Room Mom

I'm the room mom in C's class and I figure that I only have a few years left to "over cute" the parties.
This year I am doing bubbles and dollar tree mazes in their treat bags. But instead of looking so drab and boring......I am adding ribbon, paper and sayings to not make it look so cheap complete the look.
My helper:

I apologize if you are in the class.....the mazes AND sayings will NOT be on straight. We are going for "vintage" I guess.

$1 for 9 of these at Dollar Tree....add some paper and a saying and they look awesome.

These were

from Target. They were $1.99 for 16. Gasp. LOL. Still

super cheap and cute!

That's the best I could come up with.

Plagerism

Well, not quite....but I have copied a bunch of bloggers ideas this week. Almost to the point of overload. Or as my hubby says, "Can you slow down the crafts? It's just too much cute for me to handle." What?? Is that possible?

Anyways, I've been getting together w/3 friends to do 2 or 3 crafts about once a month or so.  It has been a TON of fun and the kids disappear into the basement and are not really heard from for the hours we are working!

So here are some of my stolen ideas:

Tried to age some books.......friends looked much better, but I still love it!

Used a hanger for this one and a yard of fabric from Joannes (word of advise....do NOT use fleece. It is too thick. Use something that the hanger can easily pierce the fabric) We ripped the fabric into strips and then just fed it on the hanger.

This is my favorite. It cost me $1 for the "love" thingy. I passed by it in the One Spot at Target for weeks and kept thinking, "That would be cute for something....but what??" Then a blog had it....you can see hers here
cute sign

Copied this from the same link as above, and about 4 other blogs out there. I was going to buy a Scrabble game, but it was $17 at Target, so I raided the kids game at home. Watch...they will want to play this suddenly this weekend and wonder where half the letters are. LOL!

So, that's what I've been up to......

*I will just go on record and say....I take HORRIBLE photos...I don't know why. Always have. I don't use a flash, it's fuzzy. I use a flash and it's too bright. It's out of focus, etc. So, excuse my bad photos.

My lame valentines day decor

I have been La-zy and cannot seem to get into the valentines day spirit. I have seen tons of idea on blogland....but have yet to do much other than this:

I took the "noel" idea from Christmas, and just changed it a bit. I love it!

This is behind my sink. The plate is from the dollar spot at Target and the jars are just filled with candy.

This is a small hutch in our kitchen. It's a gloomy day out...so excuse the bad lighting.

And finally....my mantel. LAME.  I can't find anything that looks good up there. I made a tiny specimen art. The candles/cupcakes and silver heart tree I have had forever.  The red beady thing is from Michaels 80% off Christmas sale last week.

I'm going to try to check out Hobby Lobby next week and hope their Valentines goes 50%. It's at 30% right now. Aren't they always at 50%????

New ornament

I almost forgot to show you......each year we get the kids an ornament with, hopefully, it depicting the interests of the year.....so I present you with the coolest ornament of the year......

It was 18.95 at Hallmark, which normally would make me break out in hives for a minute.....but ya'll know my obsession with HP and all.........I mean, HIS obsession with HP.  Yes his....yes.....my son.......sorry.
It was the only place I could find any Harry Potter ornaments, so unless you all know something I don't on where to find them, Hallmark is your place!!!

Teacher Gifts

So, every year I struggle with teacher gifts. During the year I can think of all these cute, creative, fun, different things to do for the teachers......but then December rolls around and I suddenly doubt myself and my creativeness and go with a gift card. Practical, yes. Fun, cute and creative, notsomuch.

This year Michael's has these ADORABLE bird cages for a dollar, thankyouverymuch, and I bought a bunch. I got each of our 3 teachers a Target gift card (cause really.....is there another store to shop at???) and put it in the cage with my favorite winter candies....Brachs christmas nougats (thank you, btw, Brachs for NOT changing the name to "holiday nougats" or some other wimpy cop-out name)

Cloches and apothecary jars

I finally finished my glass domes turned cloches from Hobby Lobby. They turned out awesome, if I do say so myself. I glued bases on them and spray painted heirloom white. I also glued on a knob on the top. Am I obsessed with cloches?? i think 4 on one buffet is not that many, is it???

I have this little number behind my kitchen sink. Apothecary jars run in a close 2nd behind my cloche obsession  love.

The big candy cane sticks are from the Dollar Tree, the "soft" mints are from Target along with those wrapped chewy tree/red/white one. I looooove those. LOVE. The fake snow and big candy ornaments are from Target, also. (Guess I have another obsession love)

I saw this at crate and barrel (outlet store near us) and it was $30. GASP. I had one in our basement, but with a metal top. Little spray paint (walmart has red for .96) and voila....

I absolutely love it...and....a little secret for you...i can't stand candy canes. I know, I know. But, they scream the holidays and i love the simplicity and colors of them. Just don't want to eat them, k?!

I have also taken to cookie jars, but didn't want to buy a ton for all the holidays. This is my favorite, plain white one from Pottery Barn, with holiday ribbon. Saved sooo much money and space....

Another cloche

And just a tree and some reindeer in our dining room

Apparently my decorating style went from browns, to red/greens to silver. I don't like to get rid of things, so I tried to mix up the colors by room.

Here is the fireplace

The mercury glass trees were the find.of.all.time. Kohls used to do these crazy online deals. Crazy, I tell ya. Those guys were marked 29.99 and I got them (about 3 years ago) for .99. AND free shipping. Crazy, right??!!!!

Yes, I love silver this year.

And....what do I do with that cord???? It is driving me c.r.a.z.y.!!!!

Just so he knows

My dad was not a good dad. He never abused us mentally, physically or sexually....but he did emotionally. He never told us he loved us, he never hugged or kissed us and he never spent any time with us.
I never thought I'd have to talk about him to my kids because he died several years ago and my kids had never met him/heard about him/seen photos of him.
Tonight C. asked me about him. I started out being vague ("he died" "in his 50's" "heart attack" bla bla) and then he asked "was he a nice dad?"
I just froze. I didn't want to lie or give my father the gift of making him out to be a good person to the grandchild he chose to never meet. So I just answered, "no". This threw him for a loop. He asked, "what did he do mean to you?"
I had NO idea what to say, since he is too young to know or understand. But, I didn't think my father deserved a lie that he was a good person.
I simply said, "He didn't do anything mean to me. He never told me he loved me." His eyes got wide. I said, "You are very lucky that you have a dad that tells you that every day."
I think that is one reason I kiss him, hug him, snuggle him (against his will) and tell him I love him a million times a day. I cannot even imagine my children growing up NOT knowing that I, and their father, love them more than anything in this world.