Girls Just Want to Have Funds!

Never forget to give your children's bus driver a gift.  They have that tedious task of driving 30+ wild children to and from school. I don't even like driving my three kids places at the same time. LOL! So "treat yo bus driver"!

Don't Make Me Use My "Teacher Voice"!

Back-To-School always involves teacher gifts and bus driver gifts! I try hard NOT to give too many coffee mugs, applely gifts, or what have you! But this year, the twins' teacher is BRAND NEW! Which means her classroom could probably use some "decor".  

Punny LipBoss!

I love PUN gifts. They show that you did't run out last minute, scrambling for anything that doesn't make sense, and that you put a little time, effort, and creativity into a gift. Just another reason I love my role as a LipSense Distributor.  I get to use my other talents for my customers, creating unique gifts!

"Apples" For Mrs. Meredith - From Jax

Jax's gift was all about apples.  I know, I know! Teachers probably HATE apples, but I couldn't RESIST. I designed the adorable tag above too!

The little bucket, pencils, and post-it refills are from Target. I included a fresh, ripe, beautiful, red apple and some Marzetti caramel dipping sauce.  

Technically, we could have stopped at gift one.  This gift was just a little extra because I FELL. IN. LOVE. with the post-it note holder.  

#Learn #Encourage #Teach #Inspire #Grow

If you would like to replicate this gift, I am offering my free printable to you.  Just click here.

I have never looked up the meaning behind why apples are given, but my guess is.... "Fresh" Fruit / Fresh Start?  Haha.  I am probably NO WHERE close to the WHY!  Now, I am intrigued and will use google to learn about it.

Update: This is ONE theory.  I am not a BIG reader, so I stop HERE. 

"According to Gourmet, in the 1700s, poor families in Denmark and Sweden gave teachers baskets of apples as payment for their children's educations. ... If your school allows it, giving a teacher an apple is still a kind way to show a teacher your appreciation!"

"Apples" For Mrs. Meredith From Lilah!

If you do not GET the tag line, on the bag below, you didn't grow up in the 90s.

Lilah and Jax ALWAYS give ONE gift to their teacher because they share a classroom however, this year, they gave Mrs. Meredith two gifts! This post is about the gift Lilah gave to her. 

Above: Art, from Hobby Lobby, that reads, "What I love most about my classroom is who I share it with!"  This sign is BEYOND perfect after what happened a few weeks back. See video below.  

If it wasn't already obvious, above, the twins got different teachers this year.  THEY HAVE NEVER been separated.  Duh, they are WOMBMATES. This came as a total shock to me, but the school has a new principal and she just didn't know that that has always been the case. They have SINCE been awarded the same teacher.  

I absolutely LOVE the bag that I had "Four Seasons Gifts" make for me.  

"On the playground is where I spend most of my days!"

Like I said, if you didn't live in the 90s, then you wouldn't get the bag because you've probably never watched the Fresh Price of Bel Air.

I filled the bag with a nice collection of colorful office supplies.  

I used magnetic letters, from the Dollar Spot at Target, to customize the beautiful notebook.

I love the way it all turned out. 

I asked Carmen, the owner of Four Seasons, to use navy glitter vinyl.  The kids' school colors are blue and yellow.  

I created a little tag that included some more of the lyrics to the sitcom's song...

I realize that fourth grade teachers really spend most of their time in a classroom, but I couldn't resist.

No more tears, just kisses!! These two... what will they do when they get married.  LOL!

I hope Ms. Meredith enjoys her gift from Lilah! Check out Four Seasons Gifts! Carmen can create or design almost anything your little heart desires. Stay tuned for a post on what Jax gave to his teacher.

If you'd like to copy the gift idea, please feel free to click here for the printable that I made, here.  If you use it, I'd love for you to send me a photo to bollingwith5@gmail.com. I always love to see the twist people put on other's ideas.

Bus Driver Gift - 2018/2019

I totally dropped the ball on a gift for Ms. Robin, the kids' bus driver.  I didn't realize it until about 4:00 p.m. yesterday.  Darren and I went to Kroger and we stood in the gift certificate section and just made a mini date out of trying to come up with something clever.  We had quite the laughs.  For instance, Home Depot, Darren said, "We know you can't wait to take our kids HOME!!" Burger King was "You are the KING of the bus!"  CheeseCake Factory was "Thanks for allowing our kids to ride the CHEESE!" The list was endless, as was the laughter.  While some of those ideas were clever, they were not practical.  The bus driver is a female and I felt like a gift card to Home Depot wasn't the most exciting gift I could have given her.  Burger King is Burger King.  And we don't have a local CheeseCake Factory.  So... I decided on a gift certificate to Target.  NOW WHAT?

I used the above bus image to type a clever something, to Ms. Robin.

I left a blank spot to insert the gift certificate to Target.

Along with the $25 gift certificate to Target, I enclosed a few other awesome gifts.

What was inside the gift bag?

First up, DUH, a school bus brownie.

 Second up, DUHx2, Project 7 Champagne Bears.

 Third, a collection of nuts.

 Fourth, a globe/world pen.  I found this, last minute, at the Dollar Tree.

For last minute, I think this gift turned out pretty darn good. I did contact my creative friend Kaitlyn Belcher to help me with wording.  Kaitlyn helped me incorporate the Project 7 Champagne Bears into the wording.  If you read carefully, you will see that each gift relates to one of the words: "beary", "target", "nutty", "drive", and "toast".  

"Fresh Starts Are A Gift!"

School is out for the Summer.  Here's what we gave out to the teachers and bus driver at the end of the year?  I am beyond proud of it.  Let me explain my little creation.  

Here are the items you will need: 1. A mini shopping cart.  2. Miniature erasers.  3. Little brown envelopes.  4. A printer.  5. Tape. 6. 8" lollipop sticks or skewers.

This adorable shopping cart was found at Hobby Lobby.  It grabbed my attention immediately.  I love everything miniature.  It came in multiple colors.  I thought about the grocery stores I would be shopping at, in hopes that I could color coordinate my gift to the shopping cart.  The price... $3.99.

As soon as I saw it, I knew instantl what I would do with it.  

Next up, I needed miniature food.  I found these adorable mini eraser sets in the dollar bin at Target.  

And these... for $1.00. Not photographed was another pack of ice cream cones.

Here is another shopping cart in green.  

These mini craft sacks came from Hobby Lobby too!  These were $2.99.  I wanted them to resemble a brown paper bag from a grocery store.

I printed some small Fresh Market logos and adhered them to the "bags".  

Wala! Mini carts.  Mini food.  And now, mini grocery bags. 

I chose to insert a Fresh Market gift certificate into the brown craft sack.  This store is a little more unique and special to shop at, so I thought it would be more impressive than a gift card to Wal-mart or Food Lion.

Put it all together and look at HOW adorable this gift is. The twins' main teacher received a $50.00 gift card and the other two teachers/bus driver received a $25.00 gift certificate.

I used an 8" inch lollipop stick to adhere a printable that I created.  

The printable reads, "Fresh" Starts are a gift! Enjoy your Summer!"

To top off that cuteness, I wrapped the bus driver's gift in this darling bus driver's gift bag.  I mean, it doesn't get any more detailed and perfect that THAT!!!

Erasers, gift certificates, creativity, and a mini shopping cart.... throw it all together and all that mini stuff sure does make a BIG SMILE!