Twas the Night Before School...

Another summer is at an end and here we are on the eve of the first day of school.  School clothes are all purchased.  Supplies are all collected (and is it just me or do those list from the school just get longer and longer?).  New backpacks are labeled.  I even gave the little guy a haircut today.

So here I sit running through my final countdown list one more time.  New lunchbox notes  - check! (I'm using these this week)  First day of _____ signs for photos - check!  Questionnaires for the kids to fill out tomorrow for their scrapbooks - check!  (I found the ones I'm using this year here)  "If I can give you a hand" tags (printable here) ready to be printed and attached to some hand soap or anti-bac to send to the teachers - check!  Plans for a good breakfast and supplies for baking cookies to have waiting for the kids after school - check!  And a couple of friends lined up to join me for my annual Mom's Brunch tomorrow after the kids get on the bus - you betcha! :)
Happy Monday and Happy Back to School!

Wreaths with The Girls

 Craft day with The Girls!  I haven't been able to say that in a long time - since we moved, in fact.  Not the craft day - I've had a few craft days here and there (can you imagine how badly the withdrawals would be for me without some of those?!?).  It's the term, The Girls.  That's an official term in my head.  The Girls - a group of friends that get together to share some fun, which often involved crafting.  I had two of those back in Utah - one was a set of friends from high school.  We had a designated Saturday once a month, just for us.  And the other was my monthly card-making group.  I have missed both very much since we moved (almost 3 years ago now!).  So I'm very happy to have found a great group of ladies here that have quickly turned into my Go To buddies not only for hanging out at the pool or back yard BBQs, but will also join me in my crafty craziness. :)

Things just kind of fell together for us.  A neighbor wanted to make a wreath supporting her favorite football team before the season started but didn't know how to do it.  We very quickly had a nice little group that wanted to learn as well. 

We started with a fun little shopping trip to the craft store, having luckily been able to find a time when all the husbands could watch the kids.  And oh what fun that shopping trip was!  I can't imagine what the employees at the craft store thought as we spent the better part of two hours in the deco mesh section, full of big ideas and enthusiasm.  Plus deco mesh was on sale for only $5 a roll!  Everyone walked out of the store with supplies for at least two wreaths each.  And me - well I had enough for four different variations lol.  (And this after going in there thinking that I had a wreath for practically every holiday already)

Last Friday was our big craft day.  We went into it with lunch prepped ahead of time and kids either happily playing upstairs or home with their dads (gotta love any guy who will help us indulge our crafty craziness!) and spent the entire day making wreaths.  So fun!

5 ladies, 9 wreaths.  Awesome.  My favorite part is seeing how one method/theme can be interpreted differently by each person and they all turn out so different from each other.

There's wreath #9.  One friend had to leave early in order to set up for her daughter's bday party and her finished wreath didn't make it into the group shot at the end of the day.
So which one is mine?  And yes - I only finished one.  Host and teacher duties will do that to ya - not that I'm complaining.  I loved it and not finished up everything gives me an excuse for hosting another craft day :)

Anyway - this one is mine.  The funny part is we don't really even watch football LOL.  But the original inspiration wreath was really cute.  And it's kind of a joke between my husband and myself that with all of the Alabama fans in the neighborhood, we should show some sort of Utah spirit.

 

 I tried out a new look with this one - a combination of the poufy wreaths and the curly ones I've done in the past.  I really like the added texture and interest it gives to the wreath.

Cute right?  It makes me happy, even if I still have no real intention to sit down and watch a game.  Go Utah! ;)

Back to School Already?

Here we go again!  We're on the downhill side of summer and in full prep mode for school.  We have 2 1/2 weeks until the big day here, but I know some people have already started back.  I'm kind of sad about it actually.  This summer has absolutely flown by and I find myself wishing for many many more lazy days by the pool.  Oh well.  Fall has its good points too - like school shopping.  I kind of like dragging the kids from store to store and forcing them to try on all the cuteness :)  And we all know how fun it is to stock up on 50 cent notebooks!

 

We finished up the last of the clothes shopping this past weekend.  Tyler was in full cowboy mode that day and while I had convinced him to leave the hat in the car so he could try on clothing more easily he still insisted on putting his boots back on with each pair of jeans.  Love that funny kid!

Now with stacks of school supplies waiting to be labeled, lunchbox jokes Pinned (but not printed yet), and summer swimming lessons almost at an end it's time to start the final countdown.  So of course I made a set of blocks :)

 Actually I made two sets so I can give them to the teachers - either as a Hello gift at Back to School night or save them up for Teacher Appreciation.  (I did post a listing in my Etsy shop if anyone would like their own set)  How good would I be if I was all ready for that (teacher appreciation) so far ahead of time?! lol 

 The base has two sides ("days til summer" and "days til school") so it works for either the beginning or the end of the school year.  Genius, no? ;)
Now where is my List so I can figure out what else I need to do before school starts...?  Only 19 days to go!

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