You Are One [KOHL] Dad!

What do you get an amazing man for his birthday, who has reached his 70s, and is a simple person? I know, right? It's hard!!!! My father-in-law celebrated his birthday on October 22nd and I told him yesterday that it is really a challenge finding gifts for him.  NOT because he isn't worthy. It's QUITE the opposite of that. BUT because he really doesn't need anything and as stated before, he's a simple man!

Punny LipBoss!

I love PUN gifts. They show that you did't run out last minute, scrambling for anything that doesn't make sense, and that you put a little time, effort, and creativity into a gift. Just another reason I love my role as a LipSense Distributor.  I get to use my other talents for my customers, creating unique gifts!

Blowing You Kisses & Valentine Wishes!

Today, I turned some ordinary lip whistles into the cutest Valentines for my kids to pass out in a few weeks. The lip whistles came from Hobby Lobby. There are (12) whistles in each bag and right now they are on sale for $1.79 per pack. The pack is a mixture of both pink and red lips. I purchased (2) packs because I needed (24) whistles. How did I spruce these lip whistles up a little? Well I am so glad that you asked.

Valentine, You Make My Heart FIZZ!

Bath bombs seem to be the latest craze lately, especially among little girls.  About a year ago, Lilah and I were able to experience a really cool store, in a mall, called Lush. We found their bath bombs super cute and amazing for bath time.  

"Apples" For Mrs. Meredith From Lilah!

If you do not GET the tag line, on the bag below, you didn't grow up in the 90s.

Lilah and Jax ALWAYS give ONE gift to their teacher because they share a classroom however, this year, they gave Mrs. Meredith two gifts! This post is about the gift Lilah gave to her. 

Above: Art, from Hobby Lobby, that reads, "What I love most about my classroom is who I share it with!"  This sign is BEYOND perfect after what happened a few weeks back. See video below.  

If it wasn't already obvious, above, the twins got different teachers this year.  THEY HAVE NEVER been separated.  Duh, they are WOMBMATES. This came as a total shock to me, but the school has a new principal and she just didn't know that that has always been the case. They have SINCE been awarded the same teacher.  

I absolutely LOVE the bag that I had "Four Seasons Gifts" make for me.  

"On the playground is where I spend most of my days!"

Like I said, if you didn't live in the 90s, then you wouldn't get the bag because you've probably never watched the Fresh Price of Bel Air.

I filled the bag with a nice collection of colorful office supplies.  

I used magnetic letters, from the Dollar Spot at Target, to customize the beautiful notebook.

I love the way it all turned out. 

I asked Carmen, the owner of Four Seasons, to use navy glitter vinyl.  The kids' school colors are blue and yellow.  

I created a little tag that included some more of the lyrics to the sitcom's song...

I realize that fourth grade teachers really spend most of their time in a classroom, but I couldn't resist.

No more tears, just kisses!! These two... what will they do when they get married.  LOL!

I hope Ms. Meredith enjoys her gift from Lilah! Check out Four Seasons Gifts! Carmen can create or design almost anything your little heart desires. Stay tuned for a post on what Jax gave to his teacher.

If you'd like to copy the gift idea, please feel free to click here for the printable that I made, here.  If you use it, I'd love for you to send me a photo to bollingwith5@gmail.com. I always love to see the twist people put on other's ideas.

Bus Driver Gift - 2018/2019

I totally dropped the ball on a gift for Ms. Robin, the kids' bus driver.  I didn't realize it until about 4:00 p.m. yesterday.  Darren and I went to Kroger and we stood in the gift certificate section and just made a mini date out of trying to come up with something clever.  We had quite the laughs.  For instance, Home Depot, Darren said, "We know you can't wait to take our kids HOME!!" Burger King was "You are the KING of the bus!"  CheeseCake Factory was "Thanks for allowing our kids to ride the CHEESE!" The list was endless, as was the laughter.  While some of those ideas were clever, they were not practical.  The bus driver is a female and I felt like a gift card to Home Depot wasn't the most exciting gift I could have given her.  Burger King is Burger King.  And we don't have a local CheeseCake Factory.  So... I decided on a gift certificate to Target.  NOW WHAT?

I used the above bus image to type a clever something, to Ms. Robin.

I left a blank spot to insert the gift certificate to Target.

Along with the $25 gift certificate to Target, I enclosed a few other awesome gifts.

What was inside the gift bag?

First up, DUH, a school bus brownie.

 Second up, DUHx2, Project 7 Champagne Bears.

 Third, a collection of nuts.

 Fourth, a globe/world pen.  I found this, last minute, at the Dollar Tree.

For last minute, I think this gift turned out pretty darn good. I did contact my creative friend Kaitlyn Belcher to help me with wording.  Kaitlyn helped me incorporate the Project 7 Champagne Bears into the wording.  If you read carefully, you will see that each gift relates to one of the words: "beary", "target", "nutty", "drive", and "toast".  

Orange You Glad It's Summer?!

The principal and school secretary MUST be ready for a break and must are bound to be SICK OF APPLES.  So, we are saying thank you with this BRIGHT, cheery, gift basket of ORANGE goodies!!!! I spotted the most delicious DRIED oranges from the FRESH MARKET last week and AS SOON AS I SAW THEM, I knew exactly WHAT I would do with them!!! I KNEW I would design the principal and school secretary's gift SOLEY off of those oranges and THIS is what I came up with?!

"Orange you glad it's SUMMER!"

I absolutely LOVE everything about this basket.  AND... I am so glad that tomorrow is the last day of school because I am tired of obsessing over the color/fruit orange.   Everywhere I went, I scoped the stores for ORANGE THINGS or ORANGEY gifts.  

I created a "sweet" printable for all to use.  If you would like to make a basket of your own, to gift to teachers, bus drivers, janitors, or school staff, click here, for the printable.  Please send me a photo of your creations. I love seeing them!!! And don't forget to tell others about our family blog if you do use the printable that I am generously sharing with you.

What was inside?  All kinds of goodies.  See below.

Boom Chicka Cheddar Popcorn

Peach Hand Sanitizer

Reese's Stuffed With Pieces

Trident Tropical Gum

An Orange Candle

Dried Orange Slices

Fanta

Campfire Crunch

A Bath Fizzer

An Actual Orange

Orange Life Savers

I am so pleased with the finished product.  I printed the label, cut it out, and adhered it to a bendy straw, via scotch tape, so that I could manipulate the printable to be seen by the recipient, from any angle I desired.  

Where We Dropping Boys?

Ty's party is getting closer and closer and to make the parents more comfortable with the specific details of the WHERE, WHAT, WHEN, I created a party itinerary for them. I am pretty excited about it.  Don't be too impressed by my FortNite knowledge.  I had to research FortNite to learn all of the correct terms and verbiage.  LOL! I am either going to be the coolest parent in the world or the cheesiest parent in the world.  I accept either or... Haha.  If Ty chooses cheesy, then I know really, deep down inside, he thinks I am the coolest mom E-V-E-R.  LOL!  

I know this party theme is going to be CRAZY POPULAR, just a fast as I can SNEEZE, so I created a semi-blank, party itinerary for ALL to use for their own FORTNITE party!

Click here to print and fill in the blanks.  Be sure to give me a shout out or let me know that you used it.  I enjoy seeing my creativity be used by others.

Peeps Easter Coupons

Last year, I took an alternate route and decided to stop filling eggs with plastic junk and 
candy! I designed my own coupons, that fit the dynamics of our family, and inserted them into our plastic eggs, along with all of the other traditional surprises: gift cards, cash, lottery and tickets. My kids are old enough now to "need" cash for things and they enjoy gift certificates.  Lottery tickets are always FUN to receive.  There's such a "thrill" factor.  The most we've ever won was $10.00.  One day, we may hit it big.  LOL! Here are last year's coupons. 

This year, I decided to use cute and colorful PEEP images.  I LOVE the idea of the peeps hatching out of the eggs.  I guess, really, I should have used the chicks, but the peeps are so much cuter.  

For the most part, I used the same coupon ideas as last year. I did add a few NEW coupons though.... such as "A Trip To Starbucks!", "A Date Alone With Mom & Dad!", and "Good For 1-Free iTunes App!"

As you can see, each sheet of coupons contains a "Rotten Egg".  Basically, if they get that egg, they it's a dud. Essentially, "Good For Nothing!"

I also denied to add a sheet of coupons for the parents to use.  These will either be hidden in their eggs, to be given back to us OR I will let them hide 10 eggs for US to find! And we, the parents, get to use these coupons W-H-E-N-E-V-E-R we desire. I love this new addition.  I know the kids will hate it.  Like what you see?  See attached links below for PRINTING. ENJOY!  AND... if you do wind up using these... please share my blog or Instagram account with others @ BollingWith5.  Thank you!

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Coupons 1
Coupons 2
Coupons 3

Our Friendship Can't Be... Erased!

Okay! If you know me WELL, you know that I am completely obsessed with everything about Valentine's Day! I have probably repeated myself each year, on our blog, when I say this, but I will say it again... I love the colors, the emotions, the intentions, the sentiments, the chocolates, the entire thing screams LOVE! 

I spotted these darling, Valentine woodland creatures at HomeGoods.

They came in a box set and included a bear, a bunny, and a fox and included red, white, and pink heart-shaped erasers. The company Elum Designs makes them.  

The back of the creature looks like this... but I wanted MORE!

So I created a printable.  

It reads, "Our friendship can't be ERASED!"

Make no MISTAKE (ha ha) about it, these will be enjoyed!

I am offering this printable to you for FREE.  You might not be able to find this Valentine boxed set this late in the game BUT, you will be able to find some sort of eraser.  So feel free to click here for the red printable and here for the pink printable to replicate this idea!

Wishing you all a HAPPY LOVE DAY!