Preschool Graduation Day

I can hardly believe it but my little monkey is graduating from preschool in just a few short weeks.  We just got her official "cap and gown" photo and it is so darn cute.  I love it!

We have been brainstorming how to make this event extra special for her and her friends, and my mom told me about a cute autograph book she had seen in a store for $10.  The problem was, though, how was she going to get all of her friends to sign it?  I was going to have to ask her teacher if we could spend a few minutes passing it around, and that wasn't fair to the other kids who didn't have one.

So, we started thinking how cute it would be if they could have a preschool signing party, kind of like we used to have in high school when the yearbooks came out.  For the preschoolers, they could write their names and maybe draw a picture for each other.  Something that in 20 years I am sure each of them would love to look back and remember their "first" day of school or their "first" field trip.

I came up with a little design that I think is just right for this special event.  There's a little questionnaire in the front cover where each of the kids can answer about what their school year meant to them and a spot in the back to put a class photo.  We put 20 pages on the inside for plenty of space to right and draw little notes to each other.  I asked the preschool director if I supplied the books, if it would be okay to have a time where they all got to sign each other's books.  She was excited about the idea, so we put some together.

They turned out so cute, that I have to share them with everyone else.  If you want a set for your child's class, then click on the picture.  I think these would be perfect for Kindergarten too, and even Early Elementary.  Take a look.

I can't wait to pass them out!

Have you ever had one of those moments where you have an awesome idea, you find all the stuff you need to do it with, you make it and it turns out better than you expected? I hadn't either, until now. Valentine's Day is approaching and I was thinking hard about a cute valentine my son could make. He is in First grade and does not like candy very much, so I wanted to do something he would really enjoy. There are tons of cute ideas floating around online and I had pinned several of them, but none of them were just right. He is obsessed with helicopters (really anything that flies, but mostly helicopters). That is where my brilliant inspiration began. My first thought was to find some toy helicopters and attach them somehow, but after a few searches I could not find any the size or price I wanted. Then I found this:

They are called "Whirl A Copters" and you can get them at Party City for .35 each!

(Here's a link)

I rushed out and got a dozen, came home and measured and came up with this design.

I designed it to fit a 4 x 6 size, so I uploaded it to Sam's Photo (I just joined Sam's, so with a new photo account registration I got 25 prints for free!) and went and picked them up an hour later.  Perfect!

Then I punched a hole at the top of the helicopter and at the bottom of the card and slid the Whirl-a-copter in.  When I showed it to my son, he gave me a look like, "you are the best mom ever."  I never get tired of that look : )  What made this extra special for us is he calls helicopters "whirly-birds" because we heard it on a video about helicopters one time and it just stuck.  So a "Whirly" good Valentine's Day was right up his alley.

Here is what the finished product looks like:

It's awesome, because there is just enough clearance at the top of the card to spin the copter around and it looks like the helicopter is really flying.  I can just see all the kids playing with it.  They will love it.  The teacher on the other hand, may not feel the same.  Sorry.

If you would like to give it a whirl (he, he), here is both a JPEG you could use for photo prints like I did, or a PDF to just print out on your own.  Happy Valentine's!

PDF Version Click Here

JPEG Version Click Here