Get your newspaper here!

I'm not too much of a hat person but there is just something about a newsboy cap. For me, it just screams ATTITUDE! in the best of ways. ;)   I made this hat for a gal in the current Birthday Swap over on Craftster.

I used a pattern that I found at Natalya's Studio that peaked my interest. I've never made a hat that didn't work from the center crown out. This one worked from the bottom edge in! It was a challenge for my brain. LOL

And yes..that is the side of my head. Be impressed! I normally don't like posting pictures of myself. 

Nom Nom Nation on a Mission

I know that I've been unusually quiet these past couple of weeks but I've been super busy crafting! My school decided to do a fundraiser to help the family of one of our students who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma last May. She had to go through some aggressive chemo/radiation treatments and is now thankfully in remission as of this past January. The money raised is to help her family pay the medical bills that very quickly piled up on them.

Now, I have a soft spot for students who have serious illnesses but this particular young lady found a super special place in my heart. You see, Taylor is an amazing student across the board. She managed to keep the third highest average in my Spanish class and is determined to be a foreign language teacher some day. She missed around 3 days a week throughout the Fall semester due to chemo or dr appointments, but she never missed a beat in keeping up with what was going on in class. She will walk through my door chattering away at me in Spanish, always with a smile. Taylor never once let her cancer bring her down. She approaches every day as an adventure and kept her chin up even though I could tell with my mother's eyes that she was in pain. She's a real trooper!

Anywho, let's continue on before I get all mushy and teary eyed. :)

One of the fundraisers was a garage sale/craft fair. I decided my contribution would be Nom Noms. I pulled out my scraps and just started sewing. All told, I think I made just under 2 dozen of these little monsters and every single one of them sold.

My Mother's Day Gift: Last dishcloth

I went a bit nuts with the crocheted dishcloths...just a bit too far. I think it will be a good while before I make any more. LOL

This is the third and last pattern that I tried. It is called a Citrus Twist dishcloth. I used cotton thread and a matching variegated thread for the edging. In hindsight, I should have stuck to the single colored yarn for the edge but eh, live and learn. :)

In the end, I put together a basket of 6 dishcloths (2 of each of the 3 patterns that I've blogged), 2 jars of my preserves (one apple butter and one strawberry, a fave of each of my parents) and some candied pecans. They both loved my edible goodies!

Just a Little Thank You part 2

Continuing my last blog entry about Teacher Appreciation gifts....

What about those of us who are not domestic goddesses who try to avoid the kitchen at all costs? 

Your answer is easy! Supplies for the classroom! :)

I have 160 students and I am allotted 1 pack of copy paper a month. A pack of paper is 500 sheets, which is barely enough to run one set of exams. I use about 2 packs of paper a week. I don't know a teacher that wouldn't love a pack of paper as a gift!

I also have a yearly budget of about $160 to buy office supplies, art supplies, as well as workbooks and videos. It doesn't go far at all. This means that I spend that money on the truly important items and my office/art supplies come out of my pocket. (Thank goodness for tax write offs!) Then, there's also Kleenex, Germex (I'm a BIG supporter of staying germ free as much as possible), and extra pencils/pens. Even at the high school level, you'd be surprised at the number of my students who come to class on a daily basis with no pen/pencil or paper.

Here's a list of Helpful Supplies for your consideration:

Always needed

• a ream of paper -about $3 at Walmart, a full box of paper (10 pks) is around $25 at an office supply store
• #2 pencils for testing
• ink pens for upper grades
• the EVIL red ink pens
• Erasers-so many kids prefer mechanical pencils nowadays and the erasers on those things are tiny
• Markers or crayons
• Black dry erase markers
• scissors - I go through a pair or two a year.

Nice to have:

• Colored Dry Erase Markers
• Paper clips
• Scotch tape refills
• Paper Towels
• Kleenex
• Antibacterial wipes for cleaning (I like the Lysol brand because it will scrub graffiti off of desks.)
• Envelopes
• Germex
• Ziploc baggies
• Rulers
• Box of file folders (third cut) - used for so many more things than just the usual filing

True Spoilage!

• Student dictionaries and thesaurus
• Highlighters
• A good metal stapler - not the plastic ones, those last about a year in a regular high school class
• Dry Erase board cleaner - pricy but lasts a long time and helps extend life of a dry erase board
• Post Its - the super sticky types are the BEST!
• Colored copier paper
• Sentence strips - especially for lower elementary
• Hanging file box - at WalMart, usually about $7
• Bulletin Board Trim - School colors are a safe bet or anything design that just looks fun! (I like the sparklies!)  
• first aide kit - bandaids, ibuprofen and a tube of anitbiotic ointment
• small tool kit - a "lady's" hammer (miniature but very still useful), a flat head screwdriver, and a measuring tape would be handy especially when decorating the classroom

Still unsure what to get? Try a gift card to Walmart, a local office supply store OR a teacher supply store like The School Box.

Still want to do something more crafty and personal for your Appreciation gift? How about some simple decorated book marks?

Items needed

• Jumbo paper clips - one box of these will be more than enough!
• Coordinating ribbons - cut in 5-6" lengths, no wider than 1/2", You could do school colors or teacher's favorites. 

               **Curling decorative ribbon would work as long as the curls are not more than 2-3" long.**

• Glue - Elmer's or hot glue (not pictured)
• Scissors (not pictured)

Step 1
Hold the paper clip with the "inner loop" facing down. Stack the ribbon on top of one another and place them behind the paper clip about half way down the length of the clip.

Step 2
With one hand, hold the ribbons in place behind the paper clip. With the other hand, grab the ends on one side of the ribbons and place them through the center of the clip.

 Step 3
Pull that set of ribbons tight and hold in place with your thumb. (I can't take a picture of this step properly without enlisting the cat's aid in snapping it. LOL!)

Step 4
Repeat Step 2 with the other side of ribbon.

Step 5
Grab all of the ribbon ends and pull them tight on the end of the paper clip.

Step 6
If you don't think the ribbons will stay in place on their own, add a dot of glue on the backside of the bookmark. Allow to dry before using.

Step 7
Trim up ribbons if so desired. You're DONE!

My kids made a half dozen markers for each of their teachers in about 30 minutes. (Most of that time was spent choosing ribbon rather than crafting.) We are adding the book marks to a bag of supplies for their teachers for a special touch.

Just a little Thank You

It's that time of year! The end of another school year is just around the corner. With these last weeks, we all face the inevitable Teacher Appreciation Week, what do we do to say Thank You?

Being a teacher myself, I know the importance of telling my own children's teachers how much we appreciate their efforts. I realized as I was planning out my thank you goodies for this year's appreciation week that this could make an excellent blog post!

(Thank You picture drawn by my youngest drew today. She insisted that I write out the message though.)

After 21 yrs in the classroom, I do have some very useful ideas that some of you could find helpful.

First and foremost, AVOID APPLE themed items! Unless you know that your teacher collects traditional teacher apple related stuff, almost all veteran teachers are completely over them. We see it in all aspects of our work, on memos, our t-shirts, on book bags, etc. If you know your teacher would appreciate a fruit basket, then real apples would be acceptable, but please refrain from apple decorated items.

And now, about food...

I swear I don't think there is another profession, with the exception of people in the restaurant industry, who is fed as often as educators. The PTA, local churches, Ruritan, Booster clubs, all of them bring in food. The amount of food brought in to feed the staff and faculty is HUGE. For example, we start the year off with a breakfast. There's a PTA snack bar (i.e. dessert buffet) during both parent teacher conference weeks. There's a luncheon at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then, there are random visits from various business who will set up shop in our mail room who bribe us with more treats while they attempt to talk us into signing up for Costco, their insurance/union, or chiropractic services. At the end of the year, there's also some sort of lunch or breakfast.

If you want to make an edible gift for your teacher, my advice is to make it something that can be eaten later. When you have 8 students bring you cupcakes, you can get a bad sugar rush as almost every kid wants to see you take a bite, especially if they made it themselves. We don't want to make them feel like we don't like their gift. We will take a bite, time and time again.


So what kind of items could you make that are just as easy and can be enjoyed at a later date?

Home made granola bars like the ones found at Positively Splendid are easy and super tasty! I usually make 2 batches of granola bars because my kidlets want a bar as soon as they are cool enough to eat.We wrap them individually in wax paper, put them in a decorated paper bag and add a copy of the recipe just so that we don't have any allergy scares. :)

Here's the batch that I made today...chocolate coconut cranberry! YUMMY! :D

15 hour apple butter like this tutorial on Craftster is another easy option. Most of the work is done by your crock pot overnight so all you need after that is some cool resealable jars or you can  do some hot water canning. (Do you want to try a different fruit? Pears and peaches would work just as well! :) )  Any other type of preserve or jelly would be a treat also.


Sugared and Spiced Nuts are tasty too! One batch of this recipe would make enough for a couple of gifts which is always a plus.

Keep your eyes open for my next blog post for more Teacher Appreciation ideas!