OUR NEW YEAR'S EVE

Happy new year!  I did not intend to take this much time off, but honestly it was so nice being able to just relax and do nothing the last couple of weeks. I really just watched movies, caught up on reading, got rid of stuff in storage--it was great.  We did host New Year's Eve, which I always enjoy doing.  It was totally done on a budget.  I had a lot of stuff leftover from past New Years--including napkins and a banner. We had six couples over and their kids. It was a blast.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any good photos of the resolution photo op. I had everyone write their resolution on a dry erase board and take their photo with it.  No one managed to hold the camera steady!  ha.  But here are photos of most of the setup.

Mr. Snowman is a a cream cheese ball. We also served chocolate covered strawberries, spinach and artichoke dip, cheese cubes, veggies with dip and peppermint trifles in mini mason jars.

Gold star plates from The Dollar Tree dressed up the kitchen bar area. I stuck gold star stickers on black cups to match. Mini ball ornaments and tinsel filled glasses for quick decor.

A time capsule kids filled out became their party favor. I found cylinder cookie tins at Hobby Lobby for 66% off!

Looking forward to a great 2014! Cheers!

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Whatever Goes Wednesday #204

SAYING GOODBYE TO THE ELF ON THE SHELF

Have you had an elf perched on your shelf this month?  Our elf's name is Holly. Here are just some of the funny scenarios we found her in when we woke up in the morning!

The Elf on the Shelf was new to our house this year. I wasn't quite sure how to have her leave the house until I found this cute poem idea here on Pinterest.  We woke up this morning with Holly under the tree, holding the poem with her goodbye written in Skittles and Smarties.  I explained to Renee and Siena that Holly will be leaving with Santa tonight.  They are sad to see her go.

Besides being entertaining, Holly was really helpful to me in the parenting department.  She actually got my girls out of bed without me hounding them in the morning.  They were so anxious to see what she got herself into, they would pop up out of bed.  That was an unexpected benefit!

We'll miss Holly and the magic she brought into the house.  I'll be sure to collect more ideas for her return next year!

What funny scenarios did you put your elf in??

OUR HOLIDAY CLASSROOM PARTIES

We had a lot of fun at the girls' classroom holiday parties Friday. The kids really enjoyed themselves.  I was only responsible for organizing Siena's class party where you'll see below we did a snowman stick ornament craft, penguin craft and the donut reindeer.  The favorite station seemed to be the Hedbanz game -- holiday themed! I made up holiday themed cards to play with.  It was a fun spin to a popular game (maybe I should talk to them about licensing a special edition?!). We gave out the Santa whistle blowers as a prize when they were finished with the game.  (Yes, they drove the teacher crazy!)  It was pajama day in Siena's class too, in case anyone is wondering why she is in her pjs!

Renee's class had a book exchange, made gingerbread houses (which was messy!) and enjoyed snowman cheese sticks as a snack.  It was a good way to launch into winter break. For those of you who are home with the kiddies, you can use these ideas to help entertain them at home.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

I am off to my girls' holiday classroom parties this morning, and then hoping to finish my Christmas shopping.  I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful holiday and that you are blessed with only good things in 2014.  I'll be taking it easy the next couple of weeks since the kids will be home, but will be popping in to share some fun stuff.  This was our Christmas card photo this year. We had a lot of fun doing it!  Cheers!

DIY HOLIDAY NEIGHBOR GIFTS

If you're planning to play Santa this weekend delivering gifts to neighbors, but still don't know what to get them, here are a few of my favorite ideas.

Top Left: Stovetop Potpourri at I (Heart) Naptime
Top Right: My favorite of the neighbor gifts I've done over the years is this hand beaded pie server I gave out with a pie. It's fun to see that people still use it!  You can find the tutorial here.
Bottom Left: Flavored syrup from The Shabby Creek Cottage
Bottom Right: Hot Cocoa Snowman kit, made with baby jars.  Found this on Pinterest with no source. I bet you could make these with half pint mason jars too.

What are you planning on giving out this year?!