The Semi-Homemade Back to School Guide

Back to School is better (and easier!)....... thanks to Etsy (duh!) and Cool Mom Picks! I've got it all here - from custom looks to personalized paper... and from new traditions to teacher gifts!

.

Let's start with visiting my friends over at Paper & Cake - especially if you're a teacher! I think this fun set would also be great for parents & students, too! Especially if you love to customize everything, like I do! Remember their mantra? Print ~ Cut ~ Party! Love that! You simply order your package and they email you everything you need. It's practically instant!

.

The Back-to-School Teacher's Collection includes:

* a teacher's daily planner (formatted for a 3-ring binder) - Or why not use this to keep your kids' schedules straight?

* "Welcome" door banner - customizable! Y'all know how fun customizing is...

* bookmarks

* tent style desk name plates

* seating chart (formatted for a 3-ring binder)

* large & small stickers - I think I have a small sticker problem. Okay, okay, I admit it... a BIG problem!

* alphabet pennant banner

* note cards + envelopes (for notes home or notes to teacher!)

* letterhead

* fill-in certificates

* art saved as .png files (can be used as room decorations or ironed-on tee shirts or a canvas bag!)

* snack boxes (great for snacks or art supplies!)

* pencil toppers (in two styles)

* two full sheets of patterned paper (for artwork, scrapbooking, decorating, wrapping, etc!)

Here are some pics, for all you visual people. ;)

Okay, now something for the moms, college students (or even stylish tots!) And free, too! Check out this giveaway on some of the most fun stationary! There are tons of cute ones to pick from, but the adirondack chairs and the small crab flats are my fav! Check out the giveaway here!

Those notecards would be a perfect place to try out the new Sharpie pens I've been dying to try! (Sad, I know, but fun office supplies make a difference in the office!) But when do you think it'll come in fuschia or aqua? ;)

.

Okay, but back to the kiddos... how fun is the Traveling Tots Art Tote? And what a great idea at only $18! I love the guitar print for boys:

And here's one of the girly prints:

This is PERFECT for traveling or entertaining your tots while you (try!) to eat at a restaurant! It's made by Tag Line Designs and they say:

.

This adorable Traveling Tots Art Tote is the perfect solution to entertaining toddlers and kids of all ages. They have so many options that it will keep them busy for a very long time. Great for kids going to school! This comes with crayons, chalk, paper and chalk mat. As a special touch, I have included some paper cut outs for your little one to glue to their hearts content. Just add a glue stick, it will fit! You can swap anything in this tote for something or add them all. Crayons, Markers, Chalk, Glue Stick, etc.

.

And kids have GOT to go back-to-school in style! So, what about this pillowcase dress in APPLES and cream?

You can find a bow to match ANY outfit at Southern Baby Boutique. They've even got some monogrammed bows for that preppy back-to-school princess!

Or girly girls can carry their pencils in style with this Bow Pencil Case from Katie Gariepy!

But the boys aren't left out! I'm sending G-man back to school in the shirt from his 1 year pics! It's from Punky Monkey and I heart it!

As always, The Cool Mom Picks Back-to-School Shopping Guide preps your kiddo to be the most stylish one in class. Check out the list of discounts and score some cool back to school gear!

To show your new teacher some love, why not just rework the S'more Semi-Homemade Teacher gifts that we used at the end of last school year? It was a big hit with our teachers!

And finally..... I think I'll start a new tradition at the Semi-Homemade house for the first day of school this year.... centered around a fun breakfast! I saw this idea and thought it looked fun:

You just take a bagel, cover it in cream cheese, and your kids can decorate it with whatever goodies you have/buy/deem appropriate. Of course, the always-in-a-hurry-mom that I know I am... I'm thinking this is better left for a weekend, maybe the day before school starts or the Sat after the first week back.

Luckily for me, my kids (and Mr. Fix-It!) will be equally impressed with the semi-homemade route that I'll probably end up going for that first day of school. I'll either make muffins the night before (just simple ones, from a mix!) or pick up Big Sister's favorite, kolaches! (I apologize for this bad, almost gross, really, picture of kolaches! I couldn't find a better one!)

Happy Back to School, y'all! And if you live in TX, get out and get your shop on! Next weekend (thanks, Mrs. Everything!) is tax-free weekend! Click here to get the latest on what's included and get shoppin'!

Semi-Homemade Pirate thank you note!

Just thought I'd share the thank you notes I threw together to use for G's 1st birthday gifts! (Seems like thank you notes are something that you either grew up doing religiously and still do.... or it's something that would never cross your mind. I write them for everything, almost to the point that I've been teased!) I love these because they're custom!
And I'll tell ya.... ever since I bought a big pack of cardstock for the pink & orange baby shower I threw for Mrs. Everything... I can't stop coming up with ways to use it!

Candy Shoppe

This just says summer!

G's Semi-Homemade Pirate Birthday Bash

Are y'all ready for the (gigantic, Texas-sized!) recap of G-man's Pirate Birthday Weekend? I hope you like pictures. I do... love 'em! (One of these days, I'm gonna take a photo class!) There's probably... a hundred pictures here.... I wanted to share all my semi-homemade ideas and all or fun! But don't say you weren't warned!

But first things, first... I'd love, love if you'd go check out the sneak peek from G-man's Rocker Baby Photo Shoot with Kristie last night. I get a free print if I get a certain number of comments on her blog, and I'd love to blow her away with tons of comments! Check out my punk baby & also the sweet pics he took with his Big Sister and 2 very large lollipops in front of the old fashioned candy shoppe downtown! Then be sure to leave a comment. Much thanks!

But back to the all pirate weekend.

Let's start at the beginning..... after running around like a mad (wo)man on Friday, putting together all the special touches, we woke up on Sat to this:

RAIN!!!!!! Can you believe it?! Of course, I had NO back up plan.... (How could I? I mean, I had just put together Plan A within the past 24 hrs.... Plan B was still on my to do list, somewhere under "make sure all guest bathrooms have toilet paper!")

Luckily, most our guests were family from faraway places, and we were flexible as far as start times. (I got extra points with the manager of the beach club for being a "breath of fresh air".... apparently, another party-planning mom was not being so... ahem.. flexible... and made a scene.)

Out of nowhere, the rain cleared, the sun came out, and it was perfect party weather! We headed off to the beach club....

We had rented the pavillion closest to the splash pad! We hung Cap'n G-man's sign, some balloons...

and some pirate pennants and we were set!

While our guests played, I set up lunch.

Semi-homemade beach party menu:

sub sandwiches (picked up by Mr. Fix-It earlier that morning)

pirate peg legs (cheetos!)

goldfish crackers

assorted drinks

and pirate cupcakes to celebrate G-man's first!

I made nothing for this party.... just added my little creative touches to (try) to make it look special! Our sandwiches looked like boats after I added sails:

To decorate, I used the red tablecloths and bowls I scored for 75% off because it was 4th of July clearance! Then I framed G-man's birthday invite and a storyboard I made that said, "thanks for coming!"

We had invited an intimate crowd for G's first (afterall, I DO realize he won't remember this party. But I will. His Big Sis will.) But it got even more intimate when our friends, the P's, had to leave town for a funeral... and when Mr. Everything and Miss Priss had to be out of town as well. But when you plan an intimate party, you just have to be prepared for it to be very.intimate. I do think tht Mrs. Everything and the fam had a ball! (And we'll have to make it up to Miss Priss and Presley with a future beach club date!)

G-man's very first taste of cheetos! Loved 'em (of course!)

On to CAKE!!! The toppers from Custom Parties to go were awesome! They have tons of party themes to choose from. Go check them out and tell them I sent ya! They did the fun Cap'n G-man sign (pictured above), these toppers, some stickers and favor tags (all pictured below). These semi-homemade touches (meaning homemade... but by someone else!) totally made the party!

Here, G has just caught sight of the cupcake deliciousness.... (see the splash pad in the background? Tons o' fun!)

And now I'm super excited, Mom.... bring on the cake!

Time to sing!

The favors.... well, I ended up with alot of good ideas. Which I mostly couldn't use because I had run out of time (saw THE cutest pirate-y stuff on Etsy that I wanted to do... this and this... but it was too late to order!) So, I took that inspiration and came up with my own semi-homemade ideas...

I found some funny color bath foam at the store (top right) and personalized it with those fun stickers from Custom Parties To Go. Then I added goldfisheys in a pirate cello bag, skull suckers, pirate stickers and pencils, plastic telescopes and big bling pirate rings, and nemo fruit candies. Threw it all in a red paper bag (bottom right), with the favor tags (that read: Thanks for coming to my party! Love, G-man) and some red tulle (duh. YES, even for a boy's party!) and it was done. Lesson here? Think it thru earlier... not day before the party. ;)

So the dinner turned out to be a family-only affair.... which was probably for the best, considering the silly factor and how out-of-control it got.... I bought tattoos, thinking the kids would love them. As in the kids under the age of 5. Turns out, tattoos are fun for all ages! But first, dinner....

Semi-Homemade Birthday Dinner -- Brisket Tacos

Brisket Tacos - Those of you who know us, know our love of brisket tacos. Which we were so excited to share. If you'd like the recipe, check it out here. It's a crock pot recipe, so I turned it on before we headed to the beach - easy!

Queso, chips & Mr. Fix-It's famous guac

Cake

Homemade Ice Cream (I'll post the recipe I used soon - it was yummmmmy!)

Aren't those paper plates cute? Almost as cute as Mr. Fix-It working on that ice cream freezer! :) And it was beeee-utiful outside that night, so we had people eating both indoors and out. When I breezed through to take pictures, everyone gave me their best "Arrrrr!"

I decorated the house with gold coins, skull balloons, the color red, Little People pirates, and this Semi-Homemade Pirate Centerpiece:

The "how to" is easy and totally semi-homemade. I took a red ceramic container..... bought a block of craft foam that fit inside.... covered with a red napkin from the party..... and stuck skull lollipops in a stair-stepped set of rows. Then I taped on a leftover from my favor tags. Done!

Remember those Watch Me Grow (pirate edition) pictures? They hung on the fireplace, over the gifts!

We also had misc pirate banners...

After dinner, we opened up G-Man's Tattoo Parlor! I love the bottom left picture of my brother (aka Uncle Frank).... he looks like he's in pain, doesn't he? ;)

The pic on the bottom left is me and my 3 siblings... playing silly! Then it's the Semi-Homemade gang on the bottom right!

After tattoos, we moved on to gifts. It was so nice outside (in Texas! in August! I still can't believe it!) that we decided to do them outside, since we were all out there anyway!

I just love that little OSU jersey in the middle pic (Go, Pokes!) Much thanks to Aunt Ellen. :)

And then we moved on to THE entertainment of the night.

Because, really, with a newly-1-year-old, it's all about the cake. The destruction. The sugar. The mess.

I have dozens (or more!) of pictures of this child eating cake. And most of them make me laugh. But I tried (really hard!) to narrow them down... to maybe my favorite dozen or so. ;)

And now, a glimpse into the thoughts of G-man....

Alright, everyone is watching me, but I'm gonna keep on concentratin'.....

This seems a little wrong.... but everyone is laughing, so what the heck?

Oh, how I love cake......

....especially all over my face, inside my ear, and in my hair....

Did I mention that I love cake?!

Hmmm, I wonder if anyone will notice if I cut out the middle man, and just put my face directly into the cake itself.....

Woooo hooooo! Yea for me!

Mommma! Come and get me - I've gotta hug with your name on it!

I hope y'all enjoyed a peak into his birthday weekend. I know these are some memories I'll never forget! For those of you who don't know us, his pirate birthday bash was inspired by his (my?) love (obsession?) of all things pirate and by his Semi-Homemade Pirate Nursery. Thanks for stoppin' by, mateys!

G-man's Rocker Baby Photo Shoot!

Y'all. I've raved about the amazing pictures we've gotten with Kristie.... Tonight, we headed to our Downtown Square, which has THE best place to get a varity of photos... urban, garden, old downtown... it's the best! And I think Kristie and I both got a work out... but she got some great shots, so it was more than worth it!

Please go check out her blog to see the rest of our sneak peek! There's another pic of G-man and you won't want to miss our first glance at the lollipop pictures he took with Big Sis! They were so cute... even with pink and orange lollipop goodness oozing and drooling all over their clothes. They L-O-V-E-D it! And I'd love if you'd leave a comment - if 10 people leave a comment, we'll earn somthing when it comes time to order! (And y'all know about this damn recession...) But why stop at 10 people? She and I were chatting about our blog readers tonight and I was bragging on y'all.... She said one of you has even scheduled a shoot with her - and you won't be sorry! So, go show G-man and Kristie some Semi-Homemade love!

And click here to check out G-man's pirate birthday bash!

47

The number of hours I had worked by last night. As in, before today even started.

Coincidently..... it's also the $ amount I spent at the mall over my lunch hour. But that retail therapy made me feel better. Even though I spent that money on the kids.... but one thing I did get:

Yep, I got 2 gigantic lollipops. For G-man and Big Sis for their photoshoot. In downtown. In front of the old candy shoppe. Can't wait....

.

Lots to do this weekend, too! Gotta share with you the Semi-Homemade Guide to going back to School!!! And also G-man's party in pictures!

Happiness is....

~~ Going thru your baby's bag (can I please still call him a baby?) after (another) long, hard, stressful day at work.... and finding this:

I love G-man's teachers....I have a million thoughtful pieces of 'art' like this - so many that I could build several scrapbooks. If I had that kind of time. Maybe instead I'll scan the good ones and make a photobook online... hmmm....

~~ having your boss's boss stop by your desk at 6pm... knowing you'd still be at work... to tell you that he knows the special 'situation' you're dealing with at work...that the time and effort you're putting in is not going unnoticed.... that your presence on the team is changing everything... and that he's proud of you. (WOW!!! This is huge! And went a long way in easing my exhaustion/frustraton/anger/sadness over what's been going on at work!)

~~ coming home late from work to find that Mr. Fix-It has gotten crafty and made a yummy dinner that smells like comfort....

.

~~ finally finishing a work project before 10pm! Tomorrow night will likely be a later night... but at least it's a day from Friday, right? And - I've said this a million times before, but - I really think that if I can make it thru this work week, it's going to get better....

Sneak peek: Etsy treasures from G's Pirate Birthday Bash!

Okay, I promised I'd be back to give you a sneak peek into some of the special touches that made G-man's 1st birthday party so... well, special. I'm planning a big recap of the entire weekend - complete with the beach party during the day and the big family dinner at night (including the pirate tattoo parlor and homemade ice cream!)

Work has me swamped (what else is new?) and we got a rough start to the week (picture Big Sis covered in her own vomit at 1:30am on Sun... and again at 2:30am... and 4am....) But I promise I'll get it organized, edited, and recapped as soon as humanly possible!
Until then....


I'd done a cute, custom outfit for Big Sis's first birthday (they only turn ONE once, ya know!) Ignore the awful editing - I'm away from my photoshop, obviously...But G-man is more of a manly man.... not one for the custom outfits... LOL.... so, the bib. But isn't it adorable?


It's from My Personalized Tshirt. I picked the colors and got to personalize it with his name. They have all sorts of cutie birthday shirts and bibs, monograms, big sis/brother items, you name it! I just love it!!


This next item is what G is going to wear this weekend in his 1 year pics.

We're going with Kristie to the downtown square in Our Town. It's the site of the maternity pictures I did when I was pg with G, so it's only fitting! Plus, we can get an 'urban' look down there, which will be perfect for this outfit..... We're going for the rocker baby look, lol. This shirt, believe it or not, was only $7.99! I had looked at others at expensive places like nordstrom and they were much more! It's from PunkeyMonkeyKids and I can't wait to see G sportin' it. I've just got to figure out what size jeans to get him and we're set!

I got the bulk of our custom touches from Cathie at Custom Parties To Go. She has TONS of themes to pick from for birthday parties, showers, etc. And she's easy to work with! I switched the fonts, color combos, etc around 100 times and she didn't bat an eye!

We hung this sign from the pavillion at the beach club... then later at my house, over the table in the breakfast nook (where the kids ate dinner!)

This was just a quick snapshot I took on Friday.... it's the cupcake toppers on the left, favor tags on the right, and hidden is a set of stickers! They say things like:
Happy Birthday, G-man (cupcake toppers)
Thanks for coming to my party! Love G-man (favors)
Yo ho ho! G-man is ONE! (stickers)

You'll be able to see all these creative custom items at work when I get my recap pulled together of G-man's 1st Birthday Weekend! More to come!