I know I promised a tutorial on my skirt-to-bag transformation, but I told about a hundred pictures of it and it's going to take me awhile to edit them down. And between sitting at the sewing machine and sitting at the computer desk, but back is nearly killing me from being so hunched over!
Today I have a quick and easy teacher holiday gift idea. (Did you notice that I kind of love my son's teacher? She's awesome.) It's a mini-recipebook for all of the kids in the class to contribute their favorite holiday recipes to! I think it's a great way for the teacher to remember her students year after year.
First, take any mini-album. I bought this one at Hobby Lobby for about $2.50 (half-off, of course), but you can probably find something similar at Walmart, Dollar Tree, or even in your own hall closet.
Cover the front and back with Christmas scrapbook paper. Use only a thin layer of Mod Podge to apply it so it doesn't bubble so much. Also, with my cover I had to punch holes in it as well.
Use some more holiday paper to jazz it up. I don't own one of those awesome digital scrapbook cutting tools, so I just printed this off my computer in a cute font:
On the front page I added a note so she'll always remember who it came from. Now you just need recipes from each parent. Don't forget to add that it's "So-and-so's favorite recipe" on each one, so she'll always remember her special students!
I'm adding ours to a gift basket full of baking-themed gifts from all the parents. She'll be all set for her holiday cooking!
I bought a package of coffee filters to make a wreath, but then it struck me that they might string up to make a fine garland! In all, I used about 400 filters for this (less than $5, and a quick craft to do in front of a movie) and I may add a few more. I really wish I was a better photographer so that I could do it justice, but in person, it really is quite stunning.
To make, you need a couple of packages of white coffee filters (or brown, or you can dye them. Wouldn't a red and green one look cute?). Pinch each filter in the middle and then do sort of tri-fold so that it makes a fan shape. Then just string them one by one onto a piece of thread! So simple and the filters are pretty sturdy. My cat hasn't been able to pull the whole thing apart yet, even though she has tried repeatedly.
No, I didn't really name my daughter "Kiki." But it's kind of a funny story. When I was a teenager and my friends and I were being silly, I always told them to call me "Kiki." When I got pregnant with a girl, my husband and I planned on naming her Maeble, but at the very last minute we changed it to McKinley. I went into labor a few hours later, so it was clearly the right choice! McKinley has a very silly and fun personality, so it's sort of like she was that little "Kiki" inside me that was always trying to get out! I think she likes it too--she always tells everyone that that's her name.
The children had plenty of candy:
We played in the snow (Kinley wasn't a fan):
Here's a video of the kids opening presents. I gotta say, the best part of Christmas is just seeing the kids' faces light up!
Here we are opening gifts. That's his new tool bench:
Here's Kinley in her new exersaucer. I think she had a very good Christmas. She was in a pretty good mood all day, despite a little bit of teething:
Here's Finn on his new trampoline:
