This week marked the end of preschool for Kate.

I may or may not have been totally crying as I picked her up from her last day & we said Goodbye & Thank you to her teachers.
What an incredible 2 years she has had.
Kate has 8 teachers in her class, so I knew I wanted to give them a gift that was meaningful & useful, but didn't cost a lot of money.
And, I knew I wanted it to be handmade-ish rather than totally store bought.
Here is what I decided to do:

I got 8 mini terra cotta pots at Home Depot for $1.27 each
I got 2 six packs of zinnias for $2.89 each
{I already had the spray paint}
I spray painted the pots & bases with 2 coats of spray paint.

I made printable that said "Thank you for helping Kate bloom"
I printed it on cardstock.

Then I used a 2.5 inch scalloped punch to punch them out and I glued them with a hot glue gun to craft sticks that I already had on hand.

Once the pots were dry (the next day) I planted a zinnia in each one & stuck in the printable.

Didn't they turn out so cute?

Way more fun than just boring terra cotta.
I figure her teachers can use the pot at home or they can keep in in their classroom!

Kate had 4 main teachers & the other 4 were in their room once a week for Bible, PE, Music & Science.
For her 4 main teachers I also gave them a gift card to a local Nursery so they can buy some more flowers for their yards.

It has been so neat to see Kate's transformation over the past 2 years...socially, academically & creatively.
Kate's school has them draw a picture of themselves the first month of school & the last month of school. It is fun to see how Kate's art & writing has improved in 9 months.
This was a fun gift to make & I love how inexpensive it was!
It was meaningful....Kate really has bloomed this year.
Also, Kate LOVES helping me plant flowers & water our flowers, so this gift is perfect!
Because I love you all so much, I made some printables for you to use also!
Kate's said "Thank you for helping Kate bloom"
The ones for you guys say "Thank you for helping me bloom"
So, you can use them for any kid!
I made them with 3 different background colors:
Pink:
Purple:

Aqua:

Happy Friday!!!

Today I'm linking up with Friday Favorites!

Hosted by: Andrea, Erika & Narci

As of today, we have exactly 7 weeks until summer break.
7 weeks....we can do it teacher friends & parents!
As a teacher, summer is one of my favorite times of the year!
I can't WAIT for summer!!

Today, I have 10 favorites to share today!

{ONE}

Celebrations are my favorite.
We have had a lot of celebrations this month!
Birthdays & Weddings!
During Spring Break (aka Potty Training Hell) we had 2 birthday parties that week which made the week that much more bearable.
My friend Jackie had a birthday earlier this month:

 Then we went to a surprise party for one of our dear family friends
 My sisters & I on the dance floor with our dad, Jimmy. We never have any fun ;)
 Weddings are also my favorite! Last weekend we had wedding of one of our youth group kids. Having a kid free night with this guy is my favorite, especially at weddings!

I got my dress at Target about 4 years ago...perfect LBD! And, it was $20!

And, tomorrow one of my cousins is getting married!
 I can't wait!

{TWO}
Liane Moriarty is my current favorite author.
She has 6 books and since January, I have read all of them!
The Hypnotists Love Story


Big Little Lies


The Husband's Secret


What Alice Forgot



Three Wishes



The Last Anniversary

I hope she comes out with a new book this year, I loved each and everyone of them.
I just love finding an author I really love...then I read all the books they wrote and get sad when there are no new ones left to read. *Sigh*

{THREE}
Stitch Fix is my Favorite!  
I know I've talked about Stitch Fix before....but it really is my favorite!
My April package arrived yesterday!
It's like Christmas morning....what's going to be inside the box?!?!



{FOUR}
Happy Customers are my favorite.
I got this email from one of my preferred customers a week ago:
 Seriously, I LOVE getting emails like this. It makes me so happy that our products work so well. One of Rodan + Fields slogans is: "Changing Skin & Changing Lives" It really does!
If you have skin issues that you want to work on, I would love to help you!
We have products for aging skin, sun damage, pregnancy melasma (mask of pregnancy), sensitive skin & acne.
Our Unblemish line is one of my most popular sellers.
Check out this before & after using Unblemish for just 2 weeks.

Unblemish works on skin of all ages...teens, 20s, 30s, 40s!
Get your confidence back and try our Unblemish Regimen.
60 day, empty bottle, 100% money back guarantee! You have nothing to lose....except acne!
$20 cash back, 10% off your order & Free Shipping for all new preferred customers.

And, because it's FRIDAY....how about a FREEBIE! Pick 1 of our Essentials items....SPF 30 Body Sunscreen (my kids favorite!), Daily Body Moisturizer, SPF 25 Lip Shield (2 pack)  or
 our SOLD OUT Sunless Tanner (I will mail you one as soon as it is back in stock....hopefully in the next week or 2!)

Email me to place an order or if you have questions!
melissa_larson17@yahoo.com 
This deal is good until April 30th!

Linky Parties are my favorite!
As you know, for 2 years Shay, Sheaffer & I hosted our Pin-Spired link up where we linked up our Pinterest inspired outfits. After 2 years, we decided to make a change, and we are excited to announce our NEW linky party!

I have done What's Up Wednesday since January (you can see them here) and I am excited that it is now going to be a linky party!

Our link up will be the LAST Wednesday of each month & here is the list of questions you can include in your blog post!

 We will also have a question of the month in addition to the questions above....the question for this month is:
"What are you buying/wanting for Mother's Day this year?"

We are starting our first What's Up Wednesday in just a few days on:
Wednesday April 29th!

We are so excited about it and can't wait to learn about What's up with all of you!

{SIX}

THESE are the mugs I have.
I keep them in my freezer so they are nice and cold when I make my Moscow Mules.
Ginger beer, vodka & fresh squeezed limes...that's what Moscow Mules are made of!

Time Hop is my new favorite app. My sister told me about it a few weeks ago & I am obsessed!
Look how little Kate & Claire were!!

I also liked this Time Hop from 2 years ago....
She is still my Giants loving girl. Claire got a Giants towel for Easter & she uses it as a rug in her room :)

{EIGHT}
Full House was one of my favorite shows growing up....did you hear the news?
In 2016 Netflix is releasing Fuller House!!!!
I can't WAIT!!!!
Read about it here.
 {NINE}
These 3 are my favorite.
Seeing them interact is my favorite.
Seeing how they love on each other is my favorite.
I love their love for each other.
I love how they love being with eachother.
We have a big sectional couch, but they always choose to sit right next to each other & snuggle.
I am savoring this while it lasts!!


{TEN}

Amazon is one of my favorites & so are giveways!

What would you buy with a $100 Amazon Gift Card?
So many options....I could get more books for my kindle, more copper mugs or I could have it pay for my Amazon Prime Account! Can't wait to hear what you would use it for...the possibilities are endless!
To enter, use the Rafflecopter below!
Giveaway ends next Friday, May 1st.

Hope you have a GREAT Friday! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kate did it last year & this year Claire was old enough as well!
Both of them can swim now. It is such a relief!
They can both jump off the diving board in the deep end & swim to the edge of the pool.
(If you told me at the beginning of the summer that they would be able to do that, I would not have believed you!)

Being a teacher & a former soccer coach, I know how nice it is to get end of the year gifts from students/players, so I always try and do something for their teachers/coaches at the end of the season, even if it is something small.

{Click HERE to see what I made them last year}

They had 10 coaches & all their swim coaches are in either high school or college, so I needed to do something that wasn't too costly.
What do most high school & college kids like? Candy!

I saw a similar idea on Pinterest, but knew I wanted to tweak the idea & make my own design.
Here is what I came up with:
Last week their "swim team" ended, so we gave the coaches their gift on the last day.
They had a mini swim meet where each swimmer got to swim across the pool & then they got a medal.
If you need a super easy & inexpensive end of year coach or teacher gift, here is what you need:

Swedish Fish Candy
Washi Tape
Printable Tag (I used cardstock, but normal paper is fine)

Here is a close up of the tag that I made:

Cheesy? Yes. But, I think it's cute (and so did the coaches!)
This was a SUPER easy end of the season gift.
And, cheap!
The bags of candy were only $.79 each
(They were the small bags, but you can get bigger bags for less than $2 each)
The washi tape I also got at Target for a few dollars.
And, then I just printed out the printable & stuck it to the candy.
It took me 5 minutes to put this together.

And, because I love you guys, I made some printables for you!
There are 3 versions, one for a swim coach, one for a coach (any sport) & one for teacher (so you can use this for teacher appreciation, etc.
You are o-fish-ally a great teacher:

{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}

Print them out, cut them, fill in your kids name(s), and tape it a bag of Swedish Fish.

Enjoy!
Linking up HERE