Handmade Christmas Gift Idea

What do you get when you put this:

together with this:

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Root Beer Reindeer!

When I saw these on Fingerprints on the Fridge, I knew I had to make them. I have been trying to come up with something clever to give to Cooper's preschool teachers, and since there is a staff of nine who all work with each class, I knew it had to be something cute and on the cheap!

Total cost for this project:

$3.60 per six pack (on sale at Ralphs)

Packs of pipe cleaner, google eyes, and pom-poms (about 100 each): $10

Total cost was a little $40 for nine six-packs, or about $4.70 per six pack. 

Less than $5  per person and I have a super adorable treat for each of the wonderful teachers to show them our appreciation. It would be a great activity for the kids too!

Linking up to some of these great parties.

Simple Back to School Teacher Gifts!

When I taught preschool, close to 9 years ago, it was the little ways parents showed their appreciation for us, that really touched my heart. I decided long ago that when my children went to school, the teachers would always know how much I appreciated the hard work and dedication they put into their field.

My little guy starts "real" preschool on Monday. Over the summer he attended their summer program, but tomorrow he's in a regular classroom with his regular teacher for the whole year. I always used to think that I couldn't wait for him to start preschool, meeting new friends, bring home art projects and ouch reports. Well, I changed my mind. I can wait. Really, I can!

The past few weeks, I've been up to my eyeballs in birthday party planning, so I knew I wouldn't have much time to get things ready for his first day.

I decided to put together a few little gifts for his teachers and the staff at his preschool. It's a small school, just 10 staff members.

Here's what I decided to do:

"Apples for the Teachers"

I just wanted to do something very simple for the whole staff. I decided to give them a little healthy snack, since I know how long those first few days of school can be.

I used google search to find a cute clipart apple and I created a simple notecard in publisher:

I also included a hand written note inside, wishing them all blessings on the first day of school and through the year.

For Cooper's teachers, and the director, I put some small bottles of hand sanitizer and a few chocolates in a small bag and tied it with the same little note card, including a personal note for each teacher.

The whole set of gifts cost me about $10, and I'm hoping it will make a big impact, and will help them all feel appreciated, even as the year is just getting underway. I plan to do things like this several times throughout the year, not just around the holidays.

How did you get ready for the first day of school?

The Big Boy Room Reveal

Cooper moved into a big boy bed in February, and I *FINALLY* finished it!!

Here's what we started with:

 A not so eclectic mix of whatever.

And woods that didn't really match.

We needed two beds as Gracie, Rick's daughter, is with us on weekends. This posed a bit of a dilemma since the room couldn't be too much "boy" because a little girl would be sharing it.

I decided I would start with the bedding.

After much, much blog and web surfing I settled on bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. This was definitely a splurge, but so worth it. Their coordinating "Morgan" bedding made it easy to mix and match a quilt for Cooper, and a duvet for Gracie, since we already had a comforter for her. The sheets are PBK "Bedtime Stories" with animals reading story books - too cute!

And here's the finished space!

(Sorry I had to leave the railing on the bed...it's just too much of a pain to put back up!!)

The curtains behind the beds add great texture and height. Doesn't hurt that they were on 80% clearance at JCPenney! Yup, that's right, the curtains were under $10 per set! They also help to cover up the ugly blinds. Thanks to Wendy at The Shabby Nest for the great ideas!

The artwork above the beds is from Tiddliwink Designs, where you can find affordable PBK coordinating artwork. It was just $20 for four 8x10 prints! She designed it specifically at my request, since she didn't have the Bedtime Stories line on her website.

I made the headboards myself with fabric and batting from Joann's (love that 40% off coupon!) and pieces of plywood that I had cut at Home Depot.

The dresser was a Country Roads find, from my friend Kate's space. I love the element of shabbiness it adds to all of the new pieces in the room.

The lamp is another PBK piece, purchased with a gift card after Cooper arrived.

The "Wish" sign was on clearance at Marshall's.

All you Mommies know how much artwork comes home with your kids. Well, I've seen many ideas for how to display them out there in the bloggy world, but I decided to work with what I had on hand.

Nails, twine and clothespins. Works for me!

I also found these cute hooks at Ikea for $4. Perfect for hats and backpacks.

Now, for the best part of the room.

I present...

The reading corner!

This is my absolute favorite part of the room!!!

I wanted to keep with the Bedtime Stories theme, and since we have so many books (this is only half of our stash) I wanted a reading corner.

The shelving unit is from Ikea, and was incredibly easy to put together. The green chair was a gift card purchase from PBK. The Stitch artwork was a splurge from Disneyland right after Cooper came home...it has special meaning to me with the adoption theme. And of course since Stitch is reading a book, it fits in with my room theme as well!

The rocking chair was mine when I was little, made by my grandfather when I was just a year old.

And the tree, oh yes, the tree.

A few months ago Gracie told me we needed a tree. I finally obliged!

I work for a church, and last week was VBS. The African theme was "Under the Baobab Tree" and our fantastic youth group created these amazing trees to decorate our campus. I called dibs on a few of the branches and part of a trunk on the first day! It's just crumpled brown kraft paper, a little brown paint and strips of green tulle tied to the branches.

Cooper was beyond excited. As I was stapling the branches up (yup, staple gunned to the walls and the ceiling), he was running up and down the hall yelling "Thank you! Thank you!" Not bad - an unpromted thank you from my three year old!

So there it is, Cooper's Big Boy Room! What do you think?

Before:

After!

When Did He Grow up?

AWE n. 1.A mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might

I am in AWE of how fast the past two and a half years have gone. My son started preschool today. He cried. Well, actually, he screamed. I could hear him screaming as I walked across the courtyard to my office. It made me cry (just a little).

I'm told the crying lasted only a few minutes. Since I work for the church on the same campus, I got to watch him walking to and from the playground with his class (I wanted to take pictures, but was afraid he might see me). He had the biggest smile on his face when I picked him up, and he was all giggly in the car on the way home. I am so proud of him for being such a big boy, and yet, so sad that he's such a big boy. I know this is only the first in many of these types of milestones, so I'm holding on for the ride!

Hope you enjoy our little mini photo shoot for my baby's first day of preschool...

All photos by Rick Maxwell Photography

I asked him to sit up for his photos, he told me "No Mama, I want to sit like this."

Ok, Mr. Big Independant Preschooler!

Today I'm linking up with Alysha for her last Mono Monday challenge. I love reading Alysha's blog and looking at her photos - she's an amazing photographer, and a sweetheart to boot!

These Little Legs

These little legs are starting preschool on Monday. *sigh*

They will be

running,

and jumping,

and climbing,

and riding bikes,

and sitting criss-cross-applesauce at Circle Time.

*SIGH*

And this mommy will be crying.

A. LOT.

My saving grace is that now he'll be near me all day - since I work at a church with a preschool, that's where he'll be going. Most parents drop their kids off at preschool and have no idea what they do all day. I'm going to have a bird's eye view. And that makes me happy. *smile*

You Capture