Friday, January 16, 2009

Back To School Treats


These are my favourite back to school gifts and treats for 2009.

1. Novelty Mouse Pad, my Tweety mouse pad is the favourite thing on my desk, and yes people do still use mouse pads even if only to protect their desk from scratches. This mouse pad was under $10 in Kmart and you can also have personal photos printed onto mouse pads.

2. Rachael Hale contact papers for book and file covering. Her beautiful kitten and puppy photographs have been printed onto these trendy contacts and are available for under $2 a roll. I got mine at Big W.

3. Novelty Ice Bricks, they freeze solid and fit into lunchboxes to keep the contents cool all day, for under $5 and in a variety of stores, they are available with flower, heart, soccer, football, and basketball designs.

4. Nudie Juices, these are better than a lot of juices which are just sugared water. Nudie Juices make great after school pick me ups or breakfast boosters.

5. Glitter Gel Ink Pens, these are the cheeriest little gifts around and are terrific for craft, personal journals, letters and cards.... even mum's love them.

6. Highlighters - the older the student the more they will need, try to find the best value packs without too many yellow highlighters as these tend to fade and are difficult to read in many lighting situations. I like 'ice' highlighters and get a multi pack at Big W every year.

7. Bonnie Belle Lipsmackers, a great treat for girls going back to school.

8. Online stationery treats from Smiggle, I love their pens, highlighters, storage systems and the groovy calculators!

9. Post It notes, no longer restricted to plain yellow notes, there is a wonderful range of adhesive notes, I find they are useful for mums and older students.

10. Every student enjoys a new school bag, especially if they are able to get one in their favourite colours or themes (perhaps a character bag, like Hello Kitty, or Thomas the Tank Engine).

I hope this helps you parents and grandparents to find the necessary supplies and incentives for students facing a return or debut at school.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Easy Button T-shirt Project


You will find this buttoned t-shirt very easy to create for yourself, or for a handcrafted gift for others.
I bought a black t-shirt at Kmart for $9 and after washing and ironing it, I traced around a large star cut out (bought in a bulk pack from Office Works) using tailors chalk. I then laid the star cut out down on the table and arranged buttons onto it, ready to transfer one button at a time to the tshirt where I stitched them on.
The buttons were a combination of old spare buttons in my sewing box and a mixed packet of buttons purchased for $6.95 at Big W. The mixed bag was terrific with a combination of shiny and matt buttons, glitter, and even some heart and flower shapes included.
You could easily use this idea to create other designs, I have also made flowers, and it would be simple to create a heart, smiley face, dollar sign, music motif, and many other things. The shirts are so bright and cheery and get a lot of comments when worn out.