Happy Summer!

Natalie's last day at her current school is Friday and I just finished up gifts for her current teachers, previous teacher, school director and dance teacher.  We have enjoyed our time at Alpha & Omega and will miss the whole staff next year.  But just think, Livi will be there in no time.  For now, we look forward to Natalie becoming a Little Cougar in the fall (which I am SUPER excited about!)  Can't believe she'll be in pre-k though!  Again for inspiration I searched Etsy and Pinterest and this is what I decided on...

Top: little pink tin bucket (Hobby Lobby) with travel size germ-x (Target), sunscreen (Publix), and a nail polish (Target) all wrapped in a towel (Target). Tied with raffia (which can give you splinters- I know from personal and very recent experience).
Bottom: reusable plastic drink containers (Hobby Lobby) filled with a variety of propel and crystal light water mixes (Publix).
BTW- I love this stool from IKEA.  Best $14 I have spent at that store!

Close up of the pink container for her teachers

Beach Day Recipe Tag

Drink container tag

So there you have it.  All I have to do is bake a box of muffins for the fantastic staff and I'm done.  Happy summer to all but especially to all you teachers out there!  Now I'm off to enjoy the little bit of sanity I have left before summer begins...

You Wake Them...You Take Them!

We've been in the new house for almost 3 months now and we are still putting it together.  Yes our beds are together and painting is done but it's the little things now like a "baby sleeping" sign for the door.  I am going one step further and removing the door bell all together- it's too loud anyways...  I looked on Etsy and Pinterest for inspiration and decided on a wood plaque that I had Andy paint (several coats).  I purchased 3 sets of cute alphabet stickers from Joann and went to work.  Now I am pretty sure I bought it all before Olivia arrived- but better late than never...

Then Natalie joined the fun.  She had minimal help with the letters...She's such a smart cookie!

Teacher Appreciation

So I know teacher appreciation was last month but I am just getting back into a routine after Olivia's arrival.  Since Olivia's birth, Nat has been going to school 3 days a week- which worked out great for Mommy during Teacher Appreciation Week! {Only 3 gifts}  Here are just a few things I did for Nat's teachers at her school.
*You will notice that The Wednesday gift is missing- it was a small glass container of flowers and the tag read, "Thanks for helping Natalie bloom".  Stupid camera...

Thursday Treat

Friday Fun

Friday Yummies for the whole staff

Now off to figure out end of the year gifts.  Nat's End of the Year party is Wednesday and her last day is Friday.  Then it's off to Little Cougars in the fall.  I am so grateful to her current school for everything they have done.  We'll miss you guys!

Valentine's Day 2012

So with Valentine's Day 2012 quickly coming to a close I thought I would share what I did...
Even though Miss Nat had a case of the gunky eyes and missed out on going to school today- I still dropped off her valentines and some treats for the teachers because they are simply awesome (the teachers)!

Found this on Pinterest and Natalie was all about making them with Mommy.  The only downfall was that the only place that carried the mold was Walmart- which I'm not a fan of...  That aside- they turned out super cute.  The tag said "Have a {colorful} Valentine's Day".

I also made these homemade heart shaped chocolate dipped rice krispy treats.  This was interesting to make and Andy actually helped me a lot.  Starting with accurately reading the directions...  Perfect bite size snacks and somewhat healthy versus everything else they probably ate today.

These were for the director of Nat's school (middle) and her teachers (sides).  The tag said "I dig you" to go with the shovel in the bag/coffee cup.  The teachers had caramel filled kisses and the director had Valentine M & M's.  The teachers also had a hand print heart- which is listed below.

Her school has a small staff so everybody knows everybody (and every kid) so I make something for the whole staff.  I wanted to make these cookies but time ran out.  So I settled for heart shaped chocolate chip cookies iced with heart sprinkles.  You can never go wrong with chocolate chip cookies...

Last but definitely not least...I made them a long distance hug {also Pinterest} for Natalie's Grandparents.  They are both hanging somewhere in their respected houses.  This is also another shot of her hand print heart.

  
Ok now off to start and finish a special celebration craft for one of Natalie's teachers who is moving to another class by Friday...

All Tied Up In Blue

This past weekend I helped throw a baby shower for my sister, Jenny, and the first boy in the Kluga family, "Cooper".  It was a lot of fun to put together and it was just icing on the cake that I was able to do it with such amazing ladies- Mema, Aunt Em and the Wonderful Cake ladies (Mandy, Melissa & Sandy).
I fell in love with this tie bunting and the theme was set!
I saw a yarn wrapped wreath on Pinterest and I just had to do it.  It wasn't my favorite thing in the process (I thought my wrists were going to detach from my arms) but I love how it turned out.  I followed the tutorial for the felt flowers here and everything was bought at JoAnn's.

My Mom was planning on doing a diaper cake so I decided I would tackle a diaper tricycle.  Of course, after I made it I found a motorcycle which would have been cute too.  But again, I am really happy with how it turned out.

The one and only game was the traditional "Don't say baby" game but with a little twist.  Jenny and Andy don't have a name picked out so we added the word "name" to the game.  They had to be little bowties and neckties to go with the theme.  This was probably the cutest part of the party.  Congrats to Dawn!  Hope your Starbucks was delicious!

In addition to the game- I put together these "Advice Cards".  Guests were able to pick who they were giving the advice to and write it below.  I wish I had this passed out while Jenny was opening presents.  It would have been cute getting one from each guest.  There's always next time...

The bunting!!!  I bought the scrap booking paper from Joann's and traced the bow ties and neckties then attached them on the ribbon.  One said 'Mommy's Little Man', another said 'Daddy's Little Buddy' and the last one said 'Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy'.  They were super cute!

 

 Favors are a hard thing to decide on.  You want something cute but something guests won't throw away.  Insert Mema and Aunt Em!  Sugar bow tie and necktie cookies!  There were 2 tags- "All tied up in blue for the little man's debut" and "All tied up in blue- sending our love to the Armanious crew".  They were a hit!

The cake was from JJ Gandy's and the Cake Ladies do not dissapoint!  It was delicious and super cute!  Bravo girls and thank you again!

I came across this subway art in one of the baby shower blogs I found.  The best part was that it was FREE!!!  Thank you Simple Crafter!  The washcloth cupcakes were fun to make too.  I found a cupcake sleeve template, wrapped the washcloths and added the red pom pom for a cherry.  

I enjoyed playing with all the blue and bow ties but my Andy is happy to have me back...for the moment.

     

Baby Shower Season Begins!

My friend asked me if I could find some unique baby shower games for a shower she's helping with next weekend.  You know one where you don't have to melt candy bars in a diaper or chug things out of a baby bottle...  I came across a website and sent it off to her.  She ended up finding a really cute one but it cost to download it.  I ended up making my own version of it.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I made a page for a baby girl's shower and another for a baby boy's shower.

Another game she's planning to play is based around the baby's name.  In a nutshell- using only the letters in the baby's first and middle names- come up with as many words as you can in a certain amount of time.  I left the baby name's blank so you can add your own.    

On another note- my Mom, little sister and I are planning my sister's baby shower.  She is finally having a boy after 2 amazing little girls!  We are enjoying the planning but have never been surrounded by so much blue!  Look for a post about it soon.  I have a lot of things in the works- bowties, neckties, little boy subway art {thank you simple crafter}, a yarn wrapped wreath, diapers shaped into a pretty cool toy and much much more!

Natalie's Garden Fairy 3rd Birthday Party

This past weekend we celebrated Natalie's 3rd birthday with her pixie and pirate friends.  I was amazed how smoothly it was prepping for it.  Last year was a little chaotic.  Andy swears it's because I'm pregnant this time...  She is all about fairies this year so I decided to do a Garden Fairy themed party.  We had it at our favorite park and the day turned out to be beautiful (which was great considering the week started in the 30's).  I uploaded her party onto Catch My Party with all of the details.  Which I might add is a great site!  Fun was had by all and now we're on to planning next year's Princess themed party... Which will be so much fun with a 8 month old in tow!  Lovely.  What Andy and I have realized, and continue to realize, is how loved our little girl is by her family and friends.  We are so grateful to them all!