"You Measure Up" Teacher Gift!

Hey!

I am super excited to be here! 

My name is Kirsten.  I'm a mother of three angels, and a wife to an amazing man! I blog over at Mushki Loves where I share everything I love...my family, my latest thrift store find,DIY projects,yummy recipes,new products,and everything else in between!

I am so excited to share with you all this fun and inexpensive teacher gift. 

Teacher gifts are kinda hard to chose. You don't want it to just be something that is put in a closet or not really used.  Right?! I was on a mission to get some fun ideas, but, make something that I haven't seen before, but that is useful!  I started my google search....

I saw a ornament online that was a ruler with the usual "ABC,A+,Apple"...Hmmm.  How could I make this my own?  something that could be used all the time?  So, I went to the dollar store, my all time favorite place, to get some inspiration.  I was browsing around, and I came across the cutest metal paper clips and regular paper clips and then they had matching rubber rulers...the idea was born! 

Supplies:

-1 pkg. 2 rulers (dollar store)

-Metal paper clips (dollar store)

-Paper Clips (dollar store)

-Metal Tin (Target)

-Magnets (Walmart: already had them)

-E-6000 glue (Walmart or any craft store:already had)

-Scissors

-Sand Paper (optional)

-Cute bag (optional)

-mod podge/brush (Walmart or any craft store: already had)

I wanted to divide the tin into three sections.  

One for the paperclips, the clips,magnets. 

I cut the ruler to fit the width of the tin and then cut a smaller part of the ruler to section it.  

I used E-6000 to glue it together.

Then I just set it into the tin. 

I cut the ruler into different lengths and attached a magnet to the backs of them.

Then I sanded the edges and rounded the corners. 

This is optional, I just wanted to give it a more finished look.

It 's all preference!

Finished magnets.  I even tried them out on my fridge...Yep, they work! 

YAY!

I filled the little sections up....

I saved a small part of the ruler left over that I wanted to use to add a little something to the top.  I used my computer and font Bohemian Typewriter for "Ms. Rockwood....You measure up!"  I tore the paper around the writing to fit onto the ruler, used some mod podge to glue it down, and then a thin layer on top of it. then I glued the ruler piece onto the top using e-6000.  

Tied it all together with matching ribbon....and WALAH!  

A cute teacher gift!

I found this quote:" A Great teacher has always been measured by the student who has surpassed them" I used the same font and tore the edges of the paper on this one too, and then glued it into the card, had My Pretty Princess write what ever else she wanted to and sign the card, we put it all in the cute bag that I picked up at Target for$.25.

This cute little gift cost us $4.25. 

Inexpensive? YEP! Cute? We sure think so!

  LOVE it! 

Hopefully her teacher will too!

I would love it if you stopped by Mushki Loves and say "Hi!"  I also host a weekly link party every Tuesday, called "Mushki Loves My Stuff! Stop by and show off you latest and greatest creation! 

ALSO...

a weekly "Let's be Friends!" Blog Hop on Friday where you can meet new friends!

A GREAT BIG HUG  Karen....It's been fun!

THANK YOU for letting me guest post on your awesome blog! 

Have a great day!

Friday Frolic #6

Soft Molasses Cookies

Hi Everyone.  I'm so excited to be guest posting here at Pocket Full of Pink today.  My name is Lee and I blog over at Creative2xmom.  I found a couple of years ago that I just love creating, growing as a mom, and learning new things.  So Creative2xmom naturally grew out of my desire to share with, create with, and encourage other women.

I've been married for over 10 years.  Wow!  That makes me feel old.  Ten years of being married to an awesome man who puts up with, and actually encourages, my craziness.  We have two wonderful little children.  Noah just turned six years old in Oct, and Lydia will be four on Dec 21st.  These two little ones keep my busy, but I find myself growing so much more with them in my life.  The days are long, but the years fly by.

And of course, my fur baby, Annie:

And although I'm an only child, I come from a big involved family which got me thinking about How to Build Strong Extended Family Relationships.  This has really been a tough year and I don't know where I'd be without them.

Some of my other favorite features on the site have been:

52 First Dates--an exercise in strengthening your marriage

Rhythms of Grace--women sharing their real life stories of triumph

Stewarding your Story--Why and how to tell your testimony

and all the fun craft, food, and party ideas coming along each day.

But enough about me.  Let's talk COOKIES!

These soft molasses cookies are very dear to my heart.  Growing up, my grandma was known for her handiwork in the kitchen.  Being in Grandma's kitchen was like finding that warm place in your heart to call home.  Soft, gentle, and smelling of vanilla, my grandma always had a big hug for you and a rolling pin to keep your hands busy.  Every Christmas she'd whip up a hot batch of these molasses cookies and my mouth would water, waiting for them to come out of the oven.

As my kids grow now, I make these cookies once a year, .... every Christmas, .... just like Grandma.  And every Christmas I find myself back in the memory of my Grandma's kitchen waiting for a warm cookie and a soft hug.

Soft Molasses Cookies

You'll need:

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 c molasses

2 eggs

4 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cloves

2 1/4 tsp ginger

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

*Cream together butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy.

*Beat in molasses and eggs, set mixture aside.

*In another large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon.  Blend thoroughly with wire whisk.

*Gradually add flour mixture into creamed mixture until blended and smooth.

*Form 1 in balls: dip tops into sugar.  Place 2 in apart on greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 min.  Do not over bake.

*Allow to cool slightly on cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do.  And have a wonderful Christmas!

Those look so yummy!  Thanks for sharing them Robin:)  Stop by and check out her blog!

Friday Frolic Features!

Thanks to all who posted their crafts and/or recipes last week!  There were so many darling crafts!  Here are the top 5 most viewed links!

I love this Upcycled Dollar Tree sign from Absolutely Loving My Life.  So easy and very inexpensive to make:)

These blocks are great for Teacher gifts!  I love the pretty colors.  These were created by Creative Raisins.

I have seen this Christmas Tree Art all over the blogasphere.  I love it!  The paper she used is gorgeous! This was made by Cup of Delight.

Here are the Ten Minute Cable Knit Trees by Uncommon Designs.  LOVE!

Christmas in your Heart Printable designed by It's a Crafty Life.  She has lots of other cute printables too. 

These are some awesome Crafts, huh?  I am sure they would love a visit over at their blog! 

If you were featured feel free to grab a Featured button on the right side bar.  

Be sure and come back this Friday for another Friday Frolic!

5 handmade gifts $5 and under!

Merry Christmas Everyone:)  Hi I'm Candy from Candy's Clothes Closet.

Wife to 1 crazy fun husband Kirk and Mommy to 3 beautiful creative girls

Briley 13, Hadyn 11, and Macie 7.

I would Love to Thank Karen for this AMAZING opportunity to Guest Post today.

 Today I am Sharing 5 gifts you can make in 5mins or less

for $5 or less!

 These are great for Christmas gifts for teachers, family, and friends!

RICK RACK ROSE RINGS

MAKE YOUR OWN CUFF BRACELETS

CREATE YOUR OWN WALL ART

Felt Hair Accessories

FELT FLOWER PINS/HAIR CLIPS

These are all Super Simple and Make Beautiful Gifts for the ones

you love!

I hope you have been inspired.  

Wishing you all a Beautiful and Blessed Christmas Season:)

Stay Fashionable! Love, Candy

Wow!  I love the darling cuff bracelets!  Thanks Candy:)

DIY Anthropologie Trimurti Earrings

Hi everyone!  I am Jamie from the blog Some Dreaming State. This is my first ever guest blogging experience and I couldn't be more excited!

Today I'm going to show you how to make DIY Anthropologie Trimurti earrings - a perfect gift for a sister, best friend, etc. I also packaged them a bit untraditionally, but I think it's definitely memorable and festive.

Anthropologie Trimurti Earrings

DIY Trimurti Earrings

To make these earrings you will need:
• wire cutters
• round nose pliers
• needle nose pliers
• 3 different colors of similar beads (like these czech glass ones) I obviously didn't try to stick to the same color family, but it would be fun to play around!
• gold wire (make sure it fits through your beads! I used 22 gauge)
• 2 gold head pins
• 2 ear wires
• 3 round things to shape your circles, I used 2 dowels and a piece of pvc pipe. The were 1 1/2", 1 1/4", and 1" in diameter.

Cut 2 7" pieces of wire, 2 6" pieces of wire, and 2 5" pieces of wire.

Wrap the 5" piece around the smallest dowel to shape it (the picture shows the largest because it was easiest to photograph, but really start with the smallest).

Once it is rounded, thread on the beads. I did 3 purple, 3 green, 6 copper, 3 green, and 3 purple for the smallest circle.

Close the ends of the circle with loops, but don't wrap them. Open one of the loops slightly and connect it to the other loop, closing your circle.

Take a head pin and put a bead on it. Thread the head pin through the loops that closed your circle, like this. I pushed the two loops together and made sure the pin went through the space that they overlapped.

Wrap the 6" piece of wire around the medium dowel and thread on your beads. At this stage, I did 5 purple, 4 green, 8 copper, 4 green, 5 purple.

Loop the ends and close the circle again. Thread another bead onto your head pin and then thread it through the circle.

Wrap the 7" piece of wire around the biggest dowel and thread on the beads. I did 6 purple, 5 green, 10 copper, 5 green, 6 purple.

Loop and close the circle. Thread a bead first onto the head pin, then the circle, then another bead.

Create a loop at the top of the head pin to attach ear wires of your choice. Repeat all steps for the second earring.

Now that you've made these earrings, here is an idea for wrapping them! I'm really loving mason jars these days, so I wanted to incorporate them.

I filled one with about an inch of glitter and put in a little gift tag. Then I taped a loop of ribbon to the inside of the lid for the earrings to dangle from. Stick a bow on top, and you have yourself a one-of-a-kind gift.

Thank you so much for letting me be here today!

xoxo jamie

What a gorgeous gift!  Thanks for sharing these lovely earrings Jamie!  

Shabby Apple Winner and Sanex Strip Christmas Wreath!

Congratulations to Mandy B!  She won the Francine Pencil Skirt from Shabby Apple!  Here is what she said:

 I follow your blog and I like Shabby Apple
Mandy
starmandy2786@yahoo.com

  I have sent Mandy an e-mail.  Thanks to all of you who entered.  I wish you could all win!!

Have you ever heard of Sanex strips?  Well, let me tell ya.  I used to work in a Hair Salon for a living.  I still cut my family's hair and some friends.  

When you go to a salon to get your hair cut, remember the white strip thingy they wrap around your neck before they put the lovely cape on?  Well, that is what I made this wreath out of!  Strange, huh?  

I have a bag full of my hair cutting stuff, and a ton of the sanex strips fell out of their container and I didn't feel like putting them all back, so I made this wreath.  

I added some cute red and white striped ribbon for color.

I didn't make a tutorial out of this, because I honestly didn't know if it was going to turn out!  I know there are similar tutorials out there in blogland you could look up.

Here is what it looks like with the whole display.  My hubs made that shelf in the 90's.  I know the hearts are a little outdated, but I love it because HE made it! 

I hope you are having a great Sunday!  I am so excited because Tuesday is my last final.  Yea!!  Then 2 weeks off of school.  WAHOO!! (I am just like my kids:)

Friday Frolic #5!

Stovetop Potpourri {Tutorial}

Hi!  I am so glad to be visiting today at Pocket Full of Pink. What a great blog this is!? A big thank you to Karen for giving me this opportunity to do my first guest post!




I am Katie from Creative Outlets of a Thrifty Minded Momma.  I started this blog about 3 months ago in an attempt to stay sane in this crazy house of mine  I have been married 5 years to my high school sweetheart and we have 2 blonde-haired-blue-eyed beauties, affectionately named Boog (3) and Bear (2).  I have a bunch of different balls to juggle and blogging seems to be the best way for me to keep them all up in the air.

One fact... I don't cook well.  I am a cliche beginner.  So I find it ironic that I am sharing something with you that I did on the stove.  Fortunately for the world, no one has to eat it :)









Turn Up the Homemade Stovetop Potpourri!




When my husband and I first started dating (November...10 years ago, ahhh) I remember going to his parents house for the first time.  It was Christmas time (and that is no joke in this household!) So when I say that it was decorated for Christmas, that is an understatement.  Place about 10x more emphasis on decorated and you might be closer :)




I loved it.  I mean, we decorated for Christmas growing up, but not like this.  The one thing  that stood out to me most was the smell.  It was like Heaven in December and I haven't kicked off the holiday season without that smell since. It marks the beginning of the holidays for me.  Isn't it funny how a smell can bring such a rush of feelings?




Here is how easy it is...




Get together some whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, apples, and oranges.

*Since you won't be eating it, check the dollar store for cinnamon sticks and use those- it's cheaper and you don't have to feel bad about adding a bunch of extra!







 








Slice your apples and oranges and plop them in the pot.  No need to be fancy here.  This is how I usually get them in pieces :)

Fill up the pot with water.  Just make sure to leave enough room for the water to boil a little!

Being the inexperienced cook that I am... I didn't know what whole cloves were nor what they looked like. (I was even worse 10 years ago  But they are very easy to find in the spice section of any grocery store.

Add in your cloves and cinnamon sticks.

Turn your stove to medium high and wait for the bubbles to start.  **note to self, clean oven knobs before next guest post**

Once it starts boiling, turn it down to LO and let it simmer all. day. long.

Add a new stick of cinnamon and a few cloves every now and then.  Throw in the remains of all those apple and orange snacks. Let it sit.  You don't have to change it out every day  or even every week.

Here is what mine looks like after 2 weeks.  Trust me though, it gets even better with time!

Some basic rules of thumb that I have figured out:

*It's all flexible... leave out the orange, add some extra cinnamon, add some lemons and allspice.  Whatever you want.

*The higher the heat = more steam = more smell.  Just make sure to add water more often. You will smell burnt cinnamon when it gets too low!

*Don't do this every day for an entire month.  While your house will smell wonderful, your electric bill probably won't!  Don't ask me how I know...




Maybe one day this smell will welcome the holidays into your home for you and your family like it does mine.




Thank you, again, to Pocket Full of Pink for having me and please stop by and visit me sometime.  Take a look around and leave a comment or two... I would love to get to know you!








-Katie






Thanks for stopping by Katie!  I want to try this Potpourri!  Can't you just smell it?  Love it during this time of year.