Wednesday, May 18, 2011

School Days Autograph Book

Yes, it's happened. I have turned into my Father. And spending money for something that is just going to get thrown away in a couple years has become, well, difficult. When they sent home the note that Year Books were $15.00, I choked. Okay not really. I did throw the note away, though. Then as the end of the year approached, I felt terrible. I didn't want to be known as "The Mother Who Didn't Buy Her Kids A Yearbook". And I didn't want my kids to feel any less important. Sure, yearbooks are fun to look at once or twice, but they usually end up in the trash. Most of mine did anyway. I thought about it and decided, the best part of yearbooks is signing each others. I decided even though I couldn't justify the $30 in Yearbook fees--I would still make Yearbook signing day fun. (While I still can--cause I know this wont suffice them forever.)


Using blank index cards, my cricut, decorative paper, a hole punch, and book rings I created these autograph books. Maybe it's still not as cool as seeing every one's picture, but it sure beats having to use a sheet of copy paper for your autograph page!



Disclaimer: I have nothing against our school's year book committee. Or Yearbook's in general. I think we have a wonderful elementary school and a wonderful, hard working PTA. Thanks for a great year!! :]

Thursday, May 5, 2011

~It's Time To Appreciate Our Teacher's~

The first week of May is that time of year that we appreciate our teacher's. 
At our school they wanted us to show our love for our teachers all week long.  They had ideas like a service project, favorite treat, a list of things we like about our teacher, bring their favorite school supplies, etc.  So I have 4 different ideas I wanted to share with you.  Thank goodness tomorrow the kids are just making a card/picture for their teacher:)
Idea #1 --
What better act of kindness than brightening some one's day with flowers!
We purchased these at our local market for $5, stuck a fun printable that I found over at Skip To My Lou onto a skewer with ribbon and it made a cute gift for their teachers on Monday!!

Idea #2 --
A surprise treat in a can!
I have always wanted to make these.  I have seen them for quite some time and just never had a reason to make them.  Well Our Best Bites posted some cute Mother's Day printables along with a Teacher one and I knew this would be perfect for the kids to take.
I got can's with pop top lids, cut the bottoms off with my can opener and washed/dried them out.  Next we filled them with their teacher's favorite treats and than stuff tissue paper down inside before hot gluing the lid back on.  This helps prevent any glue from sticking to the candy if it drips:)  Than decorate and attach the label!!  Very quick, easy and FUN gift!!

Idea #3 --
"10 Things I Like About _____!"
The kids were funny trying to come up with things to write.  Dalton wanted to write things like "She meets us in the morning, than we sit down" - basically his whole day - lol. 
I thought it would be fun to give them a cute little note pad along with a pencil.  They were only a dollar at Walmart and we had these cute pencils in a pack Ellie had.  I saw this idea to stick a flower (which I doubled) through the eraser with a corsage pin (which I have tons from doing flower balls) and than cut off the end with a pair of wire cutters.
The idea was to make lots of pencils with flowers and put it in a vase like a flower arrangement:)  I may have to try that next year!!


Idea #4 --
This last idea I have been wanting to do for months and almost did it for Christmas but kept it tucked away till now.  I got the idea over at Eighteen25 from those talented ladies. 
I found a bead container at Micheal's for $1, got all the fun coordinating school supplies at Walmart and than added extra goodies that looked cute with it!
I then traced the top, cute out paper, added ribbon underneath and any other embellishments that went with it!:)  I cut out their names with my Silhouette and glued them on last.
These were my favorite and I loved how they turned out. 

I hope these help give you some ideas for your teacher's or even mother's this week.  Head over to those websites for other GREAT ideas!!!!:)

And...
♥A HUGE Thank You to ALL our Teacher's out there!!♥