Grad Gift with Free Printable {Pizza Dough}

I am always looking for a creative idea for Grad gifts... I'm at that age where a lot of my nieces and nephews are graduating from high school.  Last year I did this... and the year before I did this...

This year I came across this link on Pinterest.  The link just goes to a jpeg... and it's a Christmas gift, but I took the idea and ran with it.

 I went to my local pizza store and asked for a box... the girl didn't want to give it to me, but finally did.  I turned the pizza box inside out because I really just wanted the outside to be the neutral tan color.  

I made this free printable... (link here).  I just found free clipart online and added text in photoshop.

When you open the box, you find pizza "dough" made out of dollar bills (I'm cheap) and pepperoni that is quarters.  I folded the bills into triangles to make it look more like pizza. Then just rolled up scotch tape and taped it to the box.

 On the inside of the lid, we glued a yellow paper to cover the box top and wrote our message on it.

That's it... easy peasy... except maybe folding the bills.

graduation/summer {gift ideas}

I know the summer is over and school has started, but I never posted the gifts I gave out at the end of the school year.

For my sons' teachers, I used this idea from eighteen25.  I do NOT take credit for this photo, because it is not mine.  It belongs to eighteen25.  This is exactly what I did, but I forgot to take pix.  And there is a great free printable on the site as well!

I got this idea from another teacher at my school... I did not know what to give my aides.  She gave me the "orange" idea and I found the free printable here.  I went to the dollar store and bought an orange bucket and Orange stuff... like orange slice candies, orange soda, cheetos, etc.  Easy and cute.

 I don't know what it is, but I can't just give a card... I even make all of my own cards, but I still can't just give a card.  I found this idea for a grad gift and I loved it!   However, I wanted something more authentic.  So, I just searched for images online.  I found a "real" sign.  I cut a slit in the paper so that the hand is holding the money.  Easy.  Then, I could give different amounts of money for different people... like my cousin who finally graduated after like 10 years of school (love ya Libby).

Last, but not least, is my favorite... and I didn't even do it!  My friend had a son graduate from high school and she wanted to give something to all of his friends.  She bought cheap flipflops from the dollar store and made a tag that said, "I'm so flippin excited you didn't flop out of high school."  I am totally going to do that next year!

So, now, you can pin these for next end of school year!

Gift Card Bouquet

My brother-in-law got remarried over this past weekend.  What do you give to someone on their 2nd wedding???  The best I could come up with was a gift card.  I didn't want to just give them a gift card..... I wanted to make it cute.  I talked with most of the rest of the family and I got them on board too.  

I used my Cricut Designer's Calendar cartridge and cut out tulips that were 4".  I cut out two for each flower.  I glued them just on the sides and bottom with a wooden skewer inside.  That left the top open for the gift card to slip inside.  I then just stuck them in a vase with some twine tied to the vase and a tag.  It turned out really cute and was a fun gift idea.

Shhhh....

I never made a quiet book for my kids... I thought it would be too hard... huh... Well, I got the bright idea of making a quiet book for my sister-in-law's Dr. Seuss baby shower.  I ended up making most of it myself and it was kind of fun... but it was a LOT of work!

 I got the idea for the cover from Serving Pink Lemonade.    I made it fairly similar.  I used eyelets to make the holes in the book and used rings to hold it together.  I have the flap close with a large button.  I thought it would be fun to have the cover a little different, so I just appliquéd the letters "shhh" on the front rather than having it say "quiet book."

 I didn't do a ton of pages... there are only 3 front and back.  But I figure my sister in law can add more if she wants.    I made the pages out of Pellon as was suggested by Serving Pink Lemonade.  I think it was a wise decision.  I glued everything to the page first with a felt glue, then I sewed everything with clear thread.  I thought that would be easier than changing colors all the time.  It worked out great.

 The first page is the art paint pallet.  I got this pattern from Serving Pink Lemonade as well.  I did make a slight change.  I thought it would be fun to have the colors come off and on with a button.  (It was very difficult for me to figure out how to sew the button hole exactly where I wanted it to go, so I finally got smart and sewed the button hole in the felt first before I cut out the paint swatch.)

 The car page also came from Serving Pink Lemonade.  She had cute signs on hers, but I didn't quite get to that part... I think it's okay without them.

 I also got the tree idea from Serving Pink Lemonade.  I changed it just a bit.  I thought a less detailed tree would be easier.  There are flowers, fall leaves and summer leaves that snap on and off.

My favorite page is the tent page... my family are big campers.  I loved the idea of having a barn with animal finger puppets from Serving Pink Lemonade, but I really liked the tent idea on Laura Thoughts. So I combined the two ideas and created my tent.

When you open the tent zipper, there are forest animal finger puppets inside.  Aren't they cute???

I created a pdf file with the template for the tent and finger puppets.  You can download it here.  (I'm not sure the best way to share files, so let me know if the link does not work)

I got the shoe template from Made by Me... Shared with you.  Her's was a lot more detailed and way cuter, but I think mine looks okay:)

It turned out great and I'm excited for my little nephew to be able to use it... he finally came into this world on Oct. 2nd... but I'm sure it will be awhile until he's old enough to enjoy his quiet book!

"Chewsing" to be Reverent {gum wrapper printable}

One of the problems that I struggle with in Primary is reverence.  The kids really struggle with being quiet and paying attention.  A few months ago I made reverence sashes.  I have two kids stand up in front and wear the sash and fold their arms... they are my examples.  To thank them for being reverent, I give them a piece of gum.  So, I thought I would share with you the cute printable that I made to cover the gum.

The wrapper is 2.5"x2.5"  You simply wrap it around the piece of gum and glue it in the back.  

You can try clicking on the above image and just saving it.  You will want to print it 8.5x11 and then cut out the individual pieces.  

I'm thinking about also having a few that I can walk around and give to the kids when I catch them being reverent.

Graduation Gift

It's that time of year.... Graduation!!!  Last week I had a couple of family members graduate from college. In a couple of weeks I have a family member graduating from High School.  Not to mention the most important... Preschool and Kindergarten graduation!

For the older bunch (high school and college) I found this idea at The Seasonal Home.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money... and you're really supposed to just give grads money... but since I had three, I thought it would be kind of lame to just give them a card with a few bucks in it.  So, my thoughts were, if the gift is creative, then it's okay if I'm cheap:)

I bought my umbrella at the $ Tree.  (I really wish the dollar store had cuter umbrellas). I tried to paper clip the money to the spokes of the umbrella but that didn't work.  So I just taped the money to the spokes (I guess those grads will have to earn their money taking the tape off the bills).  The tutorial I found online had them hanging from ribbon, I guess that would work too.

I found this cute tag at Oh the Lovely Things.  I have decided that there are so very many cute free printables out there that its quite a waste of my time to make my own:)  So, I just threw this into photoshop so I could add my own text.

Happy Graduation everyone!!!

Teacher Appreciation Week

It's teacher appreciation this week!  I find it to be somewhat ironic that I am a teacher.... yet I am doing all of these fun things for my kids teachers... maybe I appreciate what they do so much because I truly know what they do!

Here's the thing about Pinterest.  Sometimes, I just repin something without re-visiting the original pin site.    So, I bought my cups, made my cute little signs for the top, bought my drink packets, ya know... the usual.  Well, just now, when I was typing up this post I thought I would visit the site so I could give the original pinner the credit she deserves... and I found that it also has a free printable!!!  That would have saved me some time... so, always visit the site with the original pin!  Thank you  Lisa Storms for the cute free printable and idea.

I made these for the teachers of my boys in Preschool and Kindergarten.

 I have an aide that works with me at school so I also made one for her.

Teacher Appreciation... take 2

I volunteered to decorate a door for teacher appreciation.  The door I was assigned was my son's 2nd grade teacher.  I happen to know his teacher a little better and I know her daughter.  So, I asked her daughter what she liked and she told me Home Depot... and working on projects.  I love Home Depot too, so I thought it would be fun to go with the whole tool, building theme.

I found clipart online and used my best artistic talent to make a paper tool box.  Then I enlarged the various clipart and cut and traced the clipart on patterned paper to make the tools.  For the letters I used my trusty cricut.

To go with the tool theme, I spray painted an old tool box I had bought at a yard sale.   I printed off paper tools from the internet and took them into the school to have the kids color them and write messages.  I had parents donate money to give her a gift card to Home Depot.  Then, I stuck some plants in there for filler.  In the back is her favorite candy bar... a symphony with toffee and almonds!

I truly appreciate all of my kids' teachers and all of the work and effort they put into teaching my children!!!

Now that's a wrap... my first doily project:)

I have a lot of home decorating ideas involving my doilies... that I've pinned. But I thought I'd start with something simple. My little boy's kindergarten teacher is out for 2 weeks because of a bad knee. So, we thought we'd get her a get well gift. I picked up some tulips at Lowe's. I didn't want to spend the extra money to buy a really nice pot... plus they are meant to be planted outside, so I thought I'd wrap the pot with one of my new doilies.

I had the boys help hold the doily up around the pot while I tied the ribbon on. Then I secured the ribbon to the pot with some glue dots. I tied a few extra ribbons to the front and made a cute little flag to go in the pot.
I think it turned out really cute. Now, if I could just get it to her before the flowers dry up and lose their petals;)

Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths

It's been a busy week for me... and I've had sick kids... no fun. I needed to get a baby shower gift for my friend, Rachel... but just didn't really have time. I live about 20-25 minutes from Target, Old Navy, etc.... and just wasn't up for a drive clear across town. Plus, I really like to make home made gifts for my friends. On my way home from work, I stopped by a little boutique and saw burp cloths... they wanted $20 for them!!!! I had actually purchased some cloth diapers to make burp cloths to go with this blanket... so, I thought, I guess I'll make some girl ones for Rachel. I had minky left over from the blanket... and this super cute fabric that I had bought for a project for my sister in law...(that I never made)... So, I started cutting, and sewing....
I'm into appliqué right now.... so I appliquéd a flower on the minky to give it a little something extra...
Here are pics of each burp cloth...

(I didn't do a tutorial for the burp cloths, but I found a tutorial online at Chickpea Sewing Studio that is similar to the same technique that I used)
Here's a little tip about your bobbin thread.... it is the thread that shows on the back. So, when doing a project like this, use white bobbin thread... then the thread doesn't show!
Here are the burp cloths all wrapped up...
I totally love how they turned out and I hope she likes them too! -Anisa

(PS Shellie... I am still going to make you some to go with the owl blanket)

A few homemade Christmas gifts

In my family, we rotate who we give Christmas gifts to. When I asked my brother and sister-in-law what they wanted, they told me a gift card to Walmart. How boring! But, I know better than to give my brother anything other than what he asked for. However, I just couldn't give them a gift card without giving them some cute hand made gifts to go with it. They have a little girl who is 3 1/2. So, I thought I would make a cute hair clip for her.But, they were expecting a baby boy (he was born Dec. 23rd). I couldn't figure out what to make him. I debated on burp cloths and bibs.... but I finally decided on a binky holder. I just put a simple brad on the end to hide the clip... and I love it when I can purchase something for a gift for someone and have a bunch of fun stuff left over for me!
One of the fun parts of giving gifts is the packaging. One of the things that makes it cute is when you use something from the gift to decorate the packaging... I used the ribbon from the binky clip and a scrap of fabric from the hair clip to tie the cellophane bags. It adds a fun touch to the gifts.

Our little nephew has been in Primary Children's hospital with an infection and we haven't even been able to meet him yet! He is improving a ton but won't be out until the round of antibiotics is over (in another week). I can't wait to meet him! In the meantime, we are baby sitting my niece... I have been making more hair flowers and have plans to make a few more.... I don't get the chance to make girly stuff all that often!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

-Anisa

One Craft 3 Ways.... Applique

One of the great things about starting this craft blog is that we have deadlines. I have been wanting to make this applique pillow for almost a year to match my guest bedroom. But it just kept getting put on the back burner. Then when we decided to do applique for our "One Craft 3 Ways" I was excited that I would now have a deadline to get it done.

What I did.... First, I went fabric shopping (my favorite part). Then I cut out the fabric for my throw pillow. If you would like to see a tutorial on how to make a throw pillow similar to this one, go here. Then I traced my designs on paper. Next, I cut out my fabric about the same size that I needed for my shapes, but I did not cut out the shapes. Then, I ironed on the heatNbond to the wrong side of my fabric. Then I cut out the shapes (you see, this way I don't have to cut out the shapes twice.) Then I ironed the shapes onto my white pillow fabric. Then comes the hard part. I set my machine to a tight zigzag. Then I zigzagged around the outside of the shapes. It was somewhat difficult to make good corners and such. If I were to do this again, I would use a different type of stitch. Then I finished up my pillow. During the process, I would probably have said I would never do it again. But it is so cute finished, that I think I will. I will just learn how to do it better!!! -Anisa

Deadlines...yeah, this is our third and final deadline for this post. :) It is nice to get something like this done.This applique wall hanging measures 11" x 13". I'm framing it and hanging it in my little girl's room. It was a lot of fun doing the embroidery by hand and using several different stitches and styles to complete it all. --Cami

I have been wanting to do some applique on T-shirts for my kiddos for sometime now. I found an uber-cute skirt at The Children's Place and decided I could make a cutie-pie shirt to go with it for my littlest princess. Would I do it again? Maybe. I thought the knit fabric of the tee was hard to work with. I'd definitely be willing to try it on something not quite so stretchy, though. I do love the overall look and am contemplating what else I might like to do for some added embellishment. Happy crafting!

-Ang