Easy & Inexpensive Boo Boxes

Full disclosure - going to be a little "extra" here. I love giving gifts, and have been known to give them for every and any occasion. But in past years, I haven't really given gifts for Halloween. This year, though, three of the seven teachers my kids see daily have birthdays the week of Halloween. So, I thought I would do a little something fun for all of the teachers. 

And let's be honest. If anyone deserves a gift these days, it's our teachers! 

I came up with the idea of these little "Boo Boxes". They look pretty, but I promise they are quick and easy to put together. Bonus - I was able to make each one for around $5! 

The kids helped sort and stock each one and within a few minutes each one was packaged and ready to go. So it looks "extra", without being a whole lot of extra. 

HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN BOO BOXES

Most items I grabbed from the Target Dollar Spot and the Walmart Seasonal section. It all kind of coordinated, but you can do your own mix of items too! 

In case you want to know where specific items from this bunch came from here is a breakdown: 

- Drink holder: Walmart Seasonal Section (come in packs of two)

- Mini Candy Corn Packs - Walmart Seasonal Section

- Decorative Cookies - Target Bakery

- "I Put A Spell On You" Socks - Target Dollar Spot, $1

- Fall Candle - Target Dollar Spot, $3

- Glitter Nail Polish - Target Beauty Section (Colors: Strobe Light & Rockstar Pink)

The fun socks I just couldn't resist. Especially since the week of Halloween our teachers have a lot of fun events planned. Our teachers are a wide range of ages too. 

One classroom is peanut-free so I did these Fall candles with the drink huggers and socks instead of the mix candies and cookies. 

For wrapping I used the following: 

- 5x5 inch treat boxes (can be found here or here)

- Various ribbon -Walmart Craft Section

Long time readers know we used to have an Etsy shop with different stationery and printables we created. Those days are long gone, and while I still love creating personalized items for our family, for this project I download this super cute "Spooky Wishes" tag from another Etsy seller. 

The "Spooky Wishes" tag printable came right away and was editable. I customized them to each kid's name and then printed on some cardstock. Super easy! 

Once the kids put the items they wanted for each of their teachers and wrote a little note, the "Boo Boxes" were all wrapped up and ready to go! 

I did these for our teachers, but could totally see doing this for friends, family, neighbors, or co-workers. They might even make for a fun little agent gift if you are a real estate agent. Put in a Home Depot gift card and done! 

I like that it was a simple idea and could even be done as a candy filled "Boo Box". Everyone loves a little surprise - no matter how big or how small! 

WHO WOULD YOU GIVE A BOO BOX TO? 

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Cute Gift Card Idea for Teachers

Today and tomorrow are my kids' class holiday parties and then they are out of school for two weeks!!! I'm so excited and can't wait to have them home over Christmas. Since I'm one of the room moms for their classes I'm helping with the teacher gifts from the class.  I know teachers love gift cards so instead of doing one large gift card I decided to put together these little gift card trees.

It's such a cute and easy gift card idea if you have a group going in together for one large gift.

I found the mini trees at Target this year (I got them from Walmart last year) and added a ribbon to the top.  Then I gathered gift cards to all of our teachers' favorite places.  We collected money from parents at the beginning of the year to help with things like class parties and teacher gifts, but you could even ask parents to donate a gift card towards the group gift. 

Some are smaller amounts ($5 to Starbucks or $10 to Chick-fil-a) and some are a larger amounts to their favorite restaurant or store.  I just try to get enough to fill up the tree!  I removed the cards from their packaging, write the value of the card on the back with a Sharpie, and tie them on the trees to be the "ornaments." 

These gift card trees are such an easy thing to put together and fun for the teachers to receive because not only are the getting gift cards to a lot of their favorite places, but they also get to keep the mini tree for their classroom or their home!

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Beating the Back-to-School Blues

Yes, it is still July. Yes, it is technically still summer. Yes, our kids go back to school tomorrow. (Insert crying face here.)

Seriously, our summer is SO short and the kids to back to school SO early that it makes all of us feel a little depressed.  Come September when we have a week off we'll all be happy, but I'd trade all of our random weeks off for a nice long summer.  However, school is starting and there is no stopping it. Instead of locking myself up with my kids and never letting them return to school, we are trying to beat the back-to-school blues the best way we know how.

1. New Shoes
We don't do new backpacks each year or even new lunch boxes (you'd be amazed by how well they wash), but every year I let my kids pick out a new pair of shoes for back to school.

It makes them feel like they are getting a fresh start and makes them excited about heading back to school.  Usually they get tennis shoes, and that is what the younger two picked this year.

Blue Basketball Shoes

Black Nike Flex

Little Mama decided that since she was going to Middle School she wanted something a little trendier and picked these distressed leather pink Birkenstocks that look rose gold. I'm obsessed with!

2. Getting Back Packs Ready
So backpacks have been a sore subject in our house this year.  Both of the girls got Pottery Barn Kids backpacks when they started Elementary school and I made sure to have them pick something that was not too babyish and got the large size that would last them for years to come.  These backpacks are awesome! They hold up great. I wash them usually twice a year (over Christmas break and during the summer) and they always look good as new.

The deal has always been that when you got to Middle School you can get a new backpack.  That made one of my girls really happy and the other not so happy.  Little Mama decided on this blush pink North Face one that is super cute.

Blondie decided she wanted to use one we had around the house and asked me to sew a new patch on for it so it would feel new.  She was testing out the different looks at the craft store and ultimately went with being patriotic!

I could have bought her a new one and she could have used her own money to buy a new one, but the deal was Middle School so if I stick to it for one, I must stick to it for the others.

3. Gifts for our Teachers
We always do little gifts for Meet & Greet for the Elementary teachers. I've written an entire post on why we do this and why I think it is important, but I love that it makes the kids excited to go and give their teachers something the first time they meet them and it also adds a little lasting impression on them!

Jen shared a super cute idea for a back-to-school gift yesterday.  So simple, but makes a big impressing on new teachers!

4. First Day of School Outfits
We did a little first day of school shopping with some gift cards the girls had been hanging on to.  Because the Middle School dress code is pretty strict, Little Mama will be wearing jeans most every day.  She loves this style because they fit her tall and lean body type so well and they have some stretch which make them more comfortable.

Ballerina Jeans

Blondie is usually my sporty one, but she was excited to go spend some of her gift cards for a new outfit.  She tried on a lot of things, but decided on this cute outfit.

Jeans//top//jacket//my dress

She also wanted to show how versatile the outfit was because she could wear it with our without the jacket! 

 Can you say future fashion blogger in the making?!?

My little guy usually dresses like a skateboarder, so I'm sure that is what he'll be picking out for the first day of school. I've pretty much given up on him, and just decided it is who he is. He spent his gift cards on new sports equipment.

5. A Schedule and a Routine
Lastly, the other big thing I'm doing to beat the back-to-school blues is focusing on the routine, schedule and normalcy that the school year will bring to us.  I've really put a lot of things on the back burner this summer because I have been committed to spending the extra time with my kids.  However, this blog, my exercise routine and my house are just a few things that have lacked attention and time they need.  While I will miss the lazy days of summer, I'm looking forward to focusing my efforts on some of the other things that need my attention. The start of school also means the start of fall sports and while that makes our life pretty crazy, it's a good kind of crazy.  I absolutely love watching my kids do what they love and can't wait for all of that to start back.

So, while I'm not happy about summer coming to an end, I'm trying to look on the bright side, look at the positives, and focus on the good.  Because when my early alarm clock jolt to reality happens tomorrow morning, it isn't going to be pretty!

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Easy Valentine Gifts for Teachers

It's no secret we love to spoil our teachers.  From gift baskets at the beginning of the year to little gifts along the way, we like to let them know just how much we appreciate them and all they do for our kids.  Valentine's Day is the perfect time to show your teachers just how much you love them and I wanted to come up with a cute, but easy gift for our teachers this year.  

I came up with a sweet snack mix and decided to package it in mason jars. I actually spray painted the lids red to make them look a little more festive! 

I mixed marshmallows, Valentine's Day M&M's, pretzels, and teddy grahams.  My kids and I love a good sweet/salty mix, so hopefully the teachers will enjoy it, too! 

After it was all mixed I put it in the jars and tied it with ribbon.  So easy, so yummy and done!  

For our regular classroom teachers I also added a Target gift card to their treat and was so excited when I found these LOVE ones.  So appropriate because we really do LOVE our teachers!  

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Start the School Year Write! (Gift Idea + Printable)

Happy Monday sweet friends! Last week was filled with more meet and greets, back to school prep, and first day excitement of the preschool sorts. So on this Monday we are officially sinking into our school year routine and saying goodbye to summer break.

L.C. was all sorts of excited to go back to school since all of the other Mini Magnolias had started back a few weeks ago. She and her fellow preschool friends have been talking about school excitedly ever since. To say she was pumped when it finally became her turn was an understatement. 

We just love putting together little gifts for our teachers each year for meet and greet day, and I totally  agree with Carrie Beth when she said while sharing her Meet and Greet Gift Baskets that bringing a little something helps break the ice, especially if you have a shy child. 

I wanted to keep things fairly easy this year, so we put together this little writing themed gift. I whipped up the printable and we were ready to go. It's super easy to put together your own!

"Start the School Year Write" Teacher's Gift

What you'll need...

• 1 pack of pens (I purchased these gel pens.) 
• 1 notebook or writing journal (I purchased this one in pink.) 
• Cellophane or gift bag (I use these clear bags to wrap gifts in.)
• Ribbon
• Hole punch

What to do...

1. Download and print the "Start the School Year Write" printable. 
2. Place notebook and pens in the cellophane. 
3. Tie off with ribbon, add printable, and finish tying the bow. 
4. Share your gift with a teacher or student!

Quick, easy, and a great way to start the new school year! I also thought this could be given to new students as well, and would be a cute to include with cool pencils, fun Sharpies, or notebooks as well.

Some of our favorite past back-to-school gift ideas: 

Back to School Gift Baskets

Back to School Bookworms

Apple Theme & Fun Cocktail/Wine Printable for Moms

"Donut You Know I'm Excited to Meet You!"

Happy back to school everyone! When did or do your little ones head back? 

Jen

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Back-to-School Teacher Gift Baskets

The time as come for back to school.  We were all digging in our heels and trying to make summer break last as long as possible, but we are into our last few days before the first day of school.  We had meet and greet at our school yesterday where the kids got to meet their new teachers and see their new classrooms.  We're thrilled with their teachers and after meeting them all three of my kids said they couldn't wait for school to start on Monday! I just know they are going to have a great year.

I've shared this idea several times before, but I always like to make little gift baskets to take to the teachers on this day.  It helps let them know just how excited the kids are to be in their class and really sets the tone for how much we appreciate them all year long!

What we put in the baskets will vary from year to year and since we've been so busy recently, this year I made it easy on myself.  I got some great gift basket supplies from Oriental Trading.  They have a huge selection of items for teachers and classroom supplies.  I went with Sharpies, large colorful binder clips, magnetic hooks and fun washi tape.

I always pick up baskets for this project at the Dollar Store and while I was there I grabbed a few other items to help fill the baskets.  Pain relief for those days that noisy children might give them headaches, gum, notepads, and other little goodies. We arrange everything in a basket, wrap it up with clear cellophane and tie it with a pretty bow!

The kids love helping to put these baskets together for their teachers and they are always even more excited to give it to them.  I feel like this is a great ice breaker for kids that might be a little nervous or timid to meet their teachers because it gives them a purpose and makes them excited to walk into their room and present the gift to their teachers.

It's always a pleasant surprise for the teachers and puts a smile on their faces.  They love being shown how much we appreciate them from day one.

Carrie Beth 

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**Some of these items were gifted to us through our partnership with Oriental Trading. All thoughts and opinions are our own. **