Teacher Appreciation Week

Well hello there!! Long time no blog post!! Gosh being back in school full time has become quite the juggling act, but I had to post about some super easy, inexpensive teacher appreciation gifts!! 

Last week was teacher appreciation week at my kids school. The PTO at our school decided to have the kids write a note and give a $ donation to purchase a gift card for the teacher. At last nights PTO meeting I got to see first hand how much the teacher loved their notes and gift cards. I, of course, wanted to give my kids teacher just a bit more. It didn't sit right with me that it is teacher appreciation "week" but we did not have something planned for each day of the week for them. So I did a quick search on my favorite sight Pinterest and came up with a few ideas. I came up with five small gifts to give to my son's teachers each day last week (it was super hard to narrow down all the awesome, creative ideas to 5). The best part was I was able to whip all this up for under $10.00 per teacher!!

Glue Sticks - I bought a 6 pack, split it 3 and 3, found this super cute tag, printed, and washi tape it together.

 Source: Sweet Rose Studios

Gum - Extra Gum, cute saying, washi tape it all together

 Source: Sweet Metel Moments

Nail Polish - nail polish (any kind), cute saying, washi tape it all together!

 

Source: Teachers Pay Teachers

Crayons - 1 box of crayons, and super cute saying. Washi it all together!

Source: I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Berry Lotion: 1 small tube or bottle of any type of lotion that has the word berry in it. I found strawberry at Bath and Body Works (I really need to stay out of that store!), super duper cute saying and you got it......washi tape it together. 

  

Source: Three Little Monkeys Studio

So I hope you have found and idea or two for your children's teachers as I think they have a pretty tough job and could use some appreciation!

Labeling - my favorite ways to label

I have been hard at work organizing my scrap room! Have I ever told you I LOVE to label things??? Well I do and my scrap room is my favorite place to do a labeling project. If you are a scraper you know how messy things get when your scrapping. I sometimes have to stop and clean up a bit before I can continue working on a page. 

I like to have a place for all my scrapbooking supplies and have them at my finger tips. I use several different types of storage bins to keep my supplies organized. But what good is a bin with scrapbooking supplies in them if there is no label on the outside of the bin telling me what goodies are inside. 

I have a few favorite ways to label. 

1. My favorite is Washi tape and my label maker. I use this type of labeling for file folders, but also used it in my re-organizing of my scrap room.

2. Making my own and laminating. Sometime I need a "tough" label, or a label that can get messy and would need to be wiped off. I love to make my labels in Photoshop and use all the neat fonts out there. However, for Christmas I got a Silhouette and something tells me that I will be playing with that the next time I need to make a label! 

3. My other favorite way to label is with chalkboard labels. I love to use these on containers that the contents in the container might change. I am constantly organizing. Sometimes my "OMG this is an awesome organizing idea" ends up flopping after living with the idea in action. Being able to wipe the label and write a new label makes those not so great ideas disappear!

What ways do you label? I would love for you to share your ideas. I am always looking for new ideas.

Washi Tape - I LOVE, LOVE it!!

Washi tape! Have you seen it? Have you used it? For those of you who don't know what Washi tape is, the best way I can describe it would be to compare it to masking tape, but with a pretty color or design on it. It is also some what transparent, and the best part about Washi tape is it is removable and can be re-positioned if you didn't tape it down just right. 

I had to see what all the hype was with this tape. I bought my first rolls at Target (they sell 4 rolls in a pack for $4.00!). I was hooked and began to go on a hunt for more colors and styles! I was some what disappointed that my local craft stores and big name stores did not have the tape or had a very little selection. So I went to my trusty friend Google! Wow! There are hundreds of sites that sell Washi tape! 

My next thought was "What do I do with this?" I began to play with it on my own and also looked at Pinterest for ideas. I began to get carried away with it and I do believe I now have a Washi tape addiction!

I used it on my tickler file folders (they are so pretty now). I just added the tape on the folder file and trimmed it. Then I used my label maker with clear tape!

I label the bazillion cords we have. Now when I am looking for my iPhone charger, tablet charger, or camera charger they are easy to find. I wrapped the tape around the cord and just used my label maker again. My boys are starting to have electronic gadgets, and I will be labeling their cords with their names so my cords don't disappear!

I had a small scrapbook album that I could not decide how I should design the cover.....insert Washi tape here!!! I just wrapped several pieces around the cover.

We had some friends coming over and I decided to make cupcakes. Of course I remembered seeing the cute flags for food on Pinterest so I had to do that. I wrapped the tape around a toothpick, trimmed the end to make it look like a flag and then punched up a few Valentines Day words on my label maker to slap on my flags!

I labeled my caddy that holds all my daily pens, scissors, dry erase cleaner and markers and post it notes

I am currently working on re-doing my recipe binder (post to come later on this!) so of course I wanted my tabs to look pretty!

 

I am constantly finding new ways to use this awesome tape! My question to all my Washi tape lovers out there is how are you storing your tape? I don't have many now so I am using this 3 layer snap case but I know I will be out growing that soon!

Happy Organizing!

Subway Art

I am loving the subway art I have found around the internet and seen in stores. I wanted to share this site with my readers today as these ladies make amazing subway art and the best part, they are super generous and let you download them for free! Their blog is one of my favorites as they have wonderful ideas so take a spin around it when you are there! They are the ladies of of eighteen25!

I printed their Valentines Day subway art, framed it, added a few hearts on the frame, and put it up! I love it....perfect for my Valentine's Day decor!

Here are some of their other awesome designs! Click HERE and it will take you to their site to download. Don't forget to leave them some love!

ENJOY!!

Love Bug Butterflies!

I love craft time at our house. I found this craft online and knew the kids would love to make them. 

I started running around the house telling everyone not to throw away the toilet paper rolls when they finish a roll (this happens a lot in my house so my family is used to my craziness!). I then spent some time prepping for the craft. I have found if you have all the supplies ready and you only have to give the instruction, our craft runs much smoother. I precut some Valentine scrapbook paper for the body. I then pulled out my Cricut machine and cut 1 in and 3 in hearts out of 3 solid colors (white, pink, and red) using George Basic cartridge. I also use B is for Boy cricut cartridge to cut out a mouth for each butterfly. I gathered some googly eyes and twisted some pipe cleaner around a pen. I was set to go!

We already have our buckets that have everyone's supplies in them for school or crafts. You can see them HERE in our playroom. All we needed was our glue sticks. The kids were so excited to start. 

The instructions are easy.

1. Glue pre-cut scrapbook paper around the tube.
2. Glue 1 in hearts on two 3 in hearts.
3. Glue 3 in hearts on the back of the tube to appear as wings.
4. Glue mouth and googly eyes on.
5. Attach antennas. I attempted to staple them to the tube but that was difficult so I ended up taping them to the inside of the tube. 

And here is how the kids love bug butterflies turned out!