Great Gift

I struggle on Jason's birthday to buy him something that he will love, but also is still heartfelt.  This year, of course I bought him the material things like a sweatshirt, zip-up and watch, but I also made him a gift that he's still talking about.

 

I made him "Open When Cards."

 

I had seen the idea on Pinterest, and my students helped me with some of the topics.  I started with a set of cards and enveloped form Target for $10.  I chose a set that didn't have folded cards, but just a flat insert.  I also liked that it had a little gift box that they were already in.

 

Coming up with the Open When topics were the hardest part.  The first 20 were easy.  It wasn't until I got home and had a clear head that I could come up with the other 30. 

 

They are the gift that keeps on giving.  Each one is filled with a situation like:

-Open When: It's Central's MiniThon (that will be in March)

-Open When: You Miss Me

-Open When: You Want To Know How I Knew You Were The One

 

They were so much fun to do, and Jason has them sitting on his nightstand.  It warms my heart to see that he's opened one on his own when he sees that the time fits.

 

Here are the final products: 

 

 

 

If you're looking for an easy but thoughtful gift, this was a great idea!

Crafty- Teacher Toolbox

Over the summer, my friend Ashlee made an awesome organizer for school supplies that is a teacher's dream.  I'm not the most crafty, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but every.single.day I get happy when I look at my organizer on my desk and I'm proud of myself :-)

 

Ashlee gave me a link to a site that had awesome templates to print and cut out.  You can find that here.... just kidding about that one.  I seriously have looked for 45 minutes and can't find the site I used.  If I ever come across it again, I promise I'll post it

 

So I sent Jason to Lowes in search of a 22 opening toolbox, and he found the perfect one.  It's blue and has just a little shimmer to it, so that was the icing on the cake.  I spend a July evening perfecting it while Jason was at poker.  This is what I started with:

 

The steps are pretty self explanatory.  Cut, decide where you want to put each of the items and then tape.  Double-sided tape would have been golden, but I only had regular tape so I taped them from the inside.  Optional Kitty Helper is recommended!

 

Here is the final product after many, many re-straightening and taping labels:

 

Chase is so proud of his work that he protected it all night!



If you're a teacher, I would highly recommend making one of these!  It keeps all the supplies that I would ever need in one place and I don't have to go rooting through drawers to find what I want.  Plus, my students think I'm crazy for putting that much time into something, when it really didn't take long at all (other than my OCD straightening of course).