A Teacher Gift Idea with Applique!

If you're like me, you probably have an ever-growing pile of stitch-outs on scrap pieces of fabric! They're so cute that I just hate to depart with them and am always looking for ways to use my tester designs.

In looking for a quick and easy gift to make for my children's teachers, here is what I came up with. In fact, I had so much fun with this, I decided to make a few for my own front porch!

And if you don't have an embroidery machine, this same concept can still be used with just regular pieces of fabric and choosing a fun design to make out of it!

I contributed the how-to instructions on SWAK 101 today. You can find the directions HERE!

I also decided to make a smaller pot using my July cherries design. I planted fresh basil inside of the can.

Whether you embroider or not, these simple pots can be made with materials you most likely already have on hand. Small soup cans would be so cute as well- filled with fresh-cut flowers or even candy!

I'm sorry I haven't been around as much lately.... busier than ever with all the end-of-the-school-year stuff going on! I'm sure many of you can relate!

Have a great week everyone!

Happy Memorial Day

A day to truly remember...that we will never forget.

Wordless Wednesday: Loving the Royal Treatment

You gotta love it when your kids think you still "rule." :)

View more Wordless Wednesday entries HERE!

Great Pic to Start Off Your Week....

A friend sent this picture to me and I figured it was a great one to pass along for a Monday morning...

Nothing is impossible.

Packaging & Design: Some Food for Thought

As you know, I am always so fascinated with packaging and design of different products. I don't know what it is exactly that is so intriguing...I guess I always think how interesting it would be to be a "fly on a wall" in the board room as company executives are sitting around the table talking about branding and such.

So when Baked Lays got a recent make-over, I couldn't help but notice it right away as I walked down the grocery aisle.....passing the chips of course. Ha, ha.

Here are some example of what the old packaging looked like:

And here is the new, updated version of these same bags:

Personally, I LOVE the new look of the bags. I think it's fresh, crisp, and pleasing to the eye. But there's an interesting conversation going on over at the Lays blog with some customers hating the look and their new advertising campaign.

In the entire scheme of life, I know it's really not that big of a deal. But interesting nonetheless. :)

So what do you think?

A Little Gift to Brighten One's Day

As you know, last week we celebrated teacher appreciation week. Kim and I put together these water bottle designs to hang over top and included a small packet of lemonade to go in them, along with a note at the "pocket" of the bottle hanger. So fun!

We put together the template in order to design our own message to the teachers and staff at the school.

Did you know there are also some pre-made printable crafts available for download at YouCanMakeThis.com?

Look how cheerful these water bottle wraps are! I'm sure they would add a little sunshine to someone's day!

And I fell in love with these ones for the 4th of July! I can picture how fun they would be as table settings for the next family reunion. So cute!

I think the "people" who were behind-the-scenes with making little lemonade and other drink packets in the compact size fit for a water bottle were genius!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

The Perfect Hostess: A Few Snapshots

First off, thank you for the birthday and Mother's Day wishes from the weekend. A little too much cake, but that's OK! :) I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day as well!

A couple of weeks ago, we flew to California to attend our brother's wedding. What a joyful occasion! While there, we stayed for a couple of days with our friend, Robin. She was so gracious and such a perfect hostess. With camera in hand, I took a few pictures as she inspired me in a few different ways and asked her if it was OK to share with you.

First off, we walked into our bathroom and here was this...

Isn't this one of the most brilliant ideas you've ever seen? I'm sure we have a ton of travel-sized toothpastes, shampoos, lotions etc lying around or that we've collected over time. What a great way to have those available for guests. Even some plastic-wrapped toothbrushes were inside. It sure came in handy when one of our girls forgot to pack hers!

OK, you might find this kind of odd that I took a picture of the toilet, and yes I had to stand in the tub in order to take it (all for the sake of a picture!), but I love what is hanging on the wall just beside it. It was a children's song that she framed. When I asked Robin about it, she said that years ago a friend told her that if you wanted your children to learn or memorize something, hang it beside the toilet. Great "bathroom reading" I suppose! She swaps out the song from the frame on occasion and has been known to even post math facts! Too funny!

The next thing I want to show you is her kitchen table. All set up for breakfast and ready to go.

What is so cool is that she decorates her kitchen table around a theme. She told me that she is not much of a decorator around the home and rarely decorates much around the home for holidays, but the kitchen table is something she can easily do. It is the gathering place for her family, so she likes to make it special.

Right now it is "Rodeo Days" going on their hometown and so this is the western theme she went with. How simple, too. She hung a little sign from the chandelier above the table and even attached a bandana.

My favorite were the glasses that were set up! Empty mason jars ready for some OJ!

How clever! Talk about really making your home a special place. It made me realize it was the little touches that added so much.

Robin was so easy-going and fun to visit with. In fact, when I caught site of the mistletoe on the ceiling....

...I was quite intrigued! "What is this for?" I asked. She just chuckled and said, "Oh, because we haven't gotten around to taking it down yet!"

Phew. She really is human. :)

A Lot of Reasons to Celebrate

Mr. Thesaurus tells us that celebrate has quite a few synonyms, namely...

jubilate
kick up one's heels
make merry
revere
commemorate

So that's exactly what I'm going to do! Hooray! It's Friday! Shouldn't that be a celebration in itself?!?! :)

Reason #1

Check out our "garden in a glove" that we planted a couple of weeks ago! The kids are elated!It's time to now snip and place in the ground!

Reason #2
It's Kim's birthday tomorrow!! And so I guess that means it's mine, too! LOL! I'd say it brings whole new meaning to that one song. C'mon, you've got to be singing it in your head by now. "They say it's your birthday- na, na, na, na, na....it's my birthday, too!" :) Happy happy dear sis. If we're getting old, I guess it's a good thing we get to do it together. :) Just remember, you will always beat me by 2 minutes! (hee, hee)

Reason #3

My designs were featured on the adorable dress made by the amazing Carla C for SWAK's 1 year birthday! Didn't she do a beautiful job? What an honor it is to work with someone so ultra-talented.

And finally, reason #4...

I get to celebrate being a mother this weekend! I feel no greater joy in the world than being with my children and husband.

I hope you find many reasons for you to celebrate this weekend! See you Monday!

Spark an Idea Thursday: An Idea That Entertains the Kids While You Work

As you may know, I contribute weekly over at Sparkplugging.com. It is a site that helps encourage entrepreneurs in pursuing their business. Well, Sparkplugging has just started a new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’. Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers.

I'd love to have you come on over and check out my post today! You can find it by clicking HERE. It has something to do with these things...

...and your children will love it! Have fun!

A Perfect Parallel: Mothers & Robin Birds plus *WINNER*

First things first...the winner of the "Mom Says I Can" giveaway is...

Congratulations, Heidi! If you'll send me an email with your mailing address, the author will be able to get that off to you right away! Thanks to everyone who left a comment. I truly enjoyed reading what each of you had to say about your own mothers! And thank you to Judy Cooley who made this giveaway possible! You are an inspiration to all of us!

Yesterday as I began to put together a project for Mother's Day to post, my machine went kaput. Not entirely, but enough where the bobbin is looping. I've tried dusting & changing tension. Ugg. Time for my precious machine to go into the shop for a few days. :) So off to plan B. (We've talked about plan B's before, haven't we?) :)

So last night I was thinking about what kind of Mother's Day message I could talk about for a moment today as we reflect on the special women in our lives. And I thought about baby birds and their mother.

Isn't this a beautiful scene? And when you really study it, there are so may parallels between this picture and the mothers we have or the mothers we currently are. How so?

These little babies rely on their mother for everything they need.

The mother bird knows her babies. And she knows their needs. She will make sacrifices to make sure their needs are met.

This robin knows their little cries. She dutifully, yet very joyfully takes care of and protects them.

She will encourage them to fly on their own and spread their wings.

And then one day, that nest will be empty. They'll come back, but it won't be the same. It will be a season one day in my life, and so for now, I want to enjoy and relish it all.

What do you think? Any other parallels you see?

Here's a beautiful robin silhouette of Kim's. Wouldn't this make a beautiful journal cover or to add to the front of a card? Writing down and sharing these parallels with your mother might be the most tender gift you could give.

And a favorite quote to leave you with this Mother's Day week...

"If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart."

Teacher Appreciation Week: Our Teachers Rock!

Our elementary school is celebrating teacher appreciation week this week! I have always loved this week in the school year. I don't know if it is because I am a former teacher myself, or whether it's because I just love the "feeling" you get when you walk inside of a school where everyone is celebrating those who make their school special. Whatever the reason, it is definitely a time to have some fun in showing our gratitude!

This year, Kim and I decided upon the theme, "Our Teachers & Staff Rock!" Early yesterday we arrived to the school in order to decorate the front hallway.

We've sent home blank paper "records" for the children to either draw a picture or write a note to their teacher and bring back to school this week. When they do so, they will turn them into the "jukebox" that is hanging down from the ceiling.

In return, they will receive a sticker that reads, "My teacher ROCKS and today I let her know it!" The stickers were very easy to make. All I did was type these words into a word processing program and printed them off on Avery shipping labels. Wala!

Each room parent decorated the classroom doors around a title of a song.

Last week we went around the school and took pictures of each of the teacher and staff wearing the over-sized, silly sunglasses. After developing the pictures, we pasted them to cardboard guitar cut-outs I purchased from Oriental Trading. We then doodled around the guitars with glittery gel pens. I think the most fun thing for me yesterday was just watching the children's faces light up as they came into school and just giggled while looking at all of the guitars.

Of course no music-themed week would be complete without a "special someone" in the house. Yes, Elvis has been spotted in the teacher's workroom. :)

The rest of the week is also full of little goodies that I will share on the blog during the week!

Wow...lots of reasons to celebrate this week! Cinco de Mayo is also today! But before I leave, I have 1 more thing we need to commemorate!

For those of you who machine embroider, we have some fun things to celebrate and I'll share that all and more in tonight's SWAK newsletter! If you haven't signed up for it yet, you can do so HERE!

And don't forget! Today is the last day to enter the "Mom Says I Can" GIVEAWAY and I'll announce the winner tomorrow! And if you Twitter, I'd love to "tweet" with you at tonight's GNO sponsored by MomItForward and YouCanMakeThis.com!

Come Twitter With Me and Preview of the Week Ahead

Hey! I just got in from a flight last night from California. We traveled there this weekend for my brother's wedding and had a wonderful time! I have so much planned for the week ahead, but did not have time to make a "real" post for this morning. So instead, I thought I'd share a few highlights of what you'll find at the JesseKate blog this week!

But before I begin, have you had a chance to sign up for the "Mom Says I Can" giveaway? If not, be sure you do because tomorrow is the last day! This stunning picture book is definitely one you'll want to have in your home for this Mother's Day. Also such a beautiful gift to give away as well. Click HERE to find out more information!

Do you love to Twitter? Have you ever heard of #gno on Tuesday nights? Well, if you have or haven't and want to find out more, be sure to check out the link HERE to find out how YouCanMakeThis.com and SWAKembroidery.com is teaming up with Mom It Forward to have a GNO night on Twitter! It will be a lot of fun and I will be there, using the ID @JesseKateDesign. I hope you'll join us as we learn more about "D-I-Y" as well as raising some funds for women in Kenya to be able to empower them to begin their own businesses. I'm so excited!

Other plans I have for the week? Well, SWAK will be celebrating it's 1-year-birthday on tomorrow! Can you believe it's been a year since the site first opened? Wow! So we have some fun things planned for that event! I'll tell you more later!

I'm on my way to my children's school right now because Kim and I are over teacher appreciation week. I have many different ideas of what you can do to show your appreciation for your teachers!

I'll announce the winner of "Mom Says I Can" on Wednesday, along with a Mother's Day project tutorial you can make!

I want to share some pictures from the home where we stayed in California this weekend. Robin was a perfect hostess and I'll tell you why so we can all be inspired!

And I have a fun little kids' craft to share as well!

PHEW! OK, off to the school now! Have a wonderful Monday!