[Valentine] Peas be Mine

The PEAS are back!! Hip Hip Hooray!  If you missed my first pea post, you'll want to click here for sure.  I think these little green sixlets are just about the cutest things ever.  And don't they look just like peas??

This is what my seven year old daughter is handing out to her classmates this year.  There is a bit of irony going on here.  My daughter hates peas.  But when she discovered they were chocolate.  She was totally on board.  And really, nothing says first grade more than a knock knock joke!  It's all about the jokes here people!  I am loving the fact that it's not too much candy.  Just a little taste and that's enough.  Know what I mean?

I had some cute little plastic pillow boxes that were screaming to be used for this project.  You could just as easily put the peas in a tiny little bag.  Just attach the peas to the card with some sticky tape or a ribbon or BOTH.  And send these off to school.  Done.

Want to print some for yourself?  Click here.

*****
 I bought my green sixlets at Hobby Lobby with a coupon and it only came to like three bucks.  AND  we only used about half the bag.  Happy happy.

[teacher appreciation] Door Decoration

 

 
We have a tradition in our elementary school of decorating the teachers' classroom doors for teacher appreciation week.  I was asked to decorate my daughter's Kindergarten door for her teacher.  I thought about it for a long time.  Her teacher is amazing!  She loves to read and has instilled this love in her students.  I wanted to do something that involved children's literature.  I thought it might be fun to use an illustration from a children's book to show our teacher how much we appreciate her.

We love Mo Willems at our house.  If you aren't familiar with his works, run to your nearest library and check out a book or two or three or ten!  They are delightful!  My daughter is especially fond of the Elephant & Piggie Books.  The last time we went to the library we really did check out about a dozen of them.  Our all time favorite is There Is a Bird On Your Head .  But I found a fun illustration in his book I Am Invited To A Party that I wanted to use for our teacher's door decoration.

First thing you need to do is to acquire the book or the illustration that you want to use.  I scanned the page into my computer.  Then I used our projector to enlarge the image.

Now you need to trace the image onto a large piece of paper or posterboard.  I just lightly traced the image with a pencil.

Once you have captured the basic image, you can trace it with a black marker.  Have you tried the new Sharpies with a brush tip??  I am in love!  The funnest marker I have ever used.  Not kidding.  Outline the image in black and then color as desired.  I used mostly markers to bring my image to life.  You could also use crayons, pencils, or chalk.  I actually did use chalk to color most of Elephant's body.  It was just too much surface area to color with the marker.
 

Now all you have to do is cut out your image with a pair of scissors.

I had pre-measured the teacher's door which proved to be very handy.  My daughter's teacher always leaves her door open.  So, I had to work around the push bar.  Which was kind of a pain.  The other side of the door probably would have been easier.  I grabbed some bulletin board paper from the teachers' workroom while I was at the school earlier in the week.  You know what I mean, right?  The big rolls of colored paper?  I pulled out and cut a little more than I needed.  When I got home I measured out the roll of paper and cut it to the exact size.

If you want to write a fun phrase about your teacher, you will need to cut out some letters.  Or you could just draw or paint them right onto your paper.  I chose to cut some out.  And I did it old school baby!  I used a large stencil set and hand cut each letter.

I wanted to assemble everything on-site.  So I hauled all of my supplies to the school.  I taped the colored roll paper to the door.  Then I attached my images and my letters.

There you have it!  You knew I would add some bunting, right?  I think it turned out pretty fun.

*****

As I was cutting out the letters, my six year old asked me what I was doing.  I told her what I was going to write on the paper..."Mrs. Crockett makes learning fun!"  Her response?  "She really really does!"

Thanks to all the great teachers out there!  We appreciate you!

[Teacher Appreciation] Alphabet Gifts

I thought this was such a fun idea for a preschool or kindergarten teacher.  I received a letter from my daughter's room mother.  She sent a white lunch sack home with each student with a letter of the alphabet on it.  Our assignment was to put some small gifts for the teacher in the bag.  The gifts needed to be items that start with that letter of the alphabet.  They could be homemade, store bought, or whatever.  And they needed to be able to fit inside of the bag.  We've been out of town, so I only had one afternoon to put mine together.  I probably could have been a little more creative if I had known earlier.  Oh well.

We were actually one of the lucky ones.  We were given two bags to fill.  We were assigned the letters N and Y.  "N"  was fairly easy.  We decided to get some nail care products (nail polish, nail files, etc), a notepad, and some Hershey Nuggets.  Some other ideas we were considering...a necklace, Nutter Butters, Newtons, and Nerds.  The letter "Y" was a little harder.  We went with YooHoo drink packets, yogurt covered pretzels, York peppermint patties, and a gift card for frozen yogurt.  Some other ideas we thought of were Yahtzee, a yo-yo, and anything yellow.

My daughter loves her kindergarten teacher--and so do I!  She does such a fantastic job.  I'm sure that you feel the same way about the teachers in your life.   Take a minute to do something nice to thank them for all they do.

I've got a few other "appreciation" tricks up my sleeve...so be sure to stick around!

[Easter] Bunny Lollipop Favors

Easter always reminds me of my Aunt Betty.  Maybe I've mentioned it before?  Every year just before Easter she would host an Easter Egg Hunt for all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mother's side of the family.  This was no small task.  There are a lot of us!  Especially when all of the cousins started having kids of their own.  She would make a huge lunch and we would gather in her back yard down by Grandpa's old farm.  There would be crafts, and games, and a cake walk.  And then we would gather eggs from all over the yard.  I miss Aunt Betty.  A lot.

This craft/party favor reminds me of her.  It would have been a perfect addition to her egg hunt.  These would also work well for a classroom party.  All you need is a printer, some ink, some paper, a pair of scissors, and your favorite lollipop.  Print out the bunny masks here.  You will want to use some card stock.  Then cut them out and punch a hole in between the two front teeth.  If your hole is too big the bunny mask will spin upside down.  So start small.  Just enough of a hole to get the stick through.  Thread the lollipop stick through the hole and you are good to go!

If you would like to print a black and white version of the bunny mask...click here.  Have the children color their masks before they cut them out.  Then follow the directions above.

If you really want to look like Peter Cottontail, add a pair of bunny ears.  I saw some at the dollar store just yesterday!  Come to think of it...I should have picked up a pair or two.

Happy Hunting!

Soda Pop Walk

Our local elementary school is having a fund raiser tonight.  Part of that involves a soda pop walk.  Have you ever heard of that before?  Me either.  Apparently it is akin to a cake walk.  Cake was sort of out of the question--because our school has a strict policy about homemade treats.  So they opted for soda pop.  The kids were asked to decorate a 2-liter bottle of pop to have as prizes for the "walk".  And really that was all the instruction we were given. 

OK.  So now that you are all up to speed.  Want to see what we came up with?  In honor of the two up-coming holidays...

This lucky leprechaun started out life as a bottle of Sprite.  

We added a few embellishments, made a few snips with our 

scissors, applied glue generously, and...lo and behold his true identity was discovered!

This little guy has a heart of pink lemonade!  You may recognize his britches from here.  The soda pop bottle fit perfectly!   We wrapped the bottle in brown craft paper, added a face and some ears.  My daughter thought he needed a bowtie.  And I wholeheartedly agreed!

This bottle of Fanta orange shouted "spring" to my kindergartner.  She thought a spring scene was definitely the way to go.  She created this almost entirely on her own.  I punched out the flowers and helped her glue her scene onto the bottle.  I thought it turned out so cute.  I love the flowers and the little bunnies.  Those must be baby bunnies.  Not all of them have caught on to the art of hopping yet.  I guess we all must fall sometimes.

Who knew that a bottle of pop could be such a fun canvas for creating!

[Valentine] Like Cookies and Cream

Valentine's Day is right around the corner!  It's one of my most favorite holidays.  And it's high time that we started getting our craft on.  This is a very simple no nonsense valentine that would be perfect for the classroom.  Easy to make.  Easy to reproduce.  Kid friendly.  Affordable.  Like I said--it's perfect!

Let's start by gathering our supplies.

You will need:
a package or two of Oreo cookies
Small plastic treat bags
Treat bag toppers (see below)
A stapler and staples

1.  Print and assemble your bag toppers.  This should be fairly self-explanatory.  Cut them out.  Fold them.  Have your child address them.**

2.  Put a couple of cookies in the treat bag.  I chose Oreo cookies.  (Double stuffed-duh.  You could go with any sandwich type cookie obviously)

3.  Staple the topper to the top of the bag.

Wha-la!  You are done.

I told you that would be easy.  Now go enjoy a cup of hot cocoa.  Pat yourself on the back.  Because your valentines are all taken care of.

**There is an alternative way to make these toppers.  I know that some of you are averse to all that spendy computer ink.  Don't worry, I've got your back.  The second option that you have is to buy some cute  cardstock at your local craft store.  Cut it into rectangles.  Mine measured about 3.5 inches by 4.5 inches.  Fold those in half.  Your topper should now measure about 1.75 inches by 4.5 inches.  Print out the "white" part of the tag here.  Cut them out and glue them onto your cardstock toppers.  You will have to hand write the greeting on the back.  Sorry.  There are sacrifices that come with saving a few bucks.

I'm linking up with:

Whipperberry 
Blissful and Domestic

Santa Hat Bag Toppers

 
My daughter was so excited to make Santa Sucker Favors for all of her friends.  We decided to keep with the whole Santa theme for the packaging.  These are super simple to make and give.  Grab some red and white construction paper or card stock, some cotton balls, and a stapler.

First we made red triangles for the hat.  Easy.
Second we made white strips for the trim.  Make the strip double the width of your hat.  You want it to wrap around the back of the bag.  We went ahead and printed a Christmas greeting on the trim.  You certainly wouldn't have to.
Third, we folded down the tip of the hat and glued on a cotton ball.

To assemble, insert your Santa beard and a sucker into a cellophane bag.  Fold down the top of the bag a time or two.  Place the hat over the fold, wrapping the trim around the back.  Staple.  And you're done!

HOHOHO...Merry Christmas!

Santa Sucker Favors

 
This has got to be one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time!

And all of the credit goes to my amazing sister-in-law who happens to share my name.  Three cheers for Julie!!!  I'm hoping to convince her to share her awesomeness with us on a regular basis!

I love this craft/favor for many reasons.  It's simple.  It requires very little ink to print and only a pair of scissors to execute.  Little hands could make this happen.  It totally and completely makes me smile!

1.  Print out the free printable here.  You will want to print it on a piece of white cardstock.
2.  Cut out the Santa moustache/beard combo.
3.  Punch or poke a hole just below the moustache.
4.  Add a sucker. (dumdum, tootsie, or something more gourmet)
5.  Grab a camera...because you are going to want to snap some pictures of your cute little Santas!

This would be the perfect craft/favor for a classroom party.  Or to bust the boredom when the kids get out of school for Christmas vacation.  My kids want to give them to all of their friends for Christmas!  And why not??

I'm linking up with:

Whipperberry

Winter Formal

My son was invited to the high school winter formal last weekend.  It is a girl's choice dance.  Dances are so fun.  Fun for him because he gets to get all dressed up and escort a beautiful young lady for the evening.  And fun for me because I get to make a corsage.  It's definitely getting easier.  The hardest part is finding the right color of flower.  You never know what's going to be available at the local grocery store/Costco.  I had to go to two different stores to find white roses.  But, I think it all turned out OK.  What do you think?

 

Homecoming Corsages

 

Tonight is the big Homecoming dance at our local high school.  I attempted to make some corsages for the occasion.  I'm getting a little better.  Practice makes perfect, right?  My son's date is wearing a royal blue gown with gold jewelry.  So we went with white roses and white carnations and gold accents.

 
My son's  friend asked me to make a corsage for him too.  His date is also wearing a blue gown, but with silver accents.  You can barely see the silver ribbon in this picture (on the right side).  I think it looks very elegant.  And the flowers smell divine!

I bought a bouquet of two dozen roses at Costco and the carnations at WalMart.  I made two corsages and a boutonniere.  And I have a gorgeous bouquet of the leftover flowers on my dining room table.  By the time all was said and done, it only cost me ten dollars.  Not too bad.

Bus Driver Appreciation

**CHECK OUT MY NEW MAIL TRUCK CANDY WRAPPERS

We just had a whole week devoted to appreciating teachers.  But, why should they get all the fun?  There are so many people that make the school year successful and keep our children safe and happy.  As I was making this little gift, I kept thinking that those little candy bars would make the cutest little buses!  And I was right!

You know by now, that I have a little love affair going on with these Hershey Nuggets.  They are the most fun candy to work with.  And they taste great too!  To make these little gems, just follow the steps below:

1.  Print out the digital file 

2.  Cut-out the "buses" and the bag topper.

3.  Wrap the "buses" around a Hershey Nugget and secure in place with tape or glue.  I like to use glue dots.

4.  Toss your "buses" into a cellophane bag.

5.  Fold your bag topper in half and staple over the cellophane bag.

6.  Greet your bus driver with this little goodie tomorrow morning and let them know how much you appreciate them!

These little buses are also terrific for bus themed birthday parties or back-to-school treats!
 

[Prom Week] Bunting

So, this weekend is our high school prom.  My son asked his date about five or six weeks ago.  We have been making plans ever since.  I can not believe how expensive prom can be.  It's craze-balls.  By the time you buy your dance tickets, rent the tuxedo, buy a corsage, and pay for dinner you are easily in the $200 range.  That's a lot of money for a teenager who hasn't had a job since last summer.  Believe me, those funds were exhausted long ago.  And that's a lot of money for Mom to fork over.  Time to get creative.

Color me crazy, but I volunteered to host seven couples for a formal dinner.  Each young man is donating $25 to the cause (which is quite a bargain if you ask me).  We were able to secure a wonderful location for free.  Some friends are letting us borrow a couple of round tables and enough chairs for everyone.  My niece, who is an amazing pianist, has graciously agreed to play the grand piano for us while they dine.  Her husband is dusting off his tuxedo and has agreed to be the waiter.  I have been working on the menu and the table decor.  I still want them to have the experience of a fancy restaurant without the cost.  So, I am trying to recreate that atmosphere as best I can.  I plan on using my fine china and crystal.  I have a couple of long white table cloths and some natural linen table toppers in my collection (leftover from one of my brother's weddings I think).  I decided to accent them with bits and pieces of yellow.  Doesn't yellow just scream "spring"?  It's such a happy color.

And it has all kind of grown from there.

I thought I'd bring you along on my adventures this week as I get everything ready.

First up.  Decorations.  On the cheap.

I purchased some card stock at Hobby Lobby on sale yesterday and made some paper bunting.  I was able to make six long strands for under seven dollars.  I apologize for the really dark pictures.  I could not get the lighting to work.  I used  craft brown, yellow, champagne, white, and polka dot papers.  I was originally going to cut circles, because I love circle garlands.  There is just something about them that I am drawn to.  But in the end, I chose triangles.  For two reasons.  They are very easy to cut and there is very little waste.  I cut the triangles four inches high and three inches across the base.  Then I punched two holes to string them and ran a piece of white yarn through.  Simple.  I think they turned out really cute.

Last night I had the idea to make some little favor bags for the girls.  I decided to incorporate the bunting into the favor.  I used a fine tip black sharpie to draw a line onto some muslin bags that I already had in my stash.  Then I appliqued some tiny fabric triangles onto the line to make the "bunting".  I may stamp their names along the bottom or maybe just put "prom 2012".  We'll see.  I plan on filling these tiny bags with lemon drops.

Bunting.  So fun.  What do you think?

Notes of Appreciation

Personal notes.  A whole pack of them.  Written by you and your kids.  Or a classroom of kids.  Just fill in the blanks or write a personal note right on top of the graphic or on the back.  Whatever.

What better way to say thanks to a special teacher?  The cuteness lies in the packaging.  Have you ever made your own notepad?  You are going to love this.  This is a skill that every crafter needs to have in their bag of tricks.  The options are endless.

For our intents and purposes, you will need the following:

padding compound
binder clips
piece of heavy card stock
small paint brush
cover pages and thank you notes-click here

Step One:  Print out the notes.  Just click on the link above and print away.  There should be three pages worth.  I printed mine on card stock.

Step Two:  Cut the notes out with a paper cutter.

Step Three:  Stack your notes together.  Make sure they are all facing the right direction.  Put the cover page on top on the back cover--well, on the back.  Make sure it faces out.

Step Four:  You are going to want to sandwich your notepad with a heavier card stock to prevent drips down the front or the back.  I used the back of an old steno pad.  I just cut it about the same size as my note cards.  It doesn't matter if it looks pretty.  You are going to discard these two pieces before we are done.

Step Five:  Tap your note cards (and ugly card stock) on the tabletop so the tops and sides are all aligned.  Hold them in place with binder clips.

Step Six:  You want quite a bit of pressure on your paper, so the bonding compound doesn't drip down in between.  I decided to use some thin pieces of wood to even out the pressure.  You will also want to clamp it down tight with some heavy binder clips.  My honey insisted on using the mega clamps from the wood shop.  If you've got em--use em.  If not, I'm sure binder clips will work just fine.  If you are worried about it, practice with some scratch notepads.

Step Seven:  Open your padding compound.  You can buy it here.  We inherited this vintage jar from my husbands office.  It's gotta be twenty years old.  I was a little nervous that it would be rock solid when I opened the jar.  But, after a few quick stirs, it was perfect.  I think this jar will last us about a hundred years.  You only need a tiny bit.

Step Eight:  Take a small paint brush (nothing fancy--I used my daughters watercolor brush from her crayola box).  Brush the compound across the top of your notepad.  Let it dry for thirty minutes.

Step Nine:  Remove the clamps and remove the ugly cardboard from the front and back.

Step Ten:  Have your kids fill in their memories and write little notes.  Admire everyone's work!

And now for a little surprise ending...Bank Notes!

If you want to take this little gift from great to WOW, add a few bank notes to the back of your notepad.  I chose to use one dollar bills.  You want them as crisp and clean as possible.  Don't be afraid to iron them if you need to.  It doesn't have to be much.  Five dollars?  Ten?  Twenty?  I made the note cards to be the exact same size as a dollar bill.  So, before you embark on step four, throw a few dollar bills into your stack.  You could intersperse them or put them all at the end for a little surprise.  I don't know of any teacher that couldn't use a little extra cash in their rainy day fund.  They could put it towards their classroom supplies, or happy hour at Sonic, or go to their favorite sandwich place for lunch.

Appreciation.  That's what we're talking about!

Need another teacher appreciation gift idea?  Click here!

I'm linking up with:

Skip To My Lou

Whipperberry

.

Pie for Pi Day

We are big math fans at our house.  Especially when it comes to pi day!  You know, March 14th?  Pi Day.  As in 3.14 et cetera et cetera.

We like to celebrate with pie.  What can I say?  Pie is always a good idea.  I took the fast track and opted for an ice cream pie.  Unfortunately for you, motherhood called and I did not remember to take pictures until it was too late.  Mostly because I had to hurry!  My son called just as I was getting started and needed some things dropped off at the soccer field.  I discovered we had dinner guests coming in an hour and a half and  I hadn't even started preparing dinner.  YIKES!  My daughter needed to be picked up from a friend's house.  And the list goes on.

I love being a Mom! Even in those scrambling moments.  Mom moments are going to trump blog moments every time.  Sorry.  No photos.

I'm not too worried though.  This is easy enough to picture in your head.  Are you ready?  Imagine with me.

A chocolate crumb crust.  Buy a pre-made version at the store or make your own.  I used some chocolate graham crackers.  Crush them into fine crumbs.  Add 6 tablespoons of melted butter and 1/3 cup of sugar.  Mix it all together and press it into your pie pan.

Chocolate Sauce.  Once again, you can buy a jar of your favorite sauce or make your own.  Homemade chocolate ganache is so much better.  You will need twelve ounces of chocolate.  I used semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Dump them into a bowl.  Pour one cup of very hot whipping cream over the top and stir.  Keep stirring until it comes together.  It takes a while.  You want it glossy and smooth.  Let it cool.  Use what you want for your pies.  Save some for a garnish.  What you don't use will store well in the refrigerator.  I made two pies.  On the first one, I poured the chocolate sauce on top of the crust.  This resulted in a brownie-esque crust.  Delicious!  On the second one, I poured it on top of the ice cream.  It was like a river of fudge embedded in the ice cream.  Choices.  Choices.

Ice Cream.  You will need a quart of your favorite ice cream.  I chose mint chocolate chip for one of the pies, and caramel butter pecan for the other.  You need to set it aside for a while.  You want it to be soft enough to spread in the pie shell.  When it is good and soft, scoop spoonfuls into the crust and gently spread it around until it is even and relatively smooth.

Whipped Cream.  I used Cool Whip.  You could certainly use homemade whipping cream.  I went for the fast option.  Spread your cool whip on top of your last layer.  (It might be ice cream or it might be chocolate ganache.  Choices, remember?)

This is what my finished product looked like:

Mint Chocolate Chip Pie.

Caramel Butter Pecan Pie!

Now place your pie in the freezer and let it firm up.  Over night would be best.  But sometimes you are in a hurry.  A few hours should work fine.

When you are ready to serve, pull it out of the freezer and let it soften for about fifteen minutes.  This will make it much easier to cut.  Garnish it with whatever you like...chocolate curls, andes mints, thin mint cookies, or more chocolate or caramel sauce.  Whatever.

Be sure to sit around the table and discuss the day's math lesson.  It's important to praise pi!  And pie.

Brown Bag Doodles

Do you recognize this guy?

Give up?  You probably know him by his pen name.  Dr. Seuss!  And guess what?  March 2nd is his birthday!  I think we should definitely celebrate.  This is a big day in the world of children's literature.  I don't know many children (myself included) that didn't grow up reading his books and enjoying his illustrations.  He has such a fun and unique style.

I wanted to do something fun in honor of his birthday.  With Dr. Seuss on my mind, I started doodling and came up with this...

brown bag doodles!  But, in my case it's a white bag.  Whatever.

Do your kids take a bag lunch to school?  Then you are totally set up for this little project.  All you have to do is print out this little doodle on your child's lunch bag and you have an instant party in the cafeteria.  Throw in a little package of crayons and your child will be the envy of all his classmates.

If you want to be an overachiever, you could add a little package of swedish fish.

One Fish.  Two Fish.  Red Fish....swedish fish?

The hardest part to this little project is orienting your bag right in the printer.  You will want to print on the flat side of the bag.  Specifically, the side that does not have a flap!  You will also want to send it through your printer with the folded "bottom" of the bag first.  Not the open ends.  Not the" top".  That way, your bag won't get all bunched and munched.  If your printer requires you to send it through with the open end first, just carefully tape it closed.  Then remove the tape after.  I have the world's oldest and lamest printer.  Mine could not handle printing directly onto the bag.  Well, I refused to be defeated.  I just taped my bag onto a piece of card stock and sent that through.  Success!



Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

*****

I'm linking up with:

Blue Cricket Design

Skip To My Lou
Uncommon 
Toys in the Dryer 
No Time For Flash Cards 
Whipperberry 
Every Creative Endeavor 
I Heart Nap Time 
Today's Creative Blog