December 16, 2010

12 Days of Christmas...Day 10

Hi friends. We're on Day 10 of Melissa's and Mishie's 12 Days of Christmas countdown. Today we have two sspecial guests joining us. We thought Dawn McVey and Heather Nichols might enjoy playing along with today's theme...Stocking Stuffers and Gifts for Girls.
Now. You're gonna get all jumpy in your seat because of this next photo. Cuz I know you love the office supply stuff like I do. Especially markers. Especially when they come in a set of 36 colors.
Especially when they come on this cool fold out portfolio case that screams *take me back to when I was 12 and where was THIS?*
And even more so when you see a delightful rainbow of colors. When I was a kid, I would have wet my Hee Haw overalls that I received one Christmas over something like these markers. Oh how I love to collect stickers and pens. My favorite pen was one that had five colors in one. It was white and you clicked each color at a time. I know you know the one. Stuff like this just wasn't available though. I also remember making a line of perforations on paper with a needle so that I could make my own pretend checks. Back then you ripped the check off of the side and that little flap stayed in the check book. Remember those? And the stationery that was in little plastic folders with pockets. One side had the envelopes and seals and the other side had sheets of stationery. Oh! Those were the best.

Well now that I've taken you on a trip down memory lane, how about creating that same wonderful memory for our girls this year for Christmas. My girls are nuts about these Bic Mar-Its and they've requested a set of their own for Christmas. We first saw them on display at Staples where you could purchase each pen individually. I think those kiosks are no longer set up but they do sell the Mark-Its in sets like the ones I've shown. There are different sets with less number of Mark-Its that I've seen at Wal Mart too.

A story: Josey had her friend Brittney over last summer and we ran some errands in town. We went to Staples and I bought each of the girls 3 of their own Mark-Its. They got to pick the colors. We then went to Taco Bell and the girls had a great time writing all over napkins. When we went to clean up all of our trash, the girls discovered that everything they wrote on the napkins bled through and marked on the tables. It wouldn't scrub off and Josey got a big laugh when Brittney told her that the next time she went to Taco Bell that her and Josey's names were still on the table. Ha ha! Good times. That's what it's all about.
Sooo, these Mark-Its will hopefully make it into the girls' stockings this year. Or maybe under the tree if Santa brings them a big enough set.

Jordan and I love to play our own little game of Pictionary. We go through notebooks of paper playing our little game. The Mark-Its are great fun!
Josey likes to take the entire set of Mark-Its into her room.....just like any teenager, she wants to be alone...and make posters and quotes about softball and sports. She has lots of papers like these taped to her wall.
This summer for Jordan's birthday party, each party girl got a blank white gable box filled with prizes. One prize was a Mark-It that they got to use to sign each other's birthday box. Kind of like an autograph book but in 3-D form. This was Jordan's box. (You can purchase Gable Boxes from Papertrey HERE). I see that she made a color chart of the Mark-Its too. So like me. Love.
So in hopes that Santa pulls through with the Mark-Its, I wanted to create some fun notepads for the girls to scribble and scratch on. I had lots of this cute Cosmo Cricket Pixie-Licious paper, etc left over from my guest designer month so I thought it would colorful and perfect for the girls' notebooks.
I also pulled out some stickers and chipboard accents. I love to have an entire collection of something....makes it so easy to pull together a project.
Jordan likes purple and Josey likes this Chartreuse green so went with those two color schemes for my notepads. Here I've selected my Papertrey cardstock colors, my Cosmo Cricket patterned papers and cardstock stickers.
To give the girls plenty of paper, I made the notebooks double thickness. I used two White Notepads and put a strip of 1/4" Scor-Tape along the top. Then I covered that with Happy Spots paper.
I also love to personalize items because everyone loves to see their name on something. Here I've used Hero Arts alphabet letters to spell out the girl's names for tags and on their notepads. A fun tip that I use: Use capital letters for consonants and lower case letters for vowels. It gives a mixy matchy look that I so love. The die I used for the tag is Papertrey's Limitless Layers Collection.
Next, I added my base layers of patterned papers and then my cardstock sticker accents.
Oh so cute and colorful. Papertrey Vintage Buttons tied with baker's twine finish off the notebook fronts.
Here you can see the girl's names. Love.
And so that we don't have anymore Taco Bell incidents, I added a blank piece of cardstock in with the notepads. This way the girls can draw and write notes with the cardstock piece under their paper, preventing the ink from bleeding through onto the next sheet. I can add new cardstock pieces when these get all messy.
And here's the sah-weeet notepads in all their fancied glory. I used Long Sleeves from my Etsy shop so that the notepads could stick out of the top. Notebook Slicks would also work for packaging if you want to enclose the entire notepad.
I tied Papertrey Ribbon around the Long Sleeves and then tied on the glittery name tags. Oh oh I loved making these for my reds. There's nothing more fun that creating a gift for someone special. I hope you enjoyed my stories today. I hope that have fun reminiscing about your childhood favorites. And I hope you get all crafty and make something fun for a loved one this holiday season. I think I'll go play with my Mark-Its now. Maybe write Eric + Shell just like I did in high school. :) (Did you know that only people in blog land and my paper crafting friends call me Mish?....I am definitely not Mish to any of my family or friends.....I guess it's my stage name, ha!)
But before I go, I had to snap a photo of Josey's whiteboard that she has in her room. She stole this from me because *it would be perfect for her room*. She writes down each week's happenings and then draws little scribbles and pictures. So adorable. So teenager-y. Have you taken time to check out your kids' rooms lately? Sneak in there while they're at school and check out their little world. Pretty cool stuff.
We all have this whiteboard obsession at our house along with the markers. I see that Josey has also permanently borrowed my silver tray of whiteboard markers too. Maybe Santa needs to bring everyone their own whiteboard markers too. :)
I have fun ideas to share with you about how to use your whiteboards for homework, chores, lists,etc.....and a little bit how color evokes learning in kids. I'll share that post on another day.

Be sure to check out Melissa's and Dawn's and Heather's posts today too. I know they have something girly and cute up their sleeves. :) Thanks for stopping by today!

Now for my recipe today. Pioneer Woman has a section under her recipes called Cowgirl Food...totally fitting for today's girly post. I am going to try my hand at these chocolate truffles...oh how I love truffles. And with sea salt...yum.


(Photo courtesy of Pioneer Woman)

24 comments:

Marcie Sharp said...

I absolutely LOVED those pens too...the ones that had five colors and where you 'clicked' the color you wanted to use...that just made me smile so much thinking about that!! :) Beautiful, cheery notepads- as someone who was a teenage girl not-so-many years ago (or so I'd like to think), they will LOVE them!

♥Wendi said...

Oh, I am such a marker and note pad lover! What a wonderful post today. You are so entertaining! I bet your girls will just adore these great gifts. So perfect for teenage girls. They are so lucky to have a great mom.

Jodi Geers said...

I love those markers! I really would like to get a set. And the notepads for the girls are adorable. Thanks for sharing your fun ideas with us!

Tamika said...

Believe it or not I use those markers along with my colored pencils to color in my digstamps. Of course they are not as versatile as the Copic markers but they do a great job and yes, I just went ga-ga over the way it folds out, lol. It's the little things that bring us joy :)

Audrey said...

What a great post :) Thanks Mish, now I have added these markers to my Christmas list, along with a ton of copics... my husband will think I am nuts. LOL! Adorable note pads! I am sure the girls will love them!!

Anonymous said...

Though I have followed your blog for awhile, this will be my first time commenting, but I couldn't help it because I thought maybe I was the only kid that had Hee Haw bibs(overalls). I too must have a love of office supplies. Recently while shopping in Emporia my husband and I walked into Staples and I just blurted out "I love the smell of office supples!". He gave me kind of a funny look. Love all your posts as always, thanks for sharing!
~Shari M.

Marisa said...

What a totally fun post :) Loved reading about memory lane - I was right there with you LOL! Totally adorable packages you made the girls and I think I had better get a white board for my daughter's room some time soon - she's only 12 but asking for one and I see they are put to good use :)

Lorri W. said...

"When I was a kid, I would have wet my Hee Haw overalls that I received one Christmas..." Oh, that made me laugh out loud!!! Love looking at your posts everyday but especially enjoy them when you are making things for your girls! You gave me a wonderful idea for stocking stuffers for my two little "yellows". They have been wanting to play with my brand new copics that I have been very slowly acquiring and I think that these BICS would be a much better option! Thanks for your inspiration!
Lorri W.
(Oh, and could you please try to sqeeze in more projects using the Holiday Friendship Jar set...I need some inspiration/ideas!!)

jan metcalf said...

Your notebooks are so bright and cheery!!

Kimberley Martini Young said...

Thank you for another wonderful post. I feel inspired each time I see your creations and I have started to look at little containers in a whole new light. I know you have girls and making things for girls can be very easy to do. Any thoughts or ideas for boys? I have two boys and never know what to do for them. I would hate for them to be teased. Keep up the beautiful work.

SharonD said...

Your note pads for the red, and your stories about Markers just rock!

Thanks for sharing

Andrea R said...

I totally get the markers and office supply obsession. When I was a child I used to go to the bank with my Mom and take the deposit slips and other papery things and use them to play office! There is nothing like a big box of 64 Crayolas to get me going...love the look of the pointy crayons (almost didn't want to use them) and the smell and the nifty sparpener....may have to get one to put under my tree for ME!

Krissy said...

I seriously think we are twins separated at birth!!!! I used to make my own "checks" too! And it was a huge treat if Mom would buy me a receipt booklet when we went to Ben Franklin - and then there was my trusty date stamper (you know the ones that you spun the stamps around to set the correct date?)

You convinced me, I know have to have these markers - I hope Santa is listening!

Diane Jaquay said...

What a GREAT post, wish Santa would leave ME some of those markers lol!

Heather Rogers said...

I have that big pack of Bic Mark its. My hubby got it for me 2 Christmas's ago and I have never used them. I ended up getting Copics. Go figure! LOL
I remember the stationary packs you are talking about. I had every single one. Lisa Frank! I also had a sticker collection and all those clicky pens you mentioned too. Funny. Those were the days. :)

Diana said...

What a wonderful blog post. I love, love the cute notebooks, the colors make me smile and I cannot say how much I love colored markers. I have a set of these markers at home and at my office.
I had one of those 5 color click pens too, LOVED IT! And I played office all the time as a kid, anything that had to do with office supplies. It is just so neat how we all can be so similar. Fun post.

Deirdre said...

Michelle!!

Thanks for the wonderful trip down memory lane... now I was trying to be good and use what craft stuff I have before buying new items but that has been put by the wayside now after reading your blog! I want a set just like yours, see, we're even back to school age again, I want what my friend has. Thanks for a lovely start to the day and oh, loved your recipe for candy cane milkshakes a few days back. Have a great Christmas and thanks for sharing your world with us.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful little note pads. Thanks for taking me down memory lane. I loved those pens, and also loved the stationery sets with the stickers(think they were Current Brand). Hope your girls enjoys the gift and have fun with the markers. Merry Christmas
Sally

Lynn said...

Mish (or Shell :) since I feel like I really know you :) even if we've never met...I loved this post....absolutely took me down memory lane. I had little hello kitty notebooks that I loved as a little girl. I'm a mom to four boys...so I spoil my nieces with notebooks, fun cards, etc. And this year for the first time, I get to make a little something for my oldest's girlfriend...YIKES! Merry Christmas and thanks for all of the continued fun inspiration!

Rachel Schumacher said...

These notebooks are adorable - you're a wonderful mom! I also loved your trip down memory lane. I so loved paper, pens, and stickers. I remember the tiny hello kitty pencil sets and stationary sets that I had - how I loved them! You are always full of inspiration - thanks for the great post.

Jennifer Schmidt said...

These notebooks are fabulous- such bright, cheery, girly colors! Love the markers and your stories are great :)

Lisa J. said...

I just bought the big set of Mark-Its at Target last week as a little gift for myself. If you "like" them on Facebook, you can print a coupon for $2 off a set, so I got the full set of 36 markers for $16. Pens always make me happy, too! :)

Joyce across the Pond said...

Lovely post Mish....great ideas for us....by the way, over here in Northern Ireland we still have cheques (checks to you) just like you describe....they will not be phased out until 2018!! We are still in the dark ages. I hope these sets of markers will soon be available over here - they look great and such an ingenious way of packaging them! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Recall how I teach about the immigration issue, how they use (boarderline racists) to protest the mass immigration into the United States, when the God's true intent was protecting the purebloods from the motherland from this cancerous dumping ground known as America.
The sexism of back in the day was similar:::A woman's place IS in the home, for when she enters the workplace she assimilates into the disfavored male's domain, just as blacks assimilated during Civil Rights.
They shoudln't drive. They shouldn't drink. Gamble. Golf. Fishing. Hunting. Anything men engage in should be and was taboo, for women and everybody else, and many of us remember how our grandmothers or great-grandmothers avoided some if not all of these activities.
The favored get more time before decending into decay.
Black doesn't work in the SFBA. They are too far back and can't afford a temptation as big as a good black sport leader/coach. "Barry Bonds." Something was wrong with Barry Bonds.
And with this most recent message of the SFWhiteys winning the World Series shoudl help people understand. The white Oakland A's was designed to keep blacks out of the Colisium for years now. The only black they kept around were novelty blacks::Milton Bradley, CoCo Crisp, etc.
Now I don't think the problem lies with Mike Singletary. I believe he transcends the color of his skin. But all the black coaches on his staff is the problem.
Of course the safe play is get rid of them all, but I do believe Singletary can be successful if they just create the right equation with the 49ers.
It's true in Oakland and it is true in San Francisco::::The blacks of this region are too disfavored, have fallen too hard into disfavor and now can't afford it. It's much like the Raider Nation::::If they went to church like their (great) grandfathers regularly the gods would offer them a winning Raider franchise to tempt them, see if they skip church for games, etc.

Related Posts with Thumbnails