Whew, school is over!

I really meant to post several times this week but the time just kept slipping away with the last week of school activities running full force. I had such mixed emotions this week, one moment I was excited but then I would have an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and sadness. I had decided before spring break that the school environment was not working for the twins anymore so we are venturing into the land of homeschooling. I am excited about it because I do think our home life will greatly improve but sad that we are leaving behind some wonderful teachers and friends.

As you can tell it was just a rollercoaster of a week but I did manage to put together some great gifts for their teachers and my grade level.

I found these totes and immediately knew I wanted to monogram them with my new embroidery machine but I needed a smaller hoop. UGH! I had to order it and it would not be here in time.  Ok back up plan.....I freezer paper stenciled them instead. Even though it was not the original idea, I do love how they turned out.

I was lucky enough to find an eyeglass case in the turquoise shade to match the stenciling. I also made key clips to tie onto the straps. My mother had given me a key clip for xmas and I love it. I am sure some of you have seen the stamped washers floating around craft blogland.  If not, Helping Little Hands has a nice tutorial of how to do the stamped washers. Be sure to check it out if you want to make some, http://helpinglittlehands.blogspot.com/2010/05/stamped-washer-projects.html . I love the stamped washers and started out making  keychains but then I decided  I would make it a key clip for their totes.

 I hope they find it as useful as I have.

 The last thing I made for them is a game. This is my version of the LCR game. The boys and I have recently discovered LCR and we love it. It is usually a quick game and portable so I always have it in my purse for instant entertainment.

Well I am sure you will hear from me on a regular basis now. The boys and I have  alot of wonderful projects we want to do this summer. As a matter of fact I have a whole project notebook going on and we plan on setting our goals and timelines tonight over dinner. What do you have planned for your summer?

Teacher Appreciation kept me busy!!!

I have been super busy with teacher appreciation gifts last week. These are just a few things we managed to put together for the boys teachers. I try to do something for every teacher including their resource(art, library, computer, music and PE) so that means between 3 boys we have 27 gifts to give out. In addition to the personal gifts we give out, I also did a great deal of work with the PTA to make sure we had a little gift in every teachers box on a daily basis of the week , a breakfast and a luncheon.

These are some glasses that I picked up at the Dollar Tree, added their initials in vinyl lettering that I cut with the Cricut. The boys filled them with pencils. The teachers were happy with these since they just sent out  a request for more pencils. Supplies tend to get so low in the springtime.

These are my favorite but I tend to be a sucker for flowers anyhow. I arranged the flowers in the purses for a unique gift. I have been doing this for years now and it is always the one that receives lots of compliments. This also makes a lovely arrangement to take to someone in the hospital. It is really like receiving two gifts, one for now and one for later!

These are little note pads and hi-liters we bagged up for all of the teachers. I tied them up with binder clips that I had enhanced to help the teachers with their papers.

All of the teachers thought these were just the greatest little things to organize everything on their desk. Very simply done with mod podge.

We also managed to send out some cookie cups and candy grams. They work hard and do so much for my children. I just wish I could do more to show them. The boys and I have now started on their end of the year gifts. As soon as I can I will show you what we are putting together for them.

I am linking up to all of these creative parties. Please check them out. They are loaded with lots of wonderful ideas for you to use.