tumblr love

A while a go I started paying more attention to some of the inspiring tumblr blogs. I used to have a little obsession with magazines. I collected the Martha Stewart magazines for years. I had several other favorites. Before we had kids and had a little extra money floating around I used to go to the local Barnes and Noble and spend too much money on good coffee and British and Australian decorating magazines. I hoarded old Bon Appetits and Food and Wines. I even forced my husband to move my stash of magazines to our current home.
It got a little ridiculous so I started some binders to save my favorite pages - And then I recycled all of the stacks and stacks. I have one binder devoted to recipes and one to decorating ideas.
I still get a couple magazines to have something to browse through in the evenings if I get a chance to sit down, but when I ran across some of the beautiful and inspiring tumblr blogs I was hooked!
I started one of my own so I could reblog some of the cool stuff I see. I feel sort of bad because I don't really contribute any new ideas, but there are so many talented people out there contributing so many beautiful images and inspiring ideas! It's a great way to save some inspirations and not have to hoard magazines any more.

Autumn

A couple of years a go we planted an Oakleaf Hydrangea. It hasn't bloomed yet, but is growing and growing. The leaves this fall are turning some beautiful colors and a couple of the leaves are enormous. I can't wait to see it grow larger and start to flower.

My children are reminding me that adding little simple decorations around the house can make a big impact and they don't need to be pricey or perfect. It's a nice reminder to keep things simple and happy. (We found the owl templates here.)

My oldest boy is now in kindergarten and is bringing home some awesome art projects. Once a month he also has some fun "homework" for school - a family art project. (I'll share his November family art project closer to Thanksgiving.)

Teacher Thank You's

Our oldest son is wrapping up his last days of preschool. After two years of preschool, he'll be headed to kindergarten this fall. As a little thank you to two of the great teachers he's had, we came up with a little thank to the women who have welcomed him three days a week. They have help instill the confidence and love for learning that we had desired for our oldest boy.

I ran across this great idea and thought I could possibly get something like this done. Some of the great ideas for Thank You's call for a great deal of preparation and craft ability. Juggling three children under 5 1/2 has made my days full of ideas and inspiration, but often not a lot of accomplishment. My expectations have been forced to be readjusted just a bit.

I hadn't meant for these little gifts to have such a patriotic theme, but while browsing the aisles at Target, I kept coming across red items and the star napkins and plastic drinking glass were some of the best items I found that would working with the red Izze soda.

The contents of these:

2 - Sparkling Pomengrante Izze Sodas

1 - package of red plastic cutlery

1 - plastic drinking glass

1 - box of sidewalk Pop-Its firecrackers

1 - package of paper napkins

1 - package Lindor Truffles

1 - sheet of scrapbooking paper with star theme

I then just printed out a note that said:

To My Super-Star Teacher

Miss _______

Thank You for making preschool a Blast!

Love, ______

If I was doing these again for teachers I would probably look for something a little less star-spangled, but this theme would work great for 4th of July party favors or hostess gifts.
Our son was excited to give these to his two great teachers so I'm feeling pretty good about getting something relatively creative accomplished for a change!