Back To School Goodies

Hellooooooooo!
Wow, what a summer we've had! I think both boys would agree that we've managed to squeeze in just about as much fun as possible the last few months. From vacations to staycations, traveling with family, and adventures with friends... we've done almost everything on our Summer Bucket List and have really had a great time doing it.

We have two weeks left of summer and I still have a few fun tricks up my sleeve, but I am also starting to prepare for a new school year.

Payton will be starting his last year of elementary school, and Parker will be starting his last year of preschool (queue the tears). I cannot get over how big they are getting.

We've already purchased a new backpack for Payton. After a couple years of buying cheap backpacks at Target that would then break at some point during the year, I decided to buy him a good quality backpack from Pottery Barn that has a multi-year money-back guarantee. Didn't hurt that I could get it monogrammed, either. :)

Brian's parents took both boys shoe shopping last weekend. They were so sweet and bought both of them sneakers that they had been wanting. Now the boys want to wear them around the house 24/7.

I also purchased all of Payton's school supplies...although the teachers usually end up giving us a "supplement" list on Open House, so I'm sure there will be more to come.

So, now that the basics are covered, I get to focus on the fun stuff that comes with going back to school!

One of my favorite bloggers, Kierste, always has the best back-to-school printables and craft ideas. How much do you love these 1st Day of School Printables for photos??


You can download your child's appropriate grade level here.

And y'all know I adore these personalized backpack tags she created!
 
I mean, seriously... SO cute! And very handy when so many backpacks look so similar. I think it would be particularly great for the younger kids. You can download your child's letter here.

I also love setting a festive breakfast table for the 1st day of school to get them excited about heading back. I think this little sign is so sweet and would look great alongside a special breakfast. You can download it here from the talented Homespun Hostess.


I think every kid would love having some fun jokes included in their lunchbox the first week back. How fun are these free printables from Events to Celebrate.

And if you're looking for an inspiring piece of art to frame for your kiddos, here's one that I just fell in love with from one of my all-time favorite Dr. Seuss books, "Oh the Places You'll Go." You can download it here from Balancing Home.

So while I'll miss our laid-back PJ mornings and late-night bonfire s'mores, I'm looking forward to fall and all that it has to offer. I hope that you've had a wonderful summer and that you enter this school year with lots of energy and excitement. Happy Back-to-School everyone!

St. Patty's Day {Crafts, Recipes, Decor & More!}

You didn't think I was going to let a holiday go by without celebrating it, did you?

Of course not!

But I also genuinely have a hereditary reason to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Both sides of our family have Irish descendants. My mother's maiden name is "Healy" and Brian's mother's maiden name is "Likens" so we both claim our Irish heritage and are proud to celebrate this fun holiday.

Fortunately for you, I did all the leg work and found some of the cutest ideas floating around Pinterest and Blog-land and complied them all here.

So without further adieu, let's hop right in like a little leprechaun and get down to it!

Free Printables 

Y'all know I love a good free printable! I was a little surprised at the amount of very cute and creative things people have made. Here are a few of my favs:

This Irish prayer below can be downloaded from the talented blogger, Marie, at Blooming Homestead.

I currently have this beauty framed and displayed on my kitchen counter. I just love those gold polka dots!

If you are planning to host a St. Patty's party for your kiddos, this entire party pack can be downloaded for FREE from WeHeartParties. I adore this color palette. 

And if you don't want to waste all of your computer ink, you can download it and either email it or bring a jump drive to Staples and they will print it for you for a nominal fee.

I think these gold/green shamrocks with the black & white background are so beautiful. They remind me of Kate Spade. You can download them at Paisley Petal Events.

I love to include little notes in Payton's lunchbox. Sometimes they are handwritten words of encouragement and sometimes they are printed jokes or fun facts. These St. Patrick's Day jokes will definitely be sitting next to his turkey sandwich next week. You can download them at Capturing Joy.

And if your family is anything like mine, I think this sheet of "Fun Facts" would make interesting dinner table discussions. You can print them off here at Degree Search. (Sorry they are so hard to read here, it was either this size, or so enormous it went off the page).

Craft & Gift Ideas

None of us are just sitting around looking for ways to spend more money or exert more energy toward another project. So I've found a few super easy craft and gift ideas that take no more than a few minutes to put together, but sure would make someone's day!

This free printable can be downloaded here from Blue Skies Ahead. Simply attach it to a single-serve container of Lucky Charms and BAM - you're done!

Or if you have some extra glass jars laying around the house, it would be a fun project for the kids to separate out a bag of Skittles to make "Rainbows in a Jar."

If you're willing to get your kids' hands a little messy, these crafts look very easy, but produce some grandparent-gift-worthy results.

This would be easy enough to assemble, but could be costly unless you can get the streamers at the Dollar Store.

I know Parker would love to do this craft. It's as simple as cutting off the top of a green pepper!

Depending on how adventurous you are with messes, this is one that any kid would love to do! Check out how No Time For Flashcards creates a super fun sensory play craft that results in puffy paint shamrocks. 

P.S. I would put my kids in their underwear and have them do this in the bathtub! :)

Recipes

My mother always made corned beef for St. Patrick's Day. I have very fond memories of it, and I still make it every year as well. But if you're looking for some other fun food ideas for this festive holiday, here ya go...

Such an easy and fun dessert for a kids party!

Simply make lime jello in plastic cups, then right before serving, top it with whipped cream and Lucky Charms cereal.

Yet another Lucky Charms recipe... I know. But I love the idea of just swapping out a couple of ingredients from Rice Krispy Treats and coming up with a super easy St. Patrick's Day dessert. These would be cute boxed up and sent in as teacher gifts.

And if you're not a big fan of corned beef, this Crock Pot Guiness Irish Beef Stew looks pretty darn amazing! You can get the recipe here from Season with Spice.

Or who doesn't love a loaded potato skin? This Irish spin on the classic appetizer looks AH-mazing.

You can get the recipe for these Ruben Style Potato Skins here on Simple Comfort Food.

And I had to include this little gem for my hubby who occasionally likes a little Bailey's on the rocks. These look both decadent and delicious.

Get the recipe here from Gimme Some Oven.

Okay loves, that should give you more than enough inspiration for your St. Patrick's Day celebrations. May the luck of the Irish be with you all! ;)

Thanksgiving Thank You Gifts: {FREE PRINTABLES}

Yes, Christmas is just around the corner. And yes, people get inundated with gifts. So, why not stand apart from the crowd this year and give some "thank you" gifts for Thanksgiving?

I found the most adorable FREE Thanksgiving printables and immediately knew that I wanted to make Thanksgiving gifts for the boys' teachers.

It was so easy and turned out quite adorable if I do say so myself!

I bought the Mason jars on sale at Michael's for .99 each and got the "fall-colored" candy on clearance for .91 a bag (Halloween close-out at Target). Then I attached the free printables on top with double-sided tape, and made the vinyl initials on a Silhouette machine. If you don't have a vinyl cutting machine, you could use paint pens, or just leave them blank.Wrap a festive ribbon around the top, and you're done!

I used another free printable and had Parker tell me what he was thankful for for each of his teachers. We handed them out to his sweet preschool teachers today and they actually got teary-eyed at the thank you notes I wrote on the back. I just don't think teachers get the recognition they deserve.

All of these printables - and SO MANY more - are available here at Amanda's Parties To Go. I love her kids table activities and fun decor. Check her out, she's quite talented!

I hope you have some lovies in your life that you want to say "thank you" to during this special season of Thanksgiving. Cuddle up and enjoy these last few days of November... before we know it, it will be Christmas!

DIY Fall Decor {FREE Printables}

It's September! And around the Heckman Household, that means one thing: Fall Decor!

Okay, maybe two things: Fall Decor & Wedding Anniversary!

Okay, maybe three things: Fall Decor, Wedding Anniversary, and Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

Alright, I'll stop now.

And even though it's still hovering around 410 degrees outside, I am determined to make my house a cozy little ode to Autumn... even if that means our energy bill may be a tad bit high this month (sorry, honey).

It all started earlier this week when I spotted the bright orange bags of Brach's Candy Corn on the store shelf.

That did it. It was time to decorate.

Then I saw this adorbs idea on a blog, where you call the Candy Corn "Pumpkin Teeth." How cute is that???

One quick "Google search" later and this is now sitting on our counter:

Wanna duplicate it?  Great! Here's how ya do it:

Click here to visit She's Kinda Crafty's awesome blog and download the free printable template:

 

Cut out one of the squares, apply some double-stick tape to the back and stick it on any sort of jar, glass, bucket, or anything else you've got. Ta-da! Just like that, you've created an adorable fall treat jar (P.S. Wouldn't these make great teacher gifts too??).

And since I just knew this little jar would start getting a lot of attention from my boys, I thought having a little Bible memory verse nearby would be a great idea.

I just love the fall colors in this free printable created by the talented people at Johnson Ferry Women's Ministry.

 

 Click here to download your free copy.

Happy Fall Y'all!

I'm Back!! Back-to-School Ideas {FREE Printables!}

Hello out there!

Hopefully I haven't lost every single reader that I had by taking my summer hiatus the past month or so. But even if so, it was well worth it to spend all of that time with my boys sucking the marrow out of the last few weeks of summer vacation.

But... we're headed back to reality in just a few short days. School starts for us on Tuesday, August 19th, so we're in full back-to-school planning mode around here.

The boys got their hair cut, got new tennis shoes, I finished all the school supply lists, ordered new lunchboxes and water bottles, now I can sit back and enjoy the final week of summer vacation and just do some fun back to school things like create teacher gifts!

I may be in the minority on this one, but I like to start school off with a special gift for the teacher. Not to "brown nose" them, but just to say, "Hey...we really appreciate you and we think you're a super valuable person in our child's life this year."

So, with that said, here are some fun ideas that I collected from other talented bloggers so you don't have to do the research yourselves!

I love this play on words from the blog, Simply Kierste, and really, who doesn't love Andes Mints, or you could use the travel tins of the mint Altoids, or any kind of mints for that matter! Click here for the free printable.

Here's another adorable free printable from Simply Kierste available here:

 

You could attach it to a number of items such as the mulit-colored stack of Post-It notes, or a package of multi-colored Sharpies, or pens. Her idea was to attach it to a container filled with candy, which is a tasty option.

I love this idea from The Rachel Berry Blog if you have access to a Cricut or Silhoutte machine, this could easily be created for just a few bucks by purchasing the glass containers and pencils at the Dollar Store.

 

A popular gift for the first day back is a "Teacher Survival Kit." Some of the ones I've seen on Pinterest look like they cost upwards of $20, but I liked this simple one created by Triple Nap that she made out of a $1 pencil box.

Inside, this is what she included:

Again, this could be replicated with less items if you wanted to spend less. But I like the idea that you can personalize it for each teacher.

If you like to bake, this free printable available here from It's Overflowing, would be an wonderful gift:

 

 So many options, so little time.

I can't believe this summer is almost over. I know it's so cliche to say that, but I truly feel like this summer went so fast. I have really enjoyed the relaxed pace of the mornings, and no homework! But I am also looking forward to a really great fall with new teachers, new schedules, new activities, and of course the holidays! I'll try to restrain from putting out my pumpkins for a few more week... but I make no guarantees. :)

Hope y'all had a fantastic summer too! Now go enjoy those last few lazy, beach-filled, no scheduled, relaxing days.

4th of July {Ideas, Recipes & Free Printables}

I can hardly believe 4th of July is one week away! Where did June go!?!

I made the mistake of hopping on Pinterest to find an easy 4th of July craft to do with the kiddos and man did I hit the mutha-load of good ideas!

I mean, how great is this:

 

SUCH a smart idea for the tiny tots who want to participate in the sparkler fun, but are a bit freaked out to actually hold one themselves. I will definitely be trying this with Parker.

And if you're hosting a party or going to one, and need to bring something, check out these simple ideas:

Photo credit

Photo credit

 Photo credit.

Or maybe you're looking for some fun house or party decor? Here ya go...

Available here.

Available here.

How great is this FREE 4th of July banner and artwork available here along with many other party printables.

 And one of my favorite bloggers, TomKat Studios, has some beautiful cupcake toppers that you can download for free. These would also be cute during the World Cup USA games!

 

And of course, my original purpose of going on Pinterest in the first place...some cute kids crafts! Check these out:

Instructions available here.

Photo credit.

And if I had a girl...this is the kind of t-shirt I would be making...

 

And if you're willing to get a little messy (I'm thinking bathing suits...outside...with washable paints), you could let the kids loose with this super fun idea:

 Straw "Fireworks"

 The child dips the end of a straw into red, white & blue paint and then blows on the straw to make "fireworks" on the paper.

 

 

I hope these give you some fun 4th ideas. Be safe and have a fabulous time celebrating our awesome nation...the land of the free and home of the brave!