Back To School

It's that time of year to welcome everyone Back to School!  This Summer we discovered the amazing Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies from Jenny at Picky Palate.  I put my own special spin on them and use mini M&M's.  They are colorful and make the cookie look extra festive and colorful.  The dough is just fun . . .

 

Here are the finished cookies.  My girls could hardly wait to dive in!

 

 

Every cute cookie needs a cute tag.  I prefer to mass produce things so I cut our all the parts, printed and assembled the tags below.  I used Uchida circle punches and a cherry Quikutz die.  By eliminating the stem and attaching the leaf right to the apple, it no longer looks like a cherry.  Here is the final product that the girls brought to their teachers, the office staff and a few friends.

 

 

 

We are bound to have a year "stuffed" with fun!  Hope you do too!

 

Fun for Leap Year

What are you doing with the "extra" day we have today?  I wish I could say I had big plans and was tackling my list - not so much!  It's rainy,windy, and cold, which translates into moving a little slow and enjoying being warm and cozy - inside.

Christine over at http://www.fromdatestodiapers.com/ shared a few fun insights about herself on this extra day and I thought I would too - thank you Christine for sharing the list from Jessica @ http://www.foundthemarbles.com/


1. My childhood nicknames, Pickle & Jenna Bear, as an adult my husband is quite fond of "Burglar"
2. If you want to spoil me rotten, buy me a year of pedicures - I'm pretty easy to please!
3. The television character I most identify with is Claire from Modern Family - I get her type A issues!
4. If I had a whole day to go shopping and money to spend, I would go to Pottery Barn - I would like to move in - it's always perfect and clean!
5. The most wild and crazy thing I have ever done (that I can admit to publicly) is "borrowing some ice"
6. The one thing on my bucket list that I am most eager to do is travel with my husband - someday
7. My family will always be loyal to Heinz Ketchup - seriously - it's the only way to go
8. If I could spend a day with a celebrity I would choose Ree Drumond, The Pioneer Woman
9. In my opinion, the best invention in the history of the world is the flat iron - there are better things, but I would have a hard time living without mine!
10. When life hands me lemons, I make cookies or something sweet

Thanks for listening & have a wonderful day,

Jenna

Making the Time

Wow - it's been too long.  As Lent begins and we approach the season of renewal and the celebration of new life, I am working on making the time to create more and share more.  My posts may be a little random and maybe not even related to the season, but just sharing something is my goal. 

With that said, here is a cute Teacher Appreciation project that I put together for my youngest daughters TK teacher.  It works well with a small number of kids - so it's perfect for preschool or kindergarten.  It was REALLY easy.  First I took a photo of each child, collected a quote from them about what they loved and appreciated about their teacher, die cut the flower shapes and circle punched the photos.  I assembled them using a tap runner, but used a hot glue gun to attached the coffee stirs in between the front and the back of the flowers.  The crayon "vase" was equally as easy - hot glue gunned the crayon right onto a paper mache box.  The crayons did not melt at all - and I was using the high temp gun and glue.  Made a quick tag, filled it with Reeses Peanut Butter cups (her favorite) and it was done.  The kids were so excited to see the final product and hear what all the kids had said.  I hope this inspires you a little and you can carve out some time in your stack to let the teachers in your life know how much you appreciate them!

Transition & Pocket Full of Love

We started back to school this week and the new routine is good, but of course an adjustment for all of us.  For the first time in 9 years all of my girls are in school, at the same school, and at the same time (for most of the day).  My youngest gets out at 11, but from 7:30 to about 10:45 I have total peace and quiet - it's odd, but I am sure I will settle in just fine!  My hope is that this time will allow the creative (and cleaning) juices to flow!

In preparation for school, my 1st grader needed some extra reassurances about a new year, new teacher, the long day, missing Mommy, etc.  I think you get the picture.  Crissy over at Crissy's Crafts { http://crissyscrafts.blogspot.com/ } came up with the sweetest way to remind her girls how much she loved them.  You can check out her tutorial here http://crissyscrafts.blogspot.com/2011/08/pocket-full-of-kisses.html. 

I could not do Kisses, because of our 90+ degree heat, but I did laminate a small picture of each child with my husband and I and tucked it inside the pocket.  I attached them to their backpacks.  For my 1st grader, I put in inside the outer pocket where she keeps her snack, so she can take a peek before recess. 

Here is the final result:

Front of Pockets
I grommeted the corners and added a key ring so they
could handle the rough and tumble of the backpack.

Back of Pockets


I also made one for our Godson, for his first day of preschool.  To keep it "boy" I went with his initial instead of rick-rack and something too cutsie.  Happy Crafting! 

Organizing with Chalkboard Sheets

I found some self stick chalkboard sheets at Michaels and thought of so many great ways I could use them.  One project that has been on my list forever has been to better organize the cabinet above the phone in the kitchen.  It houses many things and it's always been fairly clean, but now anyone could open it and find exactly what they need.  As you can see this is a place where I keep notes, the ongoing grocery lists for Costco, Safeway, etc and also a list of important numbers.

The bakery tins are a fun and cheap ($1 from Dollar Tree) way to keep things organized.  I cut out the chalkboard sheets with my Big Shot and a Nestabilities die.  The chalkboard allows for quick changes of the contents.  I used a Chalk Ink Wet Wipe Marker also from Michaels to label each tin. 

I am very happy with the end result!  Happy Organizing!

 


It's been awhile. . .

Did the end of the school year completely wipe you out?  It's such a bittersweet time that we just can't miss a minute of, but I am happy it's come to an end! The arrival of Summer has been a bit slow around here, but I am glad to say that the sun finally came back and the heat is on!  We are settling into the "no schedule" routine of Summer.  I know that sounds odd - to clarify:  we have goals for the day, but can be flexible when a friend calls for a playdate or popsicles or lemonade just can't wait.  I am hoping for lots of creative time and that my paperstack will be a little shorter for a few months. 

Something fun for baby. . .

Spring brought a few new babies into our life and the burpcloths below make for great gifts for any Mom.  You can never have too many burpcloths.  When my girls were babies I loved to use the thick cloth diapers made by Gerber for burpcloths.  Every part of the diaper is thick and absorbs evenly.  They make really lovely, personal, and practical gifts.  Enjoy!

I start with one cloth diaper and two 2" strips of fabric backed with fusible webbing (I use Wonder Under).  It's best to cut a slightly larger (5"") strip of Wonder Under and iron that onto the BACK (wrong side) of your fabric, then measure and mark your 2" strips to cut.  I usually cut the strips with pinking shears for give it a cute edge and it ends of doing that little raw/ruffly thing when it's washed.

Peel back the Wonder Under and remove the paper.  Set your fabrice strips at both ends of the diaper.

I set it up to cover the blue stitching at the bottom and I choose the embellish the side that is not

stamped "Gerber". 

Once your strips are where you want them begin to iron them onto the diaper and get ready to sew! 

I sew a straight swtich around the edge of the strip rounding the corners and backstitching at the end.

The cloth's only take about 15 minutes to make and they are a very special and unique gift.

Composition Book Re-Do: Pencil Included

So my middle one gets in the car the other day with a pencil and a piece of paper. Keep in mind that there are at least 10 notebooks of varying sizes in the drawer for "notebooks" and other things that are okay to take in the car. We also have a "church bag" that has all kind of supplies that we often grab for places other than church. On that day for some reason she just wanted a pencil and paper - going simple I guess. We were headed to the talent show at school and she was concerned she might get bored and need to draw or maybe take notes - who knows? Anyhow, it occured to me that a journal with a pencil attached that could live in the pocket behind the passenger seat might just be the perfect car accessory for my craft/art obsessed 5 year old. So, once everyone was off to school I grabbed a few supplies and got to work. Here is the final product and how I did it - enjoy!

I used a composition book, a scrap piece of paper, felt, Mod Podge & a glue gun.  I trimmed the paper to size, allowing an extra inch or so to fold over the edge of the book.  The paper is less likely to separate from the book this way.  I attached the paper with Mod Podge and sealed it as well.  I cut the felt long enough and wide enough to accommodate a pencil.  Using a glue gun I attached the "pocket" to the cover.  I personalized it with a {b} to make it hers, stuck a pencil in and walaaa:  notebook, pencil included!  I think she will be just thrilled.