Ta-Da!!!....a few weeks later!

This whole blogging while working full time and taking care of business at home is hard! lol I always have good intentions but after 10pm, I'm tired and vow to type the post the next day. We know how that went.

My husband and I finished installing our floors. I love it! No more carpet. No more washing that carpet and waiting for it to dry. Yuck. Now a new area rug would look cute but not necessary. We'll see. 

And to make you guys laugh, here's a photo my daughter took. Child doesn't know how to use my camera correctly and probably used whatever setting it was on previously. There was one where my girls were pretty pushed up by my knee and looked wayyy to revealing. That one WON'T be appearing on my blog. lol

A bientot!

New floors.

I will say "bye bye" to carpet from my living room this weekend. It's the only carpeted spot on the first floor and I can't wait for it to be gone. We wanted it out 5 years ago but the builder's salesman told us since we have kids and a dog, to let it get used up instead of ripping out new carpet. I have a carpet cleaner and our dog does not go on carpet so it still looks new after 5 years. Yeah, we had enough of it though. 

I'll be helping my husband to install it so that we can be finished by Sunday night. Wish us luck!

A Bientot!

Teacher Appreciation Week 2011

I know, I know. I'm so embarassed to even post again! Lets just say life just got in the way of blogging. Who knew I couldn't do it ALL everyday?! lol

This week is Teacher Appreciation week and I wanted to share some of the things I'll be doing.  It's hard to come up with new gift ideas. Yesterday, I did modified version of the Starbucks cup with a giftcard. This year I opted for a clear cup so the teacher can see what's inside.

Today the kids gave a journal with a pen for their teacher. Very simple and inexpensive.

Tomorrow the children will be giving my traditional frame with the teacher's last name. Always a hit and it's personal since the children comes up with the sentences. I have to admit I sometimes I laugh with what they say. One of my son's sentences is funny. Kindergardeners are hillarious!

Hope these ideas will help you with your teacher's gift.

A Bientot!

Finit!

I finally finished my daughter's new desk. It's been out of her room so that it could cure longer and let the smell out. Oil base = nasty strong smell. This was the first time that I painted a real piece of furniture (not a stoll or a small piece of wood). This was also laminate so just a tad more work than a wood furniture.  I used one coat of an oil based primer (Zinsser), 3 coats of latex paint and one clear coat to protect the furniture.

 

My daughter was so excited in getting her own desk and chair. I couldn't find the perfect knob or her desk so I just painted the old one in hot pink. The chair I got at Ikea. It's perfect! 

 

Here's the before picture. It was rom Craigslist.

The after.

Now I need to decorate that part of the wall for her. lol A mom's job is never done. I know what to do so now I need to hunt things down and spray paint may get involved once again.

A Bientot!

P.S. I laughed when I saw part of the Portuguese flag peaking in the last photo. Can anyone find it???

New project.

I've been so busy with work and the kids that I haven't had time to do some projects that I wanted to do. One for my closet has been on the backburner and this new one for about 2 weeks.

My daughter started second grade and does her homework at the kitchen table or the family room sectional. My son will soon have homework and I know taking care of the two at the same table will not go too well. One will say to the other it's baby work while the other will yell no it's not. Yeah.

Anyway, I wanted to get my daughter her own desk and have been looking at Pottery Barn Kids. I used to buy so many things from that store that my kids would say "Hey, we got that! We have that! That's what we got at home." I would get embarassed and start thinking "Man, we spend way too much at this store." lol I decided to find an used desk and fix it myself. A project for me and hopefully a cute desk for my daughter.

I found a laminate desk on Craigslist for cheap. I didn't want a computer desk and most desks were too big for her room. I was hoping in finding a wood desk but no such luck. I got this laminate one and thought I could paint it. Yes, you can paint laminate. I have seen it but never tried it. I will now. lol

Here's what it looks like. The photo was from Craigslist but the close up is from my camera. It has many scrtaches that need to be filled before I can prime and paint it. Lets hope it'll look good once I'm done with it.

A Bientot!

Teacher Survival Kit.

Sorry for not posting as much. My children are starting school tomorrow and I have been busy packing as many activities these past few weeks. I am so behind in my posting but will try to be better since I may have one or two hours are alone time.

Another school year is starting. School buses everywhere, kids on bikes and some walking to school, hundred of kids being packed into a school. Can you imagine the buzz (or noise) the teachers or staff will be hearing?? Yeah, me too. I once again made a teacher survival kit for each of my kids teacher. My son will be getting the same kindergarden teacher that my daughter had. I am very happy about that. I hope she likes her kit.  My daughter chose a blue box for her teacher because it's pretty. lol

Inside is the usual things that I packed if I had to deal with 24 kids. Cup of cereal, granola bar, trail mix, starburst, hand sanitizer, hand lotion, mini emergency kit, Advil, 4pc pedicure set, stickers to reward kids in case they run out and of course, a gift card to Starbucks. I may put a few more trinkets tonight. We'll see.

Are you or your kids excited about school starting/started?  My daughter is excited but now that the time is near, my son is somewhat excited. He wanted to be sure there was NO naps in kindergarden. lol  I kept telling him there was not and the day is actually shorter than in preschool. I hope each of them will have a great first day. My stomach is a bit queasy because my baby will start school and I will no longer be a parent of a baby/toddler. Now 2 school aged kids. O mon Dieu! I will not cry! I will not cry! sniff

A Bientot!

Hubby's project.

A few weeks ago my husband decided to do something with our walk-in-closet. Remember the post about a delievery that I got? Well it was hardwood! Unfortunately, out of the 4 boxes, only one was the correct color. lol Hubby had to call and the company promised to send us the right ones. A few days later, we got it and hubby couldn't wait to yank the carpet out!

Here's what my closet looked right after hubby decided to take the baseboards out. Also, don't mind the walls. I was starting to paint them but never got around to finish them since he installed the floor in one day.

Don't mind the clothes and boxes. I was moving things around while painting. Not the best way to paint but with 2 kids, I have to make do. Also, the quality of the photos suck! No good lighting.

I have to say...I LOVE IT!!! Coming from the East Coast, I am used to hardwood everywhere so carpet was never a love of mine. Sure it's soft "the good expensive ones" but then it gets used up really quickly, stains and traps dirt inside. I prefer a hard surface and I can always put a rug if I really crave a soft surface.

It'll make sweeping a breeze and hubby is happy to vacuum one less room. lol It's a pretty big closet so it needs to get vacuumed since the kids love to play in my closet. Yeah, it's another playroom for them. soupir Well at least spilled goldfish will get easily sweeped up!

A Bientot!

Summer plans.

Ok, so you know Meg from Whatever and her summer poster board...what? You don't??? Well go check her website now. I remember seeing it a few years ago and thought it was so cute and this year I decided to make one myself.

Here's ours. I don't know if we'll be doing everything on the list but I am sure more than half will be done before they start school. The kids were excited about the whole idea on putting their goals on a piece of paper that can be checked out once it was done.

Go and make one if you have small kids. They'll love seeing their ideas on paper and will be even more excited to check them off one by one.

A Bientot!

New hobby.

I got a delievery this afternoon for my husband. He's been itching to try something in our walk-in closet and I'm not saying anything. I'll let him do his thing and hopefully the end result will look nice. This is a "test" before he can do anything else to the house. lol Care to guess what he'll be doing this weekend?

*Update! Looks like Hubby's hobby will have to wait. Out of four boxes, only one is correct. sigh Hubby is not too please but they will ship our order within 3-5 days. We shall see!*

A Bientot!

Teacher Appreciation Week. Fifth Day.

Woohoo it's Friday! I will actually have both days off this weekend! Rarely happens so I'm excited and the weather is going to be warm. Woohoo!

Here's a gift that got many comments from my readers last year.  Get a disposable coffee cup, a gift card to a favorite coffee/tea shop, some ribbon, paper and cellophane wrap.

Fill the cup with whole coffee beans since if your teacher drinks coffee. If your teacher is a tea drinker, maybe some tea leaves would be a nice touch.  The teacher will be suprised to open the cup and see a gift card nestled in coffee beans or tea leaves. Now add a cheesy saying and you have a great gift!

I hope I helped you in any way for giving your child's teacher a gift for next week. These gifts can also work for the last day of school but I have another idea for that one. lol Will show when the school year is almost over. Stay tuned!

A Bientot!

Teacher Appreciation Week. Fourth Day.

Here's a project I did last year. My daughter's old kindergarden teacher said she still has it hung on her classroom wall. Awww!

All you need is a frame, some cute scrapbook paper or whatever you wish to decorate the frame with. All you do is use the last name of the teacher and the child needs to start the sentence with each first letter.  Last year my daughter was saying things that I would of like to correct her but I thought it was better to let her be natural. Let her 5 year old mind do the sentences.

This year will be the same. Let your child think of things about their teacher using the first letters of their last name. Some will make you laugh or be confused. lol

A Bientot!

Teacher Appreciation Week. Third Day.

Here's a cute box that I found on ChristieNelson.net. I filled it with some chocolates and my daughter wrote a card for her. Now you can glue the top flap like the site says but I thought using velcro strips would be better. This way, she can eat some, close the flap down and the chocolates will stay secure in the box.

A Bientot!

Teacher Appreciation Week. Second Day.

Here's an oldie but goodie. Small kids x 20 = germ fest!  I know first hand how some of my daughter's classmates have sticky or dirty hands. Here's a cute and practical gift for any elementary teacher.

All you need is some hand sanitizer, some stickers and ribbon. This cost me less than $5. All I had to buy was the sanitizer bottle and stickers. If you scrapbook, you probably just need to buy a bottle of it.

A tip at removing the label. Go slowly but if some goo remains, you can use rubbing alcohol or better yet, Goo Gone. I didn't have the latter so I spent 5 minutes removing goo with the rubbing alcohol. Get the Goo Gone. lol

A Bientot!

Teacher Appreciation Week.

Teacher Appreciation Day/Week is coming soon. In our school district, it'll be the first week of May. This year I will be giving my daughter's teacher a gift everyday on that week. Some will be the same as last year and some will be new. I will post one project a day starting next week. This will give you guys plenty of time to make one for your children's teacher.

Check back on Monday morning for the first teacher's gift. You'll have a "ball"!

A Bientot!

Kids gifts for Valentine. Cadeau aux enfants pour les Saint-Valentin.

Valentine is coming up soon! Hubby and I don't really celebrate it but we still eat the candy and chocolates. For my kids classroom, I decided to make a different treat this year. I was reading my craft blogs and notice this cute Ipod gift. It's from Family Fun and it's so easy to do!

All you need is conversation candy box, string, mini peanut cups, paper, tape and hot glue gun (you can use glue stick but I think the glue gun is better).

And voila! The girls will get pink ones and the boys red ones. Now if you know some kids are allergic to peanuts, you can just skip the mini cups and just do the ipod. Cheap and easy!

A Bientot!

Christmas Teacher's Gift. Cadeau de Noel pour le professeur.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for my daughter. She will be on "Christmas" break for 2 weeks like so many others in the US. I wanted to give something for her teacher but didn't want to give what I previously did last year. I saw this cute gift card ornament at Tip Junkie and thought it would be perfect. I had all the supplies at hand so that helps.

This is all you need.

• 2 coordinating holiday papers
• scissors or punches
• glue stick or double sided tape
• ruler or mat with measurements
• ribbon, string, raffia or whatever you have to hang the ornament
• gift card

Start by cutting 3 circles of the paper. The largest has to be at minimum 4" since it will need to cover a gift card. You will need to cut two 4" circles and one 3 1/2". (I also made a two 4 1/2" and 4" for another gift).

Now make an ornament top. I did it freehand but you can maybe find a template or use a punch for that.

Glue the smaller circle (3 1/2") on top of the bigger circle (4").

Now cut the one last circle in half and glue the side of it on the back of the ornament. Make sure you can easily slip in and out a gift card. You are making a pocket for it.

Now attach the string or ribbon to the ornament "top" and glue it to the ornament.

Add some embellishments and you are done!

Just insert your giftcard and you have a personal gift for a teacher or someone you like. Tada!

This took me less than 30 minutes. You can make this if you have no ideas of what to make or give to someone.

A Bientot!

DIY Christmas branch.

Well here's another idea that is cheap and you can do to change up your holiday decor. Remember my Halloween photo where I had some black branches in my front porch? Weeellll you can reuse them and just spray paint it another color. hihihi

I really liked the effect it had on the branch. You could see a bit of the black paint underneath and the bark was crackling a bit. It made my branch look like un bouleau blanc (birch).

Now add some unbreakable ornaments and some snowflakes and you got yourself a cute and cheap Christmas decor. Voila!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas books. Livres de Noel.

Here's another idea that I "borrowed" from my friend Suzanne. She has a basket with Christmas books. I thought that would be a great thing for us to have also. My kids loves books and we read them in bed but maybe they would love a good read during the day too.

Now I was in search for the right size basket. I found this one from Micheal's (50% off) but the color was gold. Not for me. What's a girl to do?? Well spray paint it of course! After 2 coast of black satin pain and one coat of clear acrylic, it's ready!

I bought these 3 new books and my son quickly got one to read. Yes, seeing him enjoying a Christmas book made me feel happy. What do you guys think? Do you also have this going in your home?

Happy Holidays!

Teacher's birthday gift.

My daughter's teacher's birthday is tomorrow and my daughter wanted to make her a special gift. I asked her what her teacher likes. We both knew she liked to dress nicely and loves high heels. A-Ha! I remember seeing on Skip to My Loo a cute shoe template that will fit the bill. My daughter chose the paper and we started making that cute shoe for her teacher.

I think it came out cute. We filled it with candy and that was it. I had a birthday card that was blank inside so she was able to write a personal message to her teacher. A simple and personalized gift that didn't cost us an arm and a leg.

Go over to her blog. She has such creative ideas! You might find the perfect project for the upcoming holiday season.

A Bientot!

Halloween Teacher's gift.

I know I am posting this so late in the game. It has been a very busy week for me. This is a quick project that takes less than 10 minutes. I did this for Teacher Appreciation Week at our school and though it would be good for Halloween too. Especially with all the cold and flu going on.

All you need is some hand sanitizer, scrapbook paper, stickers and pretty ribbon. That's it! You can make this quickly at home or on your work break. lol It's that quick. I think teachers will appreciate something to sanitize their hands.

A Bientot!