Annie Lang's Blog!

It's that time of year again when the world turns green and our inner Lucky Leprechauns are in search of some St. Patrick's Day fun.  I thought I'd revisit a few past posts with fun ideas and FREE downloadable projects to inspire, download and enjoy.  Have a Lucky Green Day!  

Anyone can celebrate National Reading Month to encourage reading for all ages!  The first week of March also kicks off the Read Across America Week to promote literacy and encourages children to explore the world of books through the love of reading. You're never too young to read a good book and nobody knows this better than kids!  Reading to young children and toddlers not only helps them develop good reading skills and learning habits but it's a bonding activity that helps them explore the world through imaginative stories with each turn of the page. Whether you are a teacher, reading tutor, parent, grandparent or simply a bookworm book enthusiast, you're in luck!  Find lots of great storybooks, Bookworm merchandise, fabrics, clipart and crafting ideas for yourself or favorite reader.  Just keep scrolling to see how Annie Lang's Bookworm characters make Annie Things Possible!  " Bookworms Know Stuff Storybook by Annie Lang " was among the first storybooks I

Autumn is now upon us as we pack up the pool toys, send the kids back to school, harvest our gardens and get ready to make our Fall homes happen!  Fall themed goods, pumpkin spiced food and drinks and Halloween costumes have been out on the store shelves for the last few months, but most of us prefer to simply make our own homespun season at our own pace.  I've just started my creative to-do list for upcoming home project planning and I thought I'd go ahead and share some seasonally themed publications and how-to draw videos all in one place to inspire your upcoming creative Autumn adventures. Enjoy the season and don't forget to SUBSCRIBE, Like or leave Comments on my YouTube Channel !   

Bright and cheery Bookworms make reading a little more fun for the kids!  Just print out this colorful reading list and let them see how many books they can add to it.  It's always nice to add a little reward, too so why not use some bookworm character cutouts as small incentives?  Simply print and cut out the motifs to create stickers, magnets and fun craftables to inspire them to progress through their book titles.  Mount them on stars or heart shapes cut from color cardstock and write a positive message on the back.  Hang the shapes from color ribbon to create danglers and watch your bookworms be amazed as they hang each one as a reminder that Bookworms really DO know stuff ! CLICK HERE to download Annie Lang's FREE full color, ready to print set because Annie Things Possible!

Thanks to Jackson and Owen's Mom sending me this photo, this pair of busy little bookworms have now been added to my "Bookworm Gallery". You'll find this adorable Bookworm in Annie Lang's storybooks, papercraft activity books, Draw Silly video, clipart, merchandise products and fabric prints.  Join the club and discover just how inspiring these friendly little characters are...because Annie Things Possible when you're a Bookworm !

It started out as a beautiful day in the garden until the chatter got a bit out of control!  Find out how all the commotion unexpectedly turns this peaceful garden all topsy-turvy as the news of the day quickly spreads throughout this delightfully illustrated children's book. Young readers will quickly engage with vividly detailed characters and imagery as the story unfolds in the garden.   It's a timeless tale of human nature and our need to socially share everything we hear with others.  As is often the case in real life, what starts as a simple observation quickly can turn into a most ridiculous misunderstanding.   " Guess What I Heard Today " is a terrific "read it together"  publication that encourages discussion about how we communicate. Decades ago, my first grade teacher had the class sit in a circle, whisper a sentence into the ear of the student beside us as we passed our "secret sentence" from person to person.  We were totally amazed wh

 " I Found It So I'll Keep It! " is a fun children's story filled with vividly colored whimsical characters with easy to read text for young readers that will keep them engaged with each turn of the page.  Doug the Bug takes a walk and discovers a few lost treasures along the way.  He will eventually face a social and moral challenge as to whether or not he should return lost items to their owners or keep them for himself.  It's a simple life lesson in decision making that we all face from time to time presented in a way that demonstrates that the value of making the right decision can be a reward in and of itself.    This is a great read-it-together book that is sure to spark some very interesting home conversations with inquisitive youngsters.  You can find ordering and book detail page at my Book Store .  Feel free to share this post with your friends and family and I hope you'll ENJOY!

Whether it's for a rainy day, group project, keepsake gift or just for yourself, give this project a try and you'll surely fill your heart with music! I haven't made music boxes in quite a few years so I recently decided to introduce the grandkids to this super fun DIY craft.  I had the paper mache heart boxes in my craft closet so all I needed were some wind-up music boxes.  I had a difficult time finding them locally at a reasonable price but I stumbled upon a super selection of boxes and tunes online at Glaser Ceramics .  Best of all, I could buy them in bulk at a great price so I mixed and matched seasonal tunes for holiday projects along with some of the girl's fun favorites. I was pleasantly surprised when the order arrived on my doorstep a few days later. Whether it's for a rainy day, group project, keepsake gift or just for yourself, give this project a try and you'll surely fill your heart with music! 

It's been a very different Christmas season this year without the annual school Christmas plays, office parties and the traditional family gatherings we so look  forward to each and every holiday.  My nephew's wife recently posted an endearing photo of their boys in their holiday jammies, reading my elf book and enjoying this most magical season.  It's truly a heartwarming treasure and a reminder that Christmas really does lie within the heart of every child. The one holiday event I most enjoy are my classroom visits to local elementary schools where we all read " A Little Elf Upon a Shelf ".  Each student gets their own set of "Elf Listening Ears" and when the story is done, we make a fun holiday craft and get our pictures taken by the teacher.  Nothing stirs the Christmas spirit when one is surrounded by hearts that truly believe in the magic!   You can easily make your own set of papercrafted holiday Elf ears ... just click the image and download it

It's a fact that kids find bugs fascinating and this Bug Keeper DIY recycle project is the perfect way for them to keep those bugs under observation.   Older kids will most likely be able to handle this on their own, but supervision may be required for younger children.  This free how-to project only requires a plastic 2 liter bottle,  4" square of nylon mesh screening, a chenille stem, paint pens, 3" sinamay hat, ribbon or felt strip embellishment, glue and scissors to complete.  Here are the step by step how-to instructions along with the face template for the pictured Bottled Up Bug Keeper! NOTE:  You can find sinamay hats at most craft supply stores or just click here to order from Amazon . To download this full size template, right click and SAVE to your computer

Here's a free Happy Kids coloring page for you to enjoy!  Share this link and subscribe to this BLOG so you'll never miss a post.  To download the full size page, just right click the image, save to your computer, print and color.  ENJOY!

Here's a quick, easy and fun way to reward your little helper...because it's the little things mean so much!  All you need to do is download the file from my DIY page, print the file, mount on cardstock and then cut them out.   Enjoy...

Creating magical memories of the Christmas Season can be as simple as reading holiday stories together. I'm gearing up for this Holiday season's classroom reading of my children's book,  A Little Elf Upon a Shelf .  This year, I'll be wearing a "Believe in your Elf" t-shirt along with my elf ears.  All that's left to do is make 30 more sets of "listening ears" and 30 fun kid sized elf projects to top off this year's event!   'Tis the season for sharing a story along with a holiday smile.   You can download your own elf ears papercraft project for free right now.  Wishing you hours and hours of Happy Holiday Reading!

It's time to get your Jolly Jacks on with Annie Lang's fun pumpkin character clipart now available through the Creative Market Store!  They think they can fool us by masquerading trick or treaters, but we all know there's a Jolly Jack character hiding in all of us!

When there's a chill in the air, you can be sure that apple pickin' time is not far behind!  If you love apples, you'll need Annie's sweet little Apple Kids to give you a hand.  You'll find Annie's Apples and Apple Kids clipart collections in the Creative Market store so you can start working on your projects right NOW!  Need the lineart patterns?  Apple Kids and Acorn Frolics has all the character designs you'll need and the .pdf edition is on sale right now, too! Here's a short little video clip to get you INSPIRED!  Enjoy your apple season...

It's been a terrific summer and the kids have headed back to school.  That means it's time to pack up the "summer stuff" and get started on those autumn projects!  Annie's Autumn Kids have gathered up their gear to prepare for all the fall chores ahead.  You'll find some fun clipart and fall prints ready and waiting for you to download right now through Annie Lang's Creative Market store.  Making items to sell at the local craft store, your online retail store, machine embroidery items, print on demand merchandise and more?  You can get a license to suit your needs when you make your digital art purchase.  Need line art patterns or downloadable printable projects?  You'll find them all at Annie Things Possible !  So go ahead and let's make something creative today.

You can make every day a blue ribbon day with Annie Lang's County Fair Kids and County Fair farm themed clipart collections!  Make fun items for yourself, products for the craft booth or items for your online marketplace.  There's a license available for however you'd like to use them from Creative Market who now hosts my digital clipart, prints and fonts collections! 

Here's 6 fun ideas to turn those empty Pringles snack cans into fun and useful items you can make in no time at all!  Enjoy...

As a Grandma, I try to keep a stash of rainy day projects on hand for those days when outdoor play is not an option for the grandkids.  You may have seen painting/coloring kits for kids in the crafting aisles at your local stores that usually sell for $2.99-5.99 each, depending on size and materials included.  I was able to create the 3 sample 6"x 6" packaged coloring kits for $1.98 each.  I could have added paint pods, mini markers, mini pencils or party crayons for .50 more, but I have plenty of coloring media on hand here in my studio for the kids to choose from.  We all know kids can't sit still for long periods of time so plan projects accordingly!  Toddlers need very simple art and materials which make crayons or color pencils an ideal choice.  Older kids can handle more challenging art and materials and though their attention span is better than a toddler's, they usually can't handle projects that take more than 30 minutes to successfully complete. So l