Holiday Teacher Gifts 2012

Well, hello!

What do you think about the new view? I like it, but I'm not sure it's permanent-- the colors are so soothing, like a trip to the beach, but I'm finding the teal & gray hard to read, especially in the post titles. Anyway, it's a step in the right direction-- lighter, cleaner, brighter. Exactly what I need these days.

But, instead of this:

Here's more what I'm envisioning, with navy headers, links & post titles:

 Still simple-- just easier to read. The problem is, since I'm using a template that I purchased, the colors are all in the code-- no issues customizing my header in Photoshop, but I know almost nothing about HMTL. Luckily, my brother does & he's agreed to help me, so I may try a few things out over the next few weeks until I get it right. Suggestions welcome!

Today was the boys' last day of school until the beginning of the year-- we're sad for the break in our routine but we're so happy that the boys' awesome teachers get a vacation and get to spend time with their families. I love brainstorming ideas for teacher & class gifts-- here's a peek at what we did this year:

 I like to do something small for the boys' classmates & I saw these reindeer noses on Pinterest. I looked at FIFTEEN different stores to find round pretzels but had no luck. So I decided to go with 8 chocolate caramels and a cherry sour ball for my reindeer noses-- worked out perfectly. But the pretzels, I still thought sounded delicious so I've been whipping them up (on checkerboards) for our family Christmas party on Sunday.

When I saw these appliqued monogrammed burlap ornaments I knew that they'd be perfect for the boys' teachers-- they always love their appliqued outfits and I've even done some monogramming for them. I did each of the 4 teachers a red & white chevron burlap ornament with their monogram on them in lime green.

I saw an amazing sounding homemade spiked eggnog recipe on Pinterest, but I just couldn't spend the time making it from scratch. The idea stuck with me though, and I decided to use store-bought eggnog and spike it with Vanilla Vodka & Bailey's. (A perfectly fitting gift for preschool teachers, right?) I used the larger sized Starbucks Frapp bottles, spray-painted the caps, removed the labels and added my own:

The gifts were a big hit-- I hope these wonderful ladies know how much they bring to our boys' lives!

Now, to work on the million projects I have to get done before Christmas...