How do you like them apples?

Last Friday I headed out the door with my basket filled with gifts for teachers, secretaries, librarians, etc. I asked my kids which of their specialty teachers they would like to give a gift to and they both replied; music and librarian. It was settled. For my assortment of gifts, I used the motto" go with what you know" and I didn't reinvent the wheel, at all!!!! I kept all of the supplies the same, layouts, etc. It really makes it much easier when you are mass producing or creating a cohesive ensemble.

I knew that I would be using Teacher's Apple since it was one of my newly purchased stamps from Papertrey Ink. I paired it with Polka Dot Basics and Background Basics: Text Style, two of my "go-to" sets. My color palette was simple; Red, Olive, Kraft and White. If you have been around a while, you will remember that last year's gifts were done with the same theme and colors.

For the librarian and music teacher I made a simple basket box and filled it with "Hershey's Nuggets" in a cellophane bag. I punched each circle from Kraft cardstock & frosted them with white ink. I then stamped the Text style image using Vintage Photo Distress Ink by Ranger onto each circle. Then I was able to stamp the sentiments, etc. I thought that this quote worked nicely for the two teachers since there are musical masterpieces and well as literary masterpieces.

The two classroom teachers both got a nugget tin, card and of course I had to add an "Applebees" gift card with each one. I purchased a set of three $15 dollar gift cards at the grocery store, which made things super easy. I have one left over that I will be giving to the Principal at our June PTA meeting along with the third nugget tin.

I finally found my stash of Hinged Tins that came in super handy. I had "tucked" them away and I couldn't, for the life of me, find them. Yay! Nugget tins to the rescue. For the labels around the nuggets, I used the super fun Limitless Labels stamp set. I really need to use it more often since it has so many fun images for all kinds of occasions. For the belly band, I stamped the red cardstock using Polka Dot Basics and then added the circle image using foam squares. For these circles, I added a little zig-zag stitching for some extra detail. I colored the apples using copic markers. The white highlight on each apple was done with a white gel pen.

I was running out of time, so I needed to make the cards super simple. After I was done, I realized how similar Saturday's SFYTT was to my card. I guess it must have seeped into my subconcious when I saw it for the first time.

For the Secretaries, I got some apple soap, added a tag and called it good! I know that they aren't "official" teachers, but I am sure they do their fair share of "teaching", so I thought that this sentiment worked well for them.

As I dropped them off, one of the secretaries wanted to see what other goodies I had in my basket. She said, "oh...you are the papercrafty girl that leaves us things! " I had to laugh, because in years past, I have just left them on their desks without a note saying who they were from. I guess my good deeds have now been "discovered"! LOL!

Today is our first "official" day of summer vacation! Yay! We woke up to a steady rain fall, but it hasn't dampened our spirits. We will be heading to the library to sign up for the summer reading program. My kids brought home a calendar that has a suggestion of something to do each day and that is what today suggested. What a perfect idea for a rainy day. Rockwell booed the idea, but Emma was eager, which is a good sign! It is imperative that she keeps reading throughout the summer to keep her on track. I still haven't signed her up for summer school, but I think traditional school gets out this Friday, so I still have time.

Rowan had his four-month birthday on the 20th. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I took a few photos to capture him at four months. I have been very diligent about taking them each week and on each month mark. The blanket that I was using as my backdrop had fallen by his face, but I think it turned out really cute. He had his mouth opened so perfectly, I snapped the picture. Well...speaking of Rowan, he has woken up from his nap, so I need to go! Thanks for fluttering by!