An Apple For Teacher

Some are already back in school. We have about three more weeks. I really like to show up to back-to-school night with a gift for our teachers. Last year I chose to go with the classic "apple for teacher" theme. I thought a little outside the box and went with little apple pies for the teacher. I used store bought pie dough and apple pie filing. I lined the inside of the smallest sized mason jar with pie crust. A couple of spoonfuls of pie filling was topped with a lattice top. To make the lattice I cut out strips, wove them together and then used the ring from the jar to cut out a circle top. Then I sealed the top to the crust in the jar by gently pinching around the edge. Bake at 325 until the crust is golden brown.

Once they were done and cooled, I printed off these tags...

Download HERE

I put the mini pies in a cupcake box. Then I wrapped the box with yarn, punched a hole in the tag, signed our names, and tied it to the box.

I am pretty sure my kids got all A's because of these pies. I feel like they owe me or something. Kidding, my kids are smarties and didn't need no stinking pies. However, I am sure the teachers didn't mind getting them.

Strawberry Shortcake Thank You Basket

Strawberry season is closing in. Are you as excited about that as I am? Where strawberries are there is strawberry frozen yogurt, strawberry lemonade, strawberry pie, strawberry spinach salad, strawberry jam, and of course Strawberry Shortcake. I recently had a few friends do me the biggest favor ever. They watched my three older little men while my littlest man and I went on a week long trip. There is no feeling like not having to worry about where your kiddos will be during the day while you are out of town. That kind of peace of mind deserves a really a big THANK YOU. A BERRY special kind of Thank You if you will. Hahaha. We all have people in our lives who are BERRY sweet. There are teachers, neighbors, friends, moms, and so many others all awesome enough to be thanked with Strawberry Shortcake.

Making your own Thank You Strawberry Shortcake Kit is really easy.

Just gather up all the stars of the show. Starting of course with the leading lady. Strawberries.

Then we have whipped cream.

Now introducing the strawberry glaze and cakes of the shortcake variety.

Everything is store bought. I simply prettied everything up just a tad. I put the strawberries in a fun paper berry container. I added a paper doily and yarn to the whipped cream. The store bought strawberry glaze found a new home in a fun textured mason jar.

I printed out the Thank You tag and attached it to the basket with a cloths pin.

 

 

Download Berry Thank You Tags HERE

It has never been easier, prettier, and yummier to say thank you to that awesome person in your life.

Now I can say thank you to my berry special friends with a little Strawberry Shortcake Kit. I am pretty sure they will be my friends forever now.

Breakfast in Bed Bridal Shower Gift

I just went to a bridal shower. Every guest got a theme suggestion for what kind of present to bring. My theme was "breakfast".

I immediately thought of Breakfast in Bed.

I gathered up some white food trays, white plates and bowls, cups, pretty silverware, and matching napkins.

Then since they will be newlyweds and all, I added a little something special to the trays. A little suggestion if you will. 

Hehehehe.

I thought the orange vinyl looked great with all the turquoise.

I added more orange by wrapping up the silverware and the napkins in orange embellishments.

I wrapped the gift pretty simple by tying it all together with orange fabric.
 

I got everything for the gift from Target. The vinyl is from Expressions Vinyl. You can put any cute little phrase you want on the breakfast trays if you don't feel like being suggestive. Ha.

I will say that this little Breakfast in Bed bridal shower gift was one of the hits of the party. The pretty much owe that to the trays.

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TEE-rific Dad Father's Day Gift

Need a last minute Father's Day gift?

And by last minute, I currently mean tomorrow is Father's Day. That kind of last minute. Goosh. I am really cutting it close this year. Last year I was WAY on top of the ball and busted out three Father's Day gifts. This Camping Gift, Grilling Gift, and Soda Pop Gift. This year not so much. Which is why this oh-so-lovely blog post is going live the afternoon of the day before Father's Day.

The good news, is thanks to Pinterest even if you have already got Father's Day gifting all wrapped up...hahaha, wrapped up...you can just pin this idea for next year. So you can look at it two ways. First, this if for those who (like me) procrastinated Father's Day and need an easy last minute gift. Second, this if for those who are prepared and are already planning for next year.

Either way, I got ya covered.

For this Tee-rific Dad Father's Day Gift all you need is:

A t-shirt or two.

(these shirts all from Target)

You will need this TEE-rific Dad Tag, which I of course made in PicMonkey. Their fonts rock my world, AND did you know that now with their Royale Membership you can now use your own fonts. What?! Yep it is true.

(just right click, save as image, open in Word, resize if needed, and print off)

Some fabric scraps or yarn.

Simply fold up the t-shirts and tie the fabric scraps around. Attach the Tee-rific Dad Tag and you are good to go.

Now just like that you have a perfectly awesome Father's Day Gift great for planning ahead or last minute gifting.

Thanks for reading!

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DIY Photo Wrapping Paper

Here is a quick and fun DIY Photo Wrapping Paper. Some homemade wrapping paper perfect for all those Project Handmade Christmas Presents.

The perfect wrapping paper for gifts for those doting, cheek-pinching grandparents. The only problem arises in them not wanting to tear the paper to open the presents.

This paper is so much fun AND it is unbelievably easy to make.

I used PicMonkey to create my main image.

Once you are in PicMonkey, you hover over the Design menu at the top. All of these canvas options will open up.

I used the 8x10 canvas.

Then I used my very "favoritist" (totally a word) feature in PicMonkey. The "Your Own" overlay options. Here you can overlay your own photos and images. I used this feature all the time. Last year I used it to make a grandparent gift. I made the grandmas Personalized Notepads.

I opened photo after photo. I changed sizes on some. I changed angles. I basically just slapped them all on there in collage type fashion.

Then I saved it to the computer. After I saved it, I opened it once again in PicMonkey. Then I changed the photo from color to black and white.

Once the image was saved, I saved it to a thumb drive and took myself over to Staples. I got an engineer print in 24"x36" for under $4.00.

Your wrapping paper will look a little something like this...with your own babies sweet faces all over it.

All that is left is to wrap up those grandparent presents up.

Then wait for the squeals of "oohs and ahhs". They will come. I promise.

Project Homemade Christmas Present: Baby Doll Basket {from MADE pattern}

This might be my favorite present that I made this year. I know I said that about my Avengers Hand Puppets too. A tough race going on here with Project Handmade Christmas Present.

Seriously though, between the fact that I hardly ever get to sew for girls AND how unbelievably cute this fox flannel is, I think this project just barely beat out the Avengers.

When I first saw the pattern for this Baby Doll Basket by Dana from MADE, I kind of died and it was one of those rare times that I was immediately a little sad there are no little girls around these here parts.

I was sad that I had no reason to buy the pattern.

Then I was all like, "Wait! Uh, I have nieces and it is almost Christmas!"

Then I did a happy jig.

Then I bought the pattern.

Be prepared, there is more jig dancing to follow.

I found the fox flannel and this pink houndstooth flannel at JoAnn's. More jigging done here. Yup, right there in the store.

I was a little nervous to start the project. While I am not a sewing novice, I am HORRIBLE at following patterns. They get me all anxious and my tummy goes all wackadoo. I seriously get so worried I am going to mess everything up...my lovely fabric in particular.

Oh, I was worried for nothing. Dana makes this pattern so clean and easy to follow. The pattern is easy to print and put together. The pictures that follow along with the written instruction are crisp and amazing (as her photos always are).

In no time, I had a finished project that made me clap and giggle...and yes do another jig. Cutest little Baby Doll Basket ever.

Before I shipped it off to one of my nieces, I wanted to snap some pictures of it. Surprise, surprise.

Funny thing. I don't really have any baby dolls at my house. That made taking pictures a little difficult. Upon searching, I found my old Cabbage Patch doll. Perfect. Oh wait, she has no clothes, and I figured it would be all new levels of crazy if I sewed this doll clothes just for a photo shoot.

Then I found the only real dolls we have around here. The plastic, muscled-out, not messing around, save the world type dolls.

He was not altogether pleased with the idea of going into a froo froo bed, not matter how comfortable I told him it was.

Then this sweet puppy volunteered.

He was feeling pretty tired and was really hoping for a cozy place to sleep.

So I tucked him in all cozy. Whispered, "good night" and then snapped some pictures.

Perfect. Thanks Puppy! (Look for a past Project Handmade Christmas Present starring this puppy HERE.)

I can't say enough about how awesome this pattern was. I am SO happy I bought it. I am excited to make more. Dana has done such a great job with this pattern and it is a great price. I highly recommend going and purchasing this. No one is paying me or reimbursing me to say this. I honestly just love it and think you all should own it.

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Thanksgiving Teacher Gift: Hand Pies

This year at the Little Men's school I am in charge of teacher appreciation. If you follow me on Instagram (and I totally think that you should...hehehe...@larissa_anotherday), then you have already seen a sneak peak of these little thankful pies.

I made simple hand pies with premade pie crusts and canned pie filling. So easy. I cut circles out using the top of a glass. Filled each pastry with one tablespoon of pie filling. Then I topped each pie with another circle of pie crust and sealed it with the tongs of a fork. Bake. Cool.

Then I packaged them all up.

I used really simple supplies, all which I bought from The Mart.

I flattened a cupcake liner and used it to lay the pie on. Then I put the pie into a paper CD envelope.

I used a paper doily and a small flattened truffle paper liner for the tags.

I hand wrote a little message in a gold Sharpie...my new favorite thing.

I used a plain clothespin to attach the tag. Then I just repeated a bunch of times...enough for all our teachers.

I am grateful for good teachers. I kind of geek out over thinking of ways to thank our teachers. I had a lot of fun with these little Thanksgiving pies.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Father's Day Gift: World's Best Pop

Here in our house we think we have the world's best Dad...er uh Pop. This very special Pop has been warned to stay away from the blog today and any other day in the future that might be about gifts for his very fatheriffic self.

Back to our house and our bestest dad, well I am sure you feel the same way at your house.

Pretty soon there is a whole extra special day just to celebrate the one and only very special dad.

This year one of the things we are giving our dad is Soda...or Pop...

Soda...

Pop...

What do you say? Soda? Pop?

Me: Soda

Hubs: Pop

It is an on-going battle. Each of insisting we are the correct party.

For Father's Day (and only Father's Day) I will concede.

For Father's Day, it will be Pop. I gave a little hint about this project on Instagram. (Follow along @larissa_anotherday).

So for a Father's Day Gift, our World's Best Pop is getting a special crate of six different and unique bottles of soda. My boys had tons of fun picking out different soda, although I am pretty sure they only picked the soda according to the brightest color.

After they picked out the soda, I bought a plain crate and some spray paint.

I used some retro fonts and cut my phrase out of vinyl.

I spray painted the box white first. Then I applied the vinyl. Then I spray painted several coats of red over the vinyl.

After the paint dried, I peeled off the vinyl.

Then I sanded the crate to make it look a little more vintage.

I loaded up the  crate with some shredded paper and safely nestled the bottles in the crate. I printed off a little tag listing the flavors, so he knows all the yummy flavors he is getting.

The boys are already way to excited to give it to him and I am going to be lucky if this stays a secret until Father's Day.

I have a few other Father's Day gifts I am excited to show you. All really easy. All themed based (you know me and my love of themes). All made with love for our Bestest Dad.


So stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

Linking Here:

Sugar Bee Crafts, Today's Creative Blog,
Not Just A Housewife
Your Homebased Mom
Thirty Handmade Days,
The 36th Avenue
Reasons to Skip the Housework