It's that time of year

School is almost over - we have two more weeks. My son's elementary school doesn't really do anything big for Teacher Appreciation, which I think stinks. I know they had a duty free lunch one day - meaning they get to eat out of the cafeteria and someone else watches the kids. But that's it. At least, that's all I know of. The past two schools he's attended had great plans for the week of teacher appreciation with themes each day and just fun for the teachers.

Since our school doesn't do a big deal, I just let it slide, planning on really kicking it up for the end of the year party. Our party is Friday and I've got one gift almost finished!! I've got to get on the ball! Here are some ideas that I really love and hopefully will try a few:

Crayon Monogram:



I would love to do this and have a stockpile of crayons, so I think it's doable! I've seen it with colored pencils, too - which is a great look, but I think I can cut crayons easier than the pencils.

The coolest clipboard ever:



Now, I've done a few altered clipboards in my day (every teacher has gotten at least one) but this one is so cool - with the cork and the clothes pins, and post its - you can't go wrong! I may try this for sure.

This one may be my favorite - a box of teacher goodies:



and check out the inside:



I just love this - I'm really going to try to remember to look at supplies for more of these, once school's back in and supplies get clearanced. But for now, I'll scope out some less expensive places and see what I can find - I'm a frugal girl, ya know!!

So, what are you doing for end of the year gifts?

lisa

My boy!

My son is now at the end of second grade, and I wanted to record some facts about him on a layout. The picture I used is perfect- it is his spring school picture, but he also has on an armful of animal bracelets. He has been ALL about them this year! He has too many to count, and spends any money he gets on them. He also loves his dad, paper airplanes, reading and the trampoline. I hope he looks back on this page one day and is reminded of what a cool second grader he was!

The April kit came along just in time.............

for this sweet picture of my new niece!



As soon as I dug into my kit, I was thinking about the baby pictures I would have soon of a sweet little baby girl. Seriously, as soon as I snapped this picture, I knew it would be the one I wanted to use on a layout. This came together really quickly and easily - I actually just did this during a break at school, while subbing. The kids were at P.E. so I spread out my stuff and got to work!



I used the Glimmer Mist on the letters to take away a bit of the iridescence and tone them down a bit. First I used a number 9 to test on, since there were enough 6's in case I needed a 9 at some point. I didn't think it was enough coverage so when I pulled my letters off for my title, I placed them on a paper towel and sprayed. Once they were dry, I sprayed a second coat to get a darker shade. They were perfect in the end!! I added the dangling charm from a previous kit, everything else is April's!!


Thanks for looking!
What did you do with your April kit?

Lisa

Another layout to share

This layout is from the March kit. Cole had a field trip to the McWane Science Center and I got to go along. I took a million pictures of course - these are the highlights:



Thanks for looking!

Cards for Mom

Mother's day is around the corner, so I need to get some cards in the mail! I made these two this afternoon, and plan to make a few more for some other ladies in my life who aren't my mom, but hold a special place in my heart. I crinkled the cream ribbon up on doubled sided tape to add texture on the card on the left, and used a stamp pad on the white glitter thickers on the card on the right.

Mother's Day is right around the corner

I don't have any kit projects to share today but I did want to share some great Mother's Day craft ideas. I hope you see something you could easily make for the mom in your life or just for yourself because it's so darn cute!

This is one project I'm making for myself, as well as my mother-in-law and mom. For my mom, I'm thinking about doing a G and Grammy instead of the last name and the EST. date would be the year Cole was born. I'm thinking it would make a great wedding gift, too:



The information to put this together is here: Fireflies and Jellybeans

Here's another fun thing to make:



And the how-to's are here: Living with Lindsey
I've also seen a tutorial for making one of these with coffee filters!

This would be a really sweet pin for any mom or grandmom, or a really cute flower for a scrapbook page:



The directions for this can be found here: Under the Table and Dreaming

And this just may be my favorite - I am planning on doing this sometime this week. Maybe for my mom and definitely for me:



Here's the info on this fabulous project: Tatertots and Jello

All of these website are in my Google reader and are really great for fun projects, most that are super easy to do.

I hope your Mother's Day crafting will be fun and successful!!
Lisa