All Things Alicia

Gift Card "Basket" In a Frame

Every year my regional PTA does a basket auction to raise money for scholarships.  Each school PTA donates a basket, and for the last two years my school has done a gift card basket.  I use the term basket loosely because gift cards are much more creatively displayed not in a basket.  Last year I put them in a flower pot; this year I strung them across a frame.   It didn't come out quite as I expected since we had so many cards.  I felt like it was kind of crowded; however, it was still nice and was one of the top money generators at this year's auction.

 

My original idea was to make a bunting type banner, but there was no way to display that at the event.  So then I thought I could drape cards on a string in a frame and layer the strings that way.  Right before I was heading to a thrift store to look for a frame to turn into such a masterpiece, I popped into Marshall's (for kitchen stuff of course) and found this frame.  For $12 I got a cute frame that was already filled with a pinnable surface and muslin.  Sweet!

I used hat pins I had on hand, plus linen thread to make the swag lines.  Then I used a small scallop envelope die to cut envelopes for the gift cards.  I sealed them and cut off one end to make a pocket.  I then used various embellishments that were on hand, such as pearls and ribbons, to jazz up the envelopes. 

After clipping the gift cards on with mini clothes pins, I punched paper scalloped circles in paper I had on hand (to make the flowers) and a few butterflies too.

I ended up using some pop dots on the back of the envelopes to keep them from sliding around.  They'll be removable enough to still use the frame afterward. 

I also make a card (forgot a picture) that matched in style to let the bidders know what cards were included and the amounts of each.

I'm pretty sure all of the materials I used were Stampin' Up! except for the papers.  Those were from a stack I got at Hobby Lobby from Paper Studio.  The stack design was called Olivia.

All in all, I think it came out pretty good for 1 hour of work!

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Every year the PTA area luncheon has a silent auction.  Each PTA provides a themed basket, it goes to silent auction, and it raises money for scholarships in our local area.  This year, my PTA decided to do a gift card basket.  And then of course I was charged with making it into a basket. 

I'll admit my mind was stuck for a while.  I was thinking I could fold a bunch of origami boxes and put a card in each one...or make an envelope album with a card in each...I always came across a problem with my ideas.  

I finally settled on a flower bouquet, with gift cards attached to the back of each flower.

Please excuse the lack of correct photo set up and props.  I barely remembered to snap a quick photo before taking off to drop it with our president.

So I got out some old Stampin' Up! Designer Series paper and started using my large scallop circle bigz die for the Sizzix Big Shot.   I cut a bunch of the flowers, folded some, folded others more, and hot glued them all together.  Buttons and brads and smaller punch scalloped circles covered the centers.

I put floral foam in a flower pot and covered the top with Spanish moss.  Then I glued the flowers to bamboo picks (the kind you use for making kebabs). On the back of the each flower and pick I glued a clothes pin to clip the card into.  I had everything already on hand except the floral foam! 

That little envelope holds the gift card.  I couldn't be at the meeting where they were being collected so I stuck the sticky not on there so everyone would know what to do with this thing.  ;)

Have any stellar ideas for silent auction baskets?  I'd love to know so I have an idea for next year.  Leave a suggestion in the comments below!

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I had a problem this year.  I normally make something cute, but not necessarily expensive, for my kids' teachers.  This year I haven't been in my craft room.  I got a late start in January, and then my MIL had construction done on her house (where my craft room is), and what was supposed to be a month in construction turned into 4 months.  Now my kids are out for summer so I'm not sure I'll get over there until September.  Arg!

So this year I had to go the gift card route (pricey with 3 kids) and pick up something to make them cute.

Here's what I ended up with:

I went armed with my coupons to the local Michael's to see what card kits or other cute but cheap items I could get to jazz up the cards a bit.  I ended up with these economical gift sacs that were on clearance.  The Happy Day stickers were already assembled and on clearance as well.  (The last day of school is always happy!) I used the coupon for the chalkboard garden markers.  The twine I had in my garden stuff.  The tags and burlap flower I paid full price for, but they were cheap.

The variety you see above was just because I couldn't make up my mind. ;)  I also had to buy foam adhesive dots to get it all sticking together.

I used the backing cardstock the Happy Day stickers came on to keep the insides stiff enough for the gift cards.

I just glued on torn strips of copy paper to cover the bar codes and such on the thicker backing and attached the gift cards to one side.  I wrote a message on the other side.

Two of them had Michael's gift cards, because those teachers like to craft and scrapbook.  One of them had a Target gift card because she's not crafty and loves to shop at Target. 

And there you have it, how to make three cute crafted gift card holders in less than 15 minutes!

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Quick Paper Bag Album

I made this album last week for my daughter's soccer coach.  I try to take pictures of, not only my own kids, but the coach's kids during sporting events (not in a creepy way).  That way I can give a gift like this one at the end of the season.  Because who doesn't like pics of their own kid, right?

I ended up making this one way simple and quick because our team party got moved up.  It was done in less than an hour.  I stuck to same layouts and colors.  The colors were easily dictated by the soccer field and uniforms (white, black, green and teal). 

Forgive the messy background.  I was trying to get a few quick shots while heading out the door and didn't have time to set up a nice, nondistracting background.  I also blurred out the daughter's face in the photos where you could really see it to protect her.  Never can be too careful with kids' privacy.

On the front cover (below) I stuck a sticky note on with instructions to put her "official" photo there.

Then you open it up:

In the first little baggie opening:

Next section:

And the insert for this section:

And back cover:

All packaged up in a bag from the same package I made the album with,  and some leftover embellishments:

My son said MVP stood for "Most Valuable Parents" because I loved our coach and his wife so much.  They were a great team this year and did a lot of work. It was my daughter's first year playing and she got off to a great start, not only because he taught great skills, but he also had a great demeanor with that group of 6 and 7 year old girls. :)

So the keys for getting this done fast:

-Everything was cut into 1 of 2 sizes (to fit the parts of the bag)

-I stuck to the same simple layouts in each section

-Layered cardstock, picture, and slap on a sticker or border that I had on hand.

-I only had two packages of embellishments I was pulling from - all from my stash.  That really simplified things.

 

They loved it, and that's what I really wanted. 

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My Fall Dream Plans for 2014

I always have a list, every year, of stuff I want to do.  It's a completely unrealistic list.  Really.  Crafting, baking, outings, etc...I thought I'd share a few with you this year.  Just a few, because the whole list would go on and on and on... :)

 

Fall is my favorite season.  It makes me sad every year that we really don't have it where I am. :(

Crafting & Decorating:

 -I want to make a 30 Days of Thankfulness album for November.  This would be like December Daily but for fall and thankfulness.  This one I really plan on doing this year.  But my December Daily album is always a lot of work.  I love it, I love creating it, but I want something a little more low key for what I'm thinking.  I've decided I'm going to do fairly simple pages all ahead of time (I better get on that), and leave a space for the picture and a few words.  Then I'll fill in the word space each day, print the pics all in black and white either twice during the month or just at the end, and add them in.  That way all the time consuming work is done ahead of time, when November hits hard and heavy. 

Did I mention that we have 3 family birthdays in November?  My middle child's birthday is actually on Thanksgiving this year.  Busy month.

-I'd like to make fall potpourri a little more often.  Real stuff, like this recipe on Pinterest. 

I normally do it about once a year, but this year I want to remember it more often.  I want the house to smell like fall for a lot of the season.  It's just hard to match the scent with the season in my head when it's 102 degrees outside. 

-Glitter up some pumpkins - I actually have the pumpkins from clearance last year.  I just need to do the craft.

- Make cute baggies and fall treats for the teachers at my kids' school.  These ones I pinned on my Fall board look easy and adorable.

- Make these velvet pumpkins:

-Decorate the front door area.  I say area, because it's a weird corner door situation with no real porch to speak of.  But there is a small flower bed right in front that has space to add a hay bale or pumpkin to.

Baking:

-Of course, pumpkin spice lattes.  I really want to find a recipe I like.  I might have to try a bunch to get one that remotely resembles Starbucks.  I think I'll start on this one today. :)  If you have any you think I should try, link it in the comments!

- Pumpkin spice latte bark:

-Caramel apple cream cheese bundt cake:

- And a million more recipes - but today those are my top 3.  Today.

 

Outings:

-Apple picking and a picnic.  I think I'm going to plan this one this weekend since our soccer games are early.  Then we can spend the rest of the weekend making apple sauce, maybe the bundt cake above, etc....

-Pumpkin patch - There's one near my kids' school.  We might stop there on the way home one day.

-I'd love to go look at leaves, but around here they don't really turn until January.  We'll see.  If I can find a copse of turning trees somewhere we might go just there. 

 

So what are you top "hope to do"s for fall?

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Baked Good Birthday Gift

My friend Kristina had a birthday friday.  I wanted to give her a little something 'cause I love her, she's so awesome, but we're on a very strict budget.  Lucky for me, Kristina loves everything I bake.  :)  I remembered her loving some peanut butter cup rice crispy treats I made a while back so I whipped up a batch to take to her.

Of course the best way to make a baked item look more special than just a baked item is to package it up all pretty.  Kristina also likes pretty things. :)

I put these in an old Stampin' Up! box.  I can't remember what came in this but I save boxes like this for just such occassions.  I wrapped up the treats individually in parchment and tied a cute pink string around each one.

Then I set out to decorate the box top itself.  I only had about 3 minutes to do this and my 5 year old was with me so I turned to my scrap bin of patterned paper and started taping.

I tied a ribbon around it all and pulled a card from my stash.  I didn't even try to find a birthday card.  I went with this one that says "Life is a matter of moments" and wrote "I am thankful for the moment you were born!" on the inside.

And viola!  There you have an inexpensive, but from the heart, gift, packaged nicely and quickly.

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My Mom's Birthday Present

My mom's birthday was earlier this week.  She's a Master Gardener and loves vintage stuff so I made her some of those junky faucet flowers that are all over Pinterest.

They're made out of a fork, a faucet handle, and a button, all put together with e6000 adhesive.

I didn't like any of the forks from my local thrift store and they weren't any cheaper than Target, so I got them there.  Target has a 4 pack for $2 in my area.  The faucet handles I got at both Lowe's and Home Depot.  At Lowe's I only got 2 because I had to buy the whole fixture.  Then I went to Home Depot and they have just the replacement wheels for $1.60 each so I got a few of those.  The buttons I got at JoAnns.  The e6000 I had on hand. 

I wrapped them in bubble wrap and sent them off with the first pic above and a note that said, "I made you a few low maintenence perennials.  Fell free to plant them in singles all over, in a bed together, or even give them away as floral picks in those potted plants and boquets you're always making people."

I also put this card in the box.  I wanted to make her a new one but haven't had access to stamp room so I pulled this one out of my stash.

I think I wrote something like "here's to a few more years of plans" on the inside.

That was actually pretty quick and easy to do!

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Sick, Sick, So Sick!

The weekend of Nov. 1-2, I went to a math conference in Palm Springs.  It was fabulous! It was also the last time I was among the living. :)

I got sick.  I don't mean the sniffles.  I mean on my butt, can't think straight, barely got laundry and dinner done and that's all (and not always that) sick!  Hence my recent absence. 

While I'm still fighting coughs and sniffles, my energy and brain are starting to return.  That means I have a game of catch up to play.  I've had to GREATLY ammend my plans, both for life and for blogging.

Here's the updated scoop:

-I'm dropping the 30 cookie reviews in 30 days.  Everything works out better this way.  If I pick up where I left off I'll be testing recipes too close to Christmas and my whole plan was to have things done ahead...ya.

-I'll just be posting my holiday baking as I do things, which will have more than just cookies.  Some recipes will be tried and true family favorites, some will be new and will include a review.

-I'll do a post soon to catch you up to where I am in Project Life.  I'm almost caught up, but haven't posted here in a while.  That post will likely be a  single shot each of several weeks in one post kind of post, rather than a several shots of one week kind of post.  You can always ask questions in the comment section if there's something you see that you want clarification on.

-I'm prepping for my December Daily!  I am super excited this year!  I'm doing it a little bit different this year.  The first year I made my album (2010) I did most of it ahead of time and filled in as the month progressed.  In 2011 I didn't get it done. :(  Last year I put a bunch of supplies togehter to draw from but didn't do anything ahead of time.  I really wanted to work more organically last year.  This year is a bit of a compromise.  I'm prepping some stuff, but in a way that leaves it flexible. 

I'm making an 8x8 this year.  I am using Stampin' Up!'s divided 8x8 page protectors.  These are a super good deal and I think they're on sale right now too.  Love them! 

For the album I just purchased a chipboard one today.  I really wanted a ring album, but all I could find in 8x8 was post bound.  Who knew?  I've been searching high and low.  I'm not a fan of the Stampin' Up! holiday 8x8 so I finally resorted, after searching many craft stores, to getting a chipboard one online.  It should be here soon.

-I'll do a post soon about how I'm preparing for December Daily.  I've set aside some purchases for paper and embellishments, I've created an "inspiration board", and I've started thinking about what'd going to go into it.  I'm not sure how I'm decorating my album yet, but I'm not too worried about it.  It's not going to stress me out if the album cover is the last thing to get done.

-I've also, in the past, worked on my album at the end of each week because my craft room is not at my house.  This year I've decided to bring my main items here to my house so I can work each night after the kids go to bed.  I can't bring my whole craft room, so I still anticipate having to finish off the pages once a week there, but I won't feel behind.  I'll be using a lot of sticky notes. :)

-I am still planning on creating a separate blog for The Elementary Professor.  That way those of you who visit for teaching ideas only and don't care about my homemaking fun can access just that.  :)  I was planning on making it a while ago, but alas, I thought it better to wait until I could think straight again.

So that's the update for now.  I'll be back soon with happy stuff!

 

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Blue Chevron Dry Erase Daily Objective Boards

I just added these to my shop for only $2!!!

These are titled by subject, with one blank included, so you can turn them into dry erase boards and change them daily!  There's also a title block (Today's Objectives) that can be put up so you can mount these in a cluster around the title. 

Hello cheap dollar store frame....

Just frame it and use dry erase markers or Vis a Vis on it and you can wipe and change!

Not into framing?  How about a plastic page protector and some pretty ribbon?

Or print the 2-per-page size so they fit in a 5x7 frame to put at centers or work stations!

Available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store

or in my Teacher's Notebook store.

Here are the features:

Who needs an objective poster for every single standard? You can turn these into dry erase boards to use whole class or at centers/stations with simple cheap frames or page protector sleeves!

These are blank except for the subject title at the top. One blank slide is included in case you want to add your own subject or title to it.

10 pages

Write your common core daily objectives on them

The pretitled pages are:

Reading
Writing
Math
Science
Social Studies
Language Arts
Today's Objectives

3 photo samples of different ways to display.

For centers or stations and whole class. I like them clustered at the white board in my focus area around the "Today's Objectives" sheet.

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I'm almost done with this album.  I thinking I'll finish catching up on Monday when I have time again in my office.  :)

For now, here's 2 pages:

Day 8:

The journaling reads "The kids and I made Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark for a small group Christmas party at our house.  New recipe, new hit!"

I have a page later where I inventory what family favorites we made this year vs. new recipes we tried.

And day 9:

I tried a new wreath inspired by Pinterest this year.  This is a pic of it.  Simple layout, single photo. 

I used a snowflake punch in the upper right corner and will need to work that into my day 10 page.

I used some retired Deck the Halls paper on both of these.  I also used my Big Shot to cut the numbers from Cherry Cobbler. 

I've got a back log of posts to type and share since I had a computer crash earlier.  I'll be posting more soon!

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