Back to School Gifts for the Teacher

Here is a round-up of some of my favorite ideas for back to school teacher gifts! I think bringing the teacher a small gift at the beginning of the school year sets the tone and lets the teacher now you CARE!!! I think it teachers our children that we appreciate and respect the teacher too! Plus, why not score an A+ for creativity!

I added in some of my time saving tips too!

Fortunate Your My Teacher!!

This idea is from the fabulous ladies over at eighteen25 via How Does She! Hop over to How Does She for the easy tutorial! Time-Saver Hint: Instead of making the fortune cookies, you can buy them at World Market! You can download those cute lables for FREE here!

Teacher Treat
This idea is also from eighteen25 and you can download the label free from here!

Time-Saver Hint: Skip shopping around for the special jar and tie the label on with a ribbon to a treat bag or already made container of treats!

Smooth Year

Isn't this adorable? Everyone loves Bath and Body Works lotion!! This cute idea and tutorial is by Oops, I Craft My Pants. Hop over to her blog to download the labels. Time-Saver Hint: Print on label paper to skip the Mod Podge.

Jar of Pencils

As a teacher, I know that you can NEVER have enough pencils, so I like the idea of a container filled with pencils from My Mix of Six. Time-Saver Hint: Don't have a way to cut vinyl? Grab a large vinyl letter already made from AC Moore or Michael's.

Alphabet Flowers

Every teacher LOVES flowers!!! These Alphabet Flowers from One Charming Party are the perfect addition for any classroom. Visit their amazing blog for the tutorial! Hint: PLEASE use plastic vases for safety!! Hit up your recycling bin for some great plastic jars!

I also think the good old teacher candy gram could easily be converted to a Back to School theme. Check out this candy gram from Simply Savy for an idea! Do you have an idea? Please share with us!!

Giveaway: Pixie Handmade Jewelry

I LOVE when I stumble across a new fabulous Etsy shop and Pixie Handmade Jewelry is one of my new favorites! I fell in love with all the fun whimsical jewelry designed by Tiffany Runion Anderson. I spent lots of time browsing through the earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets, and bridal collection to pick my favorites for this feature. The prices are VERY affordable too!!!

Best of all, Pixie Handmade Jewelry is a South Carolina based shop!! Ironically, when I got in touch with Tiffany, I found out she went to college with my husband and we had actually met in Charleston years ago! Small world!!

Here are a few pictures of my favorite pieces....

These are my ALL time favorite because I think they would coordinate with everything!

Hint Hint Chris....

Tiffany has generously offered one lucky Pluff Mudd Reader this FABULOUS pair of earrings!!!

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER TO WIN........

There are lots of chances to win this giveaway!

You can enter lots of times by doing any of the following

or....

You can do just ONE entry!

Just remember the more times you enter, the more chances to win.

Make sure to leave a separate comment for each action that you complete, so you have a better chance of winning! The more entries increases your odds!!! PLEASE LEAVE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS WITH YOUR COMMENTS, SO I CAN CONTACT THE WINNER!!!!

Good Luck!!

1. Visit Pixie Handmade Jewelry and leave a comment with your favorite piece of jewelry.

2. Become a Facebook fan of Pixie Handmade Jewelry and let them know Pluff Mudd Studio sent you!

3. Become a fan of Pluff Mudd Studio on Facebook

& leave your e-mail address here with a comment here that you are a fan (or already are!)

4. Become a blog follower of Pluff Mudd Studio & leave a comment here that you are a follower (or already are!)

5. Post about this giveaway on your own Blog, Facebook Page and/or Tweet about it & comment here with the links! (up to 3 entries for posting)

Winner will be chosen July 31st at 11:00pm (EST).

Any entries received after this time will not be considered. Open to US residents only.

Winner will be chosen using random.org

Tips for Winning Giveaways!!

I noticed my "bloggie friend" Sara, from Simply Sara, seemed to be REALLY good at entering and winning giveaways! I thought we could ALL use some good tips to score some fabulous free goodies! She was very sweet to share her fantastic tips.......

Christina e-mailed me and asked if I wanted to guest post on her blog about some of my tips/suggestions as far as entering giveaways are concerned. I told her I would love to ofcourse!! I don’t know why, but here recently I have been hooked on entering giveaways. Never had entered many before, but all of a sudden I just started to, kind of random really. I had always thought I was pretty unlucky….but come to find out, I do great on these blog giveaways! I have won some pretty great items! Want to see? Here are a few pics...

Here are some great tips to follow:

*Make sure to read the giveaway directions “VERY CLOSELY”. Some giveaways have specific instructions. If you don’t follow them, your entries may not be counted.

*ALWAYS type your e-mail address at the bottom of each post, whether it is asked for or not. When you add your e-mail, it gives the host a way to contact you if you win. I have been the winner of two giveaways where the “First” Winner never came forward.

*When you see “Mandatory” entries and “Additional” entries, try to do as MANY entries as possible. Always take advantage of the additional chances to win! When you just do the mandatory entry, it enters you into the giveaway once, but when you ALSO do the additional entries, your chances are better!

*When you are asked to tweet about a specific giveaway, always give the link!!! Same goes for your Facebook posts. They want to see that you ACTUALLY shared a post about the giveaway, and when you give them a link, they can instantly see that!

Twitter: After you post on twitter, click on the far right button beside your twitter name (has an arrow pointing out of it) Then select “Copy Link to Tweet”. This will automatically copy the link, so all you need to do is go back to the giveaway, and paste it there!

Facebook: After you share the giveaway on your Facebook, look right beneath your post, and you will see the time stamp (ex. 3 second ago) Click on that and it will pull up “only the link you just posted” copy that link directly into the giveaway you are entering.

*This tip is great if you use Google Reader to read through the blogs you follow! I have a great technique I use here when I am entering giveaways. When I am reading through the blogs I follow and I see a giveaway I want to enter, I will “STAR” it in Google Reader. When I do this, I can go back to my “STARRED” items and see all the giveaways in one central location. Once I have entered a giveaway, I will “UNSTAR” it, so I know which ones I have entered already. If you are a giveaway stalker like myself, I strongly recommend using Google Reader!

*When you are entering giveaways, make sure you separate each of your posts. If a giveaway requests that you follow their blog and tweet about the giveaway, make 2 separate entries. (Unless they make a special request to just make 1 comment, I have seen that) Some giveaways use random.org to determine their winners. So if you have 3 posts instead of 1 post, your odds are WAYYYY better!

I hope these tips helped!! They always seem to work for me!!

You can follow Sara on Facebook too!

Speaking of giveaways... be sure to visit the blog tomorrow for an AMAZING giveaway!

Winner!! For Pete's Sake Pottery Giveaway!

Congratulations to Comment #9, Kim from Kim's Kandy Kreations said "I love the cheese trivet. That would be so fun to have at a party!" She is our lucky winner of the $25 gift certificate to For Pete's Sake Pottery!

With back to school right around the corner, I would LOVE this wreath!

True Random Number Generator

Min: Max:

Result:

9Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Thanks to everyone that participated! Stay tuned for more fun giveaways coming soon! If you have a product you would like to showcase or review, please e-mail me at pluffmuddstudio@gmail.com.

Mason Jar Sippy Cups

LOVE these Mason Jar Sippy Cups from A Bit of Sunshine!

Hop over there for an easy tutorial!

Very stylish and perfect for any party!

Choo Choo! Train Party

I LOVE this adorable train party styled by Corrie, from Teacups and Trucks! I get so excited to see the printables in action! I am literally giddy when I open an e-mail with party photos using Pluff Mudd printables! Corrie used the Pluff Mudd train collection printables for this fabulous party! I love the color scheme and the decorations are precious!

Check out the printable banner in the Etsy shop!

Great DIY cupcake stand!

I think the train in the background holding some of the snacks is so cute!! The train party circles fit those mini-water bottles perfectly!

The CD's were favors for the guests and the playlist was awesome!!! I wish I was a guest at the party. :) Check out the Train CD favor labels in the Etsy shop! Great favor idea.

I think this is a great idea for centerpieces! I may have to borrow this one!

Love the train hats! They look like happy little conductors!

Isn't this a precious family?!?!

Thanks for sharing Corrie!!

{Images courtesy of Teacups & Trucks and Christine Hamrick Photography}

Giveaway!! For Pete's Sake Pottery

I LOVE to decorate the entrance for our parties! I think it sets the tone. :)

For Cate's Cowgirl Party Susan from For Pete's Sake Pottery, used the designs from my party circles to create a western theme wreath. I think it turned out really cute!

Susan has a lot of really cute door decorations! Check out her Facebook page for more pictures. If you have a specific theme or color scheme, she is fabulous at custom orders. :)

Susan has generously offered one lucky Pluff Mudd Reader a $25 For Pete's Sake Pottery shop gift certificate!

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER TO WIN........

There are lots of chances to win this giveaway!

You can enter lots of times by doing any of the following

or....

You can do just ONE entry!

Just remember the more times you enter, the more chances to win.

Make sure to leave a separate comment for each action that you complete, so you have a better chance of winning! The more entries increases your odds!!! PLEASE LEAVE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS WITH YOUR COMMENTS, SO I CAN CONTACT THE WINNER!!!!

Good Luck!!

1. Visit For Pete's Sake Pottery and leave a comment with your favorite product or custom product you would love!

2. Become a Facebook fan of For Pete's Sake Pottery and let them know Pluff Mudd Studio sent you!

3. Become a fan of Pluff Mudd Studio on Facebook

& leave your e-mail address here with a comment here that you are a fan (or already are!)

4. Become a blog follower of Pluff Mudd Studio & leave a comment here that you are a follower (or already are!)

5. Post about this giveaway on your own Blog, Facebook Page and/or Tweet about it & comment here with the links! (up to 3 entries for posting)

Winner will be chosen on July 19th at 11:00pm (EST).

Any entries received after this time will not be considered. Open to US residents only.

Winner will be chosen using random.org

Cate's Cowgirl Party!!!!

YAY!! The party pics are here!!!! I am very lucky to have lots of photographers in my family! A special thanks to my sister-in-law Lynn, from Town and Country Photography, Uncle Marty, and my sweet husband for documenting this sweet occasion!

The idea of this party was inspired by a photograph of my mother-in-law riding a pony downtown Charleston and this old rocking horse. The rocking horse was actually built by Cate's great grandfather. Aunt Kim and Uncle Marty found it in the barn and cleaned up for Cate. :)

We could not resist these cowgirl boots either!!

We bought these before anything else! I was praying they would still fit and cheering when she LOVED them.

The cowgirl pink and brown theme dessert table was one of my favorite parts of the party! Who doesn't love a cupcake? This banner is part of the Pluff Mudd cowgirl party printables.

The cupcakes came from our favorite local bakery, Ashley Bakery. The cupcake toppers are part of the Pluff Mudd cowgirl printables.

Genevieve, from Posh Party Pretties, did a fabulous job using the Pluff Mudd printables to make the Kandy Kones. I filled them with yummy chocolate gold fish.

A local mom, Jaclyn from Cake Four Fun, made the cake and did an amazing job! I sent her a couple of pictures of the paper products and she created this adorable cake.

Of course the cookies came from Lisa over at The Cookie Jar! She has been my go to for cookies that match my party themes perfectly!

I was really lucky to have my friend, Tammy, make the cake pops for Cate's party. She did an amazing job! This was the talk of the dessert table. They were really moist and the perfect size.

We used a lot of decorations! The birthday countdown cake came from Holiday Snobette. There is a great tutorial on their blog! Cate loved seeing how many days until her birthday! This will be a new tradition for her birthday celebrations.

This wreath came from For Pete's Sake Pottery! Loved how perfectly it matched the theme! We like to kick the party off with a festive entrance!

This bear was my husband's when he was little and is a honorary guest at some of our parties! He was quite the sheriff for our cowgirl party! The cowgirl hats came from Party City and I added the ribbon and party circle to add a little jazz. :) The girls loved them!!

Since I planned the theme really early, I was able to pick-up these ponies for the Pony Corral in a big sale at local toy store going out of business. Cate loves to push the ears and make the horse "gallop" and "neigh".

The Waterin' Hole and Chuck Wagon were fun! It was REALLY hot, so there were plenty of cool drinks for the kids and adults!

The menu was simple with hot dogs, chips, baked beans, watermelon, etc. I loved the idea of the tin plates. :)

The tables were decorated with mini-bales of hay, mason jars of fresh flowers, and cowgirl theme items.

Cate was a little small for the pinata, but loved it when the other kids busted it open! There were lots of goodies inside. I included some bracelets and toys to prevent the sugar overload.

Yes, I even added a party circle to the pinata!

The kids took home lots of western goodies! My very sweet mother-in-law found the bandanas and cookies on her trip to Texas. They were perfect for our favor buckets. Check out the favor tags here!

We could not have a cowgirl theme party without making Bakerella's Cowgirl Cookies!

Our pug, Sophie Lu Lu, loved the pony. She followed the buggy and spent lots of time kissing the pony! It was too cute!

Cate rode the pony the entire 2 hours! She started out in the buggy and then rode on the saddle. It was precious!!