Witch's Broom Stick Snack!

I know Halloween is over, but I have a blog backlog the size of Texas, so forgive me for having to still live in October when reading this post.  As homeroom momma, I quickly assigned myself to the "sweet treat" for the Halloween "celebration". I think the kids look forward to the sweet the MOST and it's the easiest item to be creative with. I decided to make some witch brooms that I originally spotted on Giggles_galore's Instagram account.  Her's were ADORABLE, BUT while there is NOT always time to re-invent the wheel... I prefer to at least reshape it.  I like to create MY OWN ideas, but sometimes there is NOT enough time for that.  This idea was so stinking cute and I just decided to put my own twist on it. I love with the way it turned out.  It's so colorful and witchey.  LOL! Is that a word?

Here's what you will need to make MY witch brooms:

1. Raffia - I purchased mine for $1.00 at the Dollar Tree.  Love that store so much!

2. Colorful String - (Dollar Tree)

3. Paper Straws - (Walmart)  

4. Donuts (Or any snack, really, that will slide onto the straw)

5. Hot Glue Gun

First, cut at least 8-10 (6-inch) strips of raffia.  

Tie the strands of raffia together, in the center, using another piece of raffia or a piece of string matching the color of the broom bristles!

Fold the raffia together at the center.  Tie raffia together, creating a broom look, using a different piece of colored string. Finally, hot glue broom bristles aka raffia to the paper straw.  

String donuts on the witch brooms.  

I wound up doing 3 different flavored donuts before it was ALL said and done! I believe variety is the spice of life!!

Apples For Mrs. Green ~ First Day Of School

On the first day of school, the twins presented Mrs. Green with some fun school supplies.  (Above): a "Mrs. Green" felt banner.  It was made with black stickers from Michaels and a premade, felt banner from the Target $3 bin!

Then, I filled up this adorable owl box, from the Dollar Tree, with adorably unique school supplies from Michael's Craft Store.

I also enclosed a $15 gift card to Michael's (which Mrs. Green later told me is one of her favorite stores!).

 What was inside? See below...

I also bought this ceramic pencil and added Mrs. Green's name to it!

Finally, days after Mrs. Green sent home mounds of paperwork to be filled out, I gave her some "paperwork" to fill out too! It's always nice getting to know the teacher's likes and dislikes, so each year I have the teacher fill out a questionnaire.  I made this questinnaire last year and just beefed it up a tad to reflect the changes (teacher name and date).

I also made a little bucket of goodies for Mrs. K, the principal, and Mrs. Dixon, the school secretary! Each bucket had a "back-to-school Starbucks gift card, apple hand soap, a pencil clip, and a mini bubble cake.

The Toothpaste Monster Will Be Caught!

"Oh.My.Goodness.!" Those are the words that race through my mind when I open up this bathroom drawer, along with many other raging thoughts.  I have no idea HOW anyone or WHY anyone would desire for their toothbrush supplies drawer to look like this.  When my kids were younger, I pretty much wished their lives away thinking things would get a little easier.  Ha! Nope.  Trading diapers for pee-ers just means instead of spending wasting money on padded underwear, you now are spending wasting time cleaning urine off of every nook/cranny that a toilet bowl contains. And this toothbrush drawer... it NEVER looked this way until I stopped brushing their teeth and they started brushing their teeth. SEE?!?! Trading one hard, for a different hard.  Sigh!!! BUT... I do say, finding a solution to the problem, rather than allowing it to consume you is a much better ROUTE.  SO... that's what I did. At first, I tried desperately to train my kids on how to brush their teeth, squeeze the toothpaste, put the cap back on, and put everything back the way they found it.  As you can see, in the photo above, NONE OF THAT was honored or followed.  My theory is that ONE person is ruining it for the others and the others gave up. So did I. Then, I decided "Forget it!", I am not going to fight this battle anymore.  I am not going to see stars and ruin my testimony every time I open this drawer.  I adopted the "Not my bathroom, not my problem!" mentality.  Clearly, that didn't last long. Clean, organized people cannot just close a drawer and be satisfied with hidden filth and disorganization. None of my kids will admit to who's causing this catastrophic mess, so I have figured out a way to nail the toothpaste monster ONCE.AND.FOR.ALL.  Final mentality, "MY HOUSE, MY RULES... you will live clean."

In the Bolling Kid's bathroom, there are four, large, deep drawers and two cabinets. PERFECT! Each kid will get a drawer. No more sharing spaces.  I shopped for some drawer organizers.  Originally, I considered a silverware organizer, from the Dollar Tree, but the compartments were too fixed! Meaning, not all of their toiletries are shaped like a spoon.  LOL!

Instead, I found these Inter Design Drawer Organizers at Lowes (of all places).  The smaller one was $4.99 and the bigger one was $6.99.  They also sell them at The Container Store, Target, and Amazon.  

The initial investment is there and might deter you at first, but I had to think of the long term goal and joy it will bring me.

Ty has always claimed green.  Lilah pink & Jax blue. We already had the toothbrushes and the colorful bowls.  I just needed to buy a few other needs: NEW usable toothpaste, dental floss sticks, and mouthwash.  

Look how nicely the products fit into the drawer organizers.

I picked up some drawer liners at the Dollar Tree.  LOVE.THAT.STORE.

The boys were with me.  They refused to have their drawers lined with the green and blue dots, so I chose that for Lilah. The boys chose the bark liner.  Can you believe I got three rolls for $3.00.  You can't even buy one roll at Lowes for under $6.99.

So... here is the BEFORE photo! So gross!

Oh and here was the hair product drawer too.  I'm telling you... I just gave up, but ONLY for so long...

Lilah and I worked together to clean out the drawers.

And lined the drawers.

Then we organized together.  Lilah exclaimed, "I love doing this stuff.  It's so much fun!"  

Each kid has their OWN drawer NOW, with their own needs!

(Above): Ty has mouthwash, deodorant, cologne, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and dental floss sticks.  

(Above): Lilah has lotion, mouthwash, carmex chapstick, perfume, deodorant, a toothbrush, toothpaste, plastic rubber bands, and dental floss sticks. She doesn't have a use for deodorant, but she thinks it's cool to wear it.   

(Below): Jax has mouthwash, a hair brush, hair gel, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss sticks.

I will now be able to determine who is causing all of the messes.  I will know based on how clean each individual's drawer stays.  

I love the way this turned out.  Can you figure out what I added in the below photo?  THEIR NAMES! DUH.  When possible, use your labeler.  Hehe.

Lilah's hair product drawer is below.  Eventually, I needed more space, so being we never use a blow dryer, I moved that to one of the cabinet spaces.

Tada! (Jax added a deodorant and water spray bottle.).

When I walk up the stairs, I now know that what's sparking clean on the outside, is also sparking clean on the inside.  Shew! I slept so good last night.  LOL!  Seriously.  

Bye-bye toothpaste monster Jax...(ok, that's just my guess)!