This post was originally published as a guest post on 30 Handmade Days.

Another quick teacher appreciation idea. Although, I didn’t use these for teachers at all. I teach Let’s Play Music and we just had our recital for the graduates of the program last week. The Let’s Play Music program requires a lot of parent participation and I wanted to recognize the parents and help the kids tell them “thank you” for their part in their success in the program.

These came together pretty easily because I designed them to use products I had on hand. I picked up the berry baskets from Bake It Pretty at the market at SNAP! Conference. I had the mini-chalkboards from a Pick Your Plum order a little while back. And of course, I have a large supply of baker’s twine on hand. Pretty sure I couldn’t call myself a crafty blogger if I didn’t.

I went to Lowes and picked out these potted flowers for about $1.00/each. They happened to be the perfect size to slide into my berry basket. I had thought to get little berry bushes, but between the shape of the pots and the expense of the plants, I opted for these instead. They were more colorful, and I’m afraid our Arizona heat wouldn’t be too kind to the berries. I think it works either way.

Since all of the parents that came to class this year were moms, and our recital was right before Mother’s Day, I made labels to say “I couldn’t have PICKED a better mom!”

I used a chalk ink marker to try some miniature chalk art on the picks. I posted my progress on Instagram. These read “Thank you for helping me GROW as a musician!” For a teacher I would say something like, “Thank you for helping me learn and GROW this year!” For a friend, “I’m glad we could GROW close this year!”

I printed the labels on basic 1 inch X 2 5/8 inch labels. And I am sharing them with you! To cover all of our bases, there are labels that say “Mom”, some that say “Friend” and a bunch that say “Teacher” on the same sheet. I hope these are useful to you!

*CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD BERRY BOX LABELS!*

If you like these, I hope you will consider following me on Facebook and Pinterest for more ideas. I have a few printables available only as thank yous to my Facebook followers.

What are you doing for your children’s teachers to say “Thank you” at the end of the school year?

Never have I felt more like a mother than I did on Mother’s Day three years ago, having just welcomed my fourth child into the world a week or so earlier. I felt a little like I’m sure Mary (the mother of Christ) did when the scriptures tell us that she kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. I had just had a beautiful birthing experience (Yes! It is possible!) where I learned so much about faith and myself, but didn’t feel like I could or should share too much with others–birth, often being such a controversial topic, especially on the internet.

I did write and publish the following on this blog:

I can’t think of another Mother’s Day where I have felt more like a mother, than I do today. The memories of a beautiful delivery where the divinity of the role of motherhood was impressed upon me, are replaying in my mind. The fresh pain lingers as my body tries to adjust to having the baby outside of me, meeting his needs for nourishment and love, while trying to put itself back together. It reminds me of the awesome sacrifices mothers willingly perform for their children–not just in childbirth, but every day in caring for them. In the more painful moments, I wonder why I and so many millions of women are willing to go through some of these things. But then, I remember that we love best those whom we serve, and these sacrifices bind us to our children. 

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! And for many the school year is quickly winding down! Here is a fun, inexpensive, gift for your favorite teachers (including free printables) that is a great way to say “Thank you” and “have a great summer” all in one!

I believe that all of the materials for our “summer fun” baskets came from the dollar store. I started by getting sand buckets to work as the container, but also could be useful for playing in the summer. You can see the blue one is for the guy teacher. The big labels say, “Thank you for all of your hard work teaching me this year! You deserve a …..Summer Vacation!” I found all kinds of summery items and attached labels with little thank-yous.

Pink leis for the ladies with a tag that reads, “Thank you for helping me BLOOM this year!”

I had to include the ever-popular “Stay COOL this summer!” attached to a box of ice pops (not yet frozen).

An inflatable beach ball–who doesn’t need one of these for instant summer fun?–says “Have a BALL this summer!”

In case the message didn’t get across the first time, theses H2O Blasters (a.k.a. water balloons) are labeled “Have a BLAST this summer!”

The shovel attached to the bucket got it’s own label, “I DUG having you as my teacher!”

I found some fun Glow sticks wands and attached a label, “Thank you for helping me SHINE this year!”

You could add other summery items like sunscreen, lip balm, sunglasses (“My future’s so bright I gotta wear shades.”) Or pick and choose individual items for smaller gifts. But really, after putting up with your child all year, doesn’t their teacher deserve a summer break? Ours do!

I printed my gift tags on sheets of 2″ circle labels, but you could also print them on card stock and cut out circles around each design. I am sharing my labels here for you–free for your personal use. If you do print these out and use them, I’d love a comment letting me know what you do. Also, please consider following me on Facebook and Pinterest for more fun ideas! I have some printables available only as gifts to my Facebook followers.

*Click HERE for Summer Gift Basket Label*

*Click HERE for Circle Gift Tags-pg.1*

*Click HERE for Circle Gift Tags-pg.2*

Before I can show you the before, I have to show you before the before, because it helps explain why this room is in such chaos. I posted this picture of the family room before, with our old entertainment unit when I was thinking about painting the wall. Don’t worry. I still am and may have even come up with a plan, but that won’t happen for at least a month or two, so it was nice to be able to make some changes now, instead of waiting for time to do a big project.

We got a new-to-us TV for Christmas, so the old armoire and media storage (that was broken and not replaceable) had to go. We also got a different system for storing and playing our DVDs and have been working on entering them into the system. What that means, though, is that we had never finished the process so the room has been cluttered with banker boxes full of DVD cases for months. The pictures were never hung back on the walls and this horrifying image is really what the room looked like.

Until I was given a $250 gift card to Walmart and the challenge to refresh my family room by purchasing Better Homes and Gardens brand furnishings and using items already in my home. I think the transformation is pretty astounding…

Are you ready???

Before the room was very monochromatic. Lots of neutrals on neutrals with some warm-toned reds and golds. Not wanting to throw out the baby with the bathwater, I felt what this space really needed was an infusion of some cool gray-blue colors to freshen up the abundant warm tones in my beige on beige room. And why not have a little more fun with the splashes of red that weren’t going anywhere.

The key to the makeover was this lovely rug. A steal at only $69. It isn’t as thick and plush as some more expensive rugs, but is it soft and lays nicely, and happened to have the perfect color scheme for my room. I also really enjoy the pattern. It is kind of a bridge between the more traditional furnishings I have and a more contemporary look I would like to incorporate. I really love it!

Probably my favorite thing to shop for in the Better Homes and Gardens line is their decorative pillows. There are so many to choose from, and lots of color and texture to work with.

The monotone throw pillows were replaced with these beautiful and fun pillows.

I already had the checked pattern. The floral print is embroidered, and everyone loves the ruffled rose pillows. If we are going red, it may as well be fun, right?

My husband’s chair (that I have been unsuccessful at talking him into parting with) looks fun and fresh with a pale blue embroidered pillow. It is amazing how much these small pops of blue help balance the space.

Another great textured pillow!

And it doesn’t hurt that I finally replaced the kid’s pictures with their current ones and got them back on the wall to break up that massive expanse of beige.

I love the circle design in these lamps and paired them with rectangular shades because of the limited space on the tv shelf.

To round out that corner, I added a grouping of these decorative mirrors. They are only 5 or 6 dollars each, and can be grouped in lots of different configurations. I liked how they echo the circular design in the set of lamps I chose.

My decision to place the lamps by the TV, may not be the most practical for reading, etc., but I love how they elevate the display to furniture status, instead of just a television stand.

I also hung the Alphabet Artwork (that was temporarily on the mantle) above the TV. Leaving the mantle ready for a fresh new look.

I’ve had this large gold frame floating around for a while. I wanted a large picture of our family there, but not that large, so I strung twine from the frame and clothes-pinned on a bunch of photos from our DIY Christmas Card photoshoot.

I didn’t want to clutter the mantle with lots of trinkets, so I was excited to find these substantial BHG candlesticks and lovely blue candles. They smell nice, too.

On the other side, I found this great BHG basket in the kitchen department.

I created an assortment of decorative balls from some floral foam I had on hand and twine and tacks.

I’m loving my new room!

Do you have a space you have been wanting to make over? Enter the BHG Pin to Win Room Refresh Sweepstakes for your chance to win $1000 to Walmart! If I could do all of this with $250. What could you do with $1000?

Here are a few tips to get you started on your own room refresh:

* Pick the room that has been driving you craziest, or one you spend a lot of time in.

* Have a vision. Gather ideas and resources on Pinterest (see sweepstakes above).

* Do the Honey Do’s! I got my husband to fix the bent curtain rods, and hang the shelf to hide our TV antenna in honor of this challenge. I flipped the couch cushions and everything got a good dusting, etc.

* Shop the house. I have lots of junk hanging out around my house. Not everything needs to be brand new to make a room feel brand new.

* Don’t wait until you have tons of money or time to create a space you love to be in! I’m guilty of this. I wait for the perfect time to make changes, but that may never come. It feels so good to have a refreshed space. I’m going to have to get busy on some other spaces in my house.

What room are you most dying to makeover in your home?

I had the opportunity to host a girls night in this weekend. What could be a better way to end the week than laughing with some favorite girlfriends while we help each other come up with fabulous nail designs?

It started with a fun shopping trip to Walgreens where I used my new Balance Rewards membership to pick out a bunch of fun new nail polish colors and products. I was doing the math in my head, and was pretty sure I had blown my budget. But because of the Rewards card savings, I actually came in under budget (until I went back for more the next day). You can get the whole shopping story on my Google+ page.

Of course, I can’t host a party–even a fun small get-together like this–with out some pretties. I was inspired by the color blocked nails to bring in two (or three-toned) decorations and food.

I bought these inexpensive white paper honeycomb puffs, and dipped the bottom half in dye. I let them dry and then hung them up from my chandelier over my dining room table, where we all gathered for manicures.

I also made this color-blocked floral arrangement, simply by grouping the flowers of a same color together. I made a grid out of thin tape on top of my container to help the flowers stay in their places. I used the dip-dyed napkins I made for Easter as a table runner.

I served two-toned chocolate dipped strawberries, two (or three) toned smoothies, nail polish marshmallows and other colorful candies. We made 3 flavors of smoothies, and then poured them in simultaneously or in sections to create interesting “color blocked” designs.

These fun marshmallow nail polish treats are made by dipping marshmallows in melted chocolate and adding a Tootsie roll on top for  the lid. For best results, get a good quality melting chocolate and make sure it is thin before attempting to dip (I had some little helpers and difficult chocolate. Still cute, though! Right?)

And then we got crazy with our nails! Here are some of the fun looks we came up with.

Coral Reef Xtreme Wear nail polish, with Love Letter accent nail.

Polka Dots with accent heart, using Xtreme Wear Twisted pink and White On, with white nail art pen.

All kinds of colors, with white nail art pen (This is my 5-year-old, and when I first finished her nails they were so cute, but she just kept messing with them, and they ended up getting painted three times, I think. *sigh*)

Leopard print on my 12-year-old using InstaDry Quick Sand, Wedding Glitters, and black Nail Art Pen.

Black and white polkadots. White On with black paint pen.

Wedding Glitters with Bling it On Polish strip accent

I needed something that would last the whole week since I am headed to SNAP! Conference, so I opted to try the polish strips. They are supposed to last for up to 10 days. Keep your fingers crossed that mine will. I used Bling it On strips with Girl Flower on the accent nail. It looked like SNAP! colors to me.

We couldn’t leave out the toes.

We turned the Love Letter polish strip sideways, to put it on my friend’s toe. It looks classy with her french pedicure.

Marine Scene with white Nail Art Pen polka dots.

And no. I didn’t give myself a washi tape pedicure. But I did use washi tape to help me do a color-blocked pedicure.

You can find these fun products at your local Walgreens or online. Right now you can get Sally Hansen Extreme and Salon Effects 2/$5 w/ 1,000 points.

Here are a couple of cool color combos to consider for your Color-blocking adventures: Block art and Sweet Stripes. For more fun manicure ideas, follow my Novelty Nails Pinterest board.

We had so much fun painting and talking into the night! This may become a regular event for us. What do you like to do when you get the girls together?

“I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and COTY #cbias #SocialFabric” All opinions presented herein are my own.

I’ve had a little break from birthday parties, but there are a couple right around the corner now. Before my son celebrates his 3rd birthday, it might be a good idea to blog his 2nd birthday. It hit at a really busy time last year and I just didn’t get a chance to get the post up. It was a small-mainly family-event, but it made a certain 2-year-old train-enthusiast very happy.

Of course, a ticket makes the perfect invitation to come aboard the Birthday Express! I printed these on cardstock and then used a circle punch to cut out the notches on either side.

It was kind of a no-brainer to have the party at our friend’s home. They are the ones that have the train made of water barrels and the huge backyard in which to drive it. And they happen to be some of my son’s biggest fans! They have been so generous to let us use their property for lots of parties (like the Rapunzel, and the County Fair parties).

I wanted the party tent to feel like an old rural train station. I had my printing friend print up a couple of these big signs identifying it as “Alecville Station” I hung one in front of the entrance to the tent, and the other on the side, where the passengers would be loading and unloading from the train. I used a couple of vintage suitcases to collect the presents and help set the atmosphere.

Inside the station we find the sort-of complete food table. For some reason my husband and family were hungry, and were a lot more interested in eating, than in letting me meticulously style and photograph the table. #realpartyproblems

Anyway, we set up a couple of tables underneath a railroad crossing sign, and had a couple of trains getting ready to cross. One was the birthday cake (more on that in a minute) and the other was a SUBWAY train. (Get it?)

We set out the long sub sandwich on the table, using toothpicks to help make a train shape in front. Each train car got cucumber wheels and the subway drove past some broccoli bushes.

We ate off of yellow railroad crossing plates. Since I hadn’t found any like this to purchase, I bought plain yellow and black plates. I cut X’s out of the black paper plates and glued them to the yellow plates. The red napkins tied in the red bandana favors.

For refreshment, our little engines (engineers) headed to the water tower or to fill up on some diesel fuel (rootbeer, I believe).

Washi tape and railroad crossing signs on the cups to further the theme.

Perhaps my proudest moment of this party was the 3D train cake that I made. I will give directions for the cake in another post if there is enough interest. I had to get creative about how to make the train shape I was after.

But despite being handsome, I wanted my cake to be a useful engine. So, it carried the party favors in its cars (baskets from the dollar store). Also it carried a supply of black coal (licorice), in case it ran out of steam.

The track was also made of strips of black licorice.

The hats, bandanas, and train whistle favors were big hits with the guests and the birthday boy!

Besides eating, the main event was riding on the train–which was just what this two-year-old wanted to do all night.

But just incase that wasn’t enough fun–or enough sweets–we put together these little candy train favors, too!

Everything is left in its packaging so it is still edible. The body is a lifesaver roll, held up by a small pack of gum.The wheels are individually wrapped life-savers and the top had a Hershey’s kiss, a caramel, and a package of chic lets. The moms and big kids put these together since we used a glue gun to attach it all.

And here is a happy 2-year-old, surrounded by all kinds of trains!

Make a wish!

Any guesses what theme I have up my sleeve for birthday number 3 next month?

I wanted to give you a quick peek at this year’s Easter celebration. If you are interested in more of the details of the ombre/dip-dyed napkins, outfits, eggs, etc., from these pictures, (remind me and) look for a post next Spring when people are in Easter planning mode again. For now, I will just say that finding ways to incorporate dye into my Easter this year–besides just eggs–put a smile on my face.

{Printable Source}

But besides dresses and eggs, Easter was a bit more poignant and meaningful to us this year. We received word that during Spring Break, one of my daughter’s classmates had been hit by a car while riding her scooter. She passed away on Good Friday. It is heart-wrenching to have to grieve with children. And so difficult to know what to tell them at times like this. All of our comfort and hope comes from the events of the original Easter Sunday.

So I hope your Easter was full of chocolate bunnies, and cute clothes, and gatherings with family. But mostly, I hope it was filled with love and comfort from Him who made the ultimate sacrifice and whose atonement and resurrection we celebrate each year.

Or just focus on what’s bound to be the highlight of the day…the Easter eggs! Grab a few of the prettiest ones that the kids have dyed for a quick centerpiece, or make this 3D egg garland to hang over the table or mantle.

So it’s a little late to grow your own wheat grass for this Sunday, but not to experiment with Natural egg dyes or to create individualized eggs as place-settings for your Easter dinner. See more details from our Earthy Easter celebration.

Or maybe you are looking for some fun ways to decorate those Easter cupcakes that won’t take all day or require expert piping skills.  Check out the Easter cupcakes we made using coconut and candy, and the ones I decorated mostly with marshmallows.

Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend! If you want to keep up with this year’s Easter insanity as it unfolds, try following my Instagram feed. Are you ready for this weekend?

The main reason we had never taken our kids to Disneyland before, was of course, the money. I’m a bargain hunter, and Disneyland is not a place that tends to offer deep discounts–it doesn’t need too. Even with the hefty admission prices, people flock to the parks. I don’t anticipate that will change anytime too soon. But I did find several ways to make this trip affordable for our family.

In fact, the only expense of the trip that put us out of the range of our typical monthly spending was the gas we used to drive our family from Arizona to California. Here’s what we did and a few other tips I picked up along the way:

1. Use your rewards. We cashed in rewards on a Discover credit card that we had been accruing for a long time. That more than covered the cost of the tickets for the kids for two days. My Brother in-law was able to cash in work-related hotel points when he took his family. That covered their lodging on their trip. Do you have any forgotten reward points that you could cash in?
2. Time your trip around your kids’ ages.  My son is turning three in May. This is one of the reasons we took this trip now instead of putting it off until later this year. Children under 3 don’t have to have a ticket. Over 3 they do. He was tall enough to get to do lots of things (certainly not everything) and old enough to enjoy the experience, but young enough to be FREE! His meal was also free at our princess luncheon at Ariel’s Grotto, because of his age. (Had we ordered off of the menu for him, we would have had to pay but they offer a couple of complimentary options for that age group and they can eat off your plate)!  Keep in mind: Children over 10 are considered adults at Disneyland. They will be charged the higher ticket prices and full price at the dining experiences.
   

   This silly kid is turning 3 soon! This is the crazy face he made when we asked him if he was excited to see Lightning McQueen.

3. Get a Disney Rewards Credit Card. We only applied for the Chase Disney card maybe a year ago, but were still able to accrue a lot of points on it. When we applied they were running a promo that gave us a $200 reward card after our first charge. So between the points on the card and the gift card, we were able to pay our admission and have some spending money for the park. It was so nice to use a rewards card when buying a churro or a souvenir. It felt a lot less like spending hard earned money and made it easier to enjoy the moment and not have to count every little penny. We also used the gift card to splurge on the princess dining experience.
4. Mooch off of your friends. Alright, that sounds bad, but we are super lucky to have some good friends that live about 20 mins. away from Disneyland. I mean, we’d rather they still lived near us, but if they had to move away, it is awfully convenient that they are such an easy distance to the park and the beach. Our friends were so great to give us a place to stay and feed us a yummy breakfast each morning. We gave them a little money for groceries, but they were generous to let us use their food to make lunches saving us time and hassle.
5. Shop around for packaged deals. Since everyone doesn’t have great friends in the area to mooch off of, I thought I would include this. You won’t always find deals on ticket prices for the park, but there are a lot of package deals that include lodging that may shave some money off of your total cost. One of my FB readers suggested consulting a travel agent. They shouldn’t charge you a fee for their services and may have access to more information about available package deals.
6. Travel off-season. There are lots of reasons for this, like getting to do more with your time at the park (though hours are shorter off-season), but I did some searching for vacation rentals and hotels and costs were significantly cheaper at non-peak times. Also most of the ticket promos expire before the summer.
7. AAA parking. If you are a member of Triple A and purchase your park tickets through them, you are allowed to park in a special area of the garage for free. You may need to purchase a bit in advance to have the tickets arrive in time, or go to a local AAA office. They may be able to help you in finding discounts for your other travel needs.
8. Take a lunch–and lots of snacks. Some theme parks are militant about not allowing outside food through the gates. Thankfully, Disneyland is pretty liberal about this! If you bring a massive cooler, you’ll have to pay to rent a locker, and spend time getting back and forth to that locker, so we opted to bring a small cooler that we strapped to the stroller on the first day that held our sandwiches, fruit, carrots, etc. for our lunch. We also filled BSB’s backpack full of jerky, juiceboxes, and other snacks to sustain us through the day. This doesn’t mean we didn’t stop for an occasional churro or treat, but it meant that we didn’t have to purchase food for most of the day. It was nice to grab a granola bar out of the backpack while waiting in line, rather than spending a lot of time at food stands. Since we knew we were doing the princess lunch the second day, we just brought snacks, but they helped supplement meals and make it so that we could buy less when we did purchase food. Some food prices at the park seem pretty high and others somewhat reasonable. Keep your eye out and shop around.
9. Share and Share alike.  Since food is part of the experience at the park, I couldn’t be a totalMcScrooge about it, but since we were eating more for the experience than the nutrition a lot of the time, we could get a few churros or Dole Whips at the Tiki Room and share them around our group. My two-year-old doesn’t need that many sweets all to himself. And my pocket book doesn’t need to buy them for him!
10. Skip the Park Hopping?? If you read my last post about Disneyland for the first time, I told you that I was surprised by California Adventure. I wasn’t expecting as much from it, so we got park hoppers thinking we would head back to Disneyland on the 2nd day. Only my husband and son took advantage of the park-hopping privileges and went back to Disneyland to get my son the souvenir build-your-own light saber, since it was only available in Tomorrowland. We could have saved a bit of money by just buying single park tickets each day. We didn’t quite get to everything in Disneyland that we would have liked to see, so it would have been nice to have a little more time there, but we spent a full day at California Adventure without trying to hard, so depending on the interests of your family and the length of your visit, you might save a bit by just picking and sticking to one park each day.
11. Prioritize/Plan  Speaking of interests, it is a good idea to pin point the one or two activities that are “must do’s” for each member of the family. If you have great package deal and you are staying all week, this may not be such a big deal to you. But if for financial and time reasons, you are trying to do both parks in two days, you have to be realistic that you will not be able to hit every single thing. Having a plan can help you get more value out of the trip–as long as you can be flexible about the plan, because rides break, children wear out, weather fluctuates. But a plan can give you a starting place and a framework for your decisions. One of my friends got a membership with Ridemax.com. She was actually kind enough to create a sample itinerary for us. We weren’t able to follow it super closely, but it gave us a good idea of where to start and what direction to proceed through the park. If you can get there really early, and aren’t too distractible, it could be really helpful for your family if you are trying to squeeze in a lot of action!
12. For splurges (like character meals) only include those who really care. When I started tossing around the idea of the Princess character meal for my daughter, I realized that it could cost a good $200 to take my family of six out to eat. Because we had the $200 gift card from Chase (see above), I was willing to consider it. When my husband expressed that he thought his time could be better spent doing other things, we decided to send him and my older son to ride roller coasters and eat a cheaper lunch while the rest of us went to dine with princesses lunch. This made the whole experience much more affordable! And everyone was happy with the arrangement.
13. Budget souvenirs before getting to the park. It is important to have a plan about what you are willing to spend, before the “I want this!” attacks begin. Let your children know before hand, if you are willing to buy merchandise for them, and if so what you are willing to spend. Our children each brought some of their own money to spend. Most of their choices were around $20, so we split the cost of the item with them. We tried to steer them away from things they could readily find elsewhere, since these are discount prices. My son chose a build-it-yourself lightsaber, which is a cool experience he couldn’t find elsewhere. My older daughter picked out some jewelry and my younger a Jasmine doll. They were ok with one thing each, because we had given them that expectation. (And I had given them all that fun stuff in their travel baskets before the trip.)
14. Media pass As a blogger, I was able to apply for and receive a media pass. Media passes are limited to two one-day park-hopper tickets–so clearly didn’t cover the bulk of the cost for my family of six for two days, but it helped bring it down. Not all bloggers are approved for media passes. I think to be considered your blog needs to be an appropriate niche and you must be working on a story about the park. They also want to know a specific date for your trip. I would guess that you would be more likely to be approved if your date is not during peak season. (This paragraph is going to serve as my disclosure for all of my Disney posts! I was given the media passes but no other compensation to blog about the trip. The subject matter I have chosen to write about and opinions presented herein are completely my own!)

So I guess the moral of my story is, that there isn’t just one way to make a Disney trip affordable, but I am proof that if there’s a will, there is a way! I worked pretty much every angle I could think of to make this happen for my family, but I am so glad I did! It is fun to reminisce with the kids about favorite rides and experiences. And I feel so much better about having made the trip knowing that we won’t be paying for it for months to come!

Did I miss any? What are your favorite ways to save money when making a trip to Disneyland or Disney World?