utilize the space in your Happy Planner weekly pages. This doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to organize information outside of these 3 areas, but these are the three most important areas you want to keep organized.

I recommend having spaces for:

Schedules
Home/Life To-Do’s
Your Highlight Section (more on this in a bit!)

The Top Section | Use as your Schedule

The Schedule section is where you record all the important events. Anything you need to be there at a certain time for yourself and your family. When you set up your planner include:

School events

Sporting games/practices

Medical appointments

Work appointments/trips

Social Events – Parties, Showers, Girls Nights (I need more of these!)

In keeping with this section highlighting the most important events, this section can also record:

Meal Planning [See the little brackets at the bottom]

Bills – Sometimes I write down when large bills are due to have a double-check system for paying them. Examples could be your Taxes, Mortgage, various Insurances, etc.

All Holidays, Birthdays, Anniversaries

The Middle Section | Home & Family To-Do

This middle section is the area that can be your “catch-all” space. If it needs to get done, it goes into this section. For example:

Weekly Cleaning

Big Cleaning Projects – rotating seasonal clothes; cleaning outside windows, etc.

Grocery Shopping

School project’s due dates

Upcoming Gifts to Purchase

Keeping up with Photo Projects & Photo Storage

Bill/Budget Maintenance

The Bottom Section | Use as your “Highlight” Section

Most people will have the first two sections in their planners in some form. It’s this third section that is really a personal preference.

You can use this section as a place to track anything you wish! I have used it for all of my blogging tasks, exercise tracking, and favorite quotes!

A few ideas that would be great for this bottom section include:

Exercise Log

Water Intake

Meal Plans

Bill Log

Savings Log

Bible Study

Daily Journal

Quotes/Motivational thoughts

Goals

Homework

Grocery List

You don’t have to label this third section if you want a place to simply be creative or jot notes. If you do have a third area that you want to focus on, this last section is a great place to keep it organized and yourself on track.

How to Use the Monthly Calendar

So we’ve discussed the weekly pages and now it’s time to look at the monthly calendar. To truly stay organized this is a place to keep it simple.

This page needs to be a true calendar; only recording important events such as birthdays, doctor appointments, school events, sporting schedules, work trips, family trips, etc.

If it’s kept clean of distractions, there is less of a chance of missing things or being late for appointments. The Big Happy Planner has so many places to customize and be creative, that having this monthly calendar “simplistic” is also a nice change of pace.

Speaking of customizing your Planner, check out my Pinterest Board – Planners & Supplies and follow along to see all the creative planner ideas! There are some gorgeous layouts and designs people use to make their planners their own.

Personalizing your planner is made easy with all of the Happy Planner accessories. This post on Accessories for Your Happy Planner describes several of them!

Check out my favorite accessory for the Big Happy Planner available on Amazon. Hint – it lets you add papers right into your planner.

How to keep your Planner Updated

So you have set up your planner and have chosen the best way for you to use it. Now, you need to think ahead a little about the easiest way to keep your planner updated.

Let’s take a peek at how to keep your planner up-to-date and useful for you.

Day One with Your New Planner

The first day you start using your new Planner, take a little bit of time & go through all the Monthly calendar pages and write down:

Birthdays

Anniversaries

Any Events that you know about (school, sports, work, family, etc.)

Monthly Planner Maintenance

Now, fill out the appropriate monthly sheet with your important events, goals, etc.

This is a good time to make sure that your planner, calendar app, and wall calendar all match and you haven’t missed any important dates.

At the end of the month, it’s time to update the next Monthly sheet and start the process all over again.

Weekly Planner Maintenance

Finally, update your first weekly spread. Every Sunday evening I meal-plan & update the next week’s planner pages. It’s a system that works well for me, but a different day might work better for you.

Have fun with your new Planner

One of my favorite parts of a planner is that you can personalize it to your needs and tastes. If the idea appeals to you, take some time & decorate or personalize your planner too.

Add festive holiday stickers here & there, or go all out and decorate your weekly pages with flair! The more you enjoy using and looking at your planner, the more productive you will hopefully be in the coming year.

Have fun getting organized and starting your new journey of having a more productive way of living. Don’t forget to take a peek at all of the great Happy Planner Accessories too.

4 Comments

Planner

Choosing the Big Happy Planner to start your year Organized

It’s time to optimize your organization plans and achieve paperwork perfection!

In simple terms, it’s time to update your planners, calendars, financial binders, journals, Christmas folders, address books…

The list is endless! But don’t worry – Productive Pete is going to guide you through the entire process. Day by Day. Step by Step.

Today we are going to start the new year off by talking about what I consider my most important organizational tool – my Big Happy Planner!

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on something and purchase it, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission. Read more about this in our Disclosure Policy.

Setting yourself up to be Productive

The first step in getting organized is setting yourself up for success.

You need a system you are truly going to implement.

I use the Cozi App on my phone & my Happy Planner as my physical organization tool.

These two, I check DAILY to keep up with my crazy schedule. Actually, my boys’ crazy schedules, but it all kind of blurs together eventually.

The Cozi App can be shared by family members so which provides me with a “mobile calendar”.

When I’m scheduling something, and not at home, it’s easier to have my phone than my planner. T

he app is super easy & records all of our “scheduled” activities. However, my Happy Planner is what keeps me truly on track and organized.

Big Happy Planner

This post is going to focus on the BIG Happy Planner because that is what I currently use. However, it’s important to pick a planner that works for you.

TIP – if you have tried planners before and never made it past February… this might not be the right “organizational path” for you. And that’s OK.

Not everyone is going to benefit from using a planner. However, if you want to give planners another go, the Happy Planner is a great one for any level of organizer.

NOTE – If you look up Happy Planners on Pinterest you might be overwhelmed by all the creative ways people have used these planners. Do not let a lack of creativity stop you from becoming organized.

Feeling overwhelmed leads to being unproductive.

It’s more important to start on the path of better organization than to spend hours making your planner “pretty”. Minimalism is cool; it’s ok to have a simple planner if it helps you stay organized!

BONUS – If you love borrowing creative ideas (and aren’t fearful of being overwhelmed) follow Productive Pete on Pinterest & check out my board called “Planners and Supplies”.

Hopefully one day my planners look as creative as some of the ones I have pinned!

Happy Planner Design

It’s time to go over a few areas of the Big Happy Planner that have made it my go-to planner. There are three main reasons I love this planner: sturdy construction, open-ended format & the ability to be creative with it.

Monthly

The Big Happy Planner has your classic monthly calendar set up. It has large boxes for numerous appointments and reminders, as well as a Notes section on the side.

Each month has a Highlights type of page as well. This is a great place to record important dates, goals, things to remember, etc. I like to use the “Top 3” section as my place to record my biggest goals for the month. You can also use the decorative page on the right side to add notes or pictures.

These pictures are of the BIG HAPPY PLANNER. I’ve never used a smaller one, so if you are thinking of using the mini or Classic, you might want to research those pages more thoroughly. Amazon has pictures of the insides of each planner on the left hand side.

Weekly

The weekly set-up of the Happy Planner is truly what makes this an appealing planner for many. It’s divided by the days of the week, starting with Monday. I’ve had planners that start on Sunday and it always just felt “off” for me.

There are 3 Sections for each day. In my next post, I am going to help explain what these three sections can truly do to organize your life. The best part – they are completely customizable. There are no pre-set bullets or generic to-do lists. You can make this planner work for you even if you have several areas you want to organize.

I originally used the Big Happy Planner because I didn’t want to fold any papers when putting them in the planner. Now, I couldn’t live without my weekly planner sections for schedules, menu prep, ideas, reminders, blogging, the list goes on and on.

Extra Pages

There are also these extra pages that you can order and easily insert into the planner. They have lined and grid pages. The grid pages are similar to a bullet journal-type page. There are also Daily inserts. These are great if you want to schedule your days by time or events.

Folders

These Folders are sturdy and yet easy to add and remove from your planner. They have pockets on both sides and they don’t stick out past the months tab. This is great because they don’t hinder the flow of you searching through the monthly tabs.

Sizes of the Happy Planner

So if all that seems like more than you need, there are 3 sizes of The Happy Planner: Mini, Classic & Big. Do you want a place to simply keep your schedule organized? Try the Mini.

Are you currently surrounded by sticky notes, school papers, apportionment reminder cards & millions of other things you are probably going to lose? Go with the Big! All of the photos above were of the BIG Happy Planner. Click on the photos to go to the Amazon site to see what the insides of the planners offer.

So if you loved all the information above and think a Happy Planner is the right one for you, it’s time to choose one! There are tons of different covers for each size, so choosing one that is going to be pleasing to look at every day should be easy. They are also heavily laminated, so they can withstand some wear and tear.

If you don’t like the cover and color designs of your planner, it probably means you will stop using it! So find one that you can handle seeing every day for the next year.

TIP FROM EXPERIENCE: I live in a fairly rural area so unfortunately I don’t have a lot of shopping options close to me. This means I find myself ordering online frequently for the things I am wanting. If you order a Happy Planner and accessories online – make sure you order the CORRECT SIZES!

One of the things you will see is the word BIG used frequently, and sometimes it is just the company’s phrasing for that line of planner products. Other times, the descriptions are vague, so you want to double-check the sizes of anything you are ordering to make sure it is the correct size for your planner.

Accessories

This is where the creative-loving people start to see the enjoyment in this planner. There are so many options to make this planner your own. There are stickers, sticky notes, inspiration cards, pouches, notepads, expander rings, and more! This could quickly become a novel, so if you are interested in accessories check out the links below. Also, click over to my next post on Organizing your BIG Happy Planner!

Hopefully, you now have the ambition to start utilizing a planner as your “go-to” for organization! Or maybe you are thinking this planner system is one you’ll enjoy more than your current set-up. Either way, Happy Planning!

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Miscellaneous

10 Things I Learned in my first 14 Days of Writing A Blog

10 Things I learned in the first 14 days of starting my new blog! No tips. No ideas. No Checklist. Just my interpretation of life as a new blogger!

It’s been 14 days since I started my blog. This is my interpretation of the experience.

1. Blogs are ADDICTIVE

It’s addictive. I’m talking “forget about feeding your children regularly” addictive! Now I’ve always known that I have a tiny section in my brain that latches onto something and doesn’t let go, so maybe I should have seen this coming.

But this is bad.

I can stay awake until the rooster crows if I am reading a great book. If I am researching a subject, like “is Blogging addictive”, I don’t stop until I have about the same knowledge as an uncited Wikipedia article. But I still function. This is completely different.

I’m pretty sure my children are starting to wonder what is “going on” because I’m putting ketchup in their oatmeal, while “checking on my blog”. They are down to shirts that are smediums on them and their ankles are showing because they are out of clean pants that fit. But who has time for laundry when you’ve started a blog?! I’m way too busy replying to every person who commented on my latest Instagram post, or pinning on Pinterest! Starting a blog is like being thrown into a world of SEO, rich pins, child themes, back-ups, plug-ins all while stumbling & flipping (Bloggers – see what I did there) through the day.

2. NUMBERS are everywhere

Blogging is super exciting for anyone who loves to play with or work with numbers. There are so many places and ways to check on the numbers! Pinterest is like my holy grail of numbers. There are so many options and things to learn – impressions and clicks and saves.

They have graphs! Graphs that either show you slowly going up, up, up or crashing quickly back down, down, down. I believe there are currently around 200 million active people pinning on Pinterest. I have a pin from one of my articles that has 200 repins! Do the math… that means 0.000001% of Pinterest has seen my pin! It’s going viral!

I. CAN. FEEL. IT.

Then there are all the other social media statistics you can watch grow, like Facebook & Instagram. Or not grow – Twitter. Still struggling with that one. Then there are my WordPress stats. Which are available in an app, so when I’m not on social media sites, I’m refreshing that app every minute waiting for another human to find my site. Oh! There’s Google Analytics too. I missed the bus on that one apparently and just set it up today. Totally looking forward to having yet another place to stalk once that goes through! I hope there’s an app…

3. It’s more than WRITING

Writing isn’t the only thing you need for a great blog. I don’t mean writing isn’t important. Its just that you can be an amazingly talented writer and your blog is going to live in Lonely Blogger Land if you don’t do some type of promoting. I was going to say some type of “SEO” but after 14 days that term still kind of makes my brain hurt and leads me to google searches.

I’m hopeful that one day I will feel confident enough to advise new bloggers “you need to work on your SEO to up your organic traffic”. This will be my copy and paste response (in all of my 50 Facebook Blogger groups), to the question “What am I doing wrong? I don’t get any visits?” And yes, I asked it. Remember? I’m a new Blogger! The nice bloggers who answered were probably chuckling as they debated if I would google SEO or organic traffic first. (It was organic traffic if you were wondering.) But they’ve been there before too & I only felt slightly embarrassed asking.

4. BLOGGERS are helpful

On that note, Bloggers are helpful. I didn’t see Blogger Land as a horrible place with flashing “Do Not Enter!” signs, but I didn’t think it would such a “social” group. Bloggers help each other.

They:

Pin.

Like.

Comment.

Share.

Stumble.

Flip.

Tweet (once they understand Twitter).

Celebrate each others victories.

Help others try to reach their goals.

Collaborate.

I’m really hoping my experience stays this way. It’s comforting to have a support group when your best friends in the new blogging world are your laptop, phone & coffee.

5. How I Made My First Million in a Month ARTICLES

Just stop reading them. It’s depressing. Ok, some people read these and find great inspiration or ideas and tips. They serve a purpose I know, and I really wish I could read them without feeling like “I’m missing something”. I must see these titles and instantly see my glass as half-empty. After reading them I spend the next hour distracted by what I’m not doing, instead of focusing on what I should be doing.

So maybe it’s a little bit of jealousy mixed with some skepticism, but I had to stop reading them. They were ruining my excitement from my first Amazon sale ($0.10). Hopefully one day I can read them and follow along, but for now I am scrolling right over them.

Instead I find myself reading things like “How I Made Zero Dollars in My First 6 Months Blogging!” by Kate over at TearFreeTravel.com. I knew this article was more my type when she mentioned how much she had spent on a theme she no longer likes… Hand raised. Same Boat. Oops. Why do themes look different after a week of using them?!? I’m sure buying a theme right away was advised against in the Million Dollar First Month Club articles. Maybe I should give reading those another try…

6. My family no longer likes the word BLOG

“Just give me a minute while I finish this up on my blog.”

“Do you think a sharp or a bubbly font is better for my blog?”

“Did you know 6 people visited the blog today?!”

“The blog won’t let me go out for New Years. It wants me to celebrate with it.”

“I’m pretty sure Blog would like a new outfit… do you like this theme?”

“Why would you say I’m acting like Bloggie is one of our kids?”

“No Bloggie isn’t taking over my life. If I want to make my first million in a month, I have to spend a lot of time with Bloggie!”

7. ORGANIZATION is so important

I pride myself on being an organized person. I started A BLOG about helping others be more organized so they could enjoy the “good stuff” in life.

Holy tornado, starting a blog made me so unorganized. I started with an idea, a site & a note-book. It took me until today to realize I needed to implement a true organizational plan. Updating the planner, making an official Productive Pete binder, & setting up a calendar system to stay on track. As it seems to go in the Blogger Land, I’m sure there are hundred more things to organize that I currently have no clue about. I’ll add it to my Blogging To-Do List as item #1257 – add things I haven’t learned about yet to the Blogging To-Do List. But I really need to check in on my Facebook Blog Groups, so maybe I’ll work on it after that.

8. The need to tell others I’m a NEW BLOGGER

So I’ve started reaching out to others through Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. I have caught myself using the phrase “new blogger” at every-loving-last-chance. It’s like I feel that if I explain I’m a New Blogger than it won’t be nearly as annoying when I keep forgetting to “remove preview” on my FB Likes Instagram post. I’m pretty sure all the mistakes I am making scream NEW BLOGGER and everyone is highly aware. There is no need for me to clarify it.

But I will keep telling everyone in my quests to minimize the irritation my mistakes cause. At least until I go Viral & my blog becomes the number one in its niche! (Shoot – Add “Figure out my true Niche” to Blogging To Do List as #1258). And it shouldn’t be too long until my traffic explodes from that Viral Pin. Remember, I’ve reached 0.000001% of Pinterest users!

9. HUMOR is important

I learned that I can’t let the Blog take over. Burn-out is a real thing and my addictive brain is going 1000 mph through Blogger Land. So I’m going to have to remember to put on the brakes, enjoy the ride, and realize I’ve finally started working on one of my dreams. I’ll make mistakes, hopefully make some friends, and learn as I go through this process.

10.

Oh, and you didn’t miss the last thing I learned. There are only 9 things I could think of to write about. But one of the thousand starting a blog articles I read said having a list with 10 items was the best way to go. <WINK>

Thanks for reading my attempt at humor amongst my never-ending Blog To-Do List! Sometimes I find taking a step back and looking at something through a different perspective, helps me control my chaos.

Happy Blogging!

From a New Blogger

In case you couldn’t tell…

Still here? Check out my two top posts from my first Month Blogging and let me know what you think! The first one is about my Magic Elf on the Shelf Tongs (so you can move him out of the way easily) & my Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisp Hearts – A perfect Valentine’s Day Treat!

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Activities for Kids

Fingerlings Monkey Tricks to Impress your Kids

Fingerling Monkey Tricks to impress your Kids! Are your kids the proud new owners of a Fingerlings Monkey? If so, here are some neat tricks that your new “pet” can do!

The Christmas 2017 “Toy of the Year” was Fingerlings. I will admit that none of my boys (ages 9,6,3) even had these on their Christmas radar, but I thought they looked adorable.

So I kept them on my radar and eventually found 3 different colored ones. Once I had them, I researched a few Fingerlings Monkey tricks to show my boys after they opened them.

Let’s take a look at some of the fun tricks they were able to do!

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They made even more Fingerlings!

I know, I know you are looking for great fingerling monkey tricks but I just saw something that is amazing and had to share!

What is it? It’s WowWee Untamed Raptor Fingerlings… yes, Raptor Fingerlings! They have created dinosaur Fingerlings!

Check them out below, they have four colors currently – blue, orange, purple, and green! If dinosaurs aren’t your kiddo’s jam, don’t worry, keep scrolling for fun monkey tricks!

Back to Monkey Tricks! So Christmas morning came and my two oldest boys opened them with their Nerf guns, Legos, & Star Wars figures. They commented they had seen them on TV, but they were only mildly interested.

My youngest was too busy with his new Food Truck to really enjoy any of his other presents, so his reaction isn’t truly something to go by.

Fingerlings Monkey Tricks to impress your Kids! Are your kids the proud new owners of a Fingerlings Monkey? If so, here are some neat tricks that your new “pet” can do!

As the wrapping-paper-ripping settled, my boys began to truly explore their Christmas presents. We opened the Fingerlings up and they instantly started making noises.

Now this is the reason I am writing about these little monkey guys – because it was a true “Mom is cool” moment. This is not a sponsored post. I just want other moms to be in the Cool Moms Club!

In case you aren’t aware (like my boys weren’t) these little monkeys can toot, burp & snore. I have caved in many ways as a #boymom & one of those is that I relaxed on my bathroom word & bodily function lectures.

I can still lecture well, especially if we eat at a restaurant and someone burps loudly. However, boys just find this type of humor funny, so, at home, I’ve chilled a bit on it.

So the monkeys were a hit once I showed them how to make their monkeys release bodily noises. We then went on to try to discover all of the other things these adorable little guys can do!

Technical Stuff:

So Fingerlings have two little sensors on top of their heads that control a lot of their functions. Sometimes doing the same thing, but holding your monkey upside down, creates a different reaction.

If you have found something fun that your Fingerlings can do – let me know! I’d love to not only have my boys try it out but add it to the post!

Fingerlings Tricks – Burp & Toot

If you want your Fingerlings to Toot, you need to cover their head with your hand!

Flip over your Fingerlings and hold their head in your hand & they will Burp.

Fingerlings Tricks – Kisses & Sneezes

Blow your Fingerlings a Kiss and he will make a Kiss sound back! We’ve figured out this works better if you make the kiss noise and then “blow” lots of air at your monkey.

Sometimes your kisses might make your Fingerlings Monkey Sneeze instead!

Fingerlings Tricks – Pet Them

If you run your hand over the top of your Fingerlings Monkey’s head it will respond by making adorable little noises, almost like Sighs. Its eyes will Blink like it’s happy too! They also love to turn their heads back and forth when interacting.

Fingerlings Tricks – Sleepy Time

You can put your Fingerlings Monkey to sleep by rocking him back and forth in your hands. His eyes will start to flutter closed and he will even start Snoring. We’ve noticed that if you leave them hanging upside down for a while, they will fall asleep too.

Fingerlings Monkey Tricks – Talking

These tricks don’t work perfectly every time. But even if your Monkey doesn’t make kissing noises back or start to sing, he will most likely do some Monkey Talking back. They have over 40 different noises that they can make.

Fingerlings Groups

If you have more than one Fingerlings in your house, you can have them interact with one another! We put two together and they gave each other kisses. There was also lots of head-turning and monkey chatter going back and forth.

Do you know of any other Fingerlings Monkey Tricks that I’ve missed? Please let me know in the comments if you do! I would love to add them to the list.

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