Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

The school year is quickly coming to a close, here are a few cute ideas to thank the teachers in your life!

Wormy Sugar Cookie Apples from Red Couch Recipes

Eighteen 25 has created this adorable free printable for a coffee giftcard! Check out their past Teacher Appreciation Projects here.

This is my favorite idea by Lisa Storms. She's created free printable flags for both teacher and classroom aides.

Doily Onsies for Baby

This is just the sweetest way to dress up those onsies for baby by Beccas Paper Cutz. 

Make your own Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray!

I ran across super easy instructions on how to make your own Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray by Huzzah Vintage. Its starting to feel like summer around here!

Make your own Glitter Playdough

This play-dough looks like so much fun by Fairy Dust Teaching. It may be a few years before I can make this in our house but I'm still bookmarking it :)

Mother's Day Idea: Tulip Cupcakes

These Tulip Cupcakes are perfect for Mother's Day by Jenny Steffens Hobick.

Cinco De Mayo Center Piece Idea

Here is a quick and easy center piece idea for your Cinco de Mayo dinner tonight from Divine Party Concepts. 

Easter Fun: Carrot Napkins

Our Best Bites just posted a very creative way to put together silverware and napkins on Easter, check out the step by step instructions here. Pretty sure you don't even need to be very crafty to pull this one off. 

Easter Fun: Carrots in Dirt Dessert!

This recipe made by Our Dish looks like so much fun! They used refrigerated pre-made dough but it really wouldn't take much time to mix up a batch of your favorite sugar cookie dough to use.

Easter Fun: Peeps S'mores!

Check out these cute peeps s'mores made by Eclectic Recipes. This would be a fun way to use those super cheap clearance peeps you find after Easter! 

Repurpose 2 Liter Bottle into a Backyard Bird Feeder!

Family Fun shows you how to repurpose a plastic 2 liter bottle and two wooden spoons into a bird feeder. This would make a fun and easy weekend project with kids. And I bet you could find wooden spoons in a dollar section somewhere.

How to Color Customize Chalkboard Paint!

I just ran across instructions to customize chalkboard paint to match your decor from Martha Stewart. I'm tucking this brilliant idea away for future reference.

Upcycled Baby Tshirt Bibs!

Ok I'm kind of freaking out because I love this idea so much. I don't know when I'll have time for this but I'm going to start saving T-shirts to eventually complete this project. Head here for a tutorial on how to make baby bibs from old t-shirts or button down shirts. I LOVE it!

Bathtub Soap Crayons Recipe

Here's a fun recipe I found for bath time, soap crayons by kidboomu. I think kids all ages would enjoy marking up the bath walls. Here's what you'll need for this project but head on over to kiboomu for instructions.

Soap Flakes
2 T Hot Water
Bowls
6 Colors of Food Coloring

Easter Fun: Goldfish Easter Bunny Carrots!

I'm in love with this simple Goldfish Carrot idea for Easter by No Fuss Fabulous! Looks like a quick and easy project for us I'll be giving a try during nap time. There's even a Goldfish coupon on coupons.com right now, yippee!

Toddler Fun: Nature Walk

It finally feels like Spring is here! Our morning activity today was a simple nature walk around the house. We took a basket to gather things we found along the way. There was just one mishap on our adventure that was quickly remedied by a shoe change. 

Brooklynn really enjoyed unloading all the treasures once we were back inside. She must have had so much fun that napping is just out of the question today. . . .

Peanut Butter Playdough Recipe with Agave

Looking for something to keep us busy this afternoon I decided to make Peanut Butter Play Dough. There's just no way normal play dough would stay out of Brooklynn's mouth so the edible kind it is.

Here's the recipe I used:

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup Agave Syrup (can substitute honey)
2 cups powdered sugar

Mix Ingredients in a bowl, thats it!
Store in an air tight container or ziplock

She really had no interest in doing anything with it other than eat it. 

We'll try it again in a month or so :)

Easter Fun: Toddler Easter Egg Filler Ideas

Every Easter Sunday I can remember as a child my sister and I were awoken before dawn to attend an annual sunrise service. And to entice us out of our beds that early my mom had Easter baskets awaiting which we eagerly looked forward to each year. After the Sunrise service we'd head to our church for a pancake breakfast followed by impromptu sibling and cousin photo sessions, morning service, and then lunch at our grandparents house.

I hope Easter is just as memorable for Brooklynn as it was for me so this year we'll be starting our own Easter traditions including an Easter Egg Hunt. We'll be hiding a few colored hard boiled eggs and also a few filled ones. I've gathered some egg filler ideas for toddlers since most traditional fillers like jelly beans and other candy can be a choking hazard. Also use what you have on hand, check your stockpiles and holiday stashes.

Easter Egg Filler Ideas for Toddlers
Alphabet Magnets

Animal Crackers

Banana Chips

Chocolate Teddy Grahams

Colorful Cereal (Apple Jacks, Trix, ect)
Dried Fruit (Cherries, Blueberries, ect)
Goldfish Crackers or Grahams
Hair Barrettes or Bows
Make your own Trail Mix
Mini M & M's
Play Jewelry
Small Bath Toys
Stickers
Toy Cars

AND here are some ideas I found at Target:
Mini Reese's $0.66/bag after coupon stack
5 Pack Small Squishy Balls, $1 Spot
3 Pack Clearance Bubbles $0.68 (these might be too big for the eggs we have but for $0.68 we'll use them)

Please feel free to leave other ideas you have in the comments, I'd love to hear them!

Craft Idea: Repurposed Tie Headband

Here's an adorable tutorial on how to make a headband from a tie from craft eNVy. I always see super cute ties in the mens section of Ross and TJ Max, now I have a reason to pick one up!

DIY Scrap Paper Light Fixture

Check out this modern scrap paper light fixture Design Sponge is featuring today. I love DIY projects that turn out beautiful and look expensive! I'm totally going to try and make one for our office. Head on over for more pictures of the process.

Learn to Cross Stitch!

These would be awesome in colors of your child's room decor in a grouping! I can't wait to break out my cross stitching kit (yes I have one from a class my grandma held for her grand daughters years ago) after finding this article on Martha Stewarts craft blog. Click through the pictures and theres a template you can download for each animal. Here's what the bird template looks like.