making "mom" stuff look good...(or at least trying)

ok, so i usually don't post too much stuff on 
this blog about "mom stuff", 

but as i was looking through my photos, 
i came across several photos i had taken of things 
i have done for my kids.

any mom knows that it's obligatory to bring treats to your kids

classroom on their birthday. 

this is what i brought this year to my daughter charlotte's class.

i used my cricut to cut the scalloped circles, and my printer to print a couple of pages of the

"happy birthday charlottes", (designed in microsoft word) 

which i punched out with a large circle punch.

(available at any scrapbook or craft store)

the whole thing took me less than 40 minutes, 

from start to finish.

yes....i signed up to bring the treat on "s" day in kindergarten.

i made a text box in word,  

printed a few pages, cut them out and

them stapled them to snack size baggies.

(and yes, i realized after i printed and packaged them all that

i spelled "sandwiches" wrong. UGH!)

this project took about 20 minutes...

(not including making the sandwiches).

ahhh...the bake sale.

what school doesn't have a bake sale at least once a year?

this year, i made banana bread in little ceramic loaf pans

that i bought on sale at michael's craft store.

now, we all know how cheap banana bread is to make...

well, imagine my surprise when i checked in at the

bake sale table to see that my loaves were going for $10 a piece!

it's all about 

presentation, folks!

 yep...i also signed up to bring treats on "g" day.

i decided to bring green and red grapes in

little snack baggies, and then put the 

baggie inside a cellophane bag.

i used the cricut to cut both the "g"s 

and the scalloped circles.

can you tell i like that scalloped circle?

and, onto another item we moms deal with on a

monthly basis: the birthday gift.

lately, it seems like i am buying and wrapping

a birthday gift about once a week!

one way to transform a simple gift

 bag into something special 

is by making a custom tag.

a few pieces of coordinating paper,

a tiny strip of ribbon,

and a brad is all it takes.

another thing i like to do is  to attach small gift items

to the top of the gift in a cellophane bag.

it makes the gift look really fun and

the birthday kid loves getting a peek at some 

of his/her birthday goodies!

a more unique, playful and sophisticated look

for any gift can be achieved by layering two different ribbons.

if you spend just a few extra minutes on the tag,

it makes the gift so much more special!

this is a super simple wrapping...

(the birthday boy happens to be my little man's 

good friend, our next door neighbor, and a pirate enthusiast!)

the only thing that took any time at all was the tag.

i grabbed the pirate image off of the internet,

imported it into microsoft word, and

layered a transparent text box with with text on top of it.

 some twine and simple brown wrapping paper add to the overall look of the gift.

i used a custom stamp and gold ink for the top.

here is one last gift, made fun using ikea wrapping paper,

2" wide grosgrain ribbon (i buy in 50 yard bolts for about $10)

and a flower that i pulled off a $1.25 flower garland from walmart. 

(the garland is 6 feet long, and has about 15 

flowers on it...so, for less than .10, i can take a

gift from mediocre to festive and fun! it's way more fun 

if it's cheap, don't you think?)

really, it doesn't take THAT much more time to 

transform something from mundane and boring to

something fun and pretty!