Hats Off to our Graduates! A Simple and Inexpensive Graduation Gift Idea

Where does the time go? I have missed you all and missed blogging, but have been busy running to ball games, finishing the school year, and keeping up with family. I hope your summer is off to a great start!

This may be a little late for this year, but I had to share a darling and inexpensive graduation gift idea that I stumbled upon HERE.  Just add it to your archives for next year's gift giving!

 The supplies are simple:

 1. A pack of Jones soda in a coordinating school color(or any brand for that matter...Jones happens to have a nice black lid for creating a graduation hat, but I also used other brands without black lids, and they still looked just dandy. I will admit, the Jones packs were a bit tricky for me to round up, and there were limited flavors and colors.)

2. Black paper cut into 2" squares.

3. Embroidery floss in the graduate's school colors--double an 8" strand and tie into a knot.

4. Hot glue.

5. A coordinating "Congratulations" printout and/or the graduation announcement.

 You can see how easy this goes together right? Simply glue the floss tassel to the middle of the squares, and then glue the squares onto the lid tops.

  



 If desired, create a little "Congratulations" sign and cut it in the same dimensions as the soda box, then adhere. We got a little "punny" with our saying as you can see here:





I also trimmed and glued the graduation announcement onto the opposite side to personalize it further.  These came together in a matter of minutes, and my little gals thought they were so clever and great fun to create. And they are adorable for the graduates that you want to recognize and honor without breaking your bank.

 

Hats off to all you graduates and our leaders of tomorrow!
 

Video Spotlight: A Little Luv from "You Can Make This"

What a treat to see this video spotlight on some of my patterns available at You Can Make This! Here's a little sampling of a few of my designs...

Celebrate Spring with a Free Chevron Table Runner Project!

Hey! Remember me? Yes, it's been a while! Life with four kiddos and their multitude of activities, along with a hubby and his busy work schedule leaves my head spinning sometimes, and sadly, I don't get to all I want to do...like blogging. But it's good to be back today!

So it's officially Spring today, the sun is shining in my neck of the woods, the trees in my yard are budding, and I couldn't be happier about all of that. To celebrate, I have a new project ready and waiting for instant download over at You Can Make This, and it's free!



You'll chase away the last of the winter doldrums with this Spring-y and bright Chevron-inspired Table Runner. The easy and detailed instructions are yours for the taking, so enjoy!


Happy Spring!

Kids Say (or Write) the Darndest Things...

After a tiresome battle of the wills, I ended up putting my littlest one (pictured here with her little cousin, Jillie) in time-out awhile ago in a guest bedroom of our home that doesn't get too much use. Long after "time-out" was over, I discovered this note left on a desk that my Little Missy had written to herself while incarcerated:



In case you can't quite decipher past her scribbles and spelling, it says:
"Wow. My mom put me in time out for nothing. My mom didn't think very well on where she put me cuz I thought that she would put me in the office, then she told me to come in this room...and I can color in here."

I laughed right out loud when I read it. Do you see her smug little smile in the drawing? And all the gleeful-looking flowers and grass alongside her? She thought she really pulled one over on her not-so-smart-mom. Little stinker. Heaven help us when she becomes a teenager.

What's on Your Bucket List for 2012?

Can you believe we are a third of the way through January already? I know...you may have thought I had fallen off the face of the earth, but I have been busy, busy recuperating from the holidays and pumping out new designs and making several of my patterns available for purchase online. I'm excited to share them with you here in a few days!

I'm one of those odd people that actually loves the month of January. I love the fresh start; the opportunity to reflect on the past year and look forward to the new. I love to put away the Christmas decor and declutter the house. I love to set goals and cross them off my list as they are achieved. I love to try to make life better in the upcoming year than it was in the last.

Each year (and throughout the year) I try to help my kids set new goals as well, but it is not always met with enthusiasm....till this year. I came across an article that talked about "bucket lists". Not just creating bucket lists for life, but writing bucket lists for the upcoming year---a smaller version of all you hope to accomplish before the year "kicks the bucket" so to speak. And not just writing the lists, but making a party out of it. Who doesn't love a party?

That simple change in wording from "setting goals" to writing our "bucket list" for 2012 made all the difference in the interest level of my kids. They thought it was funny and interesting from the get-go, and were eager to fill their paper up. I challenged us all to write as many things on our list as years we were old. My seven year old came up with seven items, my seventeen year old had seventeen. And me? Well, let's just say I had to get creative to come up with at least 29!

Some of my items were reading 10 books that I want to finish before the year's end (each one was a separate item), paying off my medical bills, releasing 12 new patterns, and completing the six classes required to regain my teaching license that I let lapse 11 years ago.

It proved to be a fun challenge, and got us all thinking of what purpose we wanted 2012 to have for our individual lives. I've provided our family bucket list form if you are interested....it's nothing fancy at all, but it's functional and already done for you. I altered an existing template found in Microsoft Word in about 3 minutes, and you are welcome to it.

One item on my list is to have three more "bucket list" parties throughout the year: One in April, one in August before school starts, and one last one in December...all to keep us focused and to provide some accountability for accomplishing our goals before the year kicks the bucket. I'll keep you posted! What's on your bucket list for the year?

Merry Christmas from the Keslers...2011

It's all here...a new version of the Crazy (non-)Target Lady, a little romance, some Ninja skills and wrapping paper sword fights, some impressive Broadway moves, lots of ugly Christmas sweaters, loads of ridiculous nonsense, plenty of "Jingling" and it all comes together with a big splash at the end. It's Christmas once again with the Keslers!



Wishing you the Warmest of Holidays!

Christmas Gift Exchange Part 4: Treasures that Tell a Story

I interrupted our Christmas Gift Exchange Themes series to address the Thanksgiving Holiday, but today I am back with the fourth theme that I presented over at Studio 5 last month. This theme touches the hearts of all who have received or given one of these types of gifts, as they are gifts with deep sentimental meaning. The theme?

"Treasures that Tell a Story"
In each of our homes, we have treasures or trinkets that are special to us or that have a story behind them. What a beautiful way to present these items to a family member in the form of a meaningful gift.

*Costume Jewelry:



My niece made these stunning displays for her relatives out of their mother's old jewelry when they passed away. She created the outline of the tree or shape on velvet with necklace chains and filled in with the assorted jewelry using glue like E-6000 and framed it. Aren't they gorgeous?


*Shadow Box Displays: Use trinkets and photos to create one-of-a-kind displays that hold fond memories of loved ones. This is a photo of my parents on their wedding day along with some random pieces of silver that I inherited after they passed away. It hangs above my pantry door, and I love seeing it daily in my kitchen.


*Recipes: Is there a family recipe that has been handed down over the years? What about making up a plate of the yumminess and writing up the recipe to be handed down once again? Pictured here is a version of my Grandma's Chop Suey Candy...(recipe to follow in an upcoming post!)


Recipe books also tell great stories of the meals and recipes that are important to a family. One of my favorite gifts was the year my hubby gathered all of my old, worn, misshapen recipe cards and printed them onto uniform cards and organized them into a binder that now sits proudly on the counter. All who enter my kitchen comment on it, and when they find out my husband did it for me, they are impressed all the more!


*Quilts: When my mother passed away, she had bags and boxes full of sorted and organized fabric scraps that she was sure she would use again someday. My siblings and I couldn't bear to throw them out! So instead, we began using them to create quilts.

We have laughed together as we reminisce about the fabrics we remember having dresses, prom gowns, or doll clothes made out of.


To date, we have made four quilts, and they have truly become treasures that tell many stories. Below is the beginning of the latest quilt we worked on a few months ago. It is always amazing to me how a few scraps of seemingly useless fabric can transform into something beautiful.


Of course, t-shirt quilts tell a terrific story as well, and can make a meaningful treasure. Never underestimate what can be done with old t-shirts!



*Photos: I got a little teary this past Mother's Day when I opened one of my gifts from my hubby. He outdid himself again with a simple, yet sophisticated gift that I love.

He gathered photos of my parents, grandparents, and children, and created a pictorial pedigree chart in Photoshop for me and had it framed. I love that my children can regularly see and remember who their ancestors are.

*Random Belongings: My sister inherited some old records from my parents that she and my other siblings listened to regularly in their youth (apparently, I was too young because I didn't remember them at all.)


She sent them to me after I talked her out of throwing them away, and I added painted clock hands and a battery kit. They have become unique clocks that are a reminder of happy days of my siblings' childhood. Almost any trinket can be turned into a treasure with a little imagination.

Whatever theme you choose, it is sure to leave your family with warm and fond feelings as you make some unique memories over the holiday season!