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One thing that I love about the upcoming holiday is wrapping gifts. A lot of people hate this task, but I always have enjoyed it. There is something super fun about making sure that each package is wrapped with nice sharp creases and that the end product looks like perfection. Maybe it is the inner nerd in me, but I just love it!

Growing up, gift wrapping was one of those things that also meant time spent with my parents. I would spend an evening wrapping gifts with either my mom or dad, while the other was out running last minute shopping errands with my sister. My dad seemed to have the knack of folding the perfect corners with wrapping paper, while my mom always used the wrapping paper itself to decorate the package, folding small lines across the front of the package.

One thing that we never had for our packages were gift tags. My mom would write names on the gifts with a pen, while my dad had an elephant's memory and remembered which package was meant for whom. This seemed to be a good system for my dad until one year, upon giving my mom and I a gift at the same time, we were disappointed when she opened a gift containing a stuffed animal and I opened one containing a sweater clearly meant for my mom. After a good laugh, we thought it may be time for a new system. From there on out we made our own gift tags, usually from leftover scraps of wrapping paper-- nothing fancy whatsoever.

So as I thought about something I would want for this holiday season to make things a bit easier, I decided gift tags would be just the thing. And as an added bonus, I figured that I would share them with you. Just click here and feel free to download them for your own personal use.






Simply cut out the tags, punch a hole on them and add your choice of ribbon or twine. And for a bit more fun, this blog post is part of the Etsy Greetings Holiday Blog Hop. So while you're at it, stop by other blogs of the Etsy Greetings Team to check out more printables and holiday traditions. Just click on the blog hop arrows below to make your way through the hop.

I'm sick of grading tests. I had a grand total of about 140 tests to grade this week. One of the Language Arts skills I was testing was how to make an inference about what happened in a text. So I stuck a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip in the test and the kids had to make an inference about it.


Contrary to popular belief, Calvin and Hobbes in no longer funny. Maybe that's what happens when you've read the same comic strip a gazillion times.

I may be a few days late, but none the less wanted to share our fun evening pumpkin carving. Sunday night, we finally decided to carve our pumpkins that we'd picked from our pumpkin and apple picking adventure. We found a few printable stencils online and used those for our designs. I chose a cat and Andrew chose a bat. Both turned out pretty awesome and were complimented by our many trick or treaters.

I may be biased because this is the recipe my mom always used and I grew up eating it. But this is the best granola ever. I could honestly eat this every morning and be a happy person. Aside from being delicious, there are other great bonuses to this recipe as well. It's ridiculously simple to make, it's not pumped full of preservatives and chemicals like your boxed breakfast cereal, and it's very inexpensive to make. I like to use organic ingredients which I can find in the bulk section at either Wegmans or Whole Foods. While some of the ingredients such as honey and vanilla may be costly up front, they last for a while and you can use them for several batches.

In a large bowl, mix:
6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup oat bran
3/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup nuts (I always enjoy dry roasted peanuts)
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Add the following and mix well:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 honey
1 teaspoon vanilla



Spread the mixture evenly on two baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Stir mixture while still on the baking sheet and bake for 5 more minutes and repeat. Total baking time is 25 minutes. After the granola is finished baking, let it cool on the baking sheets. I use a spoon to loosen the cooled granola and scoop it into a cereal container for storage.


Finally, eat the granola! Yum! Eat it with milk (that's what I like best!) or with yogurt as my mom often does.


And if you feel like checking out a few more of my mom's recipes, head over to her Facebook page, La Bonne Vie. She write a weekly column for my hometown paper and always includes a scrumptious recipe.

I spent yesterday stuck at home with no voice. I woke up and my voice was just a whisper and I knew I wouldn't make it even a half day through school. While I could have caught up on grading tests and other such things, I decided to take the less practical route and spent the day designing. I've been trying to reach my goal of getting 200 designs in my shop, but it has been slow going. Today, it seemed, was just what the doctor ordered to get the job done-- no voice and stuck at home with plenty of design inspiration.

In the end, I came up with six new designs. Two of which I wanted to share the inspiration behind. Yes, I turned again to Pinterest and found some lovely colors and ideas!





Are you just as productive when you're home sick for the day? Days like this make me want to forget about teaching all together. Maybe some day.... :)