How to Make a DIY First Day of School Sign Using PicMonkey

August 10, 2021 by Danielle 31 Comments

My oldest will be heading to kindergarten in just two short weeks. And while I’m definitely ready for this next step in his adventure, I want to make sure to capture as many memories as I can.

So after seeing a lot of printables floating around, I decided that instead of finding something someone else made, I’d make my own DIY first day of school sign.

With the help of PicMonkey it was not only easy to do, but it came together very quickly! And it cost nothing for me to make. I simply used a picture frame we hadn’t hung yet and handed it over to him to take a few photos.

And you can make one too! Here’s how:

How to Make a DIY First Day of School Sign Using PicMonkey

Step 1: Choose a Size under Design –

Since I planned on framing my sign, I chose an 8×10 canvas. If you have specific dimensions you want to use you can specify them by selecting the custom option (or use one of the other canvas templates available).

Step 2: Rotate if you prefer Landscape orientation

Step 3: Click on Themes (apple icon) and Select School U –

You can really use any of the fonts, overlays, etc but I found everything I wanted under the School U theme making it easier to edit and add all from one location.

Step 4: Add Text –

Using the School U Penmanship you can write in your child’s grade, the school year, and if you prefer, your child’s name. Feel free to change up the fonts, colors, and sizes to your liking. Here I used Learning Curve for the “First Day of”, Sketch Block for “Kindergarten” and Freshman for the school year.

Step 5: Add Overlays –

Still, in the School U Theme, click on any of the Overlays options and select what overlays you want to use to add more to your printable. After playing around a bit I added an apple found under School Supplies and a line of ruled paper found under Dashed & Lined.

Step 7: Save, Print, & Frame!

If you’ve chosen the 8×10 size there’s no need to change the size of the document but if you’re looking for a lower resolution/size file feel free to make the size of your printable smaller. You can also change the file format and save as either a .jpg or .png. When you’ve named your printable go ahead and save to your computer.

When printing out make sure that your printer isn’t automatically printing a full page photo and stretching your image. You want it to print out at an 8×10 size to fill an 8×10 picture frame (unless using a different size). Once printed, frame and snap away! Just be aware when using a glass frame that glare may be an issue when taking photos.

How cute is this little guy?? Definitely growing up way too fast!

What grade is your child going into?

Don’t want to deal with the hassle of making your own and have a kindergartner? Use my printables for free!

First Day of Preschool – Date

First Day of Preschool – No Date

First Day of Kindergarten – Date

First Day of Kindergarten – No Date

First Day of 1st Grade – Date

First day of 1st Grade – No date

First Day of 2nd Grade – Date

First day of 2nd Grade – No date

First Day of 3rd Grade – Date

First day of 3rd Grade – No date

First Day of 4th Grade – Date

First day of 4th Grade – No date

First Day of 5th Grade – Date

First day of 5th Grade – No date

First Day of 6th Grade – Date

First day of 6th Grade – No date

First Day of 7th Grade – Date

First day of 7th Grade – No date

First Day of 8th Grade – Date

First day of 8th Grade – No date

This post was originally published on August 15th, 2014

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Filed Under: Crafts/DIY Tagged With: Back to School, First Day of School, First Day of School Ideas, School

Back to School Lunch Ideas and Tips

August 1, 2021 by Danielle 21 Comments

Ever start thinking of school lunches and wonder what the heck you’re going to pack? Well here are some great back to school lunch ideas and a few tips that might help you out!

My son isn’t quite ready for kindergarten yet but will be there next year and we’ve already exhausted a few great ideas for toddler lunches at home. So I’m trying to gather a bunch of ideas and tips so that when I am packing his lunch I can pack something that he’ll enjoy and actually eat. Good thing I have a whole year to figure this stuff out, right?

Ok, I’m not going to spend the whole year working on this. But I did start practicing by packing lunches for us to take with us on his days off preschool. When we’re heading out to the zoo, playing at the park, or heading to the beach, I’ve been able to pack lunches for him and his sister that they both enjoy. And here’s what I found… (some of the links included are affiliate links to Amazon) [Read more…]

Filed Under: Health & Wellness, In the Kitchen, Kids Health, Lunch Tagged With: Back to School, Lunch, toddler lunches

Make Creative Back to School Memories That Last

August 25, 2017 by Danielle 5 Comments

The first day of school can be brimming with anticipation and excitement. Both for our kids and ourselves. With a new school year here, we want to capture as many back to school memories as possible. Especially when we can highlight these milestones through photos and traditions.

There are a few ways to create and preserve the memories of the first day of school.

Here are a few of our favorites:

Special First Day of School Breakfast
Fix a special breakfast of your child’s favorite pancakes or some delicious french toast. Try making a batch of delicious homemade cinnamon rolls lfrom the Frugal Greenish Mama or a delicious blueberry coffee cake. Or let them decide what they want to have the night before. No matter what, don’t send them off without a full tummy.

While they’re chowing down, leave a note or two for your child in their backpack or jacket pocket to let them know that they’re awesome and you’re thinking of them on their first day.

Back to School Photo Shoot

Before you leave for school snap a few photos. You can be creative and use a chalkboard to write what grade your child is going to.

I’ve turned my large chalkboard (tutorial can be found here) into a first day of school tradition. Every year I can take a photo of my children on the first day of school, and then a photo on the last day of school to store these perfect memories forever.

Or simply print out a piece of paper with the grade and date on it. There are a few great templates out there to download including this one we use every year – we’ve even included a PicMonkey tutorial in case you would like to make your own)

Make sure to have a repeat photo session on the last day of school as well so that you can look back on how much your child has grown over the school year.

First Day of School Questionnaire

Ask your child a series of the same questions every year when they get home from their first day. Add a photo and look back on the answers with your children at the end of the school year.

Some questions to ask:

When I grow up I want to be a ______________.
My favorite color is ______________.
My teacher’s name is ______________.
I learned about ______________ on my first day.
My favorite part about my first day was ______________.
My friends are ______________.
I’m looking forward to doing ______________ tomorrow.

After the First Day of School Treat

When you pick the kids up from school on their first day, make it special by taking them to the local ice cream parlor or fro-yo shop for a special treat.

You can talk about their first day, fill out your questionnaire, and talk about what the rest of the year (or maybe just the week) has in store for them. Be involved, be excited for them, and make sure they know you’re there to share in the excitement of the new year.

How do you celebrate the first day of school?

This post was originally published on August 29th, 2012

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Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Back to School, First Day Of Preschool, First Day of School, First Day of School Ideas

Top Tips for Back To School Prep: The Ultimate Guide

August 17, 2017 by Danielle 1 Comment

We are half way into the summer already and my kids are excited about starting a new school year soon. I’m starting early to make sure that not only are the kids prepared but that I’m prepared as well! And luckily by starting a little early, I have time to get everything organized and ready for a smooth transition from summer to school.

Top Tips for Back To School Prep

Before the school year starts, prepare your bins, canisters, folders and more with these tips for back to school organization with sight words.
Meet the teacher before the school year starts, if possible. Since my daugther is going to a new preschool, we have a meeting scheduled to meet her new teacher before school begins.
First day of school pictures can be fun, but you may be putting your child’s safety at risk. Read about the back-to-school picture no-nos before snapping those pictures.
Preschoolers with first day jitters will love reading these encouraging books about the first day of preschool.
Check out these 10 Tips for Starting Kindergarten if your little one is making the transition from short preschool days to the longer days for kindergarteners.
Does your child require vaccinations before starting school? Help them cope with these five tips.
Make a back to school bucket list to remind you to review important things with your child, such as a safety plan, how to make friends, and refreshers on concepts learned in the previous year.
Do you normally have trouble getting into a good routine? You’re not alone! Here are 10 tried and true back to school routine tips.
Bedtime routines can be particularly difficult for children who are attending school for the first time this year.
It’s easy to get out of practice with reading and writing, but these free resources can get your child back into the swing of things before school starts.
If your children will be walking to or from school, now’s the time to nail down the safest, quickest route.
Start some fun back to school traditions this year. Start thinking about which ones you’ll implement now.
Your children will have less time for chores now, but that doesn’t mean they should forgo them altogether. Here are some before and after school chore charts to help your kids nail down a good routine.
Prepare a homework station with pencils, paper, crayons, highlighters and anything else your child needs to focus on homework.
Start a cute back to school countdown to get your kids excited about the upcoming school year.

Finally, don’t forget to label all the things! Whether your kid is going into preschool (like my youngest) or heading off to college, it’s always helpful to have a pack of personalized labels on hand. Right now Oliver’s Labels is excited to introduce their new Shopkins™ line of labels now available in their Special Edition design category.

The official launch of this new line is on Tuesday, August 22nd as part of their annual Back-to-School 15% off sitewide sale (excluding gift cards), however, this week only our readers get to enjoy an exclusive offer just for you!

Use promo code ACraftySpoonful before checkout to SAVE 20% on Shopkins™ design themes! Offer valid Aug. 15th – 22nd.

You’ll love the bright and fun labels available! There are so many great features and options such as:

Don’t lose another jacket to the lost and found bin! Fun new designs encourage your kids to label all of their items so they don’t lose anything when it’s taken out of the home. Have a Shopkins™ fan at home? Let Cheeky Chocolate, Kooky Cookie, D’lish Donut, Strawberry Kiss, and Apple Blossom help keep your child’s belongings out of the lost-and-found bin.
Found-It Lost & Found Code: Found-it™ is Oliver’s Labels FREE online lost and found system. When you choose to add Found-it™ to your labels, we print them with your very own unique I.D. If your item is reported found, we send you a notification email right away. Oliver’s Labels acts as an intermediary between you and the person who has found your item.
They have a school package! Everything you need for back to school all in one place! The School Package features: 20 x Original Labels, 30 x Mini Labels, 6 x Shoe Labels, 1 x Large Bag Tag, 3 x Mini Bag Tags, and 35 x Stick-eez™ Clothing Labels.

How do you prepare your kids for heading back to school?

If your child is starting Preschool or Kindergarten, check out these great ways to prep before you begin!

(just click on the photo)

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Back to School, kids organization, kids tips, Organization, organization tips, Tips

Back to School Prep + a Morning Routine Checklist for Kids Printable

August 9, 2017 by Danielle Leave a Comment

It’s 3 weeks until the kids get into the back to school grind and we’re in full on prep mode over here. Making lists of all the things we need to still grab off of the teacher’s school supply lists, digging out the old meal plan ideas and calendars we put away over the summer, and doing all of our back to school clothes shopping. Luckily, with the help of our sponsor, Sears, we were able to grab new backpacks, lunch boxes, shoes, and outfits for each of the older two in one painless trip!

By the time summer ends, we are all ready to get back to the grind and welcome the structure that school brings to our family. But sometimes it can be hard to jump right in. So in an effort to help the kids find their routine again, we’ve created these simple morning routine check list reminders to remind them of what to do next once they get up in the morning.

Not only do these check lists help us prep for waking up earlier, and getting ready in a short period of time instead of having all morning, it also helps get the kids in the school mindset instead of the summer mindset. And by starting a few weeks before school starts, they don’t go through the initial shock of transitioning from summer schedules to fall schedules.

Back to School Prep

With this transition also comes the hassle of getting everything ready for school as well. Each child has a school supply list that includes the easy and not so easy items to grab plus they have each grown like weeds this summer (2 shoe sizes!!!) and needed a bit of a revamp in their school uniform wardrobe. To make things easier we headed to Sears for a one-stop-shop solution for our back to school clothes needs.

Even though the kids wear uniforms, we do like to let them pick out their own back packs and lunch boxes. So before jumping into the hassle that is trying on clothes, we headed over to the Land’s End backpack and lunch box selection in our local Sears store. Both kids were happy to be able to have the option of choosing their own set and it got them in the right mindset for our next stop… clothes!

Uniform shopping is pretty easy. We grab some tops and some bottoms, then try everything on to make sure that everything fits well. When we settled on the right number of shirts and bottoms, we headed over to the shoe department. We can only wear all black or all white shoes so sometimes this can be a challenge. Luckily we were able to find exactly what we needed and scored 2 pairs of shoes for each of the kids. My fashionista daughter insisted on the slightly sparkly flats in addition to her tennis shoes because, “I need choices, Mom!” Sears is here to help you gear up with all kids’ shoes on sale starting at $9.99.

Here are a few things to note when heading out for your Back to School shopping:

1. Try Everything On

I know it’s something that I hated doing as a kid but that time spent in the store trying things on and making sure they fit will help out in the long run!

2. Get Fitted for Shoes

We would have never known that my son grew 2 shoe sizes over summer if we hadn’t gotten his feet measured. He was still trying to cram his shoes into the same size he came into the store with.

3. Print Out Your List

So you don’t forget anything, make sure to print out your school supply lists and a list of clothes, gear, and accessories that you’ll need to pick up. I don’t know how many times we thought we were done with back to school shopping when we realized we needed that one other thing.

Morning Routine Checklist for Kids

Now that the back to school shopping is all wrapped up, thanks to Sears, we’re working on our back to school morning check list to prep the kids for the first week back at school. You can grab this free printable by clicking here and printing it off! We suggest laminating each check off so your kids can add a clothes pin and move it down each step as they go in the mornings.

Another great option is using the colors of each step and color coding the time on a basic wall clock in each of the kids’ rooms to keep them on schedule! We use this idea for our afternoon schedule to make things run smoother once we get home from school!

Click here to print Morning Routine Checklist for Kids

How do you prep the kids for the back to school transition?

Shop at Sears in-store for your back to school apparel, footwear, and gear! Plus get an extra 20% off when you spend $50 or more thru 8/12 to gear up on all the back to school necessities to make this year amazing. And don’t forget to check out the Sears shoppable back to school digital catalog for fun looks and outfit inspiration.

I participated in this sponsored campaign for SEARS. All opinions stated are my own.

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Filed Under: Crafts/DIY, Printables Tagged With: Back to School, back to school necessities, back to school savings

How to Raise Money For School: Elementary School Fundraising Ideas

August 3, 2017 by Danielle 1 Comment

Check out these great elementary school fundraising ideas to raise money for school the easy way! There’s a lot we can do for our school by simply signing up for programs that already exist. And there are way more than just the “known” programs we’ve seen.

Over the past two years, I jumped onto the parent teacher organization bandwagon and joined my son’s school’s PTG board (a variation of a PTO). As someone who has made social media and this blog her job over the past few years, I decided to use the skills I’ve learned – networking, promoting, and marketing myself essentially – for something good. And with that, I stepped up into a brand new role for the school – the sponsorship coordinator. Basically, I would reach out to local and national businesses and ask for their support.

But in addition to reaching out to local businesses for donations, there’s a lot we can do for our school by simply signing up for programs that already exist out there. And there are way more than just the “known” programs we’ve seen.

In an effort to make things easier on me, I decided to do a little research and ask fellow parents and teachers to share what programs their schools are using – public and private – to raise funds. And, of course, I’m sharing that with you!

Below is a list that I’ll continue to add to and update with ways schools – teachers, parents, students, the community – can raise money easily and with little effort. If you have any other tips or tricks that can help, they’d be warmly welcomed!

How to Raise Money For School: Elementary School Fundraising Ideas

eScrip –

eScrip is a simple and easy way for schools to earn money by selling gift cards and receiving rewards by having parents and individuals register their reward cards and their debit/credit cards. Every time a purchase is made, depending on the retailer, a percentage of the sale is given to the schools. An added bonus? You can buy a gift card to the store you’re using your rewards card at and receive double the bonus (rewards for buying the gift card and then rewards for using your rewards card). You can find out more on how to register – like less than 5 minutes and you’re done – by going to their site here.

eScrip also has a program called ForgetMeNot™ that you install on your computer to remind you when you visit one of the shops online that gives back. You can also click when you see the ForgetMeNot™ reminder to activate your earnings and to access all available coupons & offers. Save money while earning for a great cause.

Box Tops for Education –

Now most schools are already utilizing this program but it does take a little extra work. If someone on the PTG or PTA board isn’t already in charge then this might be someone you’d want to reach out and find to act as the Boxtops coordinator. Once the school is set up, its as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4!

Find Box Tops on hundreds of products.
Clip Box Tops from each package. Do the school a favor and make sure you follow the edge carefully and trim all Box Tops before turning them in. While doing this check to make sure the Box Tops haven’t expired.
Send the Box Tops to your school.
Box Tops are each worth 10¢ for your school.

Fore more info, visit the Box Tops website.

Campbell’s Labels for Education –

Labels for Education a fun and easy program where families and members of the community work together to “Earn Free Stuff” for their school.

By collecting UPCs and beverage/sauce caps from many participating products and supplementing your earnings with bonus offers, your school earns points that can be redeemed for Arts, Athletics, andAcademics merchandise. Explore the online catalog to see what your school can earn.

If your school or organization is not one of over 60,000 registered with the Labels for Education program, you can help your school enroll by contacting your school principal and asking them to appoint a coordinator, or you can volunteer to be a coordinator. The school coordinator helps by managing the school’s account, program communication, point collection, and redeeming points for merchandise for the school.

America’s schools and organizations have earned over $114 million in merchandise over the Labels for Education program’s 42 year history. You can find more info here on their website.

Please note: You will need to choose between enrolling in Labels for Education OR Box Tops for Education. Your school cannot currently participate in both.

Target REDcard Take Charge of Education® –

I don’t know what it is about Target but every time I go in, I come out at least $100 poorer. Sure I *needed* that dollar spot notebook, and those throw pillows for the couch, but if I could also be benefiting my son’s school while shopping there too I’d feel a LOT better about the amount I spend there. If you have a Target REDcard, choose your kids’ elementary school, the neighborhood middle school or any other eligible K–12 school and they’ll donate up to 1% of your REDcard purchases at Target stores in the U.S and at Target.com. More info can be found here to find out how to sign up.

* Since first publishing this article, Target has decided to end this program

Amazon Smile –

Do most of your shopping online when you’re not shopping at Target? Amazon has a program that’s just for you! By shopping through your school’s Amazon Smile link you can help earn 0.5% of the purchase price for your school. AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon that lets you enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices, and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the eligible charitable organization of your choice. More info can be found here if your school isn’t already signed up.

* I must note that when shopping on Amazon through eScrip, it looks like Amazon donates 1.2% of your purchases back. So I’m not sure if it’s better to go through Amazon Smile or eScrip when shopping on Amazon. Maybe it’s possible to take advantage of both? Please comment below if you have any experience!

Shoparoo –

Oh yes, there’s an app for that. Shoparoo is a quick and easy way for schools to earn money by having the user scan receipts from any store, big or small, that sells grocery items to earn Roo Points (cash donations) for your school. Whether you’re shopping at a supercenter, dollar store, or local convenience store – it doesn’t matter where you shop or what items you buy – Shoparoo will make a cash donation for every receipt! Submit up to 20 grocery receipts within a rolling 7 day period. Here are some examples of grocery retailers:

Grocery Stores
Convenience Supercenters
Club Stores
Drug Stores
Liquor Stores
Dollar Stores

There’s even a program for non-grocery stores. For more information, check out the Shoparoo app website and download the app today!

Do you know of a different program that supports schools or offers funding?What are your best elementary school fundraising ideas?

This post was originally shared on Aug 12, 2015

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Back to School, education, funding, School, school funding, sponsorships

Healthy Back to School Lunch Ideas and Tips

August 21, 2014 by Danielle 6 Comments

Packing lunches can start to feel monotonous really quickly if you don’t have a lot of variety. This year I’ve been challenged to really thinking outside of the lunch box when it comes to packing healthy foods for my kids.

And since it’s the first official year I’ll be packing my son’s lunch for Kindergarten (and not just a day out like last year) I’m kind of excited to find new ideas to keep things fresh and exciting for him. Since we also have to send along a snack, I’ve included some snacks in here as well.

And, of course, I’ll be sending along some cute lunch box notes for my son to read as well when he’s munching on his goodies.

If your brain is really stuck on what to pack this year then check out some of these tips:

Healthy Back to School Lunch Tips

Keeping Things Bright

To mix things up this year, I really wanted to do something colorful and healthy. That’s where I got the idea of parfaits for their school lunches. Have the kids help make their school lunch parfaits the night before if that gets them excited.

You can use easy to open containers to help keep things from getting too messy at lunch time. I like to use whatever organic fruit I have on hand, which can get really colorful.

Healthy Back to School Lunch Tips - parfaits

From Left to Right Clockwise: Broccoli, Grapes, multi-grain crackers, Honest Kids Tropical Tango Punch, vanilla yogurt parfait with granola and strawberries, almonds, Applegate ham, Organic Valley sharp cheddar

DIY Lunchables

I’ve always loved the idea of how easy store bought lunchables are, but sadly they’re not very healthy. I’ve recruited my whole family into loving the idea behind DIY lunchables.

All you really need to complete this fun and healthy lunch idea is to have a container with trays or at least separate containers to give the lunch that ‘lunchable’ feel.We LOVE our Laptop Lunches bento box to make things easy at lunchtime. I pack organic juice, crackers, lunch meat, fruit, and then a “bakery” treat. My kids really love the variety that a DIY lunchable brings to the table.

Healthy Back to School Lunch Tips - pizza lunchable

From Left to Right Clockwise: Honest Kids Tropical Tango Punch, Cucumbers, Annie’s Bunny Grahams, Applegate Farms Turkey Pepperoni, Marinara Sauce, organic string cheese, french bread slices, peach

Mix It Up

If you are really having a hard time finding things to pack for your child, consider trail mix. My kids really love the idea behind trail mix because it’s yummy and I love it because it’s easy. And only includes 3 simple ingredients: granola, almonds, and raisins!

Even if your children can’t have nuts, there are a variety of items you can mix together to create the ultimate trail mix for your little one. Think of other dried fruits, maybe some mini chocolate chips if they are looking for a small treat? The possibilities are endless.

Healthy Back to School Lunch Tips - trail mix

From Left to Right Clockwise: fruit salad, carrots, Honest Kids Tropical Tango Punch, trail mix, bagel with cream cheese

Dip it Good

One thing we’re discovering this year is yummy and healthy dips to pack in lunches. Let’s face it, packing veggies and fruits can seem bland, we are mixing it up with various dips. Hummus is one dip your children might love trying.

You can also create yummy fruit dips out of organic greek yogurt and chia seeds. With this base, you can add a variety of items to your fruit dip, like chocolate chips and peanut butter. This really brings variety and fun to any school lunch (plus it keeps it healthy).

Healthy Back to School Lunch Tips - dips

From Left to Right Clockwise: cantalope, ants on a log (with almond butter), Honest Kids Tropical Tango Punch, french baguette, pasta with marinara sauce

Multiple Fruits & Veggies

I’ve noticed that when I pack my kids a variety of fruits and veggies it gets gobbled up. My kids love opening up their lunch to find a garden full of fruits and veggies. Of course, I like to arrange it so it’s more fun to eat. I might make the container represent a forest with broccoli as trees and little grapes as the bottom part of the forest.

If I want to make things bright, like a rainbow, I’ll pack cut up a green and red apple, peel an orange, and add red and green grapes. Eating with color is always more fun, especially when it’s arranged to look cool.

How do you spice up school lunches while keeping them healthy?.

Lunch Box by Thirty One | Bento Box by Laptop Lunches | Containe r by U·Konserve

Filed Under: Health & Wellness, In the Kitchen, Kids Health, Lunch, Uncategorized Tagged With: Back to School, Healthy Lunch, Lunch, lunch box ideas, Lunch Ideas

Back to School Organization with Sight Word Ideas

August 19, 2014 by Danielle 5 Comments

Check out these sight word ideas for back to school organization. A great way to help kids get organized and learn their sight words!

With my son going into Kindergarten in two weeks exactly, I wanted to spruce up the homework station I created for him to be more kid-friendly. Since he’ll be learning a few sight words this year I thought I’d help him out by labeling all of the organizational bins I have in his homework station with the name of what’s in the bin.

I didn’t want anything too boring like a printed label though. I wanted bright signs that would grab my son’s attention so I headed over to Staples to grab some fine point and extra fine point Sharpie markers.

If you know me you know I can’t resist a good sale on school and office supplies. So when I was our Sunday paper with my husband and ran across the Staples ad I got excited when I saw that Sharpie markers were on sale! I couldn’t stock up fast enough.

After a quick shopping trip, I had all I needed to start organizing my son’s homework station.

When shopping around Staples I found some great items to help me with my project. Here’s what I ended up picking up:

12 Sharpie® Fine Point Permanent Markers
12 Sharpie® Ultra Fine Point Permanent Markers
Sharpie highlighters
Book rings
Index cards

Once I had all of my supplies I got to work! Wanting to keep things simple so that my son could help me, I simply cut the index cards in half and used each half as a label.

Then I wrote down the name of what was in each bucket in his homework station so that I could label them.

Once I had all of the labels written out I let my son hole punch the labels and put the book rings through the hooks.

Then I grabbed the bins with holes and let him clip them on. Once those were up we taped the labels to the bins without holes.

The whole project took less than 30 minutes and already my son is asking me what each bin says. He can’t wait for kindergarten (and neither can I)!

I just know that this next year will bring a lot of change. I’m just glad I can provide him a space to do projects, create, and work on homework with me near by.

With the help of awesome deals at Staples, our Homework Station is now 100% complete for the school year! And my son will start learning a few new sight words.

Do you use sight words around the house for your child?

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Filed Under: Crafts/DIY Tagged With: Back to School, homework station, Organization, sight words

Back to School Routine Tips

August 12, 2014 by Danielle 3 Comments

In just three short weeks my son starts Kindergarten and our family will be emerged into a new phase in our lives. Since we really haven’t ever had a back to school routine I wasn’t quite sure where to start on preparing our family for the inevitable need for a good routine once school starts.

So I did what I always do and headed to a few of my favorite blogs to find out what their tips and tricks were to a smooth back to school transition. These parents have the experience I lack and have made me feel more confident in creating a routine on our own.

While I still may be practicing to make sure we can get up on time and out the door to get to school at a decent hour, I’ll feel more comfortable doing so! If you need some back to school routine tips definitely check out these great posts! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Life, Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: Back to School, morning routines, routines, Tips

5 Back to School Tips for Kindergarten

August 3, 2014 by Danielle 6 Comments

Your child is heading into one of the most important school years of their lives, are they prepared? There are several things you can do to prepare your child for kindergarten.

Over the past year I’ve been trying my best to prepare my son for his first year of elementary school but I’m sure there are still some things I could be doing. I’ve written out a few back to school tips for kindergarten to help me stay on track and, hopefully, give my son a successful chance at his first year of school.

Have a kindergartner too? Then you may be interested in a few of these… if not all! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Uncategorized Tagged With: Back to School, kindergarten, Tips

How to Make a DIY First Day of School Sign Using PicMonkey

What grade is your child going into?

How do you celebrate the first day of school?

Top Tips for Back To School Prep

How do you prepare your kids for heading back to school?

Back to School Prep

Morning Routine Checklist for Kids

How do you prep the kids for the back to school transition?

How to Raise Money For School: Elementary School Fundraising Ideas

eScrip –

Box Tops for Education –

Campbell’s Labels for Education –

Target REDcard Take Charge of Education® –

Amazon Smile –

Shoparoo –

Do you know of a different program that supports schools or offers funding?What are your best elementary school fundraising ideas?

Healthy Back to School Lunch Tips

Keeping Things Bright

DIY Lunchables

Mix It Up

Dip it Good

Multiple Fruits & Veggies

How do you spice up school lunches while keeping them healthy?.

Do you use sight words around the house for your child?

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