Hand lettered gift bag for Teachers

I love to give handmade gifts to teachers but being a former teacher I know that they really want gift cards:) So I came up with a clever way to give my little one's teacher a gift card and a couple of other small gifts...chocolates without giving her something she really didn't want or need. In the bag I gave dark chocolate...she likes that...yuck and an Olive Garden gift card. Win for both! I still get to make something and she gets something useful.

Thankfully the teacher sent a letter home before school that told all about her and some things that she liked. Which proved to be very helpful for this gift.

Hindsight I would have found something else to use besides a Sharpie it tended to blend and made the lines appear darker in some places.

I modified it from seeing First Grade Parade's a few years back on Instagram.

Shower Themed Baby Shower

Planning parties is my thing....so when my niece told me she was pregnant I knew I wanted to throw the shower. A baby is shower is one party that I've never had the privilege of throwing. Good o'l Pinterest never fails me so when I saw a "shower" themed baby shower it was on. I planned everything I could around my theme. Notice the Shower up ahead door poster to greet the guests. It literally had rained everyday that week except for on the shower so I was super happy about that. I also did her maternity photo shoot and had to incorporate the cutest little parasol. She is having a boy and it looks rather girly but I still like it.

A party wouldn't be a party without cupcake toppers and straw toppers, right. Also, the little nappies with chocolate covered peanuts were an addition my Mom just had to do.  And you'd guess all the guests raved about them:)

I didn't get a real good picture of the food. But we had a brunch so we had chicken salad sandwiches, mini quiche, fruit, veggies, spinach dip, chips, macaroons, & cupcakes.

I'm in love with taking maternity pictures. Isn't she just glowing?

Read Across America Week Snacks

This is read across America week and I was asked to bring in snacks for my little's class. I chose Pinterest of course for my inspiration. I'm taking the easy route more and more but of course my OCD takes over and I change something. I reworked the water bottles to fit Sam's club (Walmart brand) mini water bottles to fit perfectly. So, I took off the nutrition facts and QR code. It was making it too cluttered. Original source came from Little Wish Parties.

For the goldfish snacks the link only provided a picture so I designed those completely. Then printed on card stock and used double sided tape to attach them.

And last, the Cat in the Hat cheese stick hats I also just had a picture so I made those too.

I'm an overachiever and I was asked to only bring in one thing so hopefully she didn't ask anyone else to contribute as well or they will be on snack overload:)

Here are my links for downloads if you'd like to use my Dr. Seuss files.
Cat in the Hat Cheese Topper
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish goldfish label
Dr. Seuss mini water bottle labels

I'm "Beary" Happy You're In my Class Gummy Bear Valentine's

Leave it up to Valentine's Day to get me to come out from underneath my rock:) I do L.O.V.E. Valentine's Day. It takes me back to the days when I was little.

I'm obsessed! So of course I make all the Valentine's and my kids get a "little" say in what what they want. LOL. I usually give them two Pinterest options and then they get to pick which one.

I wanted to makes these gummy bear valentine's last Valentine's Day but I could not find the individual packaged gummy bears. But this year I spotted them at Target so even though I had bought these really cute eraser Valentine's at Target earlier for my little one I knew when I saw them I had to make them!

They are really easy if you don't reinvent the wheel like I do every.single.time. I do a craft. Here was my inspiration from CreatingReallyFunAwesomeThings.com but I wanted them to include a pink gummy bear and I didn't really like the look of their gummy bears either so I redid them and of course I had to add my daughter's name at the bottom because getting her to sit down and right her name 22 times would be a chore. Her teacher already lectures her enough about how she still is writing capital M's for her middle letters. So I made it easy on her and just typed it in:) YAY!

If anyone is interested in me putting up a printable without my daughter's name of course included ...leave me a comment at the bottom and I will try and get one up.

Homemade Valentine's for My Kids

I love homemade Valentine's. I CAN'T HELP MYSELF. So, this year we had to do something a little more grown up for my oldest. She decided on fake glasses with the saying "I've got my eyes on you." The little one decided on ring pop valentines...perfect for a kindergartener. 

I included a picture of my chalkboard with the saying, I love you more. We constantly say that to each other. If you have watched Tangled then you understand. I adore the felt heart envelopes I put on the backs of their chairs and the little glitter heart tie on tags I got from Target. So cute and cheap!