Thursday, December 22, 2011

Finished Teacher's Gifts

We finished our Teacher's gifts, and the kids brought them to school today. We took a couple of ideas we saw on Pinterest and combined them...and I think the finished product came out pretty cute!

We made monogrammed mugs, put a plant in them, and finished them off with a banner that said "Thanks for Helping Me Grow" (inspired by this).

I might not be posting again until after Christmas...
So...
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Hope everyone gets to spend time with the ones they love!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Easiest Advent Calendar...EVER!

I have been wanting to make the kids an advent calendar to help them count down the days until Christmas. I don't know about you, but I am asked every day how many days there are until Christmas...sometimes a few times a day;) I wanted to make one with activity ideas for each day, instead of presents. So, I went into the garage to look at all of my art and craft supplies, and days like today make me glad that I'm an art and craft supply hoarder! Sometimes I think, "I should get rid of some of this stuff", but it's really difficult because I know I will be able to use it all somehow! It's really the only thing I collect. I'm not really too attached to anything else. Anyway...I found some wooden clothes pins and magnetic strips...I knew they would be PERFECT! And...Voila! I made the easiest Advent Calendar EVER:)

Really, all you have to do is write, paint, or stamp numbers on the clothes pins and stick or glue the magnets to the back. You could even pin them on a ribbon or twine if you don't have magnets:
I had to cut my magnet strips in half:
Stick them on:
Ta-Da!
I used rubber number stamps to stamp on the numbers:
For the messages, I folded a piece of paper to get the right sized strips and cut on the lines:
Write messages or activities-
fold and pin:
Here is the finished set on my refrigerator, ready to count down to Christmas with some holiday fun!:
Here are some activity ideas for your advent calendar:
Make hot chocolate
Drive around to look at Christmas lights
Go ice skating
Make Christmas cookies
Read a Christmas story
Watch a Christmas movie
Eat a candy cake
Go see Santa
Listen to Christmas music
Make an ornament
Pick out Christmas PJs
etc...etc...etc...

Do you use an Advent Calendar to count down to Christmas?

Saturday, December 3, 2011

A Christmas Gift Idea for Teacher


I get so many great ideas from Pinterest.
We are on a tight budget for Christmas gifts, but MUST do something special for the kids' WONDERFUL teachers! So, the kids and I have come up with this idea. We are going to get plain white coffee mugs and plates
and personalize them with a porcelain pen, much like these:

image from:


Then, we are going to make a variety of truffles, like these:



image from:

If you search Pinterest for truffle recipes, you will find all sorts of different flavors, like oreo, sugar cookie, tiramisu, etc, etc....
We might put a hot chocolate mix or gift card to Starbucks in the mug too...

What do you do for Christmas Teacher's gifts?

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Coffee Cake in a Mug

Today, Sienna and I made ourselves a coffee cake in a mug as a treat. It was so good! I let Sienna make her own. She loved it...and it made me think about how good these one-serving mug recipes are for teaching kids how to cook. Some of my greatest memories as a kid were of the times I spent experimenting in the kitchen with my cousin. We would come up with all sorts of crazy recipes and things to make. I have been wanting to start giving my kids some cooking lessons. They watch and help me all the time, but I know they want to make things on their own, and the mug recipes are great practice!


Here is the coffee cake in a cup recipe. We followed the recipe as written, but didn't have sour cream, so used plain yogurt instead.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Finished Costumes

Ramona was a vampire, Charles was a Nutcracker, and Sienna was a unicorn.
Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!
We had a little too much fun...
it was next to impossible getting the kids up for school this morning!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Nevada Day 2011

Here are the kids dressed up for the Nevada Day celebration at their school:
Ramona is Sarah Winnemucca.
Charles and Sienna are wild horses.
Past Nevada Day Costumes: