Again inspired by Pinterest, I decided to do some jazzy pots for my walkway this year. The pots are actually leftovers from Spring 2011 when I picked up ready-made arrangements at Costco. Almost still full of dirt, there was a perfect base to start with. I used dollar store red ‘stuff’ (what’s the real word?), […] Read more…
Thanks to Pinterest, I am so into printables these days. I jumped on the bandwagon around Easter, and have been loving them right through summer and fall. I know lots of bloggers who keep one beautiful frame in a prominent position in their home, and then rotate the contents to coordinate with the season. I […] Read more…
As part of the Hallmark Press Pause Panel, I receive a few boxes throughout the year of hot-ticket Hallmark items to review, and the Christmas selections are always my favourite! Here are the items I’m recommending this holiday season: Unicef Cards: At $13 for a box of 12, it’s not much more costly than the dollar […] Read more…
Okay, I know pillows aren’t exactly the most original idea in the world, but I love this one because it’s unique. Mom is into making pillows and transferring pictures onto them, and when I first saw one I oohed and ahhhed enough to prompt her to ask “Would you like me to make you one?” (If it had […] Read more…
As my regular readers may remember, one of my organizational strategies involves keeping all holiday-themed stuff in bins, which are brought out well in advance of each occasion. This includes not only decorations, but also toys, books, games, etc. When I pulled out the Christmas bins a couple of weeks ago and let the girls dig in, you […] Read more…
While my students are Christian (most Catholic, as are my daughters) I see a great value in reading stories about Judaism (as well as other religions). I mean, we share a whole Old Testament of history and beliefs with the Jewish people, and it creates a great opportunity to teach about differences. The simple bottom line that […] Read more…
As most of you know, I’m a teacher. And I’m well aware that when it comes to early learning, flashcards are taboo. But you know what? I still think they have their time and place within a balanced approach to literacy (or numeracy, or whatever the case may be). When it comes to sight words, we’ve used cards […] Read more…
This idea came from my friend C, after I saw her hall table adorned with years of framed photos of her children with Santa, as well as some Santa shots from when she and her husband were kids. While I don’t have a lot of official Santa shots (there is one gem of my brother and […] Read more…
Some of the cutest books I’ve received for review lately have a common theme. Here they are: Bedtime is Canceled by Cece Meng, Illustrated by Aurélie Neyret This is a great story about the mayhem that takes place when a brother and sister write up a notice that “Bedtime is Canceled”…and it gets into the wrong […] Read more…
So, I’ve had this beautiful lantern hanging around for years, without really having a great idea for what to do with it. (No offense if you gave it to me. It’s lovely, I’m just not creative enough.) Thanks to the inspiration of Pinterest, I decided to pull it out and incorporate it into my Christmas […] Read more…