Post-It Note Teachers' Gift

Where has the time gone? All of a sudden it is almost June!  I can't believe the school year is almost over. I am really looking forward to summer. Lazy days by the water, not having to get up at 6 am. Bliss!

Before school ends though we have to think about teacher gifts. My daughter has a regular classroom teacher and the school nurse who doubles as a teachers assistant in her room. This year we were inspired by a Pinterest find. (Please tell me someone else out there spends way too much time on that site too.) I thought this was so cute and simple. What teacher doesn't love pretty supplies? I sure do!

There are two main reasons I am really happy with this mini project.
1. My first grader could help make it. (It is for her teachers after all.) She really enjoys creating gifts for the people in her life.
2. It costs cents to make!

Supplies:

• plastic clear frames (Walmart has them in many sizes for 95 cents.)
• post-it notes (I purchased a package of large 4x4 notes... on clearance with my Staples rewards so they were FREE)
• cardstock or scrapbook paper (already had some)
• embellishments (ribbons, tags, letters, stickers... whatever you have on hand)

Assembly:

This could not be simpler.
Place the paper in the frame. I used two different designs for each.

Add ribbon, bows, stickers, tags, etc. Get creative! These are great because they can be any color combination or theme.

Glue post-it note to the front of the frame. Write a special note for the recipient.

Ta-da!

I can think of so many people we could make these for.  I am thinking of send this along with a pen or other school/office supplies. Does anyone else have any other ideas of items that would go well with this gift? Please share.

Lalaloopsy Inspired Birthday

For Morgan's birthday this year she wanted to have a Lalaloopsy themed party. Incase you don't know who Lalaloopsy is, she is a rag doll (minus the sewn part) who seems to have her own toy aisle, but no party supply line... yet.

 

Luckily my sweet girl is not too picky so I got away with making the party Lalaloopsy inspired... bright colors, yarn, patchwork. To change things up a bit we also make it a breakfast party! It was fun, tasty, and was kind of nice not having the party consume the whole day.

We had yogurt parfaits, cereal, french toast sticks, cinnamon rolls, sausage, eggs, bacon, fruit salad, and muffins AND a donut cake from the fabulous Allie's Donuts to top it all off. While Allie's could not copy an image of a copyrighted product for me then did a great job of creating something for me that kind of looked like a mix of Lalaloopsy and my daughter.

 

For favors we got mini cereal boxes (took out the cereal and used it at the party) and filled it with a rice crispies treat, breakfast themed erasers, and a swizzly spoon. To the front of the box we tied a personalized spoon that we made out of plastic spoons and letter beads with a button ribbon.

For some reason I never remember to take a picture of everything and once the party starts I am too busy hosting to snap pictures. Better luck next year.

I can't believe my girl is 7!

Almost Late (Heart Crayons)

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I know I'm late to the Valentine's party. Posting about Valentines crafts is not very helpful when its 6:40 on Valentine's Day night. My apologies. I didn't want to pass up the chance to share this idea that another teacher had given me. I am long term subbing in a second grade class and this was the perfect no-sugar treat for them. Multi-color heart crayons!

1. Find a whole lot-a broken crayons.

2. Strip the paper off the crayons and break into smaller pieces if necessary.

3. Put into Reynolds Fun-Shape foil heart cups. These worked PERFECT! (I tried rigging up my own with tin foil and a cookie cutter when I was short one and it did not go as smoothly.)

4. Pop into the oven @ 200 degrees until all the crayons are melted.

5. Take them out and let cool. It does not take long and the crayon will pop right out of the foil no prob-le-mo.

 6. Package. My label said, "You color my world. Happy Valentine's Day!"

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

I wish I had made these for my daughters first grade class, but the unwrapping of crayons was time consuming and I didn't have time to make 50 of them between the two. Maybe next year...

Happy Valentine's Day!

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A Free-er 2012

I ripped off the band-aid. I deleted my Facebook account.

I have been going back and forth about wanting to, and saying I will, but then checking it multiple times a day. Now I know I am not the biggest FB junkie there is. There are for worse offenders that I call friends and family, but I needed to let it go. Reading Emily Anderson's blog post finally gave me the push I needed! Thank you! (http://andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com/2012/01/goals-words-resolutions-oh-my.html)

I'm tired of caring about what other people are doing, eating, buying, etc. Nor should they care what I am doing. I find myself posting something every once in a while just because I haven't. Pointless.

I'm tired about getting news about my family and friends from FB. If you have something important to share you should send an email, text, or CALL ME. If you don't it must not be that important. We need to get back to connecting deeper with people and learn to communicate properly again. We also need to learn to keep certain information private.

I'm going to spend more time working on me and my relationships and getting things done around here, rather than wasting time playing on FB. It's addicting, but its time to break free. I'm feeling very good about this decision, and I even have my darling husband joining me! Facebook free 2012!

One Christmas Tradition

One of our Christmas traditions that we have developed of the past few years is giving ourselves (Mr., kiddo, and I) travel experiences instead of toys and things we can just buy ourselves. We put aside the wad of cash we would spend on buying for each other and our little princess and use it for a family vacation instead.
Between the presents Santa and other family members give, my daughter has more than enough come Christmas day. Mom and Dad do not need to add to list, and we know she will appreciate the experiences and memories we are making far longer. So when its time for our gift to her, we put together a package of clues. Clues might be books, maps, related ornaments or stuffed animals, etc. Then she has to guess where we are going. It's so much fun to put together and even better to see her face when she figures it out. She really looks forward to it too.
So far we have gone to Disney World, New York City, and Washington D.C.. This is year 4 that we are doing it and the plan to is to head up to the "great white north" (Canada). Test our toes the international travel so to speak. She'll think its exotic even if it really isn't that far from home.

P.S. I always sneak in a little extra non-vacation present anyway. Shhhh!!

Washington D.C. 2011 (Xmas '10 present)

Disney 2009 (Xmas '08 present)

NYC 2009 (Xmas '09 present)

Christmas Tip: Pretty Presents

Update: I made it through Thanksgiving without obsessing about Christmas! It was a lovely holiday with family and yummy food.

You betcha' I was up at 2:00 am the next morning though and heading out with the crazy shoppers! Its all about the experience whether its insane or not. I also came home and started decorating my house. Oh.... and the Christmas cards are signed, sealed and waiting to be delivered. Yup, I'm on a roll.


The BEST part though, aside from picking out the perfect present, is WRAPPING it! I've adopted this OCD wrapping behavior from my mother. I currently have several wrapped, but I keep wanted to add or change things. (Yes, I know they will just tear through it and throw away the paper no matter how much work I put into it.) Compared to some pictures I have seen, mine are not nearly as nice, but I also don't have tons of $ to poor into just the wrapping right now. I think a nicely wrapped gift just seems so much more special and you love it before you even open it.

And now for some dream prezzies...

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