Today was the open house at the elementary school. The kids got to go meet their teachers. find their desk and drop off their school supplies.  I always like to bring a little something for the teachers.  It’s usually it’s in the form of a bouquet of flowers from my garden…

But this year, Jack has a male teacher.  What to do?!  I’m sure he doesn’t get too excited about a lovely bouquet displayed in a ball jar, with a note and some twine wrapped around it!

So I did a little looking online and found a cute idea on Pinterest, of course.  I found the A&W logo from the internet and created this fun note…

…then attached it with some twine to a six pack of root beer!

I think the teachers liked their gifts!  I know the kids enjoyed delivering them today!

jen

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Remember when my sister-in-law made me a ‘book plant‘ for my birthday?  I’ve enjoyed mine so much that I thought they would make great teacher gifts {yes, those of us that live in the northwest are still in school!}! This weekend I made two of them, and I love how they turned out!

Keep reading to learn how to make one.

{1}

Gather supplies.

Visit the Good Will or Value Village to purchase some old hardback books.  Don’t worry much about what the paper cover looks like.  Just remove it!  It’s most likely that there is a pretty and simple looking book under that decorative cover!

Purchase succulents at your local gardening or grocery store.

{2}

Cut an opening in the book.

Open the front cover and measure the opening.  Then begin cutting.

You will be able to cut through a section of book pages at a time. But the process can seem a bit daunting, depending on how thick your book is.

{3}

Line the opening with parchment paper or wax paper.

For the first book, I pre-cut the wax paper and lined the opening in the book.   But planting the succulents proved to be a messy job.  So for the next book, I laid a big piece of wax paper down and cut it after I planted them. I liked this way much better.

{4}

Plant succulents in the book opening.

You can see that I was a bit messy.   This was the book with the pre-cut wax paper.

{5}

Place moss on top of the dirt. 

The moss will give the book plant a finished look and it will also cover any wax paper that is showing.

I put a bit of water on the moss to help it squish together and fit on top of the dirt.

{6}

Place book on your shelf or give as a gift.

How to care for your book plant:

Succulents like DRY dirt. So for you non-green thumbs out there, this might be right up your alley!  For a typical succulent in a pot, it is recommended that you water it once a month.  But you can’t really water this  since it’s in a book.  I recommend getting a water bottle and spraying the moss and dirt once a week or every two weeks.  That’s what I’ve been doing with my book plant and it’s seemed to do the job!

Enjoy!
jen

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I love placemats.  In my opinion, they can be used for more than dressing up a table!  I’ve used them to make kids aprons.  I’ve thought about using them to make pillows.  And today I used one to make a purse!  This project is so easy (or SEW easy….sorry, couldn’t resist).

{1}

Select a place mat (for the purse) and ribbon (for the strap).

{placemat: crate and barrel} {ribbon: black grosgrain}

{2}

Fold the place mat in half and pin edges together.

{3}

Sew the edges…

and turn the placemat so the right side is facing out.

{4}

Cut the ribbon to the appropriate length.  (I wanted to sling my purse across my body, so I cut the ribbon 47″  long.)  Singe the edges of your ribbon with a lighter to keep it from fraying.

{5}

Sew ribbon into the desired place.  I sewed mine onto the side seams.

Wasn’t that simple?!  And it only took four runs of stitches!  You could also add a snap, button or velcro closure.  And maybe an inside pocket.

The placemat purse makes a great gift! It can serve as a mini diaper bag when checking your little one into childcare. Or maybe a bag to hold your bible on Sunday morning.  How about a birthday gift for a little girl that loves purses!?

I’d love to see your placemat purse creations!  Are you going to make one!?

Jen

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