Back to School, Already?

Can you believe it? I was NOT ready for my boys to head back to school this year.  The summer went by just too fast and I don't even know why.  But alas, they had to start the new school year this past Monday.  Neither one of them were ready.  Noah especially dislikes the 6 am wake-up and Jonah just hates waking up early (even though he doesn't have to get up until 8 am).  Needless to say mornings here at the Yurkanin homestead just aren't full of smiles.  Here are some pictures I took of them that dreadful first morning. Notice the thrilled looks on their faces.

I have more for you, I know you didn't come to just see pictures of my kids.  Today at Sisters in Stamping we are doing Back to School/Teacher Gifts.  So began the mission, what do I do?  After several different ideas swirling around in my head I settled on a project that was shared with us at convention.  The one demonstrated there was different than mine. It was more girly and focused on reading.

Using one of Stampin' Up!'s file folders (#117170), I scored and made an accordian type keeper for some memories for Jonah from first grade. The above photo is the outside of the keeper whe it is all folder and the belly band is around it to hold it closed. You don't have to "untie" the ribbon.  It is attached to the belly band which easily slidesoff the bottom of the holder.  I also used the playdate quick accents (#117172) and the playdate Designer Series paper (#117168) to complete this project.

Here is the inside of the folder.  There is an insert in each "pocket."  The first pocket is for the first day of school.  I will attach a photo and do some journaling to remember this special day.  Each insert has a piece from the quick accents on top to label them.  The first one says, hello.  The second one says, friends.  The third one says, stuff.  And the last one says, goodbye.  I will use each one to journal and attach a photo or two to coordinate with the tab title throughout the year.

Just a full shot of what the insert looks like.

Then I also decorated a gusseted envelope to hold some more memorabilia for Jonah's first grade experience.

Don't forget to head over to the Sisters in Stamping blog to see the projects the other sisters created.  Have a great Labor Day weekend.