Here is another idea for a teacher gift...this one for your child's main teacher. My previous post here showed the ones I made for my child's enrichment teachers. This is the one that I made for my son's teacher a couple of weeks ago for Teacher Appreciation. I love how it turned out and I think she did too!
It's super easy.

I got a large jar...I got this one months ago at Ikea but they have ones like it at Hobby Lobby and Michael's (and don't forget...Hobby Lobby has glassware on sale half off right now!). I found this adorable label for the top here....isn't it wonderful when people share their talents! She has some other ADORABLE ones too, absolutely perfect! YEA! I simply printed it out on my printer, cut it out, and then modpodged it to the top of the jar!

then I checked at the school to see if they had lists for the teacher's "favorites"...these are usually in a binder at the front office of most schools. They did so that made it even better! I found out her favorite candy, favorite drink, and the best places to get her a gift card.
That's what I used to fill the jar. (the coke can is one of those miniature ones, super adorable and it fit wonderfully!)

I added some ribbon (regular ribbon, not gift wrap) and some beads to make it a little cuter.

:0)

I am having so much fun making teacher gifts! These are for my son's enrichment teachers... Spanish, Music, PE, Art, and Librarian. I wanted something nice but affordable.

This is how it happened:
Hobby Lobby has glassware on sale (they do this week too! Until June 4th!) so I grabbed some of these ADORABLE jars! I thought I was going to use baby food jars but when I saw these, I couldn't resist. On sale for only $1 each made it even sweeter! :0)

next I measured the top of the jar. I used my Silhouette to cut out a circle and a pawprint that I thought would fit on top. I first cut them out on regular white paper to make sure the size was right. You don't have to use a Silhouette..you can trace something the right size (such as a little cup, the lid itself...) and print out a pawprint and then trace that. :0)

Once I knew they were the right size, I loaded the yellow/gold cardstock into my silhouette and had it cut out enough circles.
I modpodged the circles to the tops of the jars. I let it dry and did a couple more layers of modpodge.

Then I cut the pawprints out of blue vinyl. (the school colors are blue and gold) I simply placed those on top.

I also cut out blue circles (a bit smaller than the ones for the lids) and yellow/gold tags that say "Just for you".

I modpodged those together and did a few coats of modpodge. After they dried I wrote "Thank you for a great year! Love,...." on the back of each one.

A few strands of curling ribbon and some M&Ms and they were finished!
I LOVE how they turned out!

Cost breakdown:
$1 jar
$1 worth of M&Ms (I got the party size bag for $7, filled all 5 jars and still have some left)
approx. .75 cents in paper and vinyl...(vinyl being the most expensive part but I got mine with a coupon for half off)

around $2.75 each
Super sweet!
:0)

Sometimes it takes me a while to post things....like this time. :0) Here are some little crafts I made for Mother's Day for the kiddos I keep during the week.

They are both super simple and could be made for Father's Day!

The first one is a bucket of love. I simply traced the little boy's hand (which wasn't easy... he's only 8 months old and did NOT want me to trace his hand) and then cut it out. I used that to trace a bunch more in various colors. Then I taped them to long skewers...they were green ones, I think they are actually some sort of garden stakes. I cut a piece of foam (just the cheap white kind...not floral foam) and put it in the bottom of the bucket. I pushed the stakes in, cutting them to various heights, until I thought it looked ok. I simply used stickers I already had on hand to make the "i love you" on the front. You could put anything there. Then you could attach a cute note that said "A bucket of love"...or whatever you wanted. :0)
(sorry for the horrible photo, I forgot to take one until I was on the way to deliver it!)

The second one is one of my all time favorite things to do. It is super easy and I think they are beautiful! For this one, I let the older son (he's 3) paint a plain frame. (Be sure to remove the glass first!) I got it at Michael's for $3 (I think)... We just used kid's washable tempera paint...nothing fancy. After he was finished I took it outside to spray paint a few coats of clear lacquer on it to protect it and give it a finished look. I had previously traced his and his brother's hand-print onto regular white cardstock. Now that I knew what colors the frame was, I chose two coordinating papers from my paper stash. I traced their hand-prints onto the cardstock and cut them out. I used another piece of cardstock for the background and taped it all down. (You can't really tell in the photo, it was a pearly white cardstock for the background, really added some sparkle). Then I simply wrote their names and Mother's Day on it.

i think it turned out GREAT! :0) The Mom has it in her kitchen in a beautiful black picture stand and it looks really nice!

Thanks for stopping by!
:0)

There are some things that are wonderful about your kids getting older...one that I am recently experiencing is their ability to help clean...really clean. My kids have always been responsible for cleaning their room (that usually meant picking up all toys, dirty clothes, etc) and cleaning their "area" such as the table after eating or craft table after creating.
NOW though they can do so much more!

They still have to do their basics and we don't give any sort of allowance
BUT I'm ok with offering $ for doing "extras" if they want.
Caleb's new choice for earning money is cleaning up the "mess" that the dogs leave in the backyard. This is my LEAST FAVORITE CHORE ever so I happily give him a few bucks each time he does it (which is on Saturdays).
Georgia is not so fond of that chore so she wanted to do something else. I decided to have her clean the bathroom (heck, if you're going to find extra chores for your kiddos AND pay them to do it, it may as well be the ones you like least RIGHT?) :0)

It was actually really fun to truly teach her how to CLEAN a bathroom, really clean it.
She did a great job too! She learned to take everything off the counters first then clean the counters and sink, then clean the mirrors, the toilet next, and be sure to empty the trash.



We didn't go as far as mopping the floor or cleaning the tub but I was thrilled with how well she did! :0) It was wonderful!
The fact that she enjoyed it too is a bonus.
and it only cost me A BUCK!

:0)
(I look forward to them being able to really fold clothes...I may love my laundry room now but I still despise laundry!)

I've mentioned before some of the many things we love about spring and one of them is the BIRDS that ALWAYS come nest on our front porch. We were a little worried this year, we hadn't seen them yet and it seemed like it was getting late in the season for it. We also usually hang ferns out for them to nest in and we took a different route this year. We were afraid they decided they didn't like actual bird houses...
alas, they arrived! :0)
(I hope to get better photos...right now these are from inside the window that looks out to them...through the glass...they are still a bit skiddish of me out there with them)
So far we only have one family, in Georgia's house, leaving Caleb's empty (he's not real happy about that). BUT they are a delight to watch. They eat from the feeder and they zoom in and out of their house with nesting materials. They also hang on the porch and sing beautifully! WE ARE LOVIN' IT! We almost always have our front window open so we can enjoy them throughout the day. It's a perfect setup actually. We even added something new to it this year...a little bag of nesting materials! We went around the house (Georgia and I) and talked about what birds like to make their nests out of, then we found what we could. We used a loofah that we cut a section from and filled it with: cotton balls, ribbons, straw, dog hair (just a few strokes of the furminator on Eli gave us PLENTY of that!), moss, and sticks.

Then I just used the staple gun to attach it to the post. It is right between the feeder and the bird houses.

Now they have all they need right in one area! :0) So far their favorite materials from our bag is the cotton and the dog hair.

Next year I am going to use a suet bird feeder to put our nesting materials in...I think our loofah mesh may be a bit small...
YEA BIRDS! We can't wait to watch and listen for eggs to hatch!
:0)

I had two little projects that I did lately that make a big difference for me! :0)

The first is homemade laundry detergent. I never thought I'd do this. I knew people who did, I saw it a lot on various blogs, I just always thought "Nope, I like my Gain just fine thanks". Then I kept seeing it.
I started to ponder...why not?
(ok, also I was redoing my laundry room and didn't want a big ugly jug of detergent messing up the cuteness!)
I looked it up some more online
SOOO many people say they love it, say it works. That many people can't be wrong, right?
I also LOVED that it was a little way to save money.

the last part....
it seemed super easy.

Cute
Cheap
Easy

I LOVE THOSE WORDS!

So I did it! I used this recipe.
I really do love it!
It works!
It is super easy!
It uses ONE TABLESPOON PER LOAD! How crazy is that!
I also started using vinegar for fabric softener...when I remember to go add it during the rinse cycle...


The second project is a menu folder and board. I saw adorable ones here (aren't hers absolutely beautiful!?). I loved it immediately! I also print out recipes or use my recipe cards..then I have them laying on the counter while I cook. They get FILTHY (I am NOT a neat cook!). This project solved that problem completely! They are inside my cabinets right next to my stove. I didn't put the folder above the magnet board because it would be too hard for me to reach (I'm not very tall...or tall in any sense of the word..in case you don't know me irl). It was a very easy project and again super cheap! Paper, a metal sign I found for LESS THAN $2 at the Hobby Lobby clearance aisle, and the most expensive part... velcro pieces to hang it with.


There ya have it, two super easy projects I did that make a BIG IMPACT in my little world.

:0)

Hellllloooooo! :0)

My Mom had a funny/fun way of answering the phone. It was the long "Hellloooo" with the high pitch at the end...the one from City Slickers if you ever saw that movie. It's what she did.

She also scratched my back EVERY time I saw her. I would lay across her lap without saying a word and just lay there quietly while she scratched my back. Some times we would talk and others just watch tv (tv was almost always on in my Mom's house).

She also gave great hugs. The real front-faced-squeeze-ya-hard kind. Not a wimpy kind.

She also loved to dance. As a matter of fact, two days before she passed away I helped her stand and made her dance with me...to "Honkey Tonk Badonkadonk". Yep, you read that right. She loved that song. We shook our botties together. I had NO IDEA that she would pass away two days later...so I'm so very glad that I went with the urge and danced with her.

She LOVED to read. She read MULTIPLE books DAILY! The trashy romance novels...(ugh!). She would go to the library with a plastic grocery bag, fill it up, and walk out. They didn't bother actually checking them out to her. They knew she would be back in a couple of days...to empty the bag and refill it. I am so glad I got the love of reading from her. I don't like the same type of books but I read and go through books much faster than my husband can understand.

Ya know, I could go on and on with all of the wonderful things about my Mom that I want to take the time to remember today but the main thing, the biggest thing, that sticks out in my mind about my mom...
she loved me. She loved me so much. I knew it, I NEVER doubted it. She was absolutely the rock in my life that I needed. She NEVER faltered from that...she was absolutely supportive and understanding (and let me tell you...I wasn't always easy to support or understand!). She always told me that I could get through anything, that she always believed in me, and that while life may not always be easy, it was always worth it.
She was the greatest.
She truly was.

I miss her so very much today, a day that I wish I could tell her all of those things I remember and miss about her.

I pray that you have an amazing Mom and that you take the time to tell her that. I pray that if there is anything standing between you and your Mom, that you can put it aside and reach out to each other. If your Mom has passed away, I pray that you can remember wonderful things about her and know how truly blessed we all were to have great Moms.

:0)

In the wonderful project of redoing my kids' room, I knew I wanted to put up bulletin boards. I considered magnet boards (to avoid tacks in their room) but bulletin boards were a much cheaper route.

I started with a bulletin board my friend gave me that she didn't want anymore. It was just your basic, big bulletin board. Looked like this:
I kept my eye open for another one (two kids = two boards) and mind open for what I would do with them.
I found this one at Hobby Lobby, on the clearance aisle (one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE PLACES!) , for less than $4!!!!
I LOOOOVED the nice frame around it, I loved that it was white...I just loved it!
For $3.99 I knew I had to get it! Who wouldn't right?

Can you believe it??? It was perfect! Well, it was perfect for me... it was less than $4 because it had a chipped corner. Who am I to care about a chipped corner though? I knew I was going to personalize the boards so I would probably be able to cover the broken piece. SO.... YEA! :0)
So...my next task was to find one for my son. I already had the bulletin board part (the one my friend gave me), so I just needed to figure out a nicer way to frame it.
I went to Michael's and found this:

A huge gorgeous frame on sale cheap because the glass was gone. Since I knew I didn't want glass anyway, it was perfect! :0) And only $4.99!!!

First I took the frame off of the bulletin board. It just sort of fell right off, no problem at all. (this wasn't a very expensive board) Then I cut the bulletin board (the inside part) down to the right size. I simply used a box cutter and it was super easy. (I thought I took photos of the next steps but I can't find them...??? so maybe not)

I bought some letters from the craft store...just plain letters, I think they were around $1.50 each. Then I dug out some clothes that we were going to donate, clothes that didn't fit the kiddos anymore. I found some that were the colors I wanted and then cut some strips of the fabric. I didn't measure, I didn't worry about if I was cutting straight, didn't make it super difficult...just grabbed the scissors and cut. Then I let my daughter help me wrap the letters with the fabric. :0) We put a dab of hot glue on and started wrapping, overlapping the starting/ending points with a new strip of fabric so it would hold it all in place. At the end we put another dab of hot glue to hold it down. That was it...two dabs of glue and wrapping...super easy and my daughter had fun. :0)
(Caleb's board is bigger than Georgia's so it makes his letter look smaller...)

I think they turned out perfect!
Here they are hung up...giving my kiddos a place to put the art work that they used to tape all over their walls (and bed, door, etc!) :0)
Total cost for BOTH boards: $12! :0)

thanks for stopping by!
~robin

Last Wednesday I posted our solution for stuffed animal storage (here).
The shoe organizer works PERFECTLY for smaller stuffed animals, absolutely perfect! I love it!
but
it left us with the problem of our larger ones.
I thought I was going to have to buy a hamper and rig something myself
BUT
they actually make exactly what I wanted
EXACTLY!

Adjustable so it drops lower

big enough to fit the animals
only cost $5
AND
a zipper on the bottom for access!

WOOHOO!
:0)
how do you store stuffed animals?
Find more tips for everyday life at Works for Me Wednesday!

We went to a company picnic this past weekend and they had a zip line you could go down. I knew immediately that I wanted to go on it! I was more excited though when my son said he wanted to! As the afternoon grew later we knew we better get to the zip line while we could, before it closed. Good thing we went when we did because just 10 people after us, they stopped letting people get in line! The wind picked up, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees (seriously, it did QUICKLY!) and there we stood....for over an hour and a half! And my boy did great! There was NO fussing, whining, or complaining! I was so impressed! We visited with the people around us, we shivered in the wind, and we waited. and waited. and waited.

We finally got to the bottom of the rope wall that we were to climb up.
With harness on and helmet in place, Caleb went first. He was up at the top before I even realized it! I can't believe how quickly he made it!


I went up next and when I got there Caleb was getting hooked up to go. We couldn't go at the same time (they had two zip lines parallel to each other) because a sweet girl was already hooked up on the other one...but too terrified to go. So it was Caleb's turn and he was ready to go, without a second thought!

It was like he aged 5 years and I didn't know where my little boy had gone! There was no need to convince him, reassure him, NOTHING! WOW!
This one is me...
I was so proud of Caleb, so excited for him.
He was such a big boy....
and he loved it. :0)

so did I....
I think it's going to always be one of my favorite memories to share with him.
Oh, and I liked the zipline too. :0)