Sunflowers & Skates Mother's Day Party

 

Hey guys, one (?) more post for today! For this past Mother's Day, after much brainstorming and struggling to come up with a theme, I decided to combine my mother's favorite flower (sunflowers) with a favorite hobby of hers (ice skating, which I wanted to be part of the gift). I call the theme "Sunflowers & Skates", as the title says. 

On the poster I painted, I wrote "Happy Mother's Day to the coolest mom!" I used Dollar Tree sunflowers in the balloon arch. The dishes, vines, large vase of flowers, and such were things I had on hand. I got the mini teacher notebooks and cookies were from Walmart. The sunflower seeds and balloon came from Dollar Tree. I designed labels on Canva for the sunflower seeds that read "I couldn't have been raised by a better mother! Thank you for rooting for me and helping me grow!" (But I accidentally printed them too big and the sunflowers on them got cut off). The felt was from Walmart. To make the banner, I printed ice skate and sunflower graphics from Canva, cut them out, and hot glued them to felt triangles on yarn. 

Thank you for visiting! 

-Lauryn 

How I Celebrate Birthdays In My Classroom

 Good afternoon! Today I'd like to share how I celebrate birthdays in my classroom. Disclaimer: it takes a lot of prep, and admittedly cost quite a bit. That said, I feel it successfully meets my goal. My goal: I love to recognize people's birthdays and make them feel seen, valued, and bring them joy on their special day. 

In my classroom, I hand-draw (since the banners I bought would disappear due to some misunderstandings about recycling them rather than taking them home each birthday, and I could not afford to buy one for every birthday) a birthday banner that reads "Feliz Cumpleaños, [Student's Name]!" with markers on construction paper. I tape that to their desk along with a gift. The gift is a coffee-looking cup filled with confetti or grass, a desert sticker, and a special lava pen. I tie a ribbon to the top of the pen, which sticks out like a straw. I try to make the ribbon, pen, and sticker all the student's favorite color (which I know from a form they fill out on the first day of school). I buy the supplies in bulk from Amazon. After the initial work it takes to prepare the cups, it is really simple to set this up each birthday.

I also use Google Slides each day, so on the warm up slide they all see at the start of class, I feature a cat throwing confetti on the right side where I list reminders, and write "Today is [student's name] birthday!" 

Lastly, at the end of the month, I celebrate all of the birthdays from that month by putting their names on the board with their favorite colors (and maybe even characters), put up a balloon arch with their favorite colors combined, and set out treats. The Google Slides on the board might say something like "In honor of our January birthdays (name, name, name, and name) you can help yourself to a treat on the table!" We do Friday prizes each week anyway where students have the option of choosing food, so this falls on a Friday and basically is our regular prize day with an extra treat, or treats in place of non-edible prizes, along with that extra recognition. 

If you are an educator, I hope you find this inspiring or helpful in some way!

Blessings,

Lauryn 

Dinosaur-Themed New Year's Party (2025)

Hey, guys! Today I have a rather random post since it is the middle of the summer, but dinosaurs were the theme and they are cool year-round, right? So here is our 2025 New Year's/New Year's Eve party. Below are the details:

-The mini resin dinosaurs came from Amazon.

-The 2025 numbers were made from a poster painted with acrylic paints to look like stones, then cut into the numbers. The dinosaur banner sign ("Celebrating a pterriffic new year!") was free-handed with markers. 

-The foil dinosaur balloon came from Dollar General (as did the treats and other balloons). 

I helped put this together thanks to the help and ideas of my friends (L. and M., they know who they are). 

I hope you enjoyed this theme! 

-Lauryn 

Louie's Golf Club Birthday Party

 

Hello, I hope everyone's summer is off to a great start! 

My summer has not started off so promising, and while I have hundreds of posts to share and have fallen so far behind, I wanted to start with this one featuring a birthday party for my uncle. 

He could use prayers for healing urgently, for a miracle, so if you're reading this and would pray for him I would be so grateful. 

This elegant golf club party was back in September (I think), and below are the details on all of the handmade elements: 

-The backdrop was made of cardboard tri-fold boards painted green, and I used gold puffy paint for the logo. 

-The golf cart cutout was made of cardboard and either painted or drawn on with Sharpie. 

-The metallic and brown golf balls were from a pack at Dollar Tree (along with the small golf clubs) that I painted with acrylic paints. The mini flag also came in the set, and was likewise painted. 

-The signs reading "Thank you for swinging by Louie's Part-Tee! Please take a favor" and "Have a donut hole in one" were drawn on cardstock with markers. 

-I just wrote "Thanks fore swinging by!" on paper bags with party favors (which I think were candy though I don't remember for sure) for guests to take. 

Everything else besides the balloons (from Dollar Tree) and tablecloth was already on hand, and my grandparents made the strawberry angel food cake. 

Thank you for visiting!

-Lauryn