I Need Your Help!

As many of you know, we moved to a new town over the holidays & with that came a new school for my Magpie. Her new school is absolutely FABULOUS & she is settling in quite nicely! 

Me, I am trying to get used to not meeting up with parents on the playground in the morning over our travel mugs of coffee, arranging playdates for our kids & sometimes for us adults! 

So, in an effort to try to meet the other parents in Maggie's classroom, I volunteered to help with the classroom's silent auction basket for their biggest fundraiser coming up this spring!

The Boot Scootin' Boogie on April 20th!

Boy, what a task!

I had NO idea how "all-out" these parents go & although I am working with another mom (another somewhat newbie!), we are SO in over our heads on how to get really good stuff for our basket! 

LAST year,  someone donated an amazing Rockies Game Day package for 4 where the kiddo got to go out on the field, meet a player, get an autograph, a special jersey/hat & more!

We have to top that?!!! 

CRAP! 

HELP!!!!

My partner in crime came up with a basket theme:

The Daring Book for Girls! 

Check it out here!

I haven't read this book yet, but it looks like a GREAT book! It covers a little bit about female heroes throughout history & then goes into teaching girls how to be adventurous! 

From making friendship bracelets to how to be a spy to camping out to how to make the perfect snowball!

What I wouldn't have given for a book like this as a kid! What fun!

So, what I am asking of you, my friends & readers, is to help me come up with ideas for WHERE in Colorado to go for some of the BIG donations or even, if you can, making a donation for the basket if you have connections!

Here is the list of suggestions (everything new!):

The Bigger stuff:

• 2 person tent
• Sleeping bag
• Small Backpack
• Camelback
• Kindle Fire
• Digital camera
• Binoculars
• Gift Certificates for: Rafting, Kayaking/Canoeing, Rock climbing (indoor), Horseback Riding, Skiing, Balloon Rides, REI, Yoga, Ice/Roller skating, gymnastics, karate, bowling, Heritage Square, Elitches, Water World, Art classes at Michaels.

The Little things that ADD up:

• a big, cool looking duffel bag to hold all the goods & then be used by the lucky girl on her adventures!
•  An "Everything Kit" - duct tape, safety pins, twine, first aid, vinegar, baking soda, card games, Bananagrams & maybe some girly things too - nail & pedicure kit, headbands & hair ties, hair "dye" in fun colors, etc.
• A Girls Tool Kit: hammer, screwdriver, wrench, pliers, etc.
• Cool bandanas or Buff's
• Ropes in various sizes for tying knots
• A journal with pencils & pens
• LED Flashlight with extra batteries or a self-winding light
• Compass
• Chemistry set
• Basketball, Soccer ball or playground ball
• Flower press - bought or handmade
• Swiss army knife
• Chinese jump rope
• Sarong - use as a light blanket, cover up or dress!
•  25 colors of embroidery floss for bracelets
• Pillow Pet for slumber parties
• 2 tarps for ground cover or lean-to
• 2-person tent
• Kite
• Chalk for hopscotch & drawing
• Art set for travel - watercolors, markers, pencils, eraser, paper & small jars for water
• Oragami paper

Whew! That's what we have for ideas so far!

Any further ideas, connections or donations, PLEASE, PLEASE contact me ASAP!

We only have until the end of the month to pull this together!!!

Thanks in advance for anything you can help with!

Cheers!

Thanks to Maggie's wonderful Teachers!

Maggie has had a wonderful year at the local elementary school & will be "graduating" from preschool in today! I can't believe she will be in Kindergarten next year! Where does the time go???

First day, 8/20/10

 

Ms. Lisa

Ms. Kim

She had two wonderful teachers this year, Ms. Lisa & her aide, Ms. Kim. I wanted to get them something special for the end of the year because they really just do so much for our little ones!

 

So, I discovered that Ms. Lisa loves to cook, but I couldn't really gather what kind of cooking was her favorite. So, I opted for one of Rachel Ray's cookbooks because her food IS yummy & fairly simple to pull together!

For Ms. Kim, I know that she LOVES to be creative & crafty! So, I thought this "Delight in the Details" would be a great inspiration for her.

And, of course, I HAD to make cards to go along with their gifts, right?!

I had seen a stamp at Michaels that would have been perfect for their cards, but I forgot to actually buy it when I left there the other day!! Silly me!

So, I used my own stash to copy the idea of the stamp...It was a cute birdie with the saying "time flies when you're having fun."

I started with a premade card from one of those boxes by DCWV, (I know! I could have just made one from cardstock, but I never have the right sized envelopes!).

I stamped the front of the card with my Burlap stamp (Ippity - from my friend Noelle's shop!) in a Timber Brown StazOn ink.

Then I Glimmer Misted a small paper doillie with a sand tone & stamped a faint image of a clock in the middle (Tim Holtz). (In case you're wondering how I got ALL the edges to adhere? I used a spray adhesive to attach the doillie to the card.)

Earlier in the day, I scanned a picture that Maggie had painted of a bird, shrunk it down & printed a couple out for the cards. I attached that to the front of the card & then added the saying, with my dymo. 

 All inspired from a simple stamp with the same idea! I made each of the teachers the same card, but the insides are different.

Here's Ms. Lisa's:

I don't have any picts of Maggie & Ms. Kim, so her's is much simpler:

(These stamps inside are also Ippity/Unity from the "Moment in Time" collection & the paper is from a DCWV Garden Party matstack.)

I think they turned out very cute & I love that they have a little creativity from both of us!

So, the next time I post, I will put up some more pix of Maggie at "graduation," her first Field Day at school AND her first dance recital this weekend!!!

Maggie's ECE Class 2011

TTFN!