Tag Archives: Holidays

Best Gifts I’ve Received (Julia)

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With the holiday season approaching (or has it already arrived?) many of us have gifts on the brain! I thought I would share with you some of my favorite gifts I have received over the years.

Grandmother’s Cookbook

My grandmother loved to cook and experiment with recipes in the kitchen. Unfortunately, she passed away before I learned to cook. My mom gave me this cookbook at my wedding shower, and I boo-hooed like a baby. I’m so thankful to have these hand written recipes from her. It’s great to still have her cooking influence with me as I experiment in the kitchen.

Memory Jar

Leslie compiled this memory jar for me a few years ago. They are filled with hand-written memories on scrapbook paper cards. I like to save them for a day when I’m just really missing my sis!

Ornament

I have sooooo many ornaments. My parents only had one ornament on their tree their first Christmas. My mom was so depressed by that fact that she made sure that wouldn’t happen to either of her girls. So again, I have many ornaments. A lot of them are special to me because they are tied to certain memories, but one of my favorites is this golf cart. Joshua and I got married at a golf resort, so my parents found this golf cart and adorned it with tulle and a replica of the sign on our golf cart. Too cute!

Homemade Stockings

Joshua made these stockings for me when we had been dating almost a year. I thought it was the sweetest thing- especially since his grandmother helped him. Since stockings are something that you use year after year, it told me that “We’re in this for the long haul.” It was a definite tug at the heartstrings.

If you haven’t noticed already, most of these gifts have a common theme- memories. I think memories are precious, and there’s no sweeter gift than something that brings your back to those special times. They have a homemade element to them too, which shows that personal touches are special to me.

So as you are racking your brain for a just-right gift this year, maybe you can find something (or make something) that brings your loved-ones some sweet memories.

Sometimes the best gifts aren’t the most expensive ones, but the ones that are priceless!

Happy Holidays,

Wedding photography by Allison Jansen

I Heart Earth.

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We’re all about celebrating Earth Day in my classroom this week. It’s only 4 days away! We have been evaluating how “green” our school, classroom, and homes are. I made 3 report cards for each of those locations. If you are interested, they are at my TPT store! (It’s a 20 page unit with math and literacy activities too.)

How else are we celebrating Earth Day? We are repurposing our trash! I discovered an easy way to remove the printing on food containers, so we have been collecting yogurt, butter, and cottage cheese tubs in order to turn into attractive storage containers (well, as attractive as it gets when a 2nd grader is doing the decorating!).

Do you want to know how to remove the printing on food containers? It’s easy! You need pure acetone (located in the beauty section near the finger nail polish removers), a rag, and a container.

In a dish pan, pour enough acetone on the rag to saturate it. (Make sure you are in a well ventilated area and are wearing gloves.)

Then wrap the rag around the container and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. It may take longer depending on what brand container you are working on. I found that Dannon, Great Value, and Kroger brand come off the easiest.

Check the container by rubbing the paint. If it wipes off, you are good to go! Just keep wiping! It’ll come right off. If it doesn’t come of easily, keep soaking. You may need to re-saturate your rag.

That’s it! You’ve got yourself a blank slate container ready for sprucing up. Check back later this week to see what we did with our containers.

Happy Earth Day!