celebrating the chaos

Last week felt like the longest in history.  In addition to our regular chaos we had people working on our roof, my husband trained and ran in his first 10k, I met with a committee to find a new principal for my daughter's school and both of my parents made separate trips to the hospital.  Luckily they are both home and doing fine.  Our roof is finished and the dumpster was taken away this morning and my husband not only completed the race, but it was his best time.  In addition to all of this we spent Monday marching in a parade and went to a friends house for a party.  I am busy getting ready for my son's fourth birthday party on Sunday and so That's a Wrap will have to wait until next week.   

party planning kit

When I am planning a party and start gathering supplies I keep a little kit filled with a sample of each one in my purse so when I am out and about I can see if all of the colors match.   As I have mentioned before I start to plan my parties early.  That is the only way I can get everything done!  It also helps to pick a theme early because I often see things when I am out doing unrelated errands.  The kit pictured above is for my son's birthday party next weekend.  I am doing a super hero and ice cream theme.  I found the cutest invitations that had a red headed super hero, just like my little guy.  I am using the wrapping paper on the left for a table cloth, red and white polka dot paper goods and yellow and blue polka dot balloons. 

that's a wrap

As the end of the school year approaches lots of children have year end projects and/or exams.  I always find cute packages of pencils at Michael's craft store.  Wrap up some with a ribbon and tuck them into your child's backpack.  They will "get the point" that you love them and are thinking about them.

that's a wrap

I can't let any more time pass before I share some of the great gifts that I received for my fortieth birthday!  My friends and family are incredibly thoughtful and creative.  The picture above is a gift that my son's preschool teacher's gave me.  40 lollipops in a flower pot with a "40 sucks" sign tucked inside.  My kids really enjoyed this gift too!  Another friend gave me a beautiful tea towel and wrapped a certificate for an Italian cooking class (at Sur la Table) inside that we are going to this weekend!  Can't wait!  Another friend gave me what I like to call "Martha in a box." A beautiful box filled with aprons (one for me and one for my daughter) a copy of a recent Martha Stewart magazine, some MS labels, a cutting board with a picture of my kids on it and a gift certificate to Williams Sonoma!!!!  Another friend gave me an adorable tea cup and saucer filled with tea and cookies and wrote Happy four-TEA-th!  My sister in law gave me some red picture frames with a gift certificate for a camera!  I received flowers from friends and family that live far away and endless cards, calls and emails.  I was spoiled and I loved every minute of it.  How lucky to be celebrated by such loving and thoughtful friends and family.  I am truly blessed. 

mother's day

So, it seems that this year's mother's day theme is rainbows.  My daughter brought the flower home from school on Friday. Isn't it darling?  The children decorated a piece of paper and the teacher slipped it between two clear plastic cups.  Genius. This would be a great activity for a birthday party.  I love it!!  The bottom picture is the gift I put together for my own mom.  My mom says she "doesn't believe" in mother's day, but she is my mom and I like to get her a little something to celebrate her.  I think I may have mentioned this before, but my mom is the BEST letter writer I know.  So, I found this wonderful box of rainbow note cards and envelopes and knew it was the perfect gift for her.  I also got her some rainbow pens and put a picture of her with my children in a tiny frame.  I also attached the following poem to our gift.  Isn't it perfect!  Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow.  My favorite gift is of course the three little ones that call me mom.  I will be spending the day playing with them and it may involve some lobster, ice cream, and a carousel ride too!!!

Mothers are like rainbows,
After a dark dreary day.
Mothers will cheer you,
And brighten your way.
Her arms will enfold you,
Close to her heart,
At times when you're sad,
Of the tear drops start.
E'en tho' the rainbows fade away,
Mother's love is constant,
And is here to stay,
Our dear heavenly Father made,
Mothers and rainbows galore.
So their beauty like a masterpiece,
May be enjoyed o'er and o'er.

Jane L. Nance

that's a wrap

For my BIG birthday present this year I asked for a craft desk.  I had a table in my studio before and it ended up just getting covered with stuff.  After doing some research I choose this one.  I like that it can be folded up into a very small table and that it is on wheels.  Perfect for all kinds of projects.  It came in a million pieces and I spent one whole day putting it together all by myself!  I was very proud.  I know I have shown you pictures of my studio space before but I thought I would show you again with the addition of my new desk and some floating shelves.  This room is right off of our kitchen and one of the first things you see when you walk in the back door. This is my happy place.  I love to make a cup of tea and sit in the chair to read or light a candle and work at the desk or wrap a present.  I organize all of my paper in a large basket and have paper shred in a metal can next to it.  On the floating shelves I have ribbon, containers for gifts, and glass jam jars filled with paper clips, twine, buttons, etc. You can read more about how I store my ribbon and my homemade bulletin board here. I am on the look out for some new stools or I may just paint the ones I already have. 

feature on apartment therapy

I am so thrilled that my daughter's birthday was featured on Apartment Therapy yesterday.  You can find it here.

teacher appreciation

When I turned thirty my friend and colleague, Hope, had each of my 15 students bring in two flowers for me so that by the end of the day I would have a beautiful arrangement of 30 flowers!  Hope provided the vase and put it in my classroom first thing in the morning and I was surprised and delighted when each of my students came in carrying beautiful flowers for my special day.  It was one of my favorite gifts and when I went home at the end of the day I had the most beautiful arrangement of flowers.  I thought this would be a great idea to use for teacher appreciation which is celebrated next week.  Since I am the room mother for my daughter's kindergarten class I bought the vase and asked each of her classmates to bring a flower to school on Monday for their teacher.  I got the vase at IKEA for only $2 and filled it with some wooden alphabet magnets that I found at the dollar store.  I asked the parents to send in a flower from their garden or one that they could purchase from the grocery store.  I didn't want it to be a lot of work or cost a lot of money.  But, I know that this small gesture will certainly make their teacher feel appreciated.  Do you have any fun plans for teacher appreciation next week?

that's a wrap

So my birthday celebrations have come to a screeching halt.  All three kids came down with a stomach bug at the same time.  And I got it too.  The good news is we are all doing better and we got it out of the way before my birthday.  I also found out that I will be spending my 40th at the park with my son who is participating in a trike a thon to raise money for St. Jude's children's hospital.  An event organized by his pre school that was supposed to take place yesterday but was rescheduled to tomorrow due to rain.  All of this just reminds me that when you have children it really isn't about you anymore.  And, I wouldn't have it any other way!
This was a gift for a friend who just turned six. It was filled with all sorts of star wars activities:  a book, game and kite.  I found this striped gift bag and thought it was the perfect place to put a chalkboard monogram label.   Have you seen the new line of Martha Stewart labels at Staples. You should definitely check them out. I used a chalkboard label on this gift, but there are so many different labels and millions of ways to use them.