Fun Throwback: Teacher's Birthday Ice Cream Party

After I failed to take a picture if the hen and chick cake, I wondered if I took one when big sis was in second grade. No such luck, but I found a sweet little classroom surprise from around the same time for her teacher's birthday. On the teacher preference form, which the PTO asks teachers to fill out at the beginning of the year, she said she loved spending time with her family, entertaining, and ICE CREAM. Another super important thing to know is that her classroom theme was owls and she loved to use owl puns for everything. We decided to put together an "owl" cream party in a box for her (all the goodies she need to throw an ice cream social for her family). And you know our little owls wanted in on the action, so the room moms also threw an owls cream social in the room too, which was a surprise for the teacher. Though technically not a room mom that year, I was in charge of the gift and making soda jerk hats for the surprise:

To make the soda jerk hats, simply cut strips of paper length-wise. I printed on mine first. Regular paper was barely long enough for little second grade heads, so use legal paper if you want these for big kids or adults:

Accordion fold a piece of tissue paper of the same length as your strips:

Now take your tissue and add double-sided tape to the sides and ends:

Affix the tisse to your strips. Now get a cute model and have her wear your hat:

Imagine a sea full of smiling second grade soda jerks surprising their teacher in these. It was presh!

Update- A's teacher snapped a pic of the cake and sent them as a thumbnail in her email about the study unit today. They were in a super cute coup we made from an amazon box, but we have no evidence of it! Anyhow, here are Mama Hen and her chicks:

I used instructions found on Better Homes and Gardens

Test Treats

Don't judge (seriously, Julie, if you are going to judge stop reading now)! I really try not to go over board. I do. I do, but sometimes I fail. Okay, I fail a lot! You don't even know how much I fail because I am so busy actually going overboard that I don't have time to write about all my overboard-goings. Take today, I didn't even take a picture of the precious hen and chick cake I felt compelled to make my kid's teacher. The eggs arrived for the lifecycle unit! The EGGS! That is like the super bowl of 2nd grade y'all.... but I did noticed I was the only one who acknowledged in cake. Okay, I have a problem. But just hear me out.

Last year, when the big girl was in 3rd grade, she was nervous about her first standardized tests. I learned that the school does some fun things to make the test week seem more approachable and that there are things called "test treats." I didn't make that up (google it)! You know I had to get in on that. So I made these for every kid in the class:
Above was the Friday before, and it read "see ya' Monday, Smartypants!" Then each day was a different treat:

Our standardized test is called the MAP.

Gotta' have your number 2's!

Did you know that gum is proven to help kids concentrate on tests? I didn't make that up; so they needed gum.

I actually intended to stop there, but a funny thing happened. The teacher thought I was providing snacks and publicly thanked me for it, so I sort of needed to do snacks also. I made these berry baskets with a note "you are doing berry well". Suddenly every parent wanted in! The great news was I didn't have to do the rest of the snacks (but I did help them with cute stickers: "don't go bananas, you are doing great!," "orange you glad its half way finished?," and "you are o-FISH-ally finished!" (goldfish).

It was fun and she aced the tests so this year I am not doing a thing!

Throwback Science Soiree

I am chugging along with my family photo reorganization and have come to July 2011. Can I get an amen?! That month this little scientist turned 6 and celebrated it all Mad-Scientist-style! Guests were ushered into the house, past a few beakers of chemicals and down into the laboratory!

Our basement was then unfinished (one day I will catch up to 2012 and reveal it as a finished space). I thought the exposed beams and wire made it look tech-y and cool. Here it is all set-up and black-lit before the guests arrived:

I let the kids "sign into the lab" by writing on boards I attached to the wall. If you know my kid parties at all, you know that I also had an activity to entertain the guests until everyone else arrived. We went with a simply coloring activity:

Before the party, the birthday girl and I crafted chemical models that hung from the ceiling:

When enough guests arrived, we began the show from Mad Science. I cannot praise this company enough for the interactive and informative science show. The kids were enthralled for nearly two hours watching and doing science experiments:

After the show, we added the optional slime making as a favor and enjoyed the most delicious cake with a lab cart full of custom-labeled H2O:

Finally we sent each guest home with a favor bag of things they needed for simple science experiments. I got simple ideas from the internet and gave them each a pipette and beaker to conduct some experiments of their own. The tags match invitations I made using my beloved Mountain Cow and Silhouette:

I loved that my sweet girl wanted this party instead of a princess theme since I was all-Disneyed out from her little sisters Tiana party that year!

Throw back Princess Tiana-style

One upon a time this sweet three year old girl would gaze into the evening sky, find the first star, and say, "Dear G-d, make my skin brown like Tiana." If only she had Mama Ode as her actual Mamma, perhaps it would have come true. That not being the case, however, I did my best to give her the Tiana-treatment for her fourth birthday. I am throwing it back to 2011 to relive the details. The party was held at a party center that already offered a "Tiana" package, meaning they would wrap the walls in a scene-setter. Not my favorite, but of course I added a lot of details!

As I have mentioned mentioned before my preschool parties followed a strict formula. Guests were always greeted with a craft to keep them occupied while others arrived. This craft was to decorate aprons and decorate yourself with some Mardi Gras beads! In case you have forgotten Disney's take on the Princess and the Frog, it set in Jazz Age New Orleans and is about a regular girl who "sure can cook!" It is a girl-power movie with a prince, a frog, a little voodoo, and a lot of Disney Magic thrown in thrown in! Since my girl also loved to cook, it seemed a natural fit to make the party all about cooking.

When all the guests arrived, we began the cooking class. Each child had a station with a mason jar and instructions to make a dry beignet mix. The at-home instructions were printed on a cute tag for them to tie on the jar when they were finished. There were also instructions for the kids to make "Po' Boys and Girls" (assorted finger sandwiches) and "Dr. Faciliers' Canes" (fruit kebobs). We served salad and gumbo too, of course!

After cooking we went to the back of the room, which was set for the royal feast. I handcrafted the centerpieces, trying my hand a styro-foam sculpture for the first and last time on those fleur de lis!

True to my old standard party formula, I brought the group back together after lunch for a game. In this case it was a Pinata that big sister and I made for the occasion.

Next up was a good ole' bounce house and dance party followed by this awesome cake and "swamp water":

It was a great way to honor our sweet princess!

Spring Fridge Clean Out (How we keep)!

I thought this might be timely for anyone Spring Cleaning their fridge (which I highly recommend). This week our family has been observing Passover. Since this more of a cleaning/organization post than anything else, I won't go into too many details. It is important to know, however, that due the ban on leavened products during Passover, many Jewish people take extra care in cleaning out their refrigerators before the holiday. There are variations in what people do from completely emptying fridges and cupboards, (donating the contents to charity) and replacing everything with new Passover foods to, well, nothing at all. I, for one, am somewhere in the middle. I love the ritual of it all. As a side benefit, I LURV getting rid of everything at least once per year. It feels good y'all!!!

Several weeks before the holiday, I began planning our meals to use up our food (except for our of stock of grass-fed local meat from our cow share). The last meal this year was meatloaf made with breadcrumbs I made from frozen rolls and topped with sauce that was made from the ends of Thai chili sauce, pomegranate molases, and steak sauce. It was actually delicious. You get the point--you have to get creative at the end.

When the fridge was good and ready to be cleaned, I removed everything and scrubbed it down. We are clean people, I swear!! My cleaning woman and I both clean the fridge through the year, but somehow it still accumulates little crumbs, smudges, and sticky spots despite the routine work. I am shocked every year at how bad it is when totally empty.

Because there could still be a few crumbs left after the big scrub, I also like to line the shelves at this point. That isn't a religious law, but its my ritual. I was so excited because I learned that there was an actual product for this--it rhymes with sridge foaster. I learned about it through a trusted organization blog and saw it for sale on a favorite website. I bought them, but am utterly disappointed. I haven't returned them because I had to break it to "fit" my fridge which it still didn't do. Even if they did work, it is nothing but cardboard with a cute print. So, back to my usually routine.....

I

Make a template of your shelves and drawers with white butcher paper and then trace it onto the back of wrapping paper. Make sure that your print faces the side you want if there is a "right" side. You will likely need several as most fridges have multiple types of drawers and shelves. Cut it out.

Cut a similar size piece of contact paper--its okay if it isn't a perfect fit because you can trim later.

Add a piece of double-sided tape at two opposing corners. Place them on the desired drawers and load in whatever fashion makes sense to you! The result is a wipe-able guard for a fraction of the price of the product I bought!

I admit the leftovers at the top,jarred gefilte fish, and hot dogs are not beautiful but they are just a part of this holiday!

Happy Passover Spring Cleaning Everybody!

Uptown Acorn-ish Homegoods Happy

Several months back Amanda at Dixie Delights asked readers to post "their spot." I was so sad because, even though I have ample lovely seating, it made me realize I didn't even have a spot (other than perhaps the computer chair from which I write this post)! After looking at drooling over lots of chairs and side-tables, I decided to show a little love to a seating area I already had. One of the blogs that I have learned about through being a loyal Dixie Delights reader is Uptown Acorn (which I now also follow). I had been itching to incorporate some antlers into my life after being inspired by Uptown Acorn's beautiful moniker and decor.

At this point I should stop and tell you that, once upon a time, I loved gold, tassels,and artfully placed knick-knacks. In the early 2000's, I gave all that up for clean lines and all things silver-hued. All my lovelies went to Goodwill or family members who were then just setting up house. All my "good" stuff, wedding gifts and the pieces I invested in when we moved here, is modern and silver. Now that I want to bring some gold and brass back into my life, I can't break the bank switching everything. I have been slowly introducing little gems, while keeping the big pieces the same. To create a "spot," I thought I would find a small geometric gold table to1) replace a silver one I no longer cared for and 2) bridge my modern chairs with a little golden glam. On top, I would definitely put some small antlers and whatever else that caught my eye.

I have lots of friends who practice Yoga and set intentions for their practice. Well, I practice Homegoods. I go there often and I like to set an intention first. I believe that if I put it out there--the Homegoods Universe will give it back to me! So I chanted, "gold, geometric, antlers." Okay, I probably didn't actually chant, but this was right in the door when I arrived:

Wow--even better than I thought--geometrically placed antlers in a pretty golden glow. This freed me to add some other accessories for fun:

And they look sweetly balanced next to my clean-lined chairs:

Now I must admit, this is still not "my spot", but it is a spot I like more now. #thankshomegoodspowersthatbe #kidding,sortof!

Throwback Passover Plague Tablescape

I am throwing it back to 2011 today (which is actually getting a little ahead of myself, as I am working in my 2010 album). I just had to share this throwback Passover post in honor of the holiday tonight!

The Seder, which literally means order but is also the term for our holiday meal, involves eating symbolic foods while reciting the story of the Jews exodus from Egypt. Central to the Passover narrative are the plagues that G-d brought upon Egypt in an effort to liberate the Jewish people from slavery. These plagues confound us and cause us to question on deep levels (like why could G-d simply not deliver the Jews without inflicting harm on many innocent Egyptians--or were they not innocent because the lived in a society that accepted slavery). The deep questioning is sort of the point, but for kids, they must first understand the story literally before they can "get there." When my minis were very young, I decided to make my table-scape surrounding the plagues and symbolic foods so that the would learn about them. Cue the bugs, frogs, and wild beasts! Don't forget the bitter herbs, and I wanted it to be a pretty Spring table! Here it was:

I did three tables to match each other in the kitchen, dinning room, and playroom tables (we conducted the service in the living room and split up for dinner). Above is the dinning room. I made these simple runner with fabric and stitch-witch iron on. They have been washed a lot over the ensuing 4 years and have held up beautifully. I also marched ants, and frogs across the tables to symbolize the palgues. In lieu of flowers, I used white buckets from the Target dollar spot and herbs (of course):

I set the buffet with little trees that I normally use for Tu B'Shevat and made adorable "plague pops" (kosher for Passover cake turned into wild beasts and frogs):

I also made simple Spring yarn wreaths (before I moved on to deco-mesh with a froggy theme). It was a good way to tech the kids; now they are a little older, we can move a bit beyond the basics.

Whatever you observe this weekend (Easter, Passover, both, or Nothing at all), I hope that it is a joyous and meaningful time with those you love!