Spirit Week Theme Day Ideas

Having worked at a middle/high school for a few years now I’ve experienced a bunch of Spirit Weeks and they can be pretty fun! I thought I’d share a list of some of the favorite Theme Days I’ve seen or have heard about from others - some are quite creative and ridiculous. I will continue to add to this list as I come across more fun ideas. Disclaimer: always make sure you check with your school/administration for any parameters or rules for Spirit Week Themes as every school will have different expectations as to what’s acceptable or not.
| This post contains affiliate links |

Class Color Day

This is a classic theme day - every grade or classroom gets assigned a color and kids from that group are encouraged to wear that color. Some people get really into it with head-to-toe color-coordinated outfits and even face paint or temporary hair color!

Wacky Hair Day

For Wacky Hair Day kids are encouraged to wear their hair wacky! Side ponytails, mowhawks, temporary hair paint/color, crazy wigs, etc - and some kids even go all out with a crazy hair cut (with parents' permission/help of course).

Halloween in (Whatever Month You’re In) / Costume Day

This is a chance to bust out those Halloween costumes, dress up, and have Halloween in March (or whatever month you’re doing Spirit Week). Giving out some candy/trick or treating in the school might be a fun addition too. Just make sure those costumes are school appropriate!

Superhero Day

Dress up as your favorite Superhero! Kids can wear store bought costumes or easily make their own with some paper emblems taped to their shirts or homemade masks/capes.

Circle of Life Day

For this day each class is assigned a period of life… for example Freshman dress as babies, Sophomores as college years, Juniors as midlife crisis, and Seniors as senior citizens - of course.

Beach Day

For this one wear your beach-inspired items - think floral print shirts/outfits, shorts, tank tops, sandals, sun hats. Throw a towel over your shoulder or grab a beach ball to complete the look. Adding a flower lei necklace is an easy way to achieve Beach Day status.

Tourist Day

Tourist Day attire is usually very similar to Beach Day attire, but usually with the addition of a map, cameras or binoculars, and tall socks with sandals.

Anything But a Backpack Day

This one is always a favorite in our school - the idea is instead of bringing a backpack to carry your stuff, you bring just about anything else (a laundry basket, a microwave, a shopping cart, etc). Check out our dedicated blog post on Anything But a Backpack Day for more ideas!

Career Day

Career Day is a chance for kids to dress up as what they might want to be in a future career. Doctors, teachers, lawyers, electrician, plumber, race car driver, business owner, etc. This can be an easy one to put together from home with either nice or work clothes and a few accessories (a clipboard, a small toolbox, etc.).

Historical Figures Day

This can be a chance make a spirit day a bit educational as well as fun if kids need to provide a fact about their historical figure in addition to dressing up. Kids could pick figures from world history long ago (Julius Caesar, for example), our national history (ex. George Washington or Betsy Ross), or more recent history (ex. Steve Jobs or Sally Ride).

Little White Lie Day

For this day you write a school-appropriate “little white lie” on a white t-shirt (or a white piece of paper taped to your shirt). They’re typically sarcastic ones like “I’ve never been late to class” or “I always do my homework.” And if you’re not into poking a little fun at yourself you could do something easy and neutral such as “This shirt is blue” (but it’s actually a green shirt), etc.

Ugly Sweater Day / Festive Sweater Day

This is always such a fun one, especially around the holidays! Everyone is encouraged to make or wear an ugly/tacky sweater or a festive sweater. If you make your own sweater it's a chance to get creative and repurpose an old sweatshirt or sweater and add your own fun twist to it - think rickrack, pom poms, old ornaments (just make sure they aren't breakable!), etc. - Don't forget to use a glue gun to make decorating your sweater easy!

There are also tons of options available online if you want to buy a tacky sweater - just make sure it's school appropriate and not offensive.

BBQ Dads & Soccer Moms

On this day it’s encouraged to dress up as the stereotypical “BBQ Dad” or “Soccer Mom” - kids had a lot of fun with this one and some girls dressed up as BBQ Dads and some boys dressed up as Soccer Moms (you can do whichever you prefer - or a combo of the two!).

For the BBQ Dad ensemble think: aprons, spatulas, white sneakers, khaki shorts, baseball caps.
For the Soccer Mom ensemble think: oversized sunglasses, leggings, an oversized waterbottle (Stanleys optional), oversized sweatshirt, and of course a cross body belt bag.

Adam Sandler Day

This one is pretty easy for most middle/high school kids to pull off - the goal here is to dress in “iconic Adam Sandler style” which pretty much consists of things like baggy basketball shorts, oversized t-shirts and flannels, and dark sunglasses. This is easily doable for most kids/staff and a lot of fun. (It’s also particularly a favorite here because Adam Sandler is a NH native!)

Meme Day

I feel like this is a hard one for me - I guess I’m just too old, haha. But for this day you’re supposed to dress up as or reference a meme. A few that I saw - that I understood - were the “‘I’ll allow it’ guy” (wear a sombrero and carry a piece of paper that says “I’ll allow it”) and the one where Kermit the frog is drinking tea (bring a mug of tea and add a green felt zig-zaggy collar like Kermit has). A few other people just printed out a meme and taped it to their shirt and we let it count - such as a picture of Grumpy Cat saying “this is my happy face.”

Sports Jersey Day

Very easy and simple one - just wear a sports jersey/t-shirt. Could be a major league team (like Boston Red Sox, etc), school sports team jersey, or local parks & rec sports jersey.

Dapper vs. Napper

Dapper vs. Napper is a fun one and very straightforward - the goal is to dress either “Dapper” (fancy clothes) or as a “Napper” (school-appropriate pajamas, etc). I feel like most kids and staff go for Napper because it’s easy and comfy and wear PJs, robes, slippers, bring a blanket or stuffed animal, etc. But some people will go all out for Dapper and wear a suit or formal dress, tiara, etc.

USA Day

For this day pretend it’s a Fourth of July and wear your red, white, and blue! A lot of kids will wear patriotic articles of clothing but it’s pretty easy to DIY the color scheme with blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and red accessories, for example.

Flannel Friday

Really you could do “Flannel Friday” any day of the week and just call it “Flannel Day” but Flannel Friday sure has a nice ring to it. Simply wear a flannel shirt or flannel items of clothing that day - a pretty easy one for us to do here in New England especially because I think most people own flannel articles of clothing here.

Disclaimer: always make sure you check with your school/administration for any parameters or rules for Spirit Week Themes as every school will have different expectations as to what’s acceptable or not.

Shop Local This Season

Just a quick reminder to shop small and shop local this season - and always! In particular I would be so grateful if you could show some love to the storefronts that help support Birch Landing Home!
Our Stockists with items currently in stock include:

• Wiglesworth’s Mercantile - Portsmouth, NH (handmade birch ornaments)

• Hazel Moon Botanicals - Meredith, NH (stickers)

• White Mountain Trading Co. - Lincoln, NH (stickers)

• Gilford Country Store - Gilford, NH (stickers)

• The Makers Bazaar - Wolfeboro/Center Harbor/Manchester, NH (stickers)

• more to be listed soon as I send more inventory…

And as always you can also shop our Etsy Storefront. Thanks so much for the support!

Now Included in Wolfeboro Candle Company's Gift Boxes!

Wolfeboro Candle Company has put together some wonderfully curated Gift Boxes for the holiday season. These are full of great New England-made products and I am so honored to have my Hand-Etched Birch Snowflake Ornaments included among them.

You can shop these curated Gift Boxes online from Wolfeboro Candle Company's Etsy Shop.

Make Sure You're Visible on Halloween

It’s so important that kids and chaperones can be seen by motorists to help avoid any accidents, so to remind everyone of this basic Halloween safety tip - make sure you can be seen and seen well while out Trick-or-Treating. | This post contains affiliate links |

Some Ways to Increase Visibility While Trick-or-Treating:

• Carry a Flashlight. Make sure everyone in your group has a flashlight so that everyone can see where they're going and others can see you better too. (It's also a good idea to remind your kids not to shine them in others eyes as you come across other trick-or-treaters.)
• LED Bracelets/Wearables. These bright, colorful, often flashing lights can really help you be seen at night - and kids think they're really fun.
• Glow Sticks. Glow Sticks and glow jewelry can be useful to help be seen at night, and kids generally love them and will wear them without a fight.
• Reflective Stickers/Patches. We put reflective stickers on our Halloween buckets (pictured above) to help make them more noticable at night. It's hard to capture it on camera, but these stickers reflect really well in low-light conditions and are super durable, even on fabrics. (For what it's worth, we put these on everything year-round - helmets, bikes, backpacks, hiking gear, coats, etc. We love them!)
• Stay Together. Having everyone in your party stay together in a group is a great way to increase visibility. When kids scatter and dart around it can be very disorientating for drivers and hard to see where everyone is. Make sure your group stays together and walks on the sidewalks or off the shoulder of the road. Also make eye contact with stopped drivers before you cross the road to ensure that they do see you.

For specific ideas about what’s recommended in your area for safe Trick-or-Treating, contact your local public safety or Police department for more ideas. Stay safe and Happy Halloween!

Christmas Garland Storage Hack

I love Christmas as much as anyone, but once the holidays are over I’m ready to pack it all up and start the New Year fresh with a clean house! Some of the most annoying decorations to pack up for me has been garland or string lights… they just get tangled so easily which makes unpacking them next Christmas equally as aggravating.

A simple solution? Cut out a piece of cardboard in a “spool shape” and wrap the garland or lights around it. This packs neatly away and keeps things from getting tangled. Trust me, you’ll thank me next Christmas ;)

New England Maker: Away Up North

As you know by now, I love sharing about companies and products we love on the blog and our Instagram - and most especially those made right here in New England.  Next in our series of interviews from New England Makers, we have Glenna Oliver of Away Up North!
| This post contains affiliate links |

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your business.

My name is Glenna Oliver and I am married with two grown children, living in the western mountains of Maine. I am the owner and creator of Away up North and enjoy hiking, skiing, camping, and many other outdoor activities that Maine has to offer! At Away Up North I create handmade wool fabric Christmas stockings, decorative pillows, and balsam pillows.

How did you start Away Up North? Had you been making stockings and pillows for awhile or was this a new leap for you?

To me it seems I have always known how to sew and create. When I had children, I made clothes, doll clothing, and quilts. Christmas has always been my favorite time of year to make gifts for family and friends, including Christmas stockings for my family and then stockings for a friend’s antique shop where she started to sell them.
After being a stay-at-home Mom for twenty-plus years, I was looking for work when my daughter suggested making and selling Christmas stockings on Etsy - that was seven years ago.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I am an early riser and do have an exercise routine that helps me keep up with all my outdoor interests and also helps me mentally jumpstart my day. I begin with my work day about 9AM and depending on the time of year, I am either prepping and preparing for my busy season (September through early January) or sewing and making inventory.
During the busy holiday season I am personalizing and completing stockings as the orders come in. Many days you can also find me working on orders well into the evening hours. During the slower times of the year for my business you can find me enjoying the outdoors where I find the inspiration for so many of my designs.

What is your favorite part about owning your own company? And least favorite part?

I enjoy the flexibility it gives me - I enjoy using my passion to create and also to spend time pursuing my outdoor passions. An unexpected pleasure I have found with the business is watching families grow as returning customers request new stockings to celebrate the new additions in their families (babies, adult children getting married, grandchildren).
My least favorite part is the administrative side of the business - keeping the books and keeping track of numbers. I much prefer creating over numbers!

What has been the most exciting moment for Away Up North since you started?

In 2013 I was asked to submit a stocking to Downeast Magazine for their Maine Made Gift Guide. When I received the magazine, I saw my Woodland Bear Christmas Stocking on the front cover! I had no idea it would be on the cover! It was a very exciting moment for me. Since then Away Up North has been in other publications and newspapers, but the Downeast Magazine feature was definitely a highlight for me.

What advice do you have for people just starting out?

Do your research before your begin, but don’t hesitate to take the leap. Surround yourself with resources, not only reading information but good people resources. And always be ready for the “big moment!” No matter how slow it’s going, always create product, always be prepared with photos, samples, and new ideas because you never know when your “big moment” is going to happen.

What is your long-term goal? Where do you see yourself in five years?

To develop year-round pillow designs and possibly DIY kits for the stockings. Eventually I would also like to develop patterns for all my stocking designs.

Who’s one of your favorite New England Makers?

Alana from A&E Stoneworks! She and her husband Evan make a great product. They make stone cheese boards, coasters, and other products from stone. I love her cheeseboards and her energy! I personally love prodcuts made from stone and natural materials, they compliment the outdoor environment I love and how I enjoy deocrating my own home.

A note from Away Up North: Items ordered after November 29th will ship in early January, 2019 - but there are currently three designs ready-to-ship available on Amazon with Prime Shipping: Woodland Bear, Woodland Bunny, and Wolf in the Pines.

| Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook |

- All photos courtesy of Away Up North -

---

DO YOU OWN A NEW ENGLAND-BASED BUSINESS AND WOULD LIKE TO BE FEATURED IN AN UPCOMING INTERVIEW?  OR WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN HAVING ME STYLE, REVIEW, AND FEATURE ONE OF YOUR PRODUCTS?  
Please drop me a note.  

---

---

More Interviews from New England Makers:

DIY Wooden Teal Pumpkin | Teal Pumpkin Project

Every Halloween we participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project to promote awareness and inclusion of all trick-or-treaters, no matter their dietary restrictions.  Unfortunately a lot of kids have food allergies, ranging from mild to potentially very dangerous.  These allergies can include dairy, chocolate, nuts, soy, gluten, artificial dyes, and more.  These kids either can't participate in trick-or-treat or have to throw out most of what they get - and when you're a kid that's really rough.  
| This post contains affiliate links |

By having a teal pumpkin out, you're letting kids and their parents know that your house is a safe place to trick-or-treat and you have non-food items available. These can be things like novelty pencils, erasers, stickers, bubbles, crayons, small toys, etc.  You can still give out the usual candy, but it's a good idea to keep the non-food items separate.  This is a great project to allow all kids a chance to feel included in trick-or-treat on Halloween. 

We usually paint a real pumpkin teal each year, but this year the squirrels and chipmunks have been eating all the decorations we put out on our porch (*shakes fist*). So yesterday afternoon during nap time I whipped up a Wooden Teal Pumpkin that can be used for many years to come. And the best part? It cost me NOTHING! I made it all with scraps from our wood bin and paint we already had.

Materials:

• Scrap wood for pumpkin (you can use any sizes or shapes of wood you have around)
• Wood glue
• Screw/Nail
• Black and teal acrylic paint
• Clear spray sealer

How to:

1. Cut your wood scraps down to size if necessary. You need one larger piece for the face, one small piece for the stem, and a piece for the support at the back (the support piece does not have to be triangular, that’s what I happened to have though).

2. Next attach the support piece of wood to the back of the large piece with a screw or nail.

3. After that, give it at least two coats of teal paint. Paint it all over, including the sides and back.

4. Once that’s dry, use black paint to paint a jack-o-lantern face on it and paint the stem piece black as well.

5. Once everything is dry use wood glue to attach the stem to the top of the pumpkin and give a good spray of clear sealer if you’ll be putting it out not under the cover of a porch, etc.

And that’s it! Now you’re ready to put your teal pumpkin out to welcome all kids for Halloween. Happy Halloween!

FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) has some wonderful resources on their website - including crowdsourcing maps to identify participating houses, printables you can use to proudly show your support and educate others, and fundraising opportunities to help fund food allergy research and awareness.

Merry Christmas from Birch Landing Home!

Merry Christmas from Birch Landing Home!  

Hope everyone has a healthy, happy Christmas with friends and family.  I'll be taking a little break from the blog and social media this week to enjoy time with our family and hope you'll be doing the same - it's important to unplug every once and awhile :)  

Thank you all so much for all the orders this season - it's been my busiest yet and I am so thankful to all of you!  Thanks so much again and Happy New Year!  

Photo coursety of @lifeofalley