Teacher Appreciation Gift

Teacher appreciation gift

Having both parents as teachers and several family members that are teachers, I know first hand that teaching is hard. No matter if it’s a 2 day a week preschool or a full time high school teacher, they work hard to help our kids grow. So on the last day of school, why not shower them with some love and show our thanks?

You don’t need to spend lots of money. Most teachers really do believe that it’s the thought that counts. I like to do something more homemade to show I put thought into their gift. Plus it’s fun to get the kids involved in making a “thank you” gift for their teacher.

As always, I searched through Pinterest for some ideas. There are so many great ideas! One that I loved had a card that said, “Thank you for helping me grow”. That was perfect. It really fit. You can find the post from Three Kids and a Fish HERE.

Here’s what I did.

You’ll need:

Clay pot

Flower

Spray paint

Stick on Glitter Letters

Ruler

Optional – Gift card

Here’s what to do:

First you want to spray paint your pots. I LOVE LOVE LOVE chalky paint. If you haven’t tried it, you need to. It is amazing coverage and results! I chose an ivory color.

Then you stick on your letters. First we were just going to stick random letters all around the pot. But then my son decided that we needed to put her name on it so she would know it was for her. (ahh, I just love him!)

Once we got our letters on, we eased out the beautiful lily from it’s plastic pot and added it to our clay pot. I’m a bit of a neat freak, so I always line the pots with a coffee filter so the soil doesn’t come out of the drainage hole when you water it. 20160525_230823.jpg

I bought these rulers because they had a hole at the top, perfect for attaching my note. But they are a flexible plastic and it made it harder to get them to stand upright (you’ll see further down).

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I created my own “thank you” tag. Below is a blank one you can print. To get the size I used, I printed 6 to a page. I also added a Starbucks gift card to the back.

Help me grow

I attached the tags with a little ribbon and poked the rulers into the soil.

Here they are! I think they are so cute! What do you do for teacher gifts? Also check out our Lollypop bouquets! Easy to make and are sweet!

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Lollypop Bouquets final

Favorite Pinterest Finds

3 favorite finds

Don’t you love when you find something great on Pinterest and then can find or make it in real life? Me too! These are a few of my favorites that I found on Pinterest that led me to things that made life easier and WAY better.

Travel Bag

First up is a travel bag. I used to have this great weekender bag that I LOVED. Then in some freak accident my husband destroyed it. After much sadness, I let it go and started the search for another. Pinterest is a great place for window shopping. Pictures of items from all over are right there in your search bar. All of my favorites were these beautiful canvas and leather bags that were $150+ or just not available.

Once I knew what style I wanted, there started a more specific search. This lead me to my awesome neighbor that sells Thirty-One! They have the cutest weekender bag, with the fold-over top, and you can monogram it!!

Then I found a cinch bag, that matches, to use as my everyday grab and go diaper bag and also, a toiletry bag, that matches, that I can easily pack in my weekender or hook onto the strap. ALL MATCHING! Love!

Travel bags 1

The weekender is so large. I can fit all of my stuff for a long weekend and the stuff for my 2 kids (1&3 year old) in this bag. For a week trip, I fit my stuff and my 1 year olds easily. It has a shoulder/cross-body strap as well as generous shoulder handles. I hosted a party when it was on special, got if for less than half the list price. The cinch bag was $20 and cool enough my hubby doesn’t mind carrying it. Talk to your local consultant or I will direct you to mine. You won’t be sorry.

Reusable Food Pouch

My kids love squeeze pouches. They would eat all of their food with them if I’d let them. They can be expensive though! Store brands might be $.88-$.99, but others are upwards of $1.50. Ummm, no.

The last straw was all the contamination reports and recalls for these pouches. With our baby girl a little older now, I could make the time to make my own pouches. Then I could be confident letting them suck down their dinner, and sneak in veggies.

There are endless versions of these. The Sweeter Side of Mommyhood shared these and what she did:

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I found the following and have loved them. They are from Nourishwithstyle.com, although I got a great deal on mine through Zulily. They are dishwasher safe, but I usually just hand wash them with a bottle brush and let them air dry. They have a zip lock bottom, where you fill from, and twist off lids.

I even added a special plastic container to the fridge where these are stored for easy kid access.I’ve found that they are best stored on their side. They paid for themselves in one use. ONE! We have used them over and over and they look great.

 

Baggy Holder

Last, but not least, I found this great little kitchen gadget, a Baggy Holder Storage Rack. I know you are probably thinking this one is silly. I did too until I used it.

If you make frozen dinners, meal prep, you NEED this in your kitchen. Maybe even two.

It snuggly holds your zip lock bags open so you can easily add all your prepped food for freezing. It’s also great for leftovers that you are adding to a bag.  This also works if you are reusing the plastic bags. Just wast them out and set them upside down on the arms to dry.

This folds super flat, maybe only an inch tall, and is adjustable for different sizes of zip lock bags. You can find them at Bed Bath & Beyond, but I got mine on a great deal from Zulily .

Have you found any great or even life changing things on Pinterest? Please share!

DIY Tutu & Tutu Wreath!

 

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I know, I know. The items in this “how to” are probably old news to everyone. But this is new to me!
So my baby girl is about to turn one. ONE! Where has the time gone? We had planned just a small “cake only” party and I was keeping it simple…then I caught the tutu bug.

I wasn’t going to do one at all. How overrated, right? But then I thought, what if this is my only chance to have her sweet self in a tutu of my choosing for a party only I will remember? What if she is a total tomboy, which is fine as was her mama, but I just had to get these sweet pictures for myself, right?

Since you agree, I reached out and my wonderful neighbor pointed me to a pin on how to make your own tutu. that lead me to a video you will find if you click here. Below you will find my step by step as well as a super cute wreath I made to further her birthday decor!

Ahh, I’m TUTU crazy about this post!

After a trip to Hobby Lobby, I came home with an assortment of spools of tulle, purple, lilac, silver, and a few glitter ribbons and lace.

For the waist, I used elastic as that was what I already owned (but love the idea for the other band used in the pin). I measured it around my daughters waist and then “sewed” it together. Let’s be honest, I used needle and thread to make sure it wouldn’t move, ha ha ha.

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I found a piece of card board that was about the right length (for the tulle when cut in half) to wrap my tulle around. THIS IS THE BEST METHOD! I attached an end of my tulle with a little tape and then wrapped the tulle around the board again and again  until I reached the end.

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Then I wrapped a rubber band around each end of the cardboard just to keep the tulle in a nice, neat, easy to cut stack. You make cuts at each end, then remove the rubber bands and tulle. Continue with each color of tulle.

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Once everything was cut, I stretched my elastic band around the cardboard and used this looping method, watch the video, to attach the tulle. I alternated colors, purple, lilac, silver, until it was a full skirt.

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I even finished it up with the sleeping future birthday girl in my arms!

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The tulle just wasn’t enough for me. I decided to add purple lace and silver glitter ribbon to the tutu.

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I simply wove it in to the loops of the tulle. I know this isn’t a super secure method, but for the length of time my daughter will have it on it will probably be ok. For a tutu for dress up play, I might hot glue the extra ribbon and lace in to the elastic.

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Finally it’s complete and is so cute. Can’t wait to try it on her.
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and now…the Tutu Wreath!

I had extra tulle and I’m not one to let good supplies go to waste so I thought I’d add to my All Holidays Wreath, and make a birthday wreath! Everything I added can easily be removed.

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I used the same idea with the tulle  only I tied and then knotted the tulle. I followed the same color pattern I did with the tutu.

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Once all the tulle was used I used my purple glitter ribbon to cover the top half, held in place with the finishing nails I use for other holiday decorations. Just wrap the ribbon tightly around the wreath.

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LOVE the results! I can’t wait for her birthday to roll out the rest. Stay tuned for more Pinterest tries I’m using for her birthday!
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Mini magnets

 

Mini Magnets

I’ve seen lots of DIY magnets on Pinterest.  But these are my favorite “DIY” and are the easiest!  Shutterfly has these mini magnets, they are 2×2, and come in a set of 4. There are so many combos. You can add text, dates, and there are several options that have different backgrounds. They also have sales on them so often it’s easy to change them out.
Sign up for emails!  I recently got 4 sets of 4 for only the cost of shipping! What a deal!

The hardest part is deciding on what photos to use!

They make great gifts and are kid friendly!

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We have a few,  lol! We are looking forward to our family visits this summer so we can update pictures of the kids with their grandparents and extended family. It’s great to have pictures of everyone that they can see everyday to help them remember who they are since we live so far away.
There are also larger sizes as well,  shown below.

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