First Grader

When I shared my new Teacher Survival Kit yesterday, I mentioned that Natalie was off to first grade at a new school. How is it possible that I have a first grader?

Still little enough to pose willingly with her younger sister and to want to walk to school with her mommy and daddy.

But big enough to walk into a new classroom at a new school all by herself (and with nary a glance back at the rest of us!)

Michaela Byrd doesn't start preschool until September, so we have several weeks of one-on-one time. The house was, ahem, quite a bit quieter today! We filled the day with puzzles, coloring, Play-Doh, books, and...yes, Target.

At 3:25, the verdict on first grade was mixed. I knew switching to a new school and attending all day would be a big adjustment, but she met a few new friends and loved her reading book (ironic because getting her to work on reading this summer was like pulling teeth). Hoping that the rest of the week will allow her to relax and enjoy school!

As for me, this first grade stuff will be an adjustment for me too. I'm going to enjoy the next couple of weeks of together-time with my four year old before she starts preschool three days a week. Then it's on to a Fall To-Do List and gearing up for a year of fun.

Has school started in your area yet? Any good first day of school stories for me?

Teacher Survival Kit (1st Day of School Teacher Gift)

My oldest starts first grade today! She's moving to the small neighborhood public school just across the street from us. To celebrate a new school and a new teacher, Natalie helped me put together a Teacher Survival Kit for her first grade teacher. If you follow me on Facebook, you know I mentioned Pinning 54657 back-to-school projects to my Pinterest boards...this is the only one I've completed...it was easy to do!

We started with a small plastic bin from the Dollar Tree:

And then we filled it with all sorts of goodies:

Here are a few items you might think about adding to your basket:

• Pencils, pens, highlighters, white-out
• Erasers
• Tape
• Paperclips or binder clips
• Glue sticks or glitter glue
• Stickers!
• Water bottle
• Ruler
• Post-It Notes
• Mints or Candy
• A brush/comb
• Hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray, and/or wipes
• Lotion
• Band-Aids
• Starbucks gift card

We finished it all off by adding colored tissue paper to the basket (like a gift bag), wrapping pencils, pens, and highlighters in ribbon, and stuffing the basket full of goodies.

The tag? I made a simple greeting with PicMonkey, glued cardstock to the back, punched a hole in the top, and secured it with ribbon:

Easy as can be!

Natalie gave her new teacher, Mrs. H, the basket yesterday at the Open House/Orientation. It was so cute to see her hand it over. The teacher, who had only just met Natalie, seemed delighted by the surprise and spent a couple of minutes going over all the goodies with my oldest. They even hugged. It was a fantastic ice breaker; I'm so glad we did it!

This is a fun project to help your kids get over those first-day jitters. Let them help you choose inexpensive items (ours came from Target and the Dollar Tree) to purchase and then assemble the kit together. Natalie was excited to give the kit to Mrs. H, even if she was a little scared of the new school experience. I think she's looking forward to her first day of school today!

How do you help your kids get over jitters at school? (Any teachers out there with advice?)

If you enjoyed this post, or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. 

Summer Mantel (When You Don't Have a Mantel)

Today is Open House/Orientation for Natalie's new school (1st grade, holla!), which signals the impending arrival of Fall for me. I decided that today, I'd share the Summer Mantel in my family room, otherwise known as the top of my TV armoire because we don't have a fireplace, despite T's fondness for burning and exploding stuff. It's nothing to write home about, but since it's my blog and we're jumping into school stuff today, I figured I could write to the blog about it.

Because the top of the TV armoire is so deep, it can be hard to decorate. I keep a small antique trunk up there because it was a gift from my dad and I just don't have another place to put it. It can be nice to use to layer things. I use old books a lot too.

As always, Emma thinks it looks so fabulous she had to sit right in front of me while I shot some pics. But she's my dog, so she has to say it looks fabulous.

I didn't spend a single penny on putting this together this year, and I mostly used items I had in my attic bin. We're starting up a little DIY project and just don't have a lot of extra cash to spend on decorative pieces. 

You might recognize my Picture Frame Chalkboard, this time with a different quote:

I love my white birdcages and birdhouse, and I found some shells and river rocks to toss in an apothecary.

And because I am a proud mama, I have to display one of my very favorite pictures I snapped of my girls at the beach last year. I had my friends at Easy Canvas Prints put it on canvas for me, and I get lots of sweet compliments when visitors drop by. 

So, that's my mantel in a nutshell. Nothing fancy, but I love that I didn't spend any money to put it together. Sadly, I'm ripping it all down this week to do a little Fall/Back to School vignette, but it will be fun!

Do you have a mantel?

If you liked this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google Plus!

Linking to Positively Splendid, 

More Highlighted Links--Share Your Best Post!

If you're here to link up to Weekend Bloggy Reading, it's open for new links until 10 pm (ET) tonight. Please share your best post of the week with us...crafts, recipes, home decor, book reviews--all kinds of posts are welcome. And it's the last day you can enter to win in the HomeZada Membership Giveaway!

I like to Feature bloggers who not only have great projects, but who also take the time to  link back to me within their post(s). I add many of these Features to my Pinterest page as well as Facebook!

Here are a few links from Weekend Bloggy Reading that caught my eye.

~Workroom/Craft Room Makeover via 11 Magnolia Lane

~DIY Homework Station via Uncommon

~Macadamia Nut and Maple Roasted Salmon via A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

~DIY Scrap Metal Light via Cleverly Inspired

Highlighted Weekend Links-- Share Your Best Post!

Happy Saturday! Please pop in to link up YOUR best post of the week at my Weekend Bloggy Reading link party. More Features on the way tomorrow!

*And please don't forget to enter this week's Giveaway from HomeZada (a $99.00 value)--an awesome way to manage and organize home maintenance and decor projects...and so much more!

All kinds of posts are welcome here: We have recipes, party ideas, room makeovers, crafts, tips and tricks, home decor, fashion advice, and more! The code for the button is near the end of this post, or you can add a text link back to me within your post.

Keep reading to see just a few of the posts that caught my eye so far.

~How to Decorate and Style Bookcase Shelves via Megan Brooke Handmade

~Vintage Door Headboard via Design Dreams by Anne

~Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies via two twenty one

::Weekend Bloggy Reading:: Link Up!

Welcome to my Weekend Bloggy Reading link party. I hope you'll link up your best post of the week today, and maybe leave me some comment love. Please be sure to read my guidelines before you add a link. *Don't forget to enter this week's HomeZada Giveaway!

All kinds of posts are welcome--recipes, crafts, funny stories, home decor, etc.; but please do not link to Etsy shops, businesses, items for sale, etc. (I have a Sponsors section, if you'd like to Advertise with me.)

Here are a few of my faves from this week:

sources listed below

~How to Take Amazing Photos of Yourself via Domestic Fashionista

~How to Flip Images for Transfer via The Shabby Chic Cottage

~Adding Color to a Neutral Room via On Sutton Place

~Buffet Entertainment Center via A Diamond in the Stuff

~And Me? This week featured:

• HomeZada Giveaway (Organize & Manage Home Projects and more!)
• DIY Business and Calling Cards Case
• IKEA Shopping and Home Decor, Fall 2012
• A Week of Myrtle Beach Fun, in Pictures
  

Time to link up your best post of the week!

Organize and Manage Your Home (HomeZada Giveaway)

Am I the only one who gets the urge to do some decluttering, organizing, and scheduling when Back-to-School season hits? My newest sponsor, HomeZada, is a really cool online and mobile software program that allows homeowners everywhere to organize and manage their homes. Membership for the standard Essentials is FREE, but HomeZada is graciously giving away a year membership of Premium features to one Serenity Now reader.

Keep reading to learn more about HomeZada, to enter the Giveaway, and to get your own coupon code!

What is HomeZada?

• An online resource to help homeowners manage all the data about their homes on a safe and secure site--it's one central hub for your home!
• You can manage home inventory, maintenance calendars (and associated to-dos), as well as the planning and financial aspects of home improvement and decorative projects!

Why am I excited about using these features?

They have a mobile app to make managing your home on the go easier. I'll use any excuse to play with my iPhone! 

Joking aside, we had a huge storm called a microburst blow through last month. It was bad enough that we had to stay in an interior hallway (no basement) while the storm passed, and our shed roof was crushed. I realized after the storm that we have no records of the valuables in our home! So many people use the internet to store their photo files for safekeeping...why not take advantage of a (free) opportunity to keep a careful record of family heirlooms and other valuables?

Keeping track of maintenance and to-dos online (and on my mobile!) seems doable. I can make my own schedule and updates as flexible as I want/need.

Sign up was a complete breeze, and new members get a 30 day free trial of the premium features! There are also lots of easy how-to videos. I loved that the site not only automatically downloaded our property info from Zillow, it also directed me straight to a quick tips page--no wandering around the site, trying to figure out what to do first:

Other cool features?

• Pinterest! 

HomeZada actually has a very inspiring set of boards on their Pinterest profile. I saw all kinds of neat ideas for home maintenance, and tons on great ways to update and decorate!

• Organized Budget

Using the bookmarking app, you can save your home decor or maintenance shopping choices and add them to a special budget on the site!

Discount alert! Between now and September 15, 2012, you can get 50% off a Premium membership. Head over to sign up and be sure to use the code serenity to take advantage of the discount.

*HomeZada has a FREE YEAR PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP for one reader!

-UPDATE: GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED-

Here's how you can enter to win (Please note, you must use the Rafflecopter app below for your entries to count!):

a Rafflecopter giveaway




Get your party hats on! My Weekend Bloggy Reading link party is scheduled as usual for tomorrow morning (8 am ET), so be sure to swing by with your best post of the week.

Here's the button code for the party if you want to get a head start! Recipes, crafts, home decor, party ideas, tips and tricks, you name it. Come prepared to showcase your blog and find some great weekend reads.

<a href=" http://www.serenitynowblog.com/ " target="_blank"><img src="http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/ae332/Amanda_SerenityNow/Blog%20Party%20Buttons/WeekendBloggyReading.png" border="0" alt="Weekend Bloggy Reading"></a>