Tag: back to school

DIY Apple Cookie Pops

Post author By vickybarone
Post date September 8, 2016

This post contains affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price stays the same for you!

How is everyone’s first week back at school going? We’re guessing that right about now you might be in need of a sweet treat. You’ve put in a lot of hard work this week! How about some chocolatey cookie pops masquerading as apples?

These delicious treats would make a great gift for your new teachers, or just a gift to yourself after a long hard day. Here’s how we made them…

Ingredients: Oreo cookies, red candy melts, green candy melts, pretzel sticks (broken into 1/2″ pieces), and cake pop sticks.

(The above ingredients contain affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price stays the same for you!)

You will also need a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and a microwave safe bowl.

Directions:
1. Melt the green candy melts in the microwave according to the package directions.
2. Scoop the green candy melts into a Ziploc bag and cut the tip of the bag.
3. Draw leaves with the green candy melts onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Let cool.
4. Melt red candy melts until smooth.
5. Dip a cake pop stick into the candy melts and insert it into an Oreo. Rest on the cookie sheet with the leaves and place in the fridge for a few minutes to set.
6. Remove from fridge and dip each Oreo into the red candy melts. Use a spoon to spread the candy melts around the cookies to coat.
7. Before the red candy cools, insert a leaf and a pretzel into the top.
8. Rest the completed cookies on the cookie sheet and place in fridge to set.

Go ahead, treat yourself!

Tags back to school, cake pop sticks, candy melts, cookies, dessert, oreos, teacher gifts

DIY

DIY Feather Pens

Post author By vickybarone
Post date September 6, 2016

Hooray for the first day of school! We are excited for a fresh new school year full of possibilities! To celebrate, we are sharing a super easy DIY project to brighten up your pencil case this year…

We made these feather pens using the same method as the DIY Flower Pens and we LOVE how they turned out! These would make a great gift for teachers or just add a pop of color to your desk! Here’s how to make your own:

Directions:
1. Gather your supplies: ball point pens (with caps! Not the retractable kind), pliers, hot glue, and feathers.
2. Use the pliers to squeeze the base of the pen until the bottom pops out.
3. Remove the bottom and separate it from the ink. Put the ink back into the pen and discard the bottom.
4. Add hot glue to the pen.
5. Insert feather into the glue and hold until the glue cools.
6. Enjoy your new pens!

Wishing you all a wonderful new school year and a happy Fall!

P.S. Our Back-to-School Giveaway ends tonight! Check it out here and enter to win lots of fun prizes!

Tags back to school, DIY, diy decor, feathers, pens

DIY Kids

DIY Pencil Bags

Post author By vickybarone
Post date August 31, 2016

Today we’re sharing a fun DIY project for kids OR teachers! These “Welcome Bags” are painted to look like pencils and can be filled with treats for a new teacher or school supplies for new students. We even personalized ours with Places for Faces! Here’s how to make your own…

Supplies: yellow gift bags (we used the leftovers from this project!), pink, silver, and tan acrylic paint, a paint brush, painter’s tape, black tissue paper, and custom tags by Places for Faces.

Directions:
1. Tape off the bottom and top of a bag with the painter’s tape.
2. Paint the bottom pink to resemble an eraser, and paint the top tan to resemble the wood of the pencil.
3. Let dry and remove tape carefully.
4. Tape off one more section above the pink eraser and paint silver to resemble the metal.
5. Use Places for Faces to create custom face tags! Print from home, cut them out, and glue them to the bag.
6. Open up the bag and add treats, school supplies, books, and whatever other things you’d like.
7. Finish with some black tissue paper to resemble the graphite!

Gift these to new teachers this school year with your little one’s faces or, if you are a teacher yourself, create these for your new students and place them on their desks to welcome them on their first day!

If you’re gearing up for back-to-school, you’ll want to check out our Loop Giveaway going on right now on Instagram!

Tags back to school, DIY, gift bags, pencils, places for faces

DIY

DIY Glitter Pencils

Post author By vickybarone
Post date August 25, 2016

Looking for back-to-school ideas with a little pizzazz? We took some plain pencils and gave them life! These pencils are the perfect end-of-Summer craft your kids will love. They make great teacher gifts too! Here’s how to make your own…

Supplies: pencils, glue, a paint brush, and glitter.

Directions:
1. Squeeze a little glue onto your work surface like you would paint.
2. Dip the paint brush into the glue and begin painting it onto the metal part of a pencil.
3. Shake glitter onto the glue to coat completely.
4. Tap the pencil on its side to shake off any excess glitter.
5. Let dry!

What do you think? Will you be adding some glitter to your pencil bag this school year?

Tags back to school, DIY, glitter, pencils, teacher gift

DIY Kids

DIY Apple Jars

Post author By vickybarone
Post date August 23, 2016

Back to School season is upon us! Today we’re sharing an easy and inexpensive DIY gift your new teachers will love!

Supplies: mini glass jars (our were from the Dollar Spot at Target!), red acrylic paint, green acrylic paint, a paint brush, green felt, brown pipe cleaner, and hot glue.

Directions:
1. Pour red paint into a jar and roll it around to coat the inside. Pour out excess paint into the next jar and repeat!
2. Rest the jars upside down to let the paint dry and let any excess paint drip out. We rested ours on bamboo skewers on top of wax paper overnight.
3. Use a paint brush to paint the lips with green paint. Let dry.
4. Cut leaves out of green felt and hot glue to the lids.
5. Cut pipe cleaner into 1″ pieces, fold in half, and hot glue to the base of each leaf to create the stems.

Personalize these gifts with some tags from Places for Faces that you can print from home!

Aren’t they cute?? These make great teacher gifts too! Add erasers, paper clips, or other supplies to the insides and gift to your new teachers. If you’d like to add candy to the jars, we recommend painting the red on the outside instead. These jars are not food safe the way we created them.

Looking for more back to school ideas? Check these out!

Tags back to school, crafts, DIY, Kids, teacher gift

DIY

DIY Flower Pens

This post contains affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price stays the same for you!

Back to School season is HERE! Can you believe it? Last year we shared some super cute flower pens to give as teacher gifts (or to keep for yourself!). We loved them so much that we made a new batch. These pens are surprisingly easy to assemble, and they make the best little bouquets! Here’s how to make your own…

Supplies: fake flowers (we got ours from the thrift store, but here are some similar ones), ballpoint pens with caps (not retractable – you need to be able to remove the bottom), pliers, and hot glue.

Directions:
1. Use the pliers to slowly pinch the end of a pen. The base should wiggle out. Remove the base and discard.
2. Cut a fake flower bloom, leaving about 1/4 inch of stem (or if the head of the flower is removable without cutting, simply remove it.).
3. Add a small amount of hot glue to the base of the open pen and insert the flower.
4. Let cool and you’re done!

Have any more fun back to school ideas? We’d love to hear them!

Tags back to school, flower pens, teacher appreciation, teacher gifts

Giveaways Kids Products Recipes Things I Love

Back to School Lunch Ideas with Pearls Olives To Go

Post author By vickybarone
Post date August 16, 2016
6 Comments on Back to School Lunch Ideas with Pearls Olives To Go

We created this post in partnership with Pearls Olives, a company my family and I love. I have been compensated for my review, but all opinions are that of myself and the writers of blog.vickybarone.com. Thank you for supporting the brands that make blog.vickybarone.com possible! This post may also contain affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price stays the same for you!

Back to School season is upon us and we are gearing up with more delicious lunch box ideas your little ones with love! Last year’s post was such a hit, we decided to share a few more lunch combos for 2016. This time we are proud to partner with Pearls Olives for their #BetterWithPearls Mini Moments Back to School Program!

As a busy working mom, I love any opportunity to snag just five minutes back into my day to focus on the more important moments with my family. Pearls Olives To Go gives me those five minutes! The perfectly portioned grab-and-go containers are so easy to add to my boys’ lunches and they LOVE them! The peel-off lids are easy to open for little hands and there’s no messy liquid! Just toss a container into a lunch box and you are good to go!

Check out the yummy lunch ideas we put together below, and find out how you can enter to win the #BetterWithPearls Mini Moments Sweepstakes!

Lunch #1 features a healthy twist on a peanut butter sandwich. Take a whole wheat wrap, spread some peanut butter or almond butter, add banana slices and a drizzle of honey! Roll it up and slice into bite-sized pieces. We threw in some cheese cubes, fruit, and veggies, and finished it off with some yummy black olives in our trusty lunch box.

We filled this lunch box to the brim with chicken salad, crackers and cheese, avocado slices, hummus and cucumbers, pomegranate seeds, and a pack of kalamata olives. This lunch is full of protein and the olives give it a Mediterranean flair!

Breakfast for lunch, anyone? This delicious combination features a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and jelly, plus some veggies and ranch, cheese cubes, orange slices, and kalamata olives.

Who needs grilled cheese and soup when you can have grilled cheese and olives? This salty combo is paired with some celery and cherry tomatoes, and some sweet peach slices. All packed into the best (and easiest) lunch boxes around.

We are thrilled to add Pearls Olives To Go to our lunchbox packing routine. They make my job a little easier and everyone’s day a little brighter.

You can find Pearls Olives at your local Target and Walmart and choose from a variety of types of olives!

We have an extra treat for you, dear readers! Head on over to Pearls Olives Facebook page and enter to win a weekly prize pack or the grand prize, a Mega Moment prize pack valued at $1,000! The sweepstakes will run until September 11, 2016. Good luck!

Tags back to school, lunch, lunch box ideas, pearls olives, sponsored post

Kids Products Things I Love

Back to School : Outfits for Boys

Post author By vickybarone
Post date September 4, 2015

We are back with another edition of Back to School Outfits! If you’re looking for some new pieces for your little ones’ wardrobes, we’re here to share some stylish items from our favorite shops. Mix and match and make them your own!

Items from above photo: 1. Sweater | 2. Plaid Shirt | 3. Jeans | 4. Boots

For even more outfit ideas, check out last year’s post here.

We hope everyone has a safe, happy, and healthy Labor Day Weekend!

Tags back to school, boy, boys, clothes, clothing, outfits, outfits for boys