Looking for New Wholesale Accounts for Spring/Summer!

I am looking for new wholesale accounts for spring/summer (and beyond)! Are you a storefront in New England looking for unique stickers? I got you covered! I have stickers featuring New England states and vibes and more coming soon. Please send me an email or reach out on social media if you would like more information about carrying our stickers. Thank you!

Teaching the Inquiry Research Process in Middle School

Recently for an assignment for grad school we had to create our own Cycle of Inquiry based on Guided Inquiry Design and Carol Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process. Since I teach middle school I thought what better than to synthesize that information and rename everything in middle school slang!

Getting middle schoolers to be invested in researching something for a project is a challenge in itself, so why not get their attention and use their own words? Yes, there will be some eye-rolls - this is pretty “cringe” after all - but it gets their attention. I’m really excited to use this in my own practice and to share with teachers at school so they can use it in their classrooms too.

Library at Lunch - School Library Program Idea

While I’ve been working in the school library environment for several years, this is my first year as an official middle school library media specialist. I’ve been really enjoying it and the challenges that come with this new role. Recently I decided to try a new initiative to bring the library TO the students and called it “Library at Lunch” - and I’m happy to report it was a great success! | This post contains affiliate links |

My idea was to bring a cart of high-interest books, magazines, and “blind books” to the students during lunch. I made sure to represent different genres and choose titles that are popular or had a catchy title, as well as some new books and interesting nonfiction and coffee table-type books. I made sure not overwhelm with choices and only filled one side of the cart. I think sometimes students come into the library and feel overwhelmed… there’s just too many choices - but this made it easier with a smaller selection of fun items to choose from.

Since it was the week of Valentine’s Day I leaned into that with some “Blind Date with a Book” blind books. I picked 8 books that I think most kids wouldn’t mind reading, each from different genre. I wrapped them in bulletin board paper and wrote out little tags (made in Canva) with some very vague information about each book - I wrote just a few words describing the book, the genre, and the barcode number so I could check it out to students.

When I got to lunch I stood behind the cart with my laptop on the back top shelf like it was a checkout counter, then started going around visiting tables. I felt a little like an airline stewardess (drinks? pretzels?) as I went around asking students if they would like to check anything out from the cart. I made sure it was no-pressure and if they weren’t interested I thanked them for looking and moved on to the next table.

The kids LOVED the “Blind Date with a Book” books and those got checked out quickly! They were excited to open them and see what book they got. Kids that never come to the library checked out books or magazines that day. I’m happy to say “Library at Lunch” was a huge success!

Going forward I’d like to do this for each grade every-other-month… I think it’s important to spread it out a little so the novelty doesn’t wear off. I think if we did this too-frequently it wouldn’t get as much excitement. Also spreading it out a bit allows for more new books to be included when I bring the cart.

Overall, I’m very excited with how it went and I’m excited to continue this library program going forward!

All posters, signs, and book tags I created using Canva.

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Happy New Year! Giving Back for 2025

Happy 2026! Wishing everyone a healthy, happy, and successful new year!

A tradition I started back in 2016 was to donate a percentage of profits from Birch Landing Home to charity at year end, and it’s a tradition I’ve been proud to continue every year since.

2025 had been a challenging year for a lot of small businesses, including mine. Many of my remaining wholesale accounts have been cutting back how often they reorder, regular sales on Etsy have been slow, and affiliate sales/ad revenue on the blog are down (thanks AI). Inflation and spending habits have impacted everyone.

Nevertheless today I made a small donation to continue the tradition. I think it’s important to give back when you can and I want to make sure this tradition continues. This year’s donation goes to Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance, to help protect our local lake for generations to come. Thank you all for the continued support of my little business - wishing everyone lots of health, happiness, peace, and love in the New Year!

Birch Landing Home x Bixby Chocolates Giveaway on Instagram!

Today we’re hosting an amazing giveaway with our friends Bixby Chocolates over on Instagram - Don’t miss out! You can enter by visiting either of our Instagram pages and following the instructions on the post. Good luck!

Delicious Food Delivered New England Advent Calendar

You all know by now that I LOVE showcasing small businesses on my blog, so a small business that features many local small businesses is just right up my alley! Delicious Food Delivered was kind enough to send me their New England Advent Calendar to try and I’m so excited to share about this company with you all. | This post contains affiliate links and a review of a gifted product, though all opinions expressed are my own |

Delicious Food Delivered is a small business that offers carefully curated advent calendars for 42 states and 5 regions of the United States. They even have fun themed boxes like Route 66! They were kind enough to send me their New England Advent Calendar and the first thing that grabbed my attention when I received it was how HUGE it was - seriously, it is SO BIG.

Each little numbered door for the New England Advent Calendar contains a carefully chosen treat from the New England area. I am so excited to open this with my family each night and see what local treat we get to enjoy! And I am especially looking forward to discovering new-to-us small businesses and trying what they have to offer.

These advent calendars would be the perfect gift for any family or hard-to-buy for person. It would also be a great gift for a kid away at college or a friend that moved out of the area - you could give them one for where they’re from, or one for where they are now so they can learn more about their new location!

Delicious Food Delivered Advent Calendars are amazing and sell out quick every year - most varieties sell out by the first week in November so if you‘d like to get one don’t delay. (And if the one you had your eye on is already sold out this year make sure to put a reminder on your calendar for next year to buy early!)

Want to see what’s inside the New England Advent Calendar? You’re in luck - I’ll be opening mine early (wooo!) every night on my Stories on Instagram. Just follow @birchlandinghome to get a sneak peak of all the amazing things included in this year’s calendar!

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Don't forget to check out Delicious Food Delivered to see all the incredible Advent Calendars they have to offer!
| Delicious Food Delivered Website | Instagram | Facebook |

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I received this item for review from Delicious Food Delivered but all opinions expressed are my own.  This post contains affiliate links. Please see our full Disclosure Policy for more information.

Passive Programming Ideas for a School Library

Having worked in a 7-12 public school library for a few years we’ve been brainstorming and implementing some Passive Programming ideas to make the library a welcoming and fun place. We hope this encourages students to come check out the library and stay for a bit, even if they don’t get book - though we hope of course this leads to them checking out our books while they’re here! Passive programming is programming that you can “set and forget” and takes little or minimal supervision and instruction. | This post contains affiliate links |

Passive Programming Ideas for School Libraries

In our library we have a designated table with a few chairs around it for Passive Programming and rotate these ideas periodically. Most of these ideas are for older grades but I’ve also thrown in some ideas for younger grades as well. These would also work for public libraries and private school libraries as well:

• puzzles
• bracelet making station
• keychain making
• bookmark making
• chess
• origami
• 3D Puzzle
• Sudoku sheets
• communal sticker mosaic
• communal coloring poster
• coloring sheets
• communal crossword
• magnetic poetry
• Scrabble or other board games
• trivia
• reading challeges
• simple robot kits (STEM/STEAM)
• write your own book reviews
• scavenger hunt
• kinetic sand
• sensory bin (theme could be updated monthly or seasonally)
• seasonal crafts
• book-themed crafts

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4th of July Sale in the Etsy Shop! 2025

Happy 4th of July Week! This week I’m offering 10% off EVERYTHING in the Etsy Shop - no coupon code needed! This includes our New England Lakeside Hats, New England State Stickers, our popular Watercolor American Flag Stickers, and Vintage Items.

Get your hat for the lake and stickers for your cooler and be ready for summer! ;)

Sale runs from 7/1/25-7/7/25. Limited quantities available.