Decorated Paint can...

HOW FUN IS THIS!

I have made these fun decorated paint cans a couple of times to give as gifts. Of course, I put a few goodies in them. They hold anything from baked goods and teacher supplies to hand made note cards and stationery.
You can pick up an empty paint can at your local hardware store. I purchased mine at Home Depot for around $5.

Happy Gifting!!!

Cristmas Scrapbooking Page...

Here's a super simple and inexpensive Christmas Scrapbooking page.

I used my awesome Cricut with the Printing 101 cartridge for the letters and then the Christmas Cheer cartridge for the presents.

This one was made for a pre-made baby album that I put together for my friends cousin.

It is simple, cute and full of possibilities.

Color coordinated gift...

My friends birthday was coming up and I needed something fun to give her as a gift.
Here's a little twist to the flower pens.

Included(all in black, pink, yellow or white) were:
~note cards trimmed with Swarovorski crystals
~clothespin paper clips
~flower pens
~a pen holder made from a terracotta pot

The letters were rub on letters... I love those things!

I topped off the pen holder with a scrap booking embellishment.

Everything was packed into a black, white and pink bag.

My friend LOVED it... this gift will be around for a while.

Quick and easy christmas treat...

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

I first heard of Peppermint Bark Popcorn from Tiburon over at Shark Bait ...who got it from her friend Stacey... who found it over at Our Best Bites. (Phew!)

I copied the recipe directly over from their blog - they get 100% credit!

This treat is a great gift for neighbors, teachers and friends. (you'll need twice the amount of almond bark shown, a half-batch was used for pictures). I made some and handed it out to my kids music, art and P.E. teachers. I put it into a larger clear goody bag and tied it with a big red bow. I also saved some for myself... It was tasty if I do say so, but I did notice that the taste from the peppermint extract was a little strong at first, but did go away after a few hours.

Peppermint Bark Popcorn Recipe by Our Best Bites:

16-20 C popped popcorn (fresh, or about 2 bags microwave popcorn)

1 lb Almond Bark

1 6oz box candy canes, crushed (About 1-1 1/2 C total and Bob's are the best! Don't use Spanglers!)

2 tea. peppermint extract

3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

*one bag microwave popcorn has about 10 cups in it, so if you're air-popping, do about 20 cups.Place popcorn in a very large mixing bowl.

Unwrapping the candy canes to crush them is the most labor intensive step of this easy treat, so you can do that ahead of time if you want too. I put my candy canes in a large zip-lock bag and have a whack with a heavy marble rolling pin.

Once they're crushed, dump them into the bowl with the popcorn.

To melt the almond bark, follow the instructions on the package. I just break it up and put it in a glass measuring cup and microwave on 1 min intervals until it's nice and smooth.When your almond bark is melted, add the peppermint extract. It will seize a little bit (get kind of lumpy) but it's totally fine.

Pour over popcorn and candy canes. Stir it up really well until the candy is evenly distributed.

Pour the popcorn out onto a piece of waxed paper, parchment, or foil. Spread it out into an even layer and leave it alone!

While the popcorn is setting, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. I really like dark chocolate to counter-balance the sweetness of the almond bark, but I know there's a lot of dark haters, so do what you want!Drizzle the melted chocolate over the popcorn. You can use a fork, or put it in a zip-lock bag with the corner cut off. Leave it until the almond bark and the chocolate is hardened.

If you need to hurry it up, do this whole process on lined cookie sheets you can pop in the fridge.

When chocolate is hardened, use your hands to break up popcorn into chunks. Toss in a bowl, a jar, a cute package, or in your mouth :)

Enjoy!

Decorated Clipboard's

These clipboards were a huge hit with the teachers last year and I had a ton of fun making them. They would also make great gifts for coaches and kids.

I used the schools "rock" theme as inspiration and found clip art online. On the back, I added a class photo along with a photo of my child and the teacher. ~They loved them!

Other possible themes could include:

Thank you for a Dog Gone Good Year.

Hats off to________. (use class photo using silly hats)

Thank you for making us all stars (or All"stars" w/ sports theme)

We are wild about you. (animal print)

Flower Pens and Paper Clips

These Flower Pen and Crafty Cute Paper Clips were treasured gifts by all who received them. Great gifts for teachers, secretary or friends.