teacher appreciation gifts

i saw the same title on another blog i follow and have now developed anxiety about gifts for this year. I try to do things throughout the year, but i never feel like i do enough. on top of this, my L-man has a combination of same teachers and therapists as last year, some brand new, and a whole slew of folks who i guarantee help him and/or interact with him on a daily basis and i don't even know who they are! the pressure is amazing. i feel like i want to get each teacher and aide a gift and then i feel like i want to do something for the entire staff like we did at the holidays, but i don't know what to do.

Skip to My Lou blog

in my search, i have some across this lovely blog, which has some darling ideas, just in case anyone is in the same bind. i'll post whatever i come up with. i'd rather be more proactive about it this year. i remember camping out at a local sterling silver jewelry store humming and hawing over stuff at the last minute last year. blah. gah!

today's organizing attempts

i feel like i have worked most of the day and don't have much to show for it. blah!

it doesn't help that i have this bloody magazine to look at with all of their perfectly expensive containers that match perfectly. blah!

i got PART of the fridge organized and PART of the pantry organized. not one entire cabinet or area, of course, just bits and pieces in different places so it looks like i did nothing.

nonetheless...here you go...

{before}

{after}

{top 2 shelves}

{serving size fruit bin--grapes and kiwi}

{pre-scooped Nectar Cappuccino protein on the left,

homemade protein bar dry ingredients on right,

serving size homemade trail mix in the back}

{also in the pantry~

dried cherries on the left,

chia seeds on the right}

**HATE how the tops don't match**

desperately want to get more jars before break ends so that i can put kosher salt, cocoa powder and lots of other pantry items in jars as well.

beautiful double braid

I saw this in my blog updates the other day and decided to try it. I can't say it looked nearly as cute or professional either time i did mine, but i did score some compliments!

The tutorial is very thorough and worth watching if you want to try this.

Head over to The Shine Project to check it out!

you have to start somewhere

of course this would have been far more dramatic had i stopped for 2 seconds before i started to take 'before' pictures, but, of course, i didn't do that.nonetheless, i decided to start in my bathroom for no other reason than it felt like something i could handle while being interrupted 100 times by my cuties : )

of course it's not 100% uniform like they show in the magazine, but i was able to find some mason jars and some tumblers in the dining room that haven't gotten any action in the last couple of years.

oh, what to move on to next : )

oh my...i want to be organized...

so i took this quiz in this organizing magazine i just had to have yesterday at lowe's. as a friend of mine said, that's just one more thing you'll have to organize :-) HA! She has a very valid point :-) there is a quiz in the magazine (i just love these quizzes. it reminded me of my 'seventeen' magazine reading days) and this is me according to the magazine. if you know me, it's pretty darn accurate!

i am so inspired by this magazine and

this is how ridiculously organized i want to be. shaun just laughs and i know he's thinking, "in your dreams, you can't even put your jeans in the dirty laundry basket" :-) maybe one day i will prove him and myself, for that matter, wrong!

all photos are found in this magazine...my inspiration and last minute purchase at good ole lowe's yesterday.

well, it IS an orange theme!

i MIGHT have bought a little head 'decoration' for L's bday party ; )

orange bday party ideas

ideas so far...

{pom poms for decoration~orange and yellow}

{oranges in glass jars~love the tablecloth too}

{orange nail polish for the gals}

{very rough draft}

{these or paper lanterns like i made for cray cray's 1st bday party}

{earthy!}

here's my question...are polka dots totally feminine? I'd like to do an orange cake with orange and yellow polka dots, but a part of me thinks that is 'not cool' for a 7 year old fella.

fun family project

I check out Frugal Girls frequently and this is a prime example as to why...

Handprint Gallery Art Project

orange 7th bday party!

i typically try to do most of the 'making' of things for Lando's bday parties during Spring Break. Being that that is only a week away (yay!) i'd better get to gettin'! any ideas for an orange-themed bday party, send 'em my way!

new blog

since i've done such a great job (insert sarcasm) keeping up with this blog, i decided to start keeping a school-related blog too. check it out if you are interested:

I've got a foldable for that!