Teacher Appreciation Round-up

School is almost over!! (except for my poor nieces, who have year round school....they have to go to school even in JULY. That just seems wrong to me!)  I know Teacher Appreciation week was just a few weeks ago, but I always like to send a little something on the last day as well.  My kids have always had great teachers, and I like them to know how much I appreciate them and how much my kids will miss them.  (I doubt the teachers have ever made them clean the bathroom or pull weeds).  They really do have such an important job and I'm glad someone out there is willing to do it!

Here are a few ideas I have seen online and thought I'd share them with you.




I thought these were so adorable!! And they look yummy.  Not only are Rice Krispie treats delicious on their own--but add Strawberry or Cherry flavored Jello and you've got a Treat! ! MMM!  So adorable, and the kids could help make these too.  Check out Nothing But Country's tutorial on how to make these.



Here is a quick and easy treat to thank those special teachers.  Perfect to throw together if you're like me and wait until the night before, even though it's been on your to-do list for a week!! Thanks to Lil' Luna for sharing the printable for this one.




 I would have a hard time being a teacher.  I'm sure there are great rewards, but the germs alone just might do me in!  Hand Sanitizer is a MUST in these classrooms and check out this cute bottle  make-over from Oopsey Daisy.



For the past couple of years, I have made the teachers these Fruit Bouquets.  They were easy and fun to make, if you can find some good fruit for a good deal. (Thank you Costco!)

Thanks to all the great teachers out there! We really, really appreciate ALL your hard work.
I'd love to see any ideas you have seen out there--what do you do for your teachers?

Spring Flower Balls

 

April showers bring May flowers!  We have certainly been getting plenty of rain (and snow) around here, but between my 4 year old daughter picking and the deer munching, I don't have as many flowers as I should!  I saw this darling idea at a bridal shower and couldn't wait to get started! The best news of all? All supplies were bought at Dollar Tree. I sure love that place....even though it becomes the Forty-Dollar-Tree each time I visit. 

Here's what you'll need:

Flowers (obviously)

Wiffle balls

Hot glue

Scissors

Ribbon (if hanging)

Start by taking the flowers apart, leaving some length of the stem like this. If they are small flowers, they might have two or three blossoms all connected with one stem. It's fine...

Put some hot glue around the holes and tuck the stem inside, pressing the flower onto the glue.

If you want to attach a ribbon, do it when you have just a couple of holes left to fill.  The first ball I made, I put the string in first and it just got in my way the whole time. But maybe you're more coordinated than I am!   Put the ribbon through two holes and tie at the top.

Tips:

Make sure your ribbon is long enough, mine were a little too short at first.

Use big flowers--it made the whole ball look bigger and fluffier. 

If the flowers are small, you can put a couple of stems in each hole.

You'll need 2-3 bunches per ball, depending on how big the flowers are and how tight you glue them on.

I wondered if these would be great smelling if I put some essential oil on a cotton ball and put it in the middle before I glued flowers on....but I haven't tried it yet.  Maybe they could help my car smell great!

And there you have it.  They sure add a splash of color!!

I got a little carried away with the picture taking....I wasn't sure what would look good! Here are all sorts of options.

*Contest Closed*

I want to give some of these away! Here's how to enter to win a set of Three Flower balls:

*Become a Follower of Happy Little Party, and leave me a comment telling me you did so

*Sign up for email updates to Happy Little Party and leave me a comment about it

*(If you already do these things, just leave a comment about it!)

Thanks and Good Luck!

Contest ends Tuesday, May 24 around noon

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Creation Corner
Fingerprints on the Fridge
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Skip to my Lou
Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Fruit Bouquet {Mother's Day or Teacher Appreciation}

My sister broke her ankle a couple of years ago.  It was sad, not only for obvious reasons, but because she also missed a flight with us to go to Disneyland!  Luckily, she was able to catch up with us a couple of days later in the 'Land and we all benefited from her "wheelchair pass" which allowed us to skip to the front of the line!!  Where am I going with all of this? Well, we benefited from her broken ankle at Disneyland, and we also benefited from the fact that her boss sent her an amazing Fruit Bouquet!  (I try to look at the bright side of things :) which was easy this time since it wasn't my foot!) It was a huge and delicious bouquet, and I had never seen one in real life up to that point.  (You'd think I discovered diamonds or something from how excited I got).   I had fun picking it apart and seeing how easy it really was to put together.  Since then, I have made a few for friends and teachers, and it is a really fun gift.  Mine are smaller than the basket my sister got, but the thought is always appreciated! 

PS. If you take this to give to your friend at her birthday party, don't just set it down in the middle of the gift table. Make sure you hand it to her directly. It *may* start to disappear before she sees it. Trust me on this one.


Items Need: 
*Clean container (I usually find flower pots, pails, tins of various sizes at the dollar or craft store marked down)
*Iceberg lettuce, cut to fit tightly down in the pot OR Floral    foam, cut to size
*Kale or leafy green lettuce
*Skewers

*Fruit (mostly strawberries, grapes, cantaloupe, pineapple,    kiwi, watermelon)  Not any fruit that gets brown

*Shaped cookie cutter (preferably metal) stars, hearts, flowers

 Place the head of iceberg lettuce or foam into the container.  It should be a tight fit.  Cover with the pretty dark green lettuce so no foam is showing through.  Wash all the fruit, and then start skewering!  I like levels, so cut/break skewers accordingly.  

To cut the pineapple, I slice the peel off like this:

Then lay it down and cut about a 1/4"- 1/2"  circle off like this

(do it thick enough, especially with watermelon so it is strong enough when you put a skewer through)

Use a cookie cutter  to cut out your shape.  You may have to use a knife to make the edges smooth if you use a weak cookie cutter.  The skewer goes up through the core of the pineapple to make it sturdy. 

For the cantaloupe center on a pineapple flower, use a melon baller or small cookie scoop to get a ball, then cut that ball in half and use a toothpick to connect it to the pineapple.  Attach a half of a grape the same way.

Variations:  (sorry no pictures)

*Chocolate dipped strawberries are a welcome addition. (white or brown)

*Cream filled Strawberries: Cut an X out of the bottom of the strawberries (the bottom will actually be facing up--make sense?)  Just pipe a little bit of cream cheese frosting into the X for a yummy filling

*Marshmallows alternated with grapes for the tall pieces are pretty too!

Don't be jealous of my coffee table in this picture....

I want to see pictures if anyone makes one!!

Quick and easy Easter Decor

Pink. Yellow. Purple. Pastel colors in abundance.  It might get to be too much for some people. 

 Enter sleek, cool, sophisticated gray combined with said pastel colors and we have, well, this amazing idea. 

I'm a little late getting into the Easter swing of things--it is NEXT week!! But perusing around blogland I found some super cute decorations that come together very quickly.  Always a good thing, right?

I found this awesomely ugly frame at a thrift store for $1.00.  Not a great color, but I LOVE the corner design.  A quick coat of spray paint does the trick every time.

I ran to Dollar Tree to pick up these adorable glitter eggs.  Seriously, I saw this idea late at night, and I could hardly wait until Dollar Tree opened the next morning so I could get started.  Like, I almost couldn't sleep.  I know, I'm weird.

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Just pull out the little strings and hot glue them onto some cardstock sized to fit into the frame.  That was easy!

Since I had a few eggs left over, I grabbed some of the curly twigs floating around my house (my husband loves these) and made this happy little tree :)
                       Happy Decorating!!

Stay tuned next week for more decorating ideas, food and Easter treats!!

Thanks for stopping by!

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(because I know y'all can't wait for the next post!!)

SPRING blocks

It may be winter-ish outside, but you can brighten up your house with fun spring decor!! There are lots of ways to make these holiday blocks, here is my version.  I just bought a 2x6 at Home Depot and cut it into blocks.  I painted the blocks white, found scrapbook paper I loved and mod-podged them on. (apparently, this is quite the delicate art. On the first blocks I made, the paper became really bumpy and looked horrible after I used the mod-podge!!) I guess you just do a little at a time.

I cut out some letters and 'podged them on too. Note: I do not have a Cricut or any of those fancy tools.  This is just my cardstock paper, pencil and handy ol' scissors. Talk about skills, right!? I just found a font I liked and did my best to freehand.  Don't look too close...

Embelish with ribbon, buttons, flowers, etc.  A little distressing ink around the edges would look great too!


(Oh, and by the way, I used the other side of the blocks for a different season! How's that for thrifty?)

                                       What are your favorite spring projects?

 

                                These are simple and easy to make.

I'm thinking they would make a fun hostess gift or spruce up
                             your own Easter table!

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Girls Hair Bow Holder

I know projects like these have been floating around in blogland for probably a year now (I'm a little late to the blog party!!) but I just made a couple of these and thought I would share, in case this is a new idea for some of you. This would be perfect for a baby gift, or for that special little girl in your life!

My daughter has a lot of hairbows.  They are all in a cute pink box. Or supposed to be anyway. I would love to say that the pairs of these bows are together in the box and always easily accessible.  But that would be a lie.

I saw this idea and was immediately excited to make one of my own! Here's to hoping for more organization.

I went to the local thrift shop and found a frame. I wanted one big enough to fit a lot of bows. I looked for a really gaudy, gobby, textured frame, but this was the best I could find.  Either people are hanging on to their ugly frames, or the majority of frames being made now are more simple!

 I removed extra staples, etc or anything that may be on the back or center of the frame, and spray painted it white.  I only did one coat, because I liked how I could still see a little of the gold peeking through. 

 Here is a close-up of the frame.  It has decent texture, and I do like the darker color  underneath.

I probably should have stopped here--I think I like this look the best, but I decided to add a little dark glaze to it to antique it a bit more.

I used an old rag, and rubbed a little glaze around some parts of the frame to achieve the look I wanted.  Then I sanded it a little.....as I said above, I think I liked it best before I put the glaze on, but it turned out okay!

 Next, I chose what color ribbon I wanted and cut a few strips.  I hot glued them on each end, pulling the ribbon tight before gluing it down.

 Next, I added a sawtooth hanger to the back. These are nice too, if you're like me and *don't measure exactly right* to the center. These babies will still allow you to hang a straight frame!!

Those little nails they come with are really little so I used a bigger nail to make a hole, then I pounded in those small nails. (I'm not very handy, I know)

 Viola!  I was able to finish this whole project in just over an hour (including my time to run to the thrift store and back!!) 

Here is a pink and brown one I whipped up as a gift for my friend who is expecting a girl in June

This would be such a fun gift to give at a shower! Even better if you include some hair accessories with it!

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