Giftcard Wreath

I must have been crazy back in August, because somehow I thought being room mom for both of my older two classes was a great idea.  Now that December has hit, I am feeling the pressure!  Christmas party number one is done, after a very late night last night. I can breathe a little easier now!

For my son's first grade class, I had to come up with a class gift for the teacher.  I love Nathan's teacher.  She is so sweet and good with him, so I knew I wanted to do something extra special for her.  I asked each parent to donate a gift card to one of her favorite places and then racked my brain to come up with something cute for her.

I ended up making a deco mesh wreath using different tutorials online and then I used red glitter clothespins to clip each giftcard to the wreath.  I figure she can easily take the cards off and use the wreath in her classroom or at home.  I am loving the way it turned out and cannot wait to give it to her tomorrow!

Stocking Stuffer Ideas

It is truly a miracle!  I am 100% done Christmas shopping and it isn't even Christmas Eve!  I think its a first.  Wrapping...now that's another story!

When I was a kid, stockings were always one of my favorite parts of Christmas. My brother and I always opened our stockings first, before opening any gifts from my parents.  My husband's family always opened their's last.  I caved, and now our kiddos open them at the end of the big present extravaganza.  I must admit, I like it!  So, what do you do?  Do your kids go through their stocking before opening all their presents, or after?  I'd love to hear!

Since we're talking stockings, I wanted to share with you 50 fun stocking stuffers for the kiddos. I'm including links for some of them, because Lord knows that Amazon Prime has been my best friend this Christmas!

1. Play Doh --what kid doesn't love play doh.  One of the only things my 2 year old wants from Santa is pink play doh.  I think he can swing that.  ;)

2.  Disposable Camera

3.  Spot It--My kids love this game, and it is small enough to fit in a stocking

4. Glitter or gel pens

5. Bookmark

6. Snake Flashlight--my son has this and LOVES IT!  He lays in bed and reads all the time with it.

7. Nerf gun--Love the new pink ones for girls.  They have small ones that will fit perfectly in a stocking

8. Nail Polish--Love Piggy Paint

9. Lego Mini figure Mystery Pack

10. Bubbles

11. Dry Erase Window Markers--all three of my kids LOVE these. nbsp; They go to town on my windows, and then clean them.  Its a win/win situation.  They have fun, and I get clean windows out of it!

12.  Movie Theater Gift Card

13.  Rainbow Loom Bands--these are all the rage here.

14.  Candy, candy, candy--can't go wrong with sugaring them up!

15.  Stickers--I just found some scratch and sniff stickers that my daughter is going to go crazy for

16.  Super Snow

17. Crayons

18. Bath tablets that change the water different colors--can be found at walmart or target

19.  Coloring book

20. Pipsqueak markers

21.  watercolor paints

22. Joke Book-- I found this Knock Knock joke book that my son will love

23. Toothbrush

24. Bubblebath

25. Silly String--We have a Silly String Fight every Christmas afternoon.  Weird tradition.

26.  Hotwheels

27. Glitter Glue--my daughter is obsessed with it.

28.  Glow in the Dark stars

29.  Fun bandaids--with three kids, I ought to by stock in bandaids!

30.  Elastic Hair Ties

31. Felt Clippies for a little one's hair--Etsy is the place to find these!

32. Sun Art Paper--this was a big hit with the kiddos last year

33. Temporary Tattoos

34. Jump Rope

35. Dinosaur Fossil Dig

36. Book Light

37.  Silly Putty

38.  Baseball

39. GoGo Squeeze Applesauce Pouches

40. Beef Jerkey

41. Jacks

42. Old Maid

43.  Fun, wacky socks

44. Christmas Mad Libs

45. Scented Pencils

46. Hexbug--I think the fish would be perfect in the bathtub. No?

47. Brain Quest

48. Toobs--My kids love these.

49. Sippy Cups

50. Disney Princess Clip Dolls and Dresses

Elf On the Shelf Breakfast 2013

George the Elf brought our annual North Pole Breakfast back on December 1st.  We were sick with the flu that week, but I still tried to make it as special and as fun as possible!  You can see our past Breakfasts here and here.

First up, the table.  I am not sure exactly why I didn't take a picture of the entire table.  I blame it on the 104 degree temperature. Each place setting had the matching plate, napkin, and mailbox.  Inside the mailbox was a Christmas shirt for each kiddo and a lego mystery minifigure pack.  My kids go crazy over those!  There was also a cup stuffed with hot chocolate, a Peep Christmas Tree Kabob, and George's note to the kids.

 




 The kabob was super simple.  I had some of the little sticks left over from another party.  I dipped the tip of the stick in water and the marshmallows slid on super simple.  Then I tied on some left over red ric rac.  All three kids loved these.



George the Elf was sitting in the middle of the table, watching all the action.  He had sparkly sugar cookies sitting in bowl fulls over snowballs (mini marshmallows).

 

George always leaves a note for each kiddo.  I love seeing their faces when they read them/are read to them.

 

 

The kiddos all had a blast at their North Pole Breakfast, chowing down on sweets galore.  

  

Thanks George for such a yummy breakfast and wonderful memories!