School Supply 'Cake'

There are several ways to create a 'School Supply Cake' if you were to search how-to's.

Here is my version. 

Short and Sweet. 

I think pictures tell it better than paragraphs of words.

{I'm not giving an exact list of 'What You'll Need' like I usually do. The supplies will vary with the size of cake you are aiming for and your own creative touches!}

I started with a round, silver charger as my base. (You could also use an actual cake base).

The center of the cake is a (1/2 gone) roll of paper towels and 4 one subject notebooks.

Space out the notebooks around the paper towel roll and secure with rubber bands.

My idea with the rubber bands, was that after this cake serves as a center piece, it could be taken apart and its' contents used.

I surrounded the bottom with packs of crayons and attached with rubber bands.

Then I topped the crayons with bottles of glue. Again, more rubber bands. :)

To give it a little more, I put glue sticks in between each box of crayons.

You want everything to be tight so it doesn't shift.

Then the cake topper.....
I had these cute little boxes leftover from Halloween.
They originally had a monster on top and candy inside.

I hardly ever keep things 'just in case' one day I might need it.  But, in this instance, I'm glad I did!

I cut a thick card stock square, bigger than the top of the box  and painted it all black.

Can you guess where I'm going with this???

I didn't want the cake topper box to appear empty so I decided to cover the window with crayons.

Every good graduation decoration needs a tassel, or two.
I made these out of yarn I had on hand.

A hole in the top of the 'hat' was a perfect fit for these tassels.

Wha-la! Cake Toppers Graduation Hats!

I finished the cake with ribbon to cover the rubber bands.

And here is the finished cake displayed on the beverage table of 

Reese's Kindergarten Graduation!

Click HERE for the adorable and FREE Teacher Subway Art printable!

Home Again!

In the words of my Dad after a vacation...

"Home Again, Home Again, Giggity, Gig, Gig."


"Where did you go?" You might ask...
"Where did we NOT go?" Is my response.


We left late one Wednesday evening from our Humble Abode and traveled about 2 hours away to get a head start on our long journey.
Our pit-stop for the night was in Indianapolis, IN.

Thursday, we got up bright and early and started for Virginia. Our usual 12 hour trip will now only take 10 hours since we stayed the night in a hotel the night before. (We were actually REALLY excited about the trip not being the whole 12 hours!)

We reached Virginia that evening just in time for my little brother's High School Graduation Open House.

We stayed in Virginia with my parents until Sunday. While we were there, we celebrated with my brother and family at his Graduation...

and the next day we visited a local zoo.

Sunday finally came. The great anticipated day!!!! Off to the BEACH!

We arrived at our rented beach condo Sunday evening in North Carolina. The 6 hour trip was well worth it as we stood on the deck and breathed that salty air!

We spent a glorious 6 nights and 7 days with sand in our toes. (And ate more than I should say... but it was too good to keep to myself so I WILL share soon!)

On the following Sunday, we parted ways with my parents and siblings and headed to another part of North Carolina so the Hubby could squeeze a little bit of business into a lot of vacation. Sunday night was spent in a hotel in Charlotte, NC.

Monday afternoon (after taking the kids to see Madagascar 3) we headed to visit Joel's sister and brother-in-law in Greenville, SC. We had a fun, relaxing time! It was fun to drive by our old apartment where we lived our first year of marriage. It still looks the same! :)

Wednesday we left Greenville and headed back to my parents in Virginia. Of course, we stopped at a favorite outlet mall and also made a stop to purchase local peaches. (Yummmmmm)

We visited my parents for a couple more days. Friday we packed up (what seemed like the bazillionth time) and headed to West Virginia for a family wedding. It was one of the most beautiful weddings I have attended. Of course, it helped that Joel and Reese were in the wedding party! ;)
I had one handsome Groomsman and one beautiful Flower Girl!

Sunday, we packed the car for the final leg of the trip. HOME! :)

(By this time, we were ready to sleep in our own beds and I was ready to get my clothes out of my closet rather than out of a suitcase!)



2,300 Miles
7 States
3 Hotels
0 Sunburns
1 Condo
3 Sand Castles
8 Gas Fills Ups
2 Lost Teeth
1 Incredible Date Night
18 Days away
2 Movies
1 Wedding
3 Shopping Trips
1 Fathers Day
7 Nights Filled with Card Games
1 Graduation
2 Birthdays
6 Haircuts
29 Restaurant Meals
1 Wedding Rehearsal and Dinner
8 Rearranging/Re-packing the Car
2 Tired (but happy) Parents

DIY Photo Frame

Remember the Graduation Frames I made for Reese's Kindergarten Graduation?

Well, here are my instructions of

a VERY easy and VERY cute DIY frame....

Pick up an unfinished wood frame, or two...

Stain the back sides of the wood frame....

Don't forget to get into the little holes in the back:

(The little holes hold the wood dowels that allow you to prop the frame up. 

You will want to stain the wood dowels too!)

When the stain is dry, turn the frame over and apply Mod Podge to the front of the frame with a foam brush.

Place your choice of scrapbook paper to the front of the frame and smooth by rubbing the frame with a credit card.
This is when you can get really creative with the type of frame you make! Choose paper to match your home decor, baby paper, anniversary paper, sports paper, etc.

When it is dry, turn it over to reveal the back of the frame and the back of the paper. With a straight blade, cut off the excess paper away from the frame.

It'll end up looking like this....

And close up, you'll see raw edges....

Lightly sand the edges of the frame and the raw edges:

I then brushed a black ink pad on the frame to give it an aged look.
The frame on the left is un-inked, and the frame on the right is inked.

After inking the frames, apply 3 coats of Mod Podge. Allow each coat to dry completely before adding another!


Add a picture!!!!
(Hmmmm..... something is missing...)

A Graduation Hat to 'top' off a great Graduation Frame!

If you already have Mod Podge, paper and left-over stain to use, the cost of this project should be around $1 for the frame.

Easy, cute, AND affordable!!!

Happy Framing!

The Gift of Starbucks

One of my favorite gifts to give (and get!) is a Starbucks Gift Card.
Here's a super cute way to give one as a fun gift!

Here's What You'll Need:

 1 Starbucks cup, dome lid, and their signature green straw
Gift Card
Brown paper (I used a bag)
White Tissue
Hot Glue

Here's How:
1. Cut your brown paper to the appropriate size of the cup. Crunch the paper for texture.

2. Fill your cup with the brown paper and stick the gift card in the middle of the cup.

3. Top the brown paper with crunched white tissue.
('cause you can't have a Starbucks drink without their whipped cream!)
I cut the straw in half and hot glued it to the top of the white tissue.

4. Don't forget to add the persons' name and the type of drink they are getting.
Go on, you know you've always envisioned yourself working there...

This particular one was a 'Birthday Frapp' for Joel's dad.

Or as part of a 'End of the Year Gift' for Reese's teacher...

I added a beach towel and magazine to the 'drink' and placed it all in a beach bag!

The perfect ingredients for a great summer!

Happy FIRST Day of SUMMER!!!!!!

I don't know about you, but I'd like to celebrate with 
a tall, decaf, iced, white mocha with whip. 
Or a grande passion tea lemonade, sweetened..... 
or a tall cookie crumble frappuccino .... 
or a tall vanilla bean afrigado.....
Oh, the possibilities are endless. 

What's your favorite drink?

Graduation Celebration Lunch

Reese's Great-Grandma hosted a Graduation Lunch for Reese after she graduated Kindergarten.

We had such a nice time celebrating with Reese.

I made the desserts and did minimal decorations.
We had fun with 'unusual' graduation colors....

Instead of a whole cake, I decided to make cupcakes (in Reese's pick of flavor).
I happened upon these cute baking cups at Wal-Mart and thought they'd be perfect to hold my cupcakes and the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup graduation hats on a stick.

 The flavor Reese picked???

(I couldn't agree more!)

 They turned out great... the SECOND time.

When I put the first batch of cupcakes in the oven and was cleaning up the counters, 

I saw these; sitting pretty, room temp and all.....

In case you are wondering, this particular recipe without eggs isn't any good!

{You can find the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes here. 

Just don't forget the eggs!}

I also served fruit dips with fruit salad.

 Reese's Great Aunt found these fun cookies that resembled diplomas.
(I cut Fruit Roll Ups into strips and tied them around the cookies.)

 Mini S'mores Cups were the frozen dessert for this lunch.

 {Frozen S'mores Cups can be found here. Instead of using the pan she recommended, I put my desserts in mini cupcake liners and they turned out perfect!}



I think it's safe to say the desserts were enjoyed! :)

Reese was showered with great gifts!

A huge THANKS to the family and friends that have shown Reese so much love and made her Kindergarten Graduation so special!!!!