Calling ALL Santa's Helpers!

My husband's side of the family is HUGE...he has 6 aunts and uncles plus countless cousins, not to mention my family and my friends....Christmas time adds up quick. There's a few things I have learned from dear Dave Ramsey and one that sticks close in my mind is make a budget and stick to it. EVEN AT CHRISTMAS! This is hard. Last Christmas- it was tough---although I did take my last $40 out of my grocery budget to buy my husband this watch that he had been wanting for months! 

So with budget in mind and knowing the size of my family the past few years I have usually baked some type of cute candy or cookies and wrapped them in bakers boxes or bags and included cute little personalized tags. I'm just curious if there is anything else out there that I could try that's different. 

Here's what I've done in the past- 

2003-2005 Variety of Baked Cookies

2005-2006 Chex Mix with Recipe Card

2007- 2008 Cookies and White Chocolate Peppermint Bark

2009-2010 White and Milk Chocolate Peppermint Bark & Chocolate Covered Pretzels

So, I'm currently searching on pinterest...but if ya'll have any cute or unique ideas--please post and I'll be sure to take pictures as I'm baking/making and give you credit! :) 

Mr. Grinch

Happy Monday, cuties!  20 days till Christmas...aaahhhh!  So much to do & so little time!  I was searching for some fun Christmas snacks on Pinterest this weekend and found an awesome Grinch Punch.  That made me want to find even more Grinch ideas, so here's what I found...  ***here's some music for your listening pleasure if you wish! 

Grinch Punch from Parties 4 Me

Grinch Cupcakes from Party Cupcake Ideas

Grinch-inspired porch decor from Party Wishes

Grinch Pills from Custom Creations by Tamara Bennett

Grinch Ornament from Wicked Stepmom

Grinch Craft from Step Into 2nd Grade with Mrs. Lemons

Classroom Grinch Party from Setting the Mood

During the next few frantic weeks, keep this Grinch quote in mind.......it's a freebie to print if you like! :)

grinchprint

Christmas Photography & Memory

Part of my photography class with Emilie was on Photoshop, & I'm finally starting to understand it a little!   I wanted to take Christmas pictures of Noah myself this year and I searched on Pinterest for some fun ideas for backdrops and props and came across this super fun blog...Prop Insanity!  One of the ideas there for Christmas photos was to drape white lights against a white wall for a dreamy magical effect.  So, I tried it.  By the way, I would so LOVE to have a studio like that in my house.  I had to drape my lights over my back door with a white curtain on it.  I have absolutely NO white walls in my house!  I love color, what can I say?  


Then, I stumbled upon some amazing sites that offered free action sets for the coolest effects on my photos!  Take a look at this sample of my photos...

Here's where I found these action sets...

*Black & White from The Pioneer Woman

*Golden Afternoon from The Coffee Shop Blog

*Color Pop from The Coffee Shop Blog

*Enchanted from Pamela Topping 

Installing actions can be pretty tricky, so if you want some easy step-by-step tutorials, Texas Chicks, is the place to go.......awesome!

Here's a fun little 2nd day of Christmas gift for ya'll!  It's a Christmas Memory game I made for Noah last  year.  Just click on the pics to get the biggest image and save to your computer.  

Have a festive Friday, friends!  (Say that 5 times fast) he he!  

December Calendar

Did you all survive the Black Friday shopping days?  My mom & I braved the crowds and shopped at our 3 most frequented shopping destinations...Tar-jay, Khol's, and the CRAZY HOUSE known as Toys R' Us!  Two of Noah's wish list items just happen to be the "Toys of the Year,"...thank you, Nickelodion commercials!  Now, if I can just keep him from watching new ones for, like 27 more days, we're good!  :)   


Is anyone else out there loving that crazy Target lady?  This is my fave commercial from the year and I CANNOT get, "Rum tummy tummy, Rum tummy tummy, Rum tummy tummy, ho ho ho!" out of my head.  My three-year-old is singing it now...geez!  

  

Anywho, enough about shopping...how about a freebie on Cyber Monday?  I just finished the Decemeber calendar and to-do-list.  Hope you like it!

December Calendar

Pardon Our Pixie Dust!

Pardon our "PIXIE DUST" as our blog gets a facelift!  


One quick announcement...to celebrate Black Friday & Cyber Monday, everything in our Teacher's Notebook Shop is 15% off until Tuesday, November 29!  


Click the pic below to go shopping!  We promise...no lines & no rude fellow shoppers, just a happy shopping experience! :)

Happy Thanksgiving {one last freebie}

Ok, so between baking, spending precious time with family, and shopping for Black Friday deals, we haven't had much time to finish our blog make-over, but we promise to get it done asap-ish!


So, I know this is kind of late, but if you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your house and are planning to have a kids' table, here is a FREE printable set to welcome all those lil' gobblers to your home!  How much fun would they have with personalized spots at the table, fancy napkin rings, and water bottle wraps?  


You can even dress up your serving table and display your delish menu with this collection too!  Can I get a gobble gobble???   he he! 


I designed this collection last year for my party designs blog and thought I would offer it to all of you this year as well!  The collection includes...


-2" circle tags
-napkin rings
-2 5x7 prints {one blank menu & one welcome sign}
-water bottle wraps (or cut down to fit juice boxes)
-tent tags

Click the pic below to download!  

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends!  May your day be spent with the ones you love counting your blessings and enjoying way too much yumminess...turkey and cranberry sauce, here I come!  Don't forget to wear your Thanksgiving pants!  {Anybody know where that comes from?}  

Cha-cha-cha...changes!

After many hours this evening working on our TOTAL BLOG MAKEOVER, we can now reveal to you our new name...(if you haven't already noticed it in the gray header bar above).  

Drumroll please...

We are now...

Playing with Pixie Dust

"where learning through play is simply magical"

The rest of our new look is coming soon!!! :)