Teacher Gift

Hello hello!! How was your summer? I'm sad to say that the last week of our summer was filled with throwing up, laundry, throwing up and more laundry. We all took our turn with the flu bug except my little 1 year old (hallelujah!). But thankfully we are all feeling better, just in time to send my oldest off to 1st grade!! I can't believe it!

I couldn't pass up the chance to make a fun gift for my son's teacher. My inspiration came from Amanda over at Shindig Parties To Go. She made Oreo Apple Pops, and put them in a cute vase covered with pencils. So I used her idea, and made it my own. Please forgive me for the horrible pictures! I still can't find my camera, so these were taken with my ipod! :)
Ok, here's my version

I used Amanda's tutorial to make the apple pops, so check it out HERE if you need a tutorial. Do you want to see how I made the super cheap version of the vase? Well, I started out with this

I didn't want to spend anything on the container, and was lucky enough to see the Parmesan cheese container in our recycle pile! I just washed it out, removed the packaging,
and cut it just a bit shorter than a crayon. The crayons I got at walmart for less than $1,
and the Styrofoam ball was in my craft stash. $1 for the vase? I can handle that!!

I just started gluing the crayons to the outside of the vase. I was going to use my hot glue gun, but ended up using E-6000 glue instead. This turned out to be a very good thing when I got to the last crayon and realized it wouldn't fit. Since the E-6000 stays wet for a while,
I was able to go back and space them better so there wasn't a huge gap.
I tied a ribbon around and glued the bow to the crayons. Then I glued the Styrofoam ball
to the bottom of the container. I first tried the E-6000, only to find out it made half
of the ball disintegrate! So use hot glue to glue the Styrofoam to the bottom! I also lined the inside of the vase with white paper....I'm not sure why. I just did! :)

I used raffia to tie the bags around the apple pops, as well as to hide the Styrofoam in the vase.

Here's my sweet 1st grader (ahhhh!) ready to give the gift to his teacher!

What do you think?! Did you do anything fun for your kids first day of school? If you need more ideas, Jess made some adorable cards for her kids teachers, found HERE.  Or Jacki did a whole week of teacher appreciation gifts HERE.  I also made a supply box for my sons teacher last year that turned out really cute.  Check that one out HERE!

Thanks for reading!!

Juli

Linking to THESE fabulous parties!

Birthday Fun!

For those that don't know, it's our little sister Jessica's birthday today.
Yahoo! So in honor of her we are posting her cuteness and other birthday ideas today.
This is a picture of Jess when she was about 2. Isn't she adorable?!

And this is her now (Minus one baby) Isn't she GORGEOUS!

Happy Birthday Jess! Hope your day is full of fun!

*Birthday Ideas from the Roper House*
In our family the boys only get a BIG birthday party every four years.
The other years they get a family party and they get to go some
place fun with one of their friends.
So we really have to make THEIR day even more special.
When they were little I would make them breakfast in bed so their morning would be fun.
Now they eat breakfast at school, so instead we decorate their beds while they're sleeping.
It makes getting up on your birthday even better and my boys really enjoy it.

Here is when my son turned 11.
He is really into black right now (eww...gross) so we used black and white streamers.
He loved it because there was only one place you could get out!

The birthday child also gets to pick dinner on their birthday.
Most often the two oldest boys pick the longest to make food, crepes.
The littlest almost always wants pizza.
At dinner the birthday child gets to eat on the special plate.



I made this plate at a pottery place a couple of years ago and it is only used on special occasions. The boys love using it and it makes me happy to see their excitement.

*Other Birthday ideas*

At church I work with the Young Women 12-18.
For their birthdays I make them candy leis.
They are so quick, easy and the girls love them.


First, you take about a 1 1/2 yards of cellophane and cut it into three pieces length wise.
Second, lay 9-12 fun size candy in a row


Third, tape the two sides together over the candy.
This will make it so it doesn't fall out.
Fourth, take a piece of curling ribbon and tie between candies.

Lastly, curl the ribbon and tie ends together.
Here's me modeling it for you! Ooo la la!

What traditions or ideas do you have for birthday fun? Let us know.

Jacki :)

Linking up to these fabulous link parties!!

So Thankful!

Last week my 4 1/2 yr old was in the hospital for asthma and pneumonia. I was so thankful for the nice nurses that tried so hard to make him comfortable and happy. So I wanted to make sure I left them a Thank You card. They all deserve a nice thank you. It just happened to be National Nurse week last week and I hope all of can thank your nurse the next time you see them for all the hard work they do.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy!

Teacher Gift

So for my first post, I thought I'd share a craft I made last month for my sons student teacher. She was only his teacher for a couple months while his teacher was on maternity leave, but she was amazing! My son is very quiet (at school, not at home :) ), and often times gets overlooked. She paid attention to him and made him feel so special. So I needed something amazing for her, and I found it on one of my all time favorite blogs! Eighteen25 has some of the best ideas for all things creative! You should definitely check out their site. So, here's my version of their awesome idea.

A box full of goodies that any teacher would love!!

And what could be better than a personalized message for his favorite teacher to see each time she opens it?

This project was so much fun, and his student teacher loved it! I think I might just have to make this again for his actual teacher at the end of the year.

Thanks for reading!!

Juli

Linking to
Funky Polkadot Giraffe 
Sisters Stuff 
Gluesticks