"Anything But a Backpack" Day Ideas

Having worked at a middle/high school for a few years now I’ve experienced a few “Anything But a Backpack” Days for Spirit Week and they can be pretty hilarious. …What does that mean? you might wonder - well, it pretty much means what it says - leave your backpack at home that day and come up with a creative way to carry your things around school for the day. I thought I’d share a list of some of the favorites I’ve seen or have heard about form others - some are quite creative and ridiculous. Disclaimer: always make sure you check with your school for any parameters or rules for this event as every school will have different expectations as to what’s acceptable or not.

“Anything But a Backpack” Day Ideas

• laundry basket

• hamper

• stroller

• car seat

• remote control car

• PowerWheels

• wagon

• toy shopping cart

• real shopping cart

• Easter basket

• toolbox

• bucket

• a really ugly/tacky purse or bag (can be found cheap at a local thrift shop!)

• tool chest

• mini fridge

• microwave (that has to be heavy!)

• a car bumper (very tricky to put your stuff in)

• a kayak

• a canoe (very awkward to get up the stairs)

• golfbag

• milkcrate

• horse saddle bag

• office chair

• cat carrier

• wheelbarrow

• guitar case

• fishing net

• traffic cone

• trash bag or trash can (just make sure your stuff doesn’t get thrown out by accident!)

Disclaimer: Always make sure you check with your school for any parameters or rules for this event as every school will have different expectations as to what’s acceptable or not. This list is for ideas/entertainment purposes only.

Stacked Snowmen Presents - Fun Idea for Christmas Morning

This year I was inspired by an old friend from high school - every year she makes themed “stacked characters” out of her family’s gifts. One year it was all Santas, another year all penguins, etc - complete with accessories! I thought it was such a cute idea and wanted to give it a try myself this year, but on a much simpler and smaller scale. So I opted to make each kid their own “present snowman” and they loved it! I think this has just become a yearly tradition in our family as well. | This post contains affiliate links |

To make the snowmen you don’t need to buy anything special - in fact I just used regular Christmas wrapping paper but wrapped the gifts inside-out so the plain white back of the wrapping paper was facing out! I chose 2-3 gifts for each child that stacked well on top of each other and wrapped them, white side facing out. Then I used a sharpie marker and orange colored marker to draw the face and buttons.

Our oldest daughter recently asked for one of our New England Lakeside Baseball Caps of her own so obviously we had to give her one for Christmas! The hat made the perfect finish for her Snowman and she got a huge kick out of it on Christmas morning.

This was such an easy and fun surprise and I hope you’ll give it a try too and make Christmas morning just a little more magical.

Easy Flag Cake For Fourth of July

We make this super easy Flag Cake every year on the Fourth of July - it’s a little cheesy but it’s fun, delicious, and a tradition our kids look forward to. It’s never picture-perfect but it doesn’t have to be, just enjoy and have a Happy Fourth :) | This post contains affiliate links |

Really this “recipe” couldn’t be any easier! You just need a few very basic ingredients/pre-made items and you’re good to go!

Ingredients:

• box of lemon cake mix and whatever you need to make it according to package directions (eggs, oil, etc). If you don’t like lemon you can use white or yellow cake mix too.

• Cool Whip or other whipped topping

• blueberries

• sliced strawberries

How To:

First bake your cake mix according to package directions in a rectangular baking dish/sheet pan.

Once it has cooled completely, add your whipped topping. We always use Cool Whip but you could use homemade or store bought whipped cream too.

Once the cake is covered in your whipped topping, it’s time to make the flag! In the upper left corner, lay out the blueberries in a square shape. Then arrange sliced strawberries in lines to make the stripes. We use a strawberry slicer to make the process go quickly (I confess when I first got this strawberry slicer as a gift I thought I would never use it, but it's actually super handy and I've used it more times than I can count! It especially came in handy with young toddlers for cutting their fruit up). Don’t worry about trying to fit in 13 stripes, we’re going for simplistic here - just fit in as many as you can that look nice.

And that’s it! Super simple, super easy, and a great dessert to make with the kids. We absolutely love that combination of lemon cake, whipped cream, and berries - yum! I hope you all have a wonderful, healthy and happy Fourth!

Easy Chopped Greek Salad

Whew, where is the summer going? It seems like just last week school got out - but here we are with just a few precious weeks of summer vacation left. We’re trying to squeeze in what fun we can with family hikes, day trips, visiting friends, - and of course enjoying some of our favorite summertime foods. One of my favorites is this Easy Chopped Greek Salad which can make a perfect dinner on a hot night or a side dish to bring to the neighborhood BBQ. | This post contains affiliate links |

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers
• 2 large tomatoes (or a bunch of cherry tomatoes)
• half a red onion (I love red onions and tend to put in a lot... feel free to adjust the amount of red onion to your taste)
• 4 oz canned black olives, rinsed and drained
• 1 lemon
• olive oil (California Olive Ranch Brand is my favorite)
• oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 package of feta cheese
• fresh chives for garnish

This recipe is a great way to use up tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs from your garden too!

How-to:

1. Chop cucumbers and tomatoes into bite sized chunks (remove seeds from tomatoes if they’re too “sloppy”).

2. Dice up to half a red onion (adjust amount of onion to taste).

3. In a separate bowl, make the dressing: juice one lemon, and add a splash of olive oil. Add about a tsp of dried oregano, and salt and pepper. Whisk together and add more olive oil or herbs/spices to taste.

4. Combine veggies, black olives, and dressing in bowl and mix well.

5. Add feta cheese and chives to garnish before serving.

6. Enjoy!

I make this salad just by “winging it” each time and don’t have exact amounts for olive oil or spices - really it’s up to you and your personal taste. Just experiment and see what tastes good to you.

| Plates are "Mikasa - Italian Countryside" |

An Easy Way to Make Budget Christmas Cards Look Expensive

Looking for a super easy way to dress up your budget Christmas cards?  Emboss the envelopes!  We bought this Embosser on Amazon years ago for our wedding and it’s definitely earned it’s keep. 

This would make a great wedding or engagement gift too. We use ours yearly for Christmas cards and throughout the year dressing up otherwise boring stationery.

SHOP: Monogram Embosser (affiliate link)

New Etsy Listing: Custom “Established” Signs

New sign design in our Etsy shop!  This one is for a Custom Last Name Established sign - perfect for a wedding, anniversary, or housewarming gift!  This rustic sign is made on a wide grey-stained board with crisp permanent white vinyl lettering.  Shop this sign and more in our Etsy shop:  

Life Hack: Add a Bottle Opener to your Deck Railing

Summer is here and it's time for relaxing on the deck or porch, enjoying the weather, and maybe enjoying a beer too.  An easy and affordable way to add some practicality and fun to your outdoor space is to simply add a bottle opener to your deck or porch railing!  It takes less than 5 minutes to put up and will get use all summer long by you and your guests.  | This post contains affiliate links |

{Similar Bottle Opener linked HERE}

An Unconventional Wedding Gift

I recently made this custom herb planter as part of our wedding gift for some close friends and I just love how it came out!  I'd love to add something similar to the Etsy shop but not sure how to ship it... hmmmm.    

PS - Congratulations again to the happy couple!!  We're so happy for you both!