back to school: for the teachers.

we gave these giant calculators to the teachers during the first week of school. this clever idea (via eighteen25) was the perfect gift to give, especially since all three of my children are very happy to be back in school and already loving each of their teachers. we found the giant calculators at the dollar store (yes.. just a dollar!) and the tags are printable here.

do your children like to give their teachers a back to school gift?

sponge balls.

last thursday, sia celebrated her last day of preschool before taking a break for the summer. as she said goodbye to all of her sweet little classmates, she gave each of her friends a sponge ball to have fun with during the summer.

i made the sponge balls using the tutorial found here. after making enough for the entire class, i packaged each of them in cellophane bags and added a tag instructing the children to "make a splash and have a ball this summer!"

homemade peeps.

{photo by nina callaway}

i'm gushing with ideas and things i want to do for easter. last week i came across a recipe for homemade peeps. my kids would absolutely love making these sugary sweet marshmallow treats. as soon as they see the bright colored packages of peeps in stores, they are pleading for me to buy them. most definitely, i will add this to my list of easter things to do!

p.s. - this year as a little easter treat, we will be giving all the teachers peeps with this cute topper attached.

valentines delivered.

since sia will not be in school on valentines day, she proudly delivered valentines to her preschool class today. i really love the way they turned out. i saw this genius idea last year and sia gladly obliged when she knew that all of her friends would get a big lollipop.

she delivered valentines to each of her teachers too. i love quirky little sayings for valentine's day, don't you?

and, here's the gift i put together to give the teachers from the entire preschool class-- a small plant, blooming with hearts. inside the cards are reasons why each student loves their teacher. some of the answers were just so, so sweet. others were completely silly! i loved hearing what all of the children had to say.


thankfully, i now have the whole weekend to work on slade and elle's valentines and treats for their classes. i am loving that valentines day falls on a monday this year!

st. nicholas.

it seems my children have been good all year!

last night, on the eve of st. nicholas day, my children placed their shoes (actually boots) by the fireplace with hopes that st. nicholas would fill them with small gifts and treats.

when they woke this morning, they ran downstairs and found their shoes had indeed been filled with gold coins, packs of gum, little chocolate santas, lip glosses and card games!

say say my playmate.

so sweet.

a reminder of the song we have always sung to our little sia,
only replacing "say, say" with "si, si"

...it was the first song she sang on her own too!


i found it here.

wow... i'm featured!

this inexpensive teacher appreciation gift i gave to the teachers last may is being featured here. how cool is that? tip junkie, a site dedicated to DIY projects, crafts, tutorials and tips, featured it as an idea for a "meet the teacher" gift.

it definitely made me smile today.

teacher gifts.

I've been meaning to show you the gifts I gave to all of the teachers to simply say thank you and have a happy summer. Between three children, I had 19 teachers on my list to give to, which I know is a lot. So, the gift definitely had to be minimal.

I found a great idea here to let teachers know... you are O "FISH" ALLY the best! How cute is that? I was able to download the tag and then I added my own text and stamping. I filled small clear pillow boxes with red swedish fish, wrapped them with a red & white gingham ribbon, and then I attached the tags with twine.

Although it was a very small token of appreciation, I think all of the teachers loved it! (And, it was very inexpensive too!)

teacher appreciation.

Today I have busily working on putting together a few small gifts for my girls to give their teachers tomorrow in honor of Teacher Appreciation Day. I am truly thankful for all of the Preschool teachers and my girls have quite an admiration for all of them.

Since the beginning of the school year, not only have I seen my children grow academically, but they have been taught about faith, friendship, compassion, serving our community and responsibility. When I first enrolled them in Preschool, I never imagined it would be become like a family. The girls love their teachers and I am truly content as I drop them off each day knowing their teachers will give them the love and guidance they need.

Because teachers help our children to grow, I created a card for Elle's entire class to give to their two teachers. The fingerprint tree represents the growth of our children and I even added a butterfly (created from two fingerprints) to represent Butterfly class. After I gathered all of the children's' fingerprints, I thought that it was something that should be framed and so I did.
I also put together a small gardening gift for each teacher, which consists of a galvanized tin filled with gardening tools, pink garden gloves and Butterfly Garden seeds. I am hoping they will plant the seeds in memory of this year's Butterfly class.
And lastly, for the rest of the teachers, twelve in all, I wrapped up a container of Altoids Mints with printed paper, waxed twine and a small note of thanks. Simple and inexpensive, but effectively says "thank you" for being a wonderful teacher. (UPDATE:  printable of tag is here.)
How about you? Are you celebrating Teacher Appreciation Day too? What gifts will you give?

stylish wine bag.

Would you carry this? I have a friend that would. She is a boxed wine drinker and I think this is the perfect gift for her.

It truly made me laugh when I saw it.

How about you? Do you drink boxed wine? Would you carry this stylish wine bag if you did?

dear diary.

Do you journal? or, keep a diary of your daily life?

I love these mini diaries. Creatively designed and made by Marta, they are perfect for me to keep stashed in a purse so that I may jot down thoughts as I am waiting in the carpool line or even kept in the drawer of my nightstand table to write out thoughts about my day. The simple prompts and accessible size make it easy to capture memories of any day anywhere.

images via martawrites

bug houses.

The weather has been so beautiful during the past couple of weeks. Perfect for catching butterflies and bugs that seem to emerge with the season. Which is the very reason I gave all of the students in Elle's preschool class these neat bug houses as an Easter party favor.

I just thought I would share, since it is a fun thing for children to do during the Spring.

more valentine treats.

I made cupcakes and brought them into Elle's Butterfly class for a Valentine treat. I individually packaged each cupcake so that the children could easily transport them home. I also tied a the tag on with a fun Valentine straw. So fun and yummy!!