Thursday, June 30, 2011

Sticker Shopping Mania!!!



I've been a big fan of Mrs. Grossman's stickers for years!  Ever since the early 80's when she sprang onto the sticker scene with her first "red heart" sticker.  I remember layering one of her teddy bear stickers with one of her heart stickers years ago - I was seriously hooked.

So, when I found out that the Mrs. Grossman's sticker factory was having a warehouse sale, I marked the date on my calendar, informed my husband I would be going, and viciously protected that Saturday morning.  But nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience - serious sticker mayhem!!

My friend Rebecca, her daughter and I arrived about 10 minutes after the gates were opened at 9 am.  Armed with shopping boxes we tentatively looked around.  Then we decided we had to just grab things and sort later!  So we filled our boxes in about an hour and then got in line, taking turns returning "go-backs" and sitting in the limited shade to rest our feet & un-sunscreened skin.  I thought it would be cool & foggy like Petaluma is usually.  But no - it was sunny & warm! From the time we got in line until we paid was 2 hours & 23 minutes!!!!  

I did learn a few things about these kinds  of sales:  be prepared for long lines by bringing water & snacks. Also, don't have a place you need to be later that afternoon, it just stresses you out while you're standing in line.  Bring something fun to do, along with a stroller or cooler that you could roll along & use as a chair ;) 

So who wants to go with me next year?




We had a little helper who was very patient in such a long, hot, and boring line! Such a trouper!

This was after we were in line for about 1 1/2 hours - the line made a U shape and we were at the bottom of the U looking at the line to the right which we had already traveled through and the rest of the line in front of us to the left! The blue canopy's in the distance are where we would eventually check-out & pay.

Monday, June 20, 2011

School Flower Fun!!

Another project that kept me busy prior to the last of school - Tootsie-Pop flowers!  Cut out some 5 petal flowers, use a Tootsie-Pop for the center, and make some cute little flower favors for friends!

I used an empty egg carton to hold the finished flowers

Each pop had a "leaf" made of a strip of paper

For each lollipop you need to cut 2 flowers.  Remove a petal from one of the flowers


I just printed the saying on green cardstock, then cut them into strips.  These were wrapped around the lollipop "stem" & glued into place.
 The instructions for making these can be found HERE.  Two warnings: 1)These did take a little longer than I had expected, so try to check your perfectionism at the door before starting.  2)Do not be present at the school when these are passed out!  All your hard work is ripped to shreds in seconds because kids are only interested in the candy! :)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Teacher Thank You Nugget Tin

I know,  I have totally been neglecting my blog!  And while I'm deeply sorry, I also have been SUPER busy!!  At least I will have a lot to blog about in the weeks to come :)

One of the projects that I worked on recently is this cute little nugget tin.  I wanted to make something for Ella's teacher & teacher aide, so I put 2 of these together.  I used the Good Work stamp set to stamp the cute little composition book, apple, tag and ruler wrap.  The nuggets were wrapped in paper from the now discontinued Animal Cookies paper pack.  My favorite thing is the little pencil tied into the ribbon!






I also made one of the ever popular Rolo pencils for our car pool buddy Anya! I've been dying to make one since I saw the instructions for it HERE.  I used the same Good Work stamp set for the A+ on the tag.  Ella enjoyed giving these to her teachers & Anya on the last day of school!