End of year Teacher and Staff Gift

Okay, so it really seems that I'm using all of my creativity on school things, which is fine, because by boys don't seem to appreciate that sort of stuff so much anymore - birthday party invitations that look like a bowling shirt or a pizza in a delivery box are more embarrassing now than ahhh-inspiring!  They're getting too macho for these sorts of things.

So, my dear compatriot Jenna, whom I have mentioned before here, and I came up with this little gift for all of our teachers and staff as an end of year gift.  Jenna is quite the poet, even though she doesn't "know it" (don't judge - I had to say that) and came up with this text for our gift:

"Working with kids takes a lot of guts,

they can really drive you NUTS!

But you were always extra sweet,

so please enjoy this little TREAT.

Well now the school year is done
and you're overwhelmed with pride,

put this last gift on your car,

and take it for a ride!

We put in the gift bag a package of chocolate covered almonds (the NUTS part!), and an individually wrapped Rice Krispies Treat (the TREAT part!) and one of those rub-on vinyl decals that has our school pawprint insignia and school name on it.  We're lucky enough to have a woman in my neighborhood who has a vinyl decal business!

We got all the almonds and treats from Costco, and Jenna and I spent a couple of hours one day dividing up almonds and treats (we didn't eat too many, I promise!!) and putting them in bags and tying them up with pawprinty ribbon.  I hope the teachers liked them!  They were presented on the last day of school, so we were OUTTA there, so we didn't see their reaction!

Hey, can you tell that our school colors are burgundy and gold?  We got a little theme-crazy...

Banana Split Party!!

As you know if you've read my very first blog entry, I am on the Staff Appreciation Committee at our Elementary School's PTO.  We had a blast doing fun stuff for the teachers during Staff Appreciation Week this year (it was in May...I know I'm late in writing!).  In my opinion, the most fun activity was the Banana Split Party. 

We ordered all of the ingredients - except the bananas (more later on that!) - from our local Bruster's Ice Cream joint.  To lure the teachers and staff to our secret celebration, we put these in their mailboxes early the morning of the event.  And by "we," what I really mean is my friend Jenna did it.  Love that Jenna!  What the invitation said was,

"Don't MONKEY AROUND after school today,

or you'll miss all the friendship and fun...

Bring this banana (it's your ticket!),

have a snack and see what you've won!

Come to the Media Center at 2:15,

be there or be square.

Give the PTO the chance to show you

how much we really care!

I saw the ribbon at Michael's and I simply could not resist.  It was perfect!

The funny part is that I think the biggest hit of the day was my handy dandy banana slicer.  Everybody was fascinated by this thing, which, by the way, was seriously ridiculed when I'd put on my facebook status that I was looking for one.  Really though, how could we keep our banana split buffet running without one of these?

It was *I* who had the last laugh.  Take THAT, Facebook friends who said things like "isn't that called a knife? (insert snarky attitude here)" when I asked if anyone knew anywhere locally where I could buy one. 

Read 'Em and Eat - March 2010

Thankfully, this time that I hosted book club, I didn't end up vomiting like the last time I hosted (an unfortunate low-blood sugar/headache/headache medicine on an empty stomach combination...).  Everything went very well, if I do say so, but I have low standards after last time!

We read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, and everyone seemed to enjoy the book!  Not too fluffy like some we've read, and not too complicated or boring or depressing like others (hello, I'm speaking to you, Atonement).

So, my plan for dinner was to make sort of old fashioned recipes, since the book took place in the 1950's.  I made that ubiquitous salad of butter lettuces, mandarin oranges, blue cheese, and candied almonds, and I grilled a flat-iron steak and sliced it on top.  It was deeeeelicious!  I *love* that salad!  For dessert, I made (again, the ubiquitous) Nabisco Famous Chocoate Wafer refrigerator cake.  More deliciousness.  I also had a pie with a slice missing as a reference to our book.  I intended it as sort of a decoration, but people wanted to eat it!  Who am I to keep a dear friend away from Key Lime Pie?  If you've read the book, yes, I *do* know it was a custard pie, but I wasn't going to try to bake for this.  I had to go with what was available in the freezer section!

My favorite part was our party favors:  I found the cutest black iron birds in the Smith & Hawken aisle at Target, and used them as placecards.  If you've read the book, or even looked on the cover, for that matter, you know the thing about the bird with something stuck through its beak.  I stuck a faux stamp with each member's name on it through the iron beaks.  It was cuter than it sounds, I think.  But I had to lay the birds down like they were dead like in the book.  Here's how it looked:

I was excited about it.  It's the little things, you know?  Oh well, I feel like a big goober/Martha Stewart wannabe, but I guess I should own it, right?

So next book club is at Katherine's, and we're supposed to read The Scarlet Letter.  I'm interested in seeing it through my older eyes, and in this modern context of political and sports figure adultery.  You know who you are...

Book Club

I'm *so* excited about my upcoming Book Club meeting - we call ourselves Read 'Em and Eat for a reason.  We eat first, then discuss the book.  The the host makes a meal that somehow associates with the book (if possible) and sends each member home with a party favor to commemorate the occasion.

This month, we read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The heroine, Flavia, is just the sort of girl I wish I would've been.

Anyway, I have a neat plan for part of our menu, and for the party favors. 

Stay tuned...