Back to School

Sorry it's been a couple of weeks since I posted anything.  It's been a little crazy at my house trying to figure out things for school, which for my kids starts a week from today.  Boy, did summer go fast...
So in honor of "Back to School" here are a couple of really cool ideas I can across.

The 1st is a School Lunch Kit for Mom at Moments to Live By.  I don't know about anyone else but I remember when I was I kid and I always envious those kids that had a fun lunch packed by their Mom.  This little kit makes it so easy to BE that cool Mom so that maybe my kids can be "that kid" I wanted to be. 
Some of the fun things that she suggests stocking it up with are party napkins, sandwich cutters, stickers, fun sandwich bags, prizes, preprinted notes/jokes and markers, both paper & food.  You can put all your fun stuff in a neat tote to keep it all together.  For the full tutorial click here.
I have also seen those cool Keebler snacks that have a spot on them just for writing notes on (I'm sure you've seen the commercial).  I will me adding paper bags to my kit as my 7 3/4 year old has told me it's a big pain to take a lunch box because he always forgets it and with paper bags he can just throw it away.  If anyone else has any ideas of other neat stuff,  let me know. 
The 2nd thing I found are these adorable cupcakes I found at Kara's Cupcakes.  You can make them for a fun after school surprise, dessert for after dinner on the first day of school or whatever. I just thought they were such a cute idea.  For the full tutorial on how to make them click here.  
I hope that everyone has great fun getting ready for school and getting your kids excited for school because all I know is that I am not only ready for them to go back but SO VERY excited too!

Messenger Bag

With school fast approaching (at least for my kids) I thought this was the cutest thing, especially for little girls.  A messenger bag instead of a back pack.  I found it on a blog called "Diary of a Quilter" (their picture of the completed project to the left), although it is not quilted. All the kids have a back pack and something different is always nice, at least while kids are still little.  For the full tutorial click here.
My daughter is starting kindergarten this fall and hasn't gotten into the whole "I have to be just like my friends" yet so I thought it would be the perfect "special" thing for her to start her elementary school experience.   I am going to try it out this week I think, I'm on my way to the store today and will let my daughter pick out her favorite material, Tinkerbell no doubt but she might surprise me.  I am also thinking of adding a pocket on the front or maybe doing a couple of things a little differently but I will let you know how and if it works out.