Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Spongbob Squarepants! Yep, that’s right, you can make your very own life-size look alike of our favorite sea sponge and it’s a lot easier than you might think. So, whether it’s for a party, Halloween or just because your love Spongebob, here’s how to create your very own right now!

Every year, I like to enter a scarecrow into the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point’s Ashton Gardens. It’s such a fun tradition during the Halloween season. This year I wanted to create something everyone recognized, something colorful and something fun. Well, Spongebob is definitely all of the above. Here’s how I did it and how you can do it too.

Step #1: The body

You’ll need four pieces of pink insulation foam that are 2 feet x 4 feet. I bought a 4 feet x 8 feet piece at Home Depot for $20 and just cut that with a jigsaw into four 2 feet x 4 feet pieces. It worked perfect.

Next, you’ll want to draw Spongebob onto one of the boards. Maximize the entire space. You’ll be using this as a template for the remainder of this project. It helps to print out a picture of Spongebob for reference.

Finally, working with the foam board that has the drawing of Spongebob, cut out everything except the legs with a jigsaw (see the image below). Use the first board and trace that same shape onto the remaining three boards and cut out the same shape until you have four foam boards that are the exact same shape. If you don’t have a jigsaw, you’ll want to spend $30 and buy one. It will make this project sooooo much easier.

Step #2: The base

Here’s the items that you will need to assemble the base for your Spongebob:

• 10 feet of PVC pipe
• Six 3/4″ tee pvc pipe fittings
• PVC pipe cement
• PVC pipe cutter

Spongebob’s two legs are going to be made out of PVC pipe. So, basically, just cut your PVC and assemble them based on the image below. The measurements don’t need to be exact. After you’ve cut and assembled your base, glue all of the pieces together with PVC pipe cement. Make sure the legs are facing straight up when you apply the glue because it dries fast!

Step #3: Attached base to Spongebob’s body

Trace the shape of the up three quarters of Spongebob’s legs onto the third layer of foam. Then, cut out the shape that you traced. You should be able to fit the upper part of the base firmly on Spongebob. Then basically glue everything together with Gorilla glue. Take a look at the image below and you can watch my video on how I made Spongebob as well.

Step #4: Paint and add embellishments

Now for the fun part. I bought a small jar of yellow house paint at the store and started painting. Basically, just paint Spongebob the way he is supposed to look. You should have already traced him on the foam insulation, so just fill it in with color. I decided to use a styrofoam ball and cut it in half for his eye balls. If I were to do it again, I would buy a really big styrofoam ball.

I also traced and cut out the arms, shoulders and shoes out of insulation foam. I attached them with a wire and Gorilla glue.

You’re done. I was so happy with the way my Spongebob Squarepants turned out. I am going to keep this little gem and display it on my porch every year for Halloween. Anyway, hopefully this tutorial was helpful. Send me a picture of your life-size Spongebob when you do it yourself!

Related link: DIY Life-size Blobby from Hotel Transylvania

The post How to make a life-size Spongebob Squarepants appeared first on My Silly Squirts.

So, you bought a hemisphere ball cake pan. Now what? Well, fortunately, there’s a ton of different sphere cakes that you can make with this simple little pan. Check it out!

I originally bought a ball cake pan when my son asked me to make an Angry Birds cake for his birthday. In order to make it correctly, I needed to use a hemisphere pan. It turned out great but then I got to thinking, what else can I make with this pan? Here’s 25 super easy ideas that you’ll love.

#1: Bomb cake

#2: BB8 cake

#3: Globe Earth cake

#4: Owl cake

#5: Angry Birds cake

#6: Penguin cake

#7: Pig cake

#8: Mike Wazowski Monsters Inc. cake

#9: Soccer ball cake

#10: Disco ball cake

#11: Poké Ball Cake

#12: Teapot cake

#13: Eyeball cake

#14: Crackin’ Easter Chick cake

#15: Ladybug cake

#16: Kirby cake

#17: Rainbow unicorn cake

#18: Masked moon cake

#19: Playful kitten cake

#20: Snowman cake

Hopefully some of these ball cake pan ideas inspired you for your next baking adventure. Don’t forget to buy your hemisphere pan if you don’t already have one. Enjoy!

Related link: How to make a volcano cake

The post 20 super easy ball cake pan ideas appeared first on My Silly Squirts.

I run into this dilemma every time my kids get invited to a birthday party: What do I get for the birthday present? Well, I finally found a solution that is practical, affordable and is a guaranteed hit. Every child loves this present every without fail. So check it out.

Sometimes I feel like among all four of my boys, I am buying a birthday present for another party about two or three times a month. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like a good birthday party as much as the next person, but I wanted to make my life a little easier. Then, I thought of this great idea for a present.

Money balloons birthday present

Here’s what you do. Go to the bank and withdraw some crisp $1 bills. You can take out $10 or the same number of $1 bills as the age of the birthday boy or girl (if they’re under 10 years old, it makes the present even more affordable). Then go to the party store and pick out same number of Qualatex 11″ clear balloons as dollar bills.

Then, take your $1 bills and insert on of them into each of the balloons. You can also ask the person who will fill the balloons to insert the money as well. Make sure you tell them that you want hi float into the balloons. If you don’t put hi float in your balloons, they won’t even last 24 hours before they start to droop to the ground.

Then, attach the child’s favorite soda or drink and candy bar to the ribbons hanging from the balloons. You can’t really go wrong with Gatorade and a Mamba.

Voila! You’re done. Wow, that is a pretty awesome birthday present for us $20! Plus, the child can keep the balloons on display or pop each one of them and gather the money. It’s their choice.

We first got the idea of giving away money as a present when our neighbor gave our son a box of balloons with money inside of them. We just took it a step further with the helium and the clear balloons.

My boys gave this present to their cousin who was turning nine years old. He got nine balloons and $9! It didn’t take him very long to pop every single one. It was great!

What other ideas do you have for presents for your kids’ friend birthday parties? Leave your comments below.

Related link: Chomp! It’s time for a shark birthday party

The post The easiest birthday present that every kid will LOVE appeared first on My Silly Squirts.

Whether it’s New Year’s, a birthday party or just an excuse to get together, you should try these super easy kids appetizers. Every kid will love them and it’s a stress-free party pleaser that will feed a crowd. Plus, print your own labels for free! Check it out.

I made these fun appetizers for our kids for New Year’s Eve. Each of them invited a friend and believe it or not, they ate all of the food. That’s how I knew I picked the right appetizers for this pint-sized crowd. And they thought it was so fun to have a party catered just for them. Plus, my husband and I enjoyed the food just as much as they did. So here’s what you’ll need to get started.

Gather ingredients for your kids appetizers

These appetizers are intentionally very easy. That’s because kids don’t eat 4-cheese artichoke dip and mushroom crostini with shallots. They want cheese and crackers and Jell-O. So, listed below is the list of appetizers and the ingredients that you can buy at the store for each of them.

• Pigs in a blanket (Lil’Smokies and refrigerated crescent dough)
• Yummy meatballs (frozen meatballs and BBQ sauce)
• Jell-O shots (Two 6oz boxes of Jell-O mix, whipped cream, sprinkles, plastic shot glasses)
• Rice Krispie Balls (Fruity Pepples cereal, mini marshmallows, butter)
• Ants on a log (Celery, peanut butter, chocolate chips or raisins)
• Ham and cheese bites (Ritz crackers, ham slices and cheese slices)
• Mocktails (Sparkling cider and plastic champagne flutes)
• Fruit Skewers (grapes, mandarin oranges, banana slices, strawberries, skewers)
• Tasty Wafers (package of strawberry wafer cookies)
• Donut holes (package of donut holes)
• Chips and salsa (bag of tortilla chips, jar of salsa)

Making these appetizers should be pretty self-explanatory. But if you have questions, leave a comment below or refer to the images.

Print your appetizer labels

Placing labels next to the appetizers is super easy and it adds a fun touch to any gathering. Just click on the link below to download your free appetizer labels. Cut them out with a paper cutter and then fold in half on the dotted line.

Click here for your FREE Kids Appetizer Labels

Assemble your appetizers

A bunch of these appetizers can be assembled earlier in the day before your party begins. Here are the appetizers that I assembled ahead of time. That way I wasn’t quite as stressed out as it party time arrived.

• Ham and Cheese Bites
• Ants on a Log
• Jell-O shots
• Rice Krispie Balls
• Mocktails
• Tasty Wafers

About an hour before the party, I started preparing the Pigs in a Blanket, Yummy Meatballs and Fruit Skewers. You can also cook the meatballs and the Pigs in a Blanket on the same pan in the oven for easier clean up afterwards.

Decorate your buffet table

Once you have all of your appetizers ready, it’s time for the fun part. First I put a tablecloth down and they placed the taller items in back such as the fruit skewers and mocktails. I also placed the Jell-O shots on a 3-tiered serving tray. Arrange the appetizers on similar flatware and place the labels next to each one. A vase of fresh flowers will finish off any buffet table.

I hope these kids appetizer ideas will help you for your next party for kids. I know that my kids loved it and they can’t wait to do it again.

Related link: Bon Appetit! Treat your kids to a restaurant at home

The post 11 super easy kids appetizers with free printable labels appeared first on My Silly Squirts.

I love a good treasure hunt, especially for birthdays.  So this year for my 4-year-old’s birthday, I wanted to mix it up and bit and make a traveling free printable birthday treasure hunt. We got out of the house and ended somewhere fun. It was a huge success and not that much work. Here’s everything you need to do your own.

Print out your treasure hunt

Here’s your FREE PRINTABLE – Traveling birthday treasure hunt. Just print it out and then cut out the individual clues on pages two and three. Use the first page to remind you of which clue goes where (I always screw up on that part).

If you don’t want to use the clues that I made, I left a blank clue on page three and you can write your own clue(s). Here’s some links to some other really great treasure/scavenger hunts:

Birthday Scavenger Hunt

Treasure Hunt Clues for Kids Birthday Parties

40 Scavenger Hunts and Treasure Hunts for Kids

Place your clues

This didn’t take as long as you might think.  All of the clues are in simple places like the church, store, school and library. I made sure I had some duct tape and put the clues inside of an envelope. Then I taped them in inconspicuous areas and it made it more fun for the kids to find them. You just don’t want to put it out in the open and risk having someone else find the clue before your kids do.

Let the fun begin!

Give Clue #1 to the kids and let them read it out loud. My kids were surprised when they realized that we had to get in the car to find the rest of the clues.

Make sure each child gets the chance to find a clue, otherwise, the older kids kind of take over and the little ones get left out.  I had to give them some major hints because obviously the church and the store for example are big places.  It helps to narrow it down.

Our last clue led us to Grandma’s house and our kids were thrilled. I mean, who doesn’t love Grandma’s?  When we got there, I had little light up emoji bracelets for each kids. And then we opened presents and had cake and ice cream.

What other fun birthday ideas have you done? Leave your comments below.

Related link: Magic Party Ideas You’ll Love

The post Travel around town with this FREE printable birthday treasure hunt appeared first on My Silly Squirts.