Teach Last Day of School Gifts

 Here are the teacher's gifts we gave this year.

A cute, but simple insulated cup full of dark chocolates (the teacher's favorite) and a Jamba Juice gift card.

I did this last year, but it is worth repeating.  I got the mugs from Anthrpologie (for $6).  You can't see the initial, but it has the teacher's first initial on the front and again filled it with Lindt Chocolates.  I feel like it is such a cute, classy gift, but not too expensive.

The tag says "you have been a "letter" perfect teacher.  thanks for everything!"

The last gift was my favorite.  The teacher had three different bags she sent home with the kids throughout the year.  The bags she was using were random "marketing" bags she had gotten from various conventions and such.  So, I decided she needed "real" tote bags that were labeled appropriately.  So, I stenciled the three bags for her to use next year.  And of course added a tag.

Teacher Appreciation Week

Here are the different things we did for Teacher Appreciation Week this year.  Some are repeats of past years, and some are new....

A four pack of root beer or Jones Soda.  I got the tags from here.

I did the flowers last year and got the tags from here. 

I picked up the mini flashlights from Office Max for $3.00 each.  And I made the tag super simple.  I had the kids sign each tag, I just forgot to do it when I took the picture :-)

I got some sharpies on sale at Target and copied this cute blog.  The labels can be found here.

And we saved the best for last, we gave (on our final day) this pencil holder.  I used a vintage glass straw dispenser and used vinyl lettering for the word "pencils".  I love this gift! So, darn cute and what teacher can't use a ton of pencils!   I got the straw dispensers here.

Whoopie pies

I have come to the conclusion that my signature dessert might be whoopie pies. Some people do cupcakes, some decorated cookies others bundt cakes (I like those too), but I really like whoopie pies. My next quest is to come up with my "secret" recipe and method that is my favorite.

For our school carnival's cake walk, I made what else? Whoopie pies. I used this recipe that was super easy (from a box easy) but really super yummy! I used her frosting recipe too, but I threw in 4 oz. of cream cheese, because frosting with cream cheese is soo much better!

I wrapped the little yummy cakes in freezer paper and taped them with washi tape! So cute and so stinkin' easy. I need to find a cuter container than generic bread tin, but given my week, this would have to do. Then wrap It all in cellophane and a ribbon and wa-laa.

Little tiny cake happiness!

Teacher's Gifts & Other Christmas things

This year I did the 12 days of Christmas for our elementary teachers.  See past post here.  The girls love  doing this each year.  They love taking a gift to their teacher each day.  And the teachers love it too!

And then for the preschool teachers, I bought the Rachel Ray Olive Oil Dispenser Bottle (just the big bottle).   I thought this would be a unique gift that is not only colorful and fun, but practical and useful.

I included this fun tag that says "Oil" I want for Christmas is you as my teacher."

 

Then we made these cute marshmallows on a stick dipped in chocolate and sprinkles for Hannah's class Christmas party.  So festive and fun and easy to make.  And they were a big hit!

Lastly, I dipped chocolate treats for our friends and neighbors.  I made homemade peppermint patties,

peanut butter bon-bons and homemade almond joys.  A lot of work and I don't believe I will do it again next year.  Still looking for that go-to Christmas treat to give to friends.  One of these days I will find that special treat :-)

Hubby's Gift - the details

Here are the rest of the dates for my husband's christmas gift - A YEAR OF DATES.

JANUARY - BOOKSTORE DATE

Roses are red and violets are usually blue.  there's a million an one things inside a bookstore that we can do.  (but we are going to settle on doing only six of them).

in case you are wondering what the date is exactly, here it is so you can read it.  It is kind of a scavenger hunt in a book store.  We are going to do each of these tasks.  I included a gift card so we could buy something too.

Visit the COOKING section & choose a recipe that you would like to make for your spouse.

Visit the MAGAZINE section & find a quiz in a magazine that you and your spouse could do together. 

Visit the CHILDREN'S section & find a book that was a favorite when you were a child and read 

them to each other when you meet back up. 

Visit the JOKE section and pick out a HI-LA-RI-OUS joke to share with your spouse.

Visit the TRAVEL section and find a picture or information on a place you would like to visit someday.

Visit the POEM section and find a poem that describes the way you feel about your spouse.

FEBRUARY - FUNKY BOWLING

tonight is the night

we are going to do some rolling 

but not what you think,

we are going out bowling

but not just any bowling,

we are bowling with a colorful twist

Without looking, choose an M&M before each turn

and bowl accordingly.

BLUE - bowl backwards between your legs

GREEN - “granny style” push the ball with both hands

YELLOW - bowl under one leg

ORANGE - bowl normal

RED - your spouse gets to bowl for you.

BROWN - bowl with the opposite hand

If you get a 

STRIKE - kiss your spouse

SPARE - hug your spouse

My husband and I like to get dressed up and experience cultural events where we can.  (There isn't a lot of it in our small town, so when good broadway shows come to town, we jump on them).  This year's 

show selection wasn't that great, but West Side Story is a classic and I haven't seen it, so that was the clear winner.  

MARCH - BROADWAY NIGHT

A night to “feel pretty”

and go out “somewhere”

a place in “america”

to show off some flair.

The most beloved musical of all time is coming to Fresno.  

WEST SIDE STORY will be at Saroyan Theatre March 5-6, 

2013.  WEST SIDE STORY tells the story of star-crossed 

lovers Tony and Maria as they struggle to rise above 

the hatred and intolerance that surrounds them. WEST 

SIDE STORY soars as the greatest love story of all time 

and remains as powerful, poignant and timely as ever.

The Associated Press says WEST SIDE STORY “remains 

Broadway’s best dance-driven musical. Five decades 

have not dimmed the extraordinary choreography or 

the score that pulsates throughout.” 

APRIL - TEMPLE NIGHT

a night at a sacred place

where we can feed our spirit

but we can’t forget our tummies

they need something in it.

(at least some dessert!)

And then I included the dessert menu of one of our favorite restaurants nearby. 

MAY - LET'S GO GOLFING

a night out on the green

with my love and the air

let’s hit a bucket of balls

without any worries or cares

just you and me babe

i even know what to wear

RiverPark Golf Center

Voted a Golf Range Magazine 

"Top 100"

in 2010 and 2011

Few outdoor activities are as universally 

enjoyable as hitting a bucket of range balls. So, lets go do it!

JUNE - PICNIC AND A GAME

an evening of dinner and fun

the game of scrabble

just you and me hun!

and to make it more than

your typical night out

let’s do it at the japanese garden, 

this will be great, i have no doubt!

1)  you get to choose the place

for take-out dinner.

2) drive to japanese garden in

woodward park

3) eat dinner and then play a

game of scrabble.

may the best person win!

JULY - WHOLE FOOD DATE NIGHT

time to do some shopping

and get some healthy food

at our favorite grocery store

you know the one, don’t you dude!

yummy fruits and vegetables

some favorite sweets and treats

let spend a night shopping

& we might even get some beets.

(my husbands loves beets and I never cook them).

We are going to go grocery shopping

at Whole Foods.  This will also be where we

have dinner tonight.  To make it

more interesting, we have to buy 

something new (that we have never tried before) 

in the following categories:

1) cheese, 2) dessert 3) drink 4) meat

5) vegetable and 6) fruit

AUGUST - ANNIVERSARY MONTH

a special month for you and me

11 years together or is it 23?

it is time for our annual delight.

dinner at Flemings, 

something simple and light

(just kidding about the light part!)

Where else would we go for our 

anniversary dinner other than our

favorite restaurant in town.

FLEMINGS.

Get ready for some rib eye,

lobster mashed potatoes

and their chocolate molten lava cake!

SEPTEMBER - ICE CREAM DATE

you sceam, i scream

we all scream for ice cream!

it is as simple as that

we are going for ice cream

and some conversation

something we need .... STAT!

it is time to get the latest scoop on each

other while sharing a scoop (or two)

of ice cream on our night out.

Take these questions and use them on 

our ice cream date night.  Time to 

answer some questions and learn 

even more about each other.

OCTOBER - FOOTBALL DATE


nothing like the fall
to root for our home team
a football game is in-store
and it comes with some screams

NOVEMBER - MOVIE DATE

the season for blockbuster hits 

has arrived.

we can see an action

or something more slow

either way, to the movies is 

the date we must go!

I looked up the movies that will be released during the month of November 2013 and included them as options in 11 months.

release schedule for 2013

ender’s game

dreamworks’ mr. peabody and sherman

thor: the dark world

the hunger games: catching fire

pixar’s frozen

possibly the hobbit

DECEMBER - SHOPPING DATE

 what else would we do
in the month of december
christmas shopping for the kids
is always a date to remember

(and a little shopping for each other too.)


we each get $10 and we have to
find some stocking stuffers
for each other.
Time to start thinking about what
we want to get for each other.
TIP: diamonds are the perfect
stocking stuffer :-)
happy shopping!

I tried to take a picture with two $10 bills, but Photoshop wouldn't let me use or edit the picture (crazy. huh?)  So, here is a picture of the bag without the money.

Hubby's BIG Christmas Gift

So, this year, I decided it was time to give my husband a year of dates.  I have seen a lot of different ideas throughout the web and thought it would be a great gift for him.  Our baby is now 1 year old and it is time to leave him at home and get back to doing date nights (just the two of us).

So, this is the year and this was the perfect gift to make it happen.  It was actually fun to try and come up with fun creative dates.  Some I "borrowed" from others on the web and some I made up on my own.  Some of the dates are more creative and fun while others are your typical dates, but good ones nonetheless.

The toughest part was making up the poems.  I realized that poems are not my forte!  So, forgive me if some of them are well, LAME.  I tried my best :-)

So, here is the first date and how I packaged the dates up.  I will post the other 11 dates in the next few days.  Enjoy!

Roses are red and violets are usually blue.  there's a million an one things inside a bookstore that we can do.  (but we are going to settle on doing only six of them).

in case you are wondering what the date is exactly, here it is so you can read it.  It is kind of a scavenger hunt in a book store.  We are going to do each of these tasks.  I included a gift card so we could buy something too.

Visit the COOKING section & chose a recipe that 

you would like to make for your spouse.

Visit the MAGAZINE section & find a quiz in a 

magazine that you and your spouse could do together. 

Visit the CHILDREN'S section & find a book 

that was a favorite when you were a child and read 

them to each other when you meet back up. 

Visit the JOKE section and pick out a HI-LA-RI-OUS 

joke to share with your spouse.

Visit the TRAVEL section and find a picture or 

information on a place you would like to visit someday.

Visit the POEM section and find a poem that 

describes the way you feel about your spouse.

Christmas Gifts to my Parents

I don't know what it is about life these days, but it is busy, busy, busy.  And so my writing on this blog has fallen by the way side.  But I am quickly going to share with you some of the gifts I gave away this Christmas.  Starting with this one.

My parents (and in turn my siblings) have been fortunate enough to be able to take us to many, many exciting places.  Starting when we were teenagers, we traveled all over Europe in a motor home.  Than we learned to scuba dive as a family and went to Belize.  We continued to communist countries such as Vietnam and out of the way countries like Syria.  We have hiked in Nepal and sailed in Tonga.  And many more countries in between.  It has even continued as we have all started to have children (like our trip to Holland with all the grandchildren).  Like I said VERY FORTUNATE!

So, I decided to give my dad and mom a t-shirt that captured all the great places we have visited.  I thought it would be fun to create a "WORLD TOUR" t-shirt of all of our family trips.  I designed it like  concert t-shirt with tour dates and cities.

Here is the t-shirt that I gave my parents.

SOME SIDE NOTES:  The inside joke with our family is that when my mom and dad would talk about going on a trip, they would have to clarify if it was a "BIG WE" (as in the entire family) or a "small we" trip (just my mom and dad).  So, for most of our lives trips were divided into these two categories.   Hence, the name of the TOUR.

On the back of the shirt it has the dates and cities of all the places we have been as a family growing up.  The last section of the shirt says "extended dates" and it includes those cities and dates we have taken with our family, our significant others and the grandchildren.

You might wonder what the "24" symbolizes.  It is the image that appears on a tiny runway in the middle of the himalayans in a little town called Lukla.   We had to land and take off on it to get to our hiking destination.  And to this day, we still talk about how scary of a landing and take-off it was.  Let's just say my dad who was a pilot at the time, had to shut his eyes and say a prayer for all our safety!

The front says underneath the wording "1989 - to infinity and beyond".  1989 is the year we started our world travels and our family has a funny pose that we do that means "to infinity and beyond" and since we believe we will be a family forever our travels will never end.  (I love that part of the shirt :-)

Christmas List

Here is a my Christmas wish list...   I am not going to hide the fact that this is specifically for my husband.  A place where he can find what to buy for me for Christmas.  Aren't I nice :-)

Just click on the images and they will take you to a site to buy each item.

MY LIST

And just so you know, I really want the Black Toms.

Oh, and check periodically... things might be added.
Thanks honey, love you tons!

Christmas Gift for Teachers

Last year I posted 12 Days of Christmas for Teachers.  I am getting so many emails requesting the files for this gift tags that I am posting a link here to download the tags.

Sheet One

Sheet Two

Keep an eye out for:

the 4th day, there is a blank spot for the grade and day 11, there is a blank spot for the name of the school.

Enjoy!

Craft Night Details

Here are the details and the information I provided the neighborhood girls about the craft night.  They were directed to a "secret" spot on my blog to view all the details about the craft projects and the night. Here is what they saw...  I also included the instructions and crafting 411, in case you were interested.



Hi Ladies,

I hope you are able to come to the first annual neighborhood Craftopolooza. It is going to be Friday night October 19th from 7:00 pm until whenever you want (although I might kick you out at midnight).

We will be doing three craft projects. You can do all three or one or two. It is completely up to you. Here are the projects to choose from.

Craft Project #1 - Girls Jumbo Beaded Bracelets


Price $10 for 3 bracelets.

We will be making a halloween-colored bracelet, a christmas-colored bracelet and then you can choose between a valentine-colored bracelet or a WOODS-colored bracelet.

I will provide all of the supplies, you just need to let me know if you want a Woods bracelet or a valentine bracelet.

The CRAFTING 411:
I got my beads from ebay.  I searched using "18mm acrylic round beads".  or you could search 14mm or 16mm for more selection.  Most beads come from China, so you need to give 2-3 week delivery window.

You can also look at these two sites.
pandahall.com
white mountain gems and beads

Here are the instructions I made for the party.

A FEW MORE SPECIFICS:   The string is elastic I bought at Joanns.  I used 9 beads for my 5 year old and 10 beads for my 8 year old.  I used a coordinating ribbon and tied the bow around the knot.  And to keep the ribbon from fraying, I used a lighter to burn the edges (just ever so slightly).

Some of my beads didn't come in time, so I just let the girls make up whatever color bracelets they wanted to.  We didn't stick to the holiday colors.  I gave them free reign :-)

Craft Project #2 - Tabletop Framed Chalkboard


Price $18 for a 8X10 frame

I will provide the paint and frames and chalkboard paint. We will be painting them in an old white color and I will have stuff available to antique them if you want.

THE CRAFTING 411
I bought the frames from Cut it Out Already.  These frames are awesome and for half the cost.  The frames come with a cardboard backing.  So, you will need to go to Lowes and have some thin wood sheets cut for the frames in the size of the opening.

I used Annie Sloane Chalk Paint.  Here is a post all about this great paint.  I bought Old White and Graphite for the chalkboard.

Here are the instructions I made for the party.

The backing of the frame is the wood you purchased at Lowes.  The Dark Wax is from Annie Sloan.  You don't have to antique the frame if you don't want to.  I gave it as a choice for the girls to do.  And again, painting the frame with the clear wax isn't necessary.  We actually didn't do it.  

Craft Project #3 - Holiday Wreath



PRICE $12 (not including fabric or felt)

There are two choices for wreaths. They both will require you purchasing the fabric or felt before the craft night. The fabric wreath is a very simple and quick wreath to make. The felt wreath will require a lot more time. It is still very easy, just more time consuming.

Fabric Wreath - bring one yard of whatever fabric you want to use. It would be best to use a thinner fabric (not something too heavy, like twill or corduroy). HINT: A light airy fabric will make it look similar to the picture, but it would look good with a nice cotton fabric too.

Felt Wreath - one yard of heavy weight felt. Definitely use a heavier-weight felt. It's more expensive, but well worth it. I found mine at Joanne's for $6.99 a yard. The lightweight felt will require you to use more, which means you'll need to cut and cut and cut more circles. The heavyweight felt also gives the wreath a more quality look.

For the felt wreath you probably won't finish it all that night, so you can either start it at the craft night (and finish it at a later time) or pre-cut your felt circles before the craft night, so you can assemble and finish your wreath that night. If you are interested in pre-cutting and having everything ready to complete that night, let me know and I will tell you what to do. it is super easy, just cutting is involved (like a 150 circles, so you know what you are getting yourself into :-).

I will have the wreaths, pins,  etc. You just bring the fabric or felt.

The Crafting 411

I bought the 14 inch wreaths at Hobby Lobby.   Buy the Extruded wreaths, the pins stick in them better.   And then I bought #17 stick pins.  they are a bit longer, so they stick into the wreath further.

Here are the instructions for both wreaths.

For the ruffle wreath, here is a link to show you a bit more of how to assemble it.

I didn't use a glue gun, we just used the pins to stick in the fabric.  And I didn't tell the girls to bring ribbon for hanging, so it might be nice to tell the girls to buy some ribbon while they are already at the fabric store.

*****************************************************************

What would be a gathering without food. It would be great if everyone could bring an appetizer or dessert to share with the group to keep our energy levels up while we craft through the night.

So, I think that is it. If you are interested in coming to CRAFTOPOLOOZA, please RSVP as soon as you can (or by Sept 30th at the latest) with which projects you want to do, so I can gather up the supplies and be ready for the big night. And if you can make it, please let me know the following:

1) what projects you want to do
2) if you want a WOODs or Valentine's bracelet
3) which wreath you want to do (so I can get the right wreath for your project).

Hope you all can make it... it will be a fun night of crafts, friends, talking and eating. Not a bad way to spend a friday night!

THERE YOU GO.  A FUN CRAFT NIGHT WITH FRIENDS. I WILL POST A FEW MORE PICTURES OF THE NIGHT IN A FEW DAYS.

HERE IS A LINK TO THE INVITATIONS FOR THE NIGHT.

Preschool Teacher gifts

I can put these gifts on my blog because i know my daughter's teachers don't know about this blog. This is not original, it is all over Pinterest, but it is a good one. I included a Jamba Juice gift card inside.
The saying says "Thanks for sparking my creative juices this year." FYI - I got the cups at Target for $5 in their summer section.

My daughter's elementary teacher is getting a different gift, but I have to wait until the end of school, because i think she does know about the blog :-)

Here is the tag I created, just download or drag it to your desktop and it is yours to use.

Teacher Appreciation Week

I decided to try some new cute gift ideas for our teachers this year. Sorry, if this is late for some of you. But hopeful you can tuck it away for new year :-) Here is a recap of what I did for Teacher Appreciation Week.


Monday's gift - Potted Tulips. I let Hannah pick out the flower she wanted to give and she chose tulips. I got the label from here.



Tuesday's gift - Flashlight. I made this one up. I found the flashlights at OfficeMax for $3.00 and thought perfect. How couldn't use a nice little maglight flashlight.



Wednesday's gift - my favorite. It is a pringles can made to look like a pencil. I filled it with teacher items and a few fun treats. Here is a link to the tutorial.




Thursday's gift- Post-it note Apple Dispenser. I saw this and thought how perfect. It is an apple and it holds post-it notes. Hannah' drew and wrote her a nice note to go with it. This one was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but I only bought it for one teacher and thought what the heck, why not? I was in a good mood that day, so I went with it.

Friday's gift. Mug filled with treats. I love the initial mugs at Anthorpologies. I think they are the perfect gift, so for the last day. That is what I got. So darn cute and practical. They are $6 a mug. For Anthropologies, I feel like it is a great deal. Something in the store that is relatively cheap and it is so cute. It is my go-to gift for just about anyone! I buy a lot of these.



You might think I am crazy spending this much on teachers. Now granted I have only one kid in elementary school and a preschooler. I didn't get each teacher all the gifts (since my preschooler only goes MWF), so I could spend a little bit of money on some of the gifts.

But my philosophy when it comes to teachers is.... they do so much for our kids and they get paid so little... I am more than happy to spend a little bit of money on them. They deserve it!!! And I hope it brings a smile to their face and shows them just how much I appreciate all they do!

Oh, and my daughter begged me to give something to her student teacher since it was her last day. So, this is what I came up with.