Got Smarties? Here's an idea for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Warning: if you are a teacher of one of my children or one that I volunteer for, DO NOT READ THIS POST. Seriously what are you still doing reading?

My favorite week of the school year is coming up in a little over a month. Teacher Appreciation Week- May 2-6 in case you don't  have it on the calendar yet.  This year I get to plan for not a dozen (includes specials teachers), but for about 80!!!

Planning began in January. Shopping began in February. My latest purchase was today at Dollar General. Bags of Smarties for .75! I bought 10 bags. Oh yes, I did.

Now I am not going to give all of my ideas in this post, because I know there are a few of those 80 teachers/staff members that are still reading my blog- they get an F for following instructions today.

I made this printable for my Freshman son's six teachers. I will just take string and attach 3 or 4 rolls of Smarties to it.

 Here is a blank one. You can download at this link.

Need one for a group of teachers...

I can't wait to see all the new ideas this year for TAW week. Remember to thank the Special Teachers and Bus Drivers also!!

Back to School Teacher Gift with Printable

It's Meet the Teacher day at my daughter's school. We are so excited about her teacher this year. Actually, the entire second grade team at her school is awesome so we would have been happy with any of the teachers. I seem pretty stuck this year on chalkboards, having a ball in class, and cake balls so I messaged her teacher on FB to be sure that there were no allergies or hating on chocolate.

As I suspected, chocolate is one of her faves. So of course, I etched a glass container with ABC & a ♥- oh how I love me some contact paper, my Cricut and some Armor Etch. I then filled the container with chocolate cake balls, added some bakers twine, and the printable below.

I made the printable in PicMonkey. I even included the blank copy above so that you can download and add your child's name and year. I saved mine to my iPhone and sent to Walgreens to print off as a 4x6 picture. If you do this, be sure to hit crop and look at your aspect ratio in 4x6 to be sure you don't cut anything off.

This will also be a great Teacher Appreciation Gift, so get it pinned now. Have a wonderful 2014-15 school year. Don't forget to volunteer and join your local PTA chapter (of course I had to get that plug in).

 

Teacher Appreciation 2014: May 5-9

It's that time of year again. Time to THANK A TEACHER! If you can read this post, you better be thanking a teacher. If you want, I even have a blank printable of the above picture at this link. Even if you do not have children yet or children who are not old enough to be enrolled in a school district. What? I bet you didn't know you could do that. Yes, you can. If you live in a community that houses a school, join your school's PTA (Parent Teachers Association). In my school district it's a $6 membership fee, which goes to local, state, and federal chapters. Your membership even comes with benefits. You decide how active you want to be. PTA is dedicated to empowering parents to make a difference in the education, health, and safety of America’s children. Since 1984, National PTA has designated the first full week in May as a special time to honor the men and women who lend their passion and skills to educating our children. Our TEACHERS!

This year's National Teacher's Appreciation Week is May 5-9. For those of you rushing around still thinking of ideas of what to get those incredible, hardworking, snot nose wiping, shoe tying, sock finding teachers, I am going to show you a few things that my kiddos have sent to the AMAZING teachers in past years. (Sorry, I can't show you 2014 gifts, the teachers stalk my blog like kids on Christmas morning.)

Now keep in mind these are the incredible people that deal with your beautiful and wonderful children that you labored so hard to get into this world only to send off to school for 6-10 hours a day to enrich their minds and nurse their boo boos. You want to make these gifts special. Mine are always on the frugal side, but from the heart. I like to send something every single day with my elementary student because she has only one teacher, then I send one thing to her specials teachers. For my son, he has six teachers so each one of them get a special token of appreciation.

FlipFlops 

What teacher doesn't need a cute pair? I hand sew each bead on with TLC. I found the cute printable at this site. 

This is my go to for the multiple teacher, specials, the Principal, secretaries and the nurse. Who am I kidding, this is my go to for about any gift. I absolutely adore this printable. Super easy and inexpensive. You can get an 18 pack of assorted M&M's at Wal-Mart for $10.98, that averages .61 each.

Clorox Wipes. 

Not exactly personal, but on every teachers wish list and every parents mind. 

Dry Erase markers. Do you know how many of these a teacher uses each year? And on a teacher's salary every gift of these is appreciated. Love this cute printable. Can be used for so many ideas. 

And finally this is my all time favorite gift for my kids to put together. This drink carrier is stuffed with the teacher's favorite snacks & drinks. It is decorated with my child's art/homework from throughout the year.

To see other ideas that I have put together over the year visit me here and here. Also, be sure to follow my Pinterest board. What ideas are you planning this year? 

Valentine's Day Teachers Gift with Printable #GiftsOnABudget

They say the way to every teachers HEART is food, right? 

Okay, it may also be in the form of a gift card, but I can probably count on one hand the times I have purchased a gift card for anyone, for any occasion. 

Miss K is in 1st Grade this year. We adore her teacher.  Actually, I can't think of a single teacher in my eight years of having public education teachers that we haven't adored.

A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.- Brad Henry

Here is this year's Valentine's Gift for Mrs. J, hopefully she won't see this post before she gets the gift! 

I picked up a cute jar at Wal-Mart and etched on all four sides- A,B,C & a ♥, used a little bakers twine, attached the following printable that I made using PicMonkey, and filled it with homemade chocolate cake balls!

I have enclosed blank printable at this link that you can save to your computer then edit. Then just open your Word, insert a picture and size it according to your jar. 

Hope you all have a BALL this Valentine's Day!!! Especially you teachers!

Class Birthday Treats- Kaybrie is O-Fish-ally 7, with a Blank Printable!

I never imagined when I took a picture of Miss K's class birthday treat and posted on FB and Instagram that I would receive so many comments and likes. It seems that there is a lack of non-sugary ideas for classroom birthday treats out there. Especially on Pinterest. I cannot take credit for this idea. I found it on Pinterest, but I had to make my own printable. So, I will share my printable here, and a blank one for you to save to your computer and edit. Then just copy and paste it into word and print off! Easy peasy!!

By the way. I love these Goldfish Grahams. So fun!

An American Girl Birthday Party for my Littlest Star & A Giveaway- Closed

My Littlest Star is Seven!!!

I blinked. It happened. And I think she grew another inch over night. 

She wanted an American Girl Birthday Party for her big day. 

Even more she wanted the new American Girl Doll of the Year, Isabelle. 

The dolls are so expensive, parties are even more expensive. I mentioned in an earlier post my strategies for making this happen on a budget.  I am happy to say, I pulled the party off with about $40, a lot of hard work, and finally the help of great friends and family! 

THANK YOU!!!

Life size doll box for the girls to pose in. So much fun!

Paper plate name banner. 

Party hats, drinks and  tea light cakes for the dolls!

Goody bags. There were lots of things to take home. 

Doll & Girl Craft Station. Red & White doll tutu's and...

felt top hats for the dolls and girls from Punch Place Plus. 

A doll hair station. Because every doll must have great hair.

The Bistro & Goodies table. 

Yum! Cake balls, PB&J, Bologna, wavy potato chips, gum balls, candy cane heart suckers, bottled water, and homemade cherry limeade!

I love these little sandwiches. But seriously, the waste. Needless to say, we saved the outer edges and fed them to my husband and son!

The water bottles. Love these. I made them in Word. They even had a bar code on them with her birthday. You can download my printable here. 

10 giggly girls. Actually we had 11, my niece is in the high chair. 

Miss K showing her friends how to make the tutu's. 

11 beautiful STARS with their dolls. Donned in their hats and tutus. Adorable.

It appears that all of Miss K's birthday wishes were blessed upon her. She had a wonderful birthday and I pray that I can continue to instill upon her that birthdays are about sharing your joy with others. I also pray for my daughter that her light and inner star shines for Jesus wherever she goes. 

Would you like more of my tips on saving money on parties? On February 4, 2014, I will be chatting it up on Twitter at 1pm with Offers.com during their #STSMchat (save time save money). We will be discussing party planning on a budget further. I cannot wait to hear more ideas to help me save time and money. Be sure to go read more about it on their blog!

Now, who is ready for a GIVEAWAY??? Did you see the cute top hats the girls made? My friends at Punch Place Plus sent them to me for the girls to create.

And one of my readers is getting a....

The mandatory entry is to visit their site and tell me in a disqus comment what craft supplies you would want with your $25!!! Entries will be collected on the easy Rafflecopter form below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway