Teacher Appreciation Day - 2 pins used!

I decided to make the adorable pencil vase for my daughter's 1st grade teacher.  I went to the dollar store and bought 3 packs of pencils ( they happen to have colored pencils) and a glass cylinder insert.  I used a can of pepperidge farms pirouette cookies I had in my pantry for the outside of the vase.  I used hot glue to glue the pencils to the metal tin.  I was afraid the hot glue might not stick - it might cool before I had a chance to attach the pencil.  This was not the case at all.  To be honest, I had to pull off a couple of the pencils since they weren't lined up as straight as I would like - and it was very hard to pull off the pencil.  I don't think the pencils are going anywhere!  And by using the glass cylinder to put the water and flowers in it should be easy for the teacher to clean it after the flowers die and will eliminate the chance of the tin can rusting.  I hope it will be usable for many years. 

I then made a glass pendant with a photo of the class.  I had bought the supplies for the pendant before Christmas.  I had made a few before so I knew I could make one in about 5 minutes.  It turned out super cute and hope it is something the teacher will enjoy for years to come.

Here is my finished product:

 

Here are my pins:

Pin for the vase:

Source: nf1andpre-kwhisper.blogspot.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Pin for the pendant:

Source: funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com via Kristen on Pinterest

St. Patrick's Day 2012

When my daughter's teacher asked me to throw a St. Patrick's Day party, I knew right were to look for ideas!

I made rainbow j-ello. It turned out so cute. It is not hard to make, it just takes a lot of time. I started Wednesday night to have them ready for lunch Friday. I bought clear plastic glasses and all 6 colors of the rainbow packs of j-ello. I made 20 cups and needed 2 packets of each j-ello color. I used the quick set method on the back of the label so I only needed to wait 1 hour in between layers instead of 4 hours. I started with purple and worked my way up to red. They seemed to go over great with the kids and I must say I enjoyed a cup as well!!!

This is what my cups looked like:

The original rainbow j-ello pin:

Source: sheekshindigs.blogspot.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Crockpot Italian Chicken

I tried this crock pot recipe and it was a winner with my whole family! Here is the recipe:
Put 4 chicken breasts in the bottom of your crock pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on each side. Pour 2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup over chicken. Cut 1 bar of cream cheese into small cubes and put on top of soup. Sprinkle with a packet of zesty italian salad dressing seasoning. Cook on low for at least 4 hours (I've had it go as long as 10 and it was still yummy). Shred chicken and serve, with sauce made, over pasta or rice.

Here is the original pin:

Source: homeiswheretheholmansare.blogspot.com via Kristen on Pinterest