{Giveaway} Belly Feather's Eerie & Cheery Halloween Printables

I love, love, love Halloween!  And I love, love, love me a great Halloween party for the kids.  We hosted a party a few year's back for our friends and family that was too much fun!  Too bad I did not have these great printables from Belly Feather's to use for our sweet party!

 

 

 

Betsy from Belly Feathers is one of my nearest and dearest party gals.  She befriended me when I was just starting out this blog.  Her party goods are phenomenal!  This collection is no different.  Not only do I LOVE the black and grey houndstooth print, but they are editable!  That means even novices like me can edit the printables to customize for your needs.  Here is how I used mine so far for the kids' Halloween class treats:

 

Grace's Bucket of "Boos"

Ethan's "candy corn"

Candy (Pop)corn for the Teachers

 

Wouldn't you love these printables to use for your treats and fun Halloween activities?  You are in luck!  Betsy has graciously agreed to give away one set of her printables to a lucky Buckets of Grace follower.  All you need to do is follow my blog and leave me a comment below and I will randomly select a winner on Friday, October 19, 2012.  The giveaway closes at 5:00 central time.  I'd love to hear how you'd use these printables.  For those of you who aren't selected, the printables can be purchased here for a steal of a deal, $10!  Good luck!

Back-to-School Teacher Gift

My kiddos go back to school on Tuesday.  Part of me is sad that another summer is coming to an end, but I am also thrilled for some routine, structure and order back in our lives.  Summer has been a whirlwind of activities, no routine bed-times and go, go, go.   All good things must come to an end.

If you follow this blog, you know that I am always on the lookout for a bargain - even if it is several months ahead of when I need something.  This summer I found a steal on those cute plastic cups with the straws that seem to be everywhere.  So, I picked up a few that I planned to use for the kids' back-to-school presents for their teachers.  I added some packets of Crystal Light and here is how they turned out:

Thanks for looking!

Last Minute Halloween Sweet Treats

Nothing like last minute!  Here are two really easy last minute ideas for a quick but cute Halloween teacher gift and a quick and cute classroom treat idea.

I've had these clear "paint cans" sitting around my craft room for a while.  I seem to "collect" things and then don't want to use them because I'm saving them for that perfect craft/gift idea.  After coming across the same paint cans (albeit a little smaller) at Target in the dollar section, I decided I can start to use mine :)  I decided to use them for a little Halloween gift for the kids' teachers.

First, I made a 3" scallop punch and a 2" scallop punch and then shellacked it on the cover.  I added a little "bling" for a little extra touch. 

Then, using my Silhouette, I cut out "boo" and added it to the front of the paint can.  Here they are unfilled:

I made a label for each paint can.  This one says, "Thank you for being so sweet!  No tricks, just treats!  Lots of kisses, Grace" 

I filled the paint can with a package of Hershey kisses.

 For a Halloween classroom treat, my mom came across this idea for Halloween "S'mores."  All you need are mini-Hershey bars, Halloween ghost peeps and graham crackers.  I found the bags at Hobby Lobby - much easier than printing my own bag toppers and cutting all the paper myself!  And, they were pretty inexpensive.  I then printed tags that said, "S'more Ghostly Hugs" and used my 2" scallop punch to cut them out.  I glued the tags to the bag toppers and presto - cute treats!

I hope you and your family have a safe, fun and happy Halloween!

Valentine's Day Roundup

The flu has landed.  It it landed hard.  I thought we were out of the woods with just Ethan getting it, but a few days later Grace had her turn, then Chris.  My strategy was just to ignore it - if I ignored it, I wouldn't get it.  I was pretty proud of myself to be the last (wo)man standing in the house - especially since it seems lately that if anyone gets sick, it is me.  I blame the Swine Flu from last year.  I'm convinced it has permanently compromised my immune system.  But early Saturday morning I could no longer ignore the unwelcomed visitor.  Curses the flu.  It stole an entire weekend and continues to haunt me.

Despite the cold and hot sweats, I managed to get a few Valentine's Day crafty projects done.  For some reason, this year I heart Valentine's Day more than any other year.  So here are a few of my projects that I've been working on.

Be Mine Banner

Heart Felt Wreath

Inspired by eighteen25

I have to admit, I cheated and did not cut all the felt circles.  I purchased them on etsy from The Fairy Felt Mother.  So worth it!!!

 Valentine Day Countdown

Chalkboard Heart - Mothology

I made two versions, wasn't sure if the pink or red would show up better.  Chris and Grace liked the red version the best - after I straightened out "countdown" on the bottom of the heart!  Getting that vinyl straight sure can be tricky!  Good thing it's not permanent!

 Teacher XOXO Treat Jars

 

Using my Silhouette, I cut out the XOXO and heart.  It's hard to see from the picture, but I filled the jars with pink caramel filled Kisses and tied a pink ribbon around the jar.  They are super cute in person!

Personalized XOXO Valentine's Mailboxes

inspired by How Does She?

 

 I saw these mailboxes in the Target Dollar Aisle on several trips to Target and pondered what I could do with them.  They were too cute, but I wasn't sold on them until I saw Alison's idea over on How Does She?.  I had to make one for all of us and my adorable nieces and nephew!

 Valentine's Day Treats

Thank You tags courtesy of Green Apple Paperie, downloaded from Catch My Party.

I'm not going to admit where I purchased the gumball dispensers because my union brothers and sisters will de-friend me.  But sometimes, a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do!  The reason I started off this post with over sharing out our bout with the flu is because the flu is what caused me to step into that anti-worker rights store.  My husband was in dire need of Gatorade and that was the only place I could get to at the time.  And low and behold, I found myself in the Valentine's aisle and stumbled across these uber-cute gumball dispensers.  I just couldn't pass them up - even if it meant I was violating worker's rights by spending my money in that place.  I've since gone to confession and we are all good :)

So that's my Valentine's Day round-up.  I've decided that I'm going to surprise the fam with a Valentine's Day breakfast/sweets table next Sunday.  But first things first, time to prepare for the Packer's Super Bowl victory this Sunday.  Stay warm and well!



Buckets of Teacher Present Ideas

I feel like I've been on a blogging hiatus lately.  Between hosting my family's Thanksgiving and getting my house ready for Christmas, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed these days!  But those two things are done, the Christmas cards are addressed and I survived my annual Black Friday trek with my sister.  So back to the blog :)

This year for my kids' teacher presents, I found this fabulous idea on How Does She.  Using the idea of the "12 Days of Christmas", this gift combines fun, practicality and whimsy for a cute, personal teacher present.  And how could I resist a present that's centerpiece is a bucket :) 

I modified Missy's idea a little bit to personalize our buckets.  The idea is the same - find 12 different items for your child's teacher(s), and use the numbers 1 through 12 for the gifts.  Add a fun saying to each item and you have a great Christmas present.  Here is what my buckets ended up looking like:

 

 

I found the buckets at Target at Halloween time for $5.00!  I then used Uppercase Living's Personal Studio to make the vinyl words to personalize the buckets.  If I only had a Silhouette, I could make them myself!  (Hint, hint for my husband for a Christmas present - pass the word if you would please - he doesn't read the blog :)

 

As for the contents of the buckets, some things were a splurge (but my kids' teachers are worth it) and some were back-to-school deals.  Here is the list of the items I found:

 

1.  Personalized clipboards from eBay.

2.  Pens

3.  Sharpies

4.  Red and Green Notebooks

5.  Giant Paper Clips

6.  Post It Notepads or Scissors

7.  7 oz. of hand sanitizer

8.  8 x 2  magnetic clips

9.  Packs of microwave popcorn

10.  10 x10 sheets of construction paper

11.  11 oz. of Hershey's kisses

12.  12 oz. of hot chocolate

 

Here is a close-up of some of the items:

 

 

I put the Hershey's kisses in a craft paint container and added some paper to dress it up. 

Their teachers can then use the containers when the kisses are gone.

 

Grace's school colors are orange and black.

 

For Ethan's daycare providers.

 

4 notebooks tied together with some ribbon.

 

6 packs of Post-its.

 

6 scissors for Ethan's daycare. 

I put the scissors in a cello-bag and tied it with some baker's twine.

 

After I placed all of the items in the buckets, I wrapped a Christmas ribbon around the buckets.

 

 

This was a fun gift to put together - and it was made even more fun knowing they are going to three very special ladies!