Crossing Guard gifts

You wouldn't think the winters here in the desert get too cold . . . but I sure feel bad for our crossing guards--especially when the wind blows!  Brrrr!  As a token of our gratitude we wanted to give a little gift to each of them for Christmas.  I decided that hot chocolate with some little extras would be just the thing.  I tied up a few packets of hot chocolate along with some mini marshmallows, mints, and paper straws all with baker's twine.  Then we loaded everything into a brown paper sack (my favorite, simple wrapping) and added a cute gift tag (found here) with some more baker's twine.

Super simple and much appreciated!

DIY Personalized Teacher Stationary

I love getting my children's teachers personalized gifts.  I think they're so fun and, well . . . personalized!  I've done clocks, candy jars, vases, notepads, and stationary. I have to admit that in the past I've spent way too much money on personalized stationary.  Last year after receiving my beautiful order of personalized note cards in the mail I looked and them and thought, "I can totally do this myself for a fraction of the cost," and so this year I did.

I purchased some blank note cards and envelopes at Michael's.  A pack of eight cost me about $1. I also purchased some apple clip art on Etsy for about $1 as well.

I designed my cards in a good ol' Word document.  I couldn't decide which look I liked better so I did them both--four of each.

I then printed them off and loved how they turned out . . . crisp, clean, and school-y.

Making this personalized stationary myself was definitely a more cost effective way to go.  I know my kids teachers write so many notes throughout the year, so hopefully this comes as a practical gift that they will readily use.

I bundled the note cards together with a gift card to the teachers favorite restaurant and a thoughtful note that my children wrote to their teachers.  My kids are excited to deliver their gifts this week.

Teacher gift

I often struggle with ideas of what to give to my kid's school teachers.  Every few years I remember this simple idea: a decorative towel and hand soap. Two things that just about everyone can use. If you have a little bit of extra time to spare you can whip up an embellished towel with some of your fabric scraps.  I use this tutorial.

And along with a gift to any teacher I have my child write a thoughtful note and/or draw a picture.

Gifts Kids Can Make: Magnets

This is a super easy gift idea that even your smaller kids can make: Magnets!  My boys have some magnet boards in their rooms so I had my youngest boy make some magnets that they could use to hang their artwork.  We ran to Hobby Lobby and I let him pick out some of the pre-painted wood pieces.  He really put a lot of thought into each one.  We also decided to get a bag of the polished stones.  (Buttons would also be a really fun option!)  

We later hot glued some strong magnets to each item.  Like I said, super simple but something my son was really proud of and excited to give!

Gifts Kids Can Make: Dad T-shirt

Finding something for my boys to make for their brothers is one thing . . . but making something for adults is another thing entirely.  

My husband is always needing t-shirts.  He especially loves the ones that our boys help design.  So for Christmas I enlisted the aide of my boys in making a new t-shirt for Dad.  First we made a freezer paper stencil (see Amy's tutorial here) for our design on the front.  After I ironed it on each of the boys helped paint.  After peeling the paper off it looked like this:

As much as I loved the front of the shirt the back ended up being my favorite part!  Each of the boys used my fabric markers to draw themselves and write their name.  It is a fun little keepsake of both their handwriting and artistic abilities!

Mini "treat-yo-self" Birthday Package

Do you watch Parks and Recreation? Me too.  Funniest show ever.  Laugh out loud funny.  I mean something has to be really funny to make me laugh out loud--I don't give my laughs away easily--but Parks and Rec does it for me every time.  Hi-lar-i-ous.  If you watch it too I'm sure you understand why I'm broken hearted that the series is over.

As my sisters and I were brainstorming what to get our youngest sister, Rachelle, for her birthday I started thinking that what she might enjoy most for her birthday was to treat herself to something.  Then it hit me.  She needed a "treat yo self" birthday package.  If you're familiar with Parks and Rec then you know all about treat-yo-self.  Once a year Tom and Donna dedicate a day to treating themselves--like over the top treating themselves.

I mean who doesn't love to treat themselves.  And what better thing for the birthday girl to do.



Of course we don't have a Tom and Donna treat-yo-self budget but I still think we put together a pretty good package.



Of course the birthday girl should take herself to lunch so we got her a gift card to one of her favorite places, Subway.  And she'll want to wear something pretty on her special day so we got her a new necklace.  Rachelle is our flower sister, she loves flowers, so I thought this cute necklace was perfect.  Later in the day she might want to relax and give herself a pedicure or paint her nails so we threw in some new nail polish.  Birthday's always call for a special sweet treat too and since Rachelle is our health nut sister we got her a bag of dark chocolate honey mints from Trader Joe's--an extra special treat since she doesn't live anywhere near Trader Joe's.  Poor girl.



Put all together I think it makes for a pretty great treat.  We sure hope she likes it.

Now to pack it up and ship it off so it will be there in time for her special day.

Happy birthday Rachelle!

Feel free to use our little printable to your hearts content.
(Click on image to enlarge, right click, copy, and paste in a word document to print.)

And don't forget to take some time to treat yo self.  I think we all need a treat sometime.

Gifts Kids Can Make: Sunshine Notes

Throughout the year, but especially at Christmas time, one thing we like to share here at Serving Pink Lemonade are gift ideas that children can make.  I think when children make gifts for family and friends during the holiday season they learn to love to give.  I have loved seeing the transformation that has taken place in my kids over the last few years as they've thoughtfully created gifts for their family members.  They've gone from having mile long wish lists to hardly giving a thought to what they want at all.  Instead they look forward to the presents they get to create each Christmas.  They love to give!

Today I want to share with you a gift idea that children can give at Christmas time or any time of the year.  These little bundles of sunshine notes make the perfect gift to send off to grandparents, make for a friend or family member going through a hard time, a loved one sick in the hospital, or for parents for a mother's or father's day gift.  The options are endless!

To make our bundle of sunshine notes we gathered together some envelopes, paper to draw on, a sunny introduction card (see free printable below to get your own), and some bakers twine.

My kids had fun writing notes and drawing picture to their grandparents.  It was fun to see how thoughtful they were with each card, giving thought to what each grandparent likes.

We then placed each card into an envelope . . .

And piled them all together, adding the introduction card to the front.

We tied around a little bakers twine and our bundles were complete.

My kids were super excited to send their notes off to grandma and grandpa for Christmas.

Want to make your own bundle of sunshine notes?  Feel free to use the free printables below.

(To download printables:  Click on image to enlarge.  Then right click and save.  Paste into a word document and adjust the size to fit your envelopes.)

Date Night (in a can)

Last year for for Christmas I gave my sister and her husband six date nights.  With money being tight while my brother-in-law is doing his dental surgery residency I thought it would be an easy, fun, and inexpensive way for them to spend time together at home after their kids went to bed.  I packaged each date in a large #10 food storage can that I wrapped with a "date night" label.

Each date contained an activity and a snack.  Initially I thought I would fill the cans with healthy snacks and treats since I knew my sister would appreciate that but then thought I better add some of my brother-in-laws favorite snacks too.  I bought the movies on blue-ray and I was glad I spent the extra money on them because I later learned that a regular DVD case wouldn't fit in the cans.  The blue-rays slightly smaller size were perfect.

This is what each can contained:

Date #1: Movie (comedy) and a sweet and salty snack.

Date #2: Movie (chick flick) and a sweet and salty snack.

Date #3 Movie (Action) and a sweet and salty snack.

Date #4: Game and snacks

Date #5: Game and snack

Date #6: Sharing memories and eating smores.



For this date I suggested that they could tell each other stories going to scout or girls camp growing up while they ate their smores.  I also included a list of fun questions they could ask each other that I found here.  I cut the papers down to a size that would fit in the can and made a cute little folder for them to go inside.

After I filled each can I added an expiration label to each lid depending on when the food in the can expired so they would know when to use each can by.  I placed all six cans into a box and they were ready to wrap and ship.

These make a fun homade gift for Christmas and could even be used for a unique wedding gift.

Want to make your own date night gift?  Feel free to use my label below.

How To Add an Image Onto Fabric Using Your Ink Jet Printer

Today I wanted to share with you how I printed the squares for my I Spy quilt that I shared last week.  (See it here.)  It was really easy to do, but I have to say that I was so nervous to try it.  I started by making a sample square and ran it through the wash a few times because the last thing I wanted to happen was for all the printed squares on my quilt to fade after I put it in the wash once or twice.  When testing my sample this was the only time I ever pulled something out of the washer and hoped that the mark was still there!  I was so relieved to see the print still looking dark and crisp--no fading at all.

Here's how I did it:

Cut an 8.5" x 11" piece of fabric and freezer paper.  Iron the fabric to the freezer paper using a synthetic setting on your iron.  You want to make sure the fabric is good and stuck to the freezer paper, especially in the corners.  If you use too much heat and pressure with your iron though you will not be able to remove the freezer paper later.  Remember doing a sample test never hurts.  After you've ironed your fabric and freezer paper together it's ready to run through your printer.  Before printing I went to my printer options and selected "professional quality" so that I would get the darkest, best print possible.  Then I printed it just like I would a normal sheet of paper.

Once printed, separate the fabric from the freezer paper.

Now you'll want to heat set your image.  I used a high heat setting with no steam.  The idea is that you want to evaporate any moisture from the ink to make the image set.

After that I cut out my printed fabric into 5x5 squares to use for my quilt.

I think they turned out perfect!  Nice, dark, clean sharp printing!

And here's my quilt all done!  These little I Spy squares really added a nice touch to this fun quilt.

Have you tried printing on fabric before?  How did it work for you?