Last Thursday, we hosted a little back to school party for Rhett's friends, all of whom are going to some sort of school this fall. Some of them are starting kindergarten, while others will return to or start preschool within the next few weeks. I honestly can't believe the time is already here, and I wanted to do something fun for the kids and moms (like me) who are finding it a little difficult that school is starting soon!
I used free
printables from the
internet (various sites), and used things that we had lying around the house to complete my "school" theme.
My friend,
Betsy, always gets my "theme" and brought these cookies on this adorable platter, complete with pencils! That's why we're such good friends!
lol!

For favors, I got Crayons at Target for $.20, and tied them up with ribbon and a cute printable from
Eighteen25. For the mamas, I glued a little poem to a small package of Kleenex. I found the poem on
Pinterest, and it said:
(get ready for some tears)
I wonder what you're doing right now,
and if everyone is treating you kind.
I hope there is a special person,
a nice friend that you can find.
I wonder if the teacher knows
just how special you are to me.
And if the brightness of your heart
is something she can see?
I wonder if you are thinking about me,
and if you need a hug.
I already miss the sound of your voice
and how you give my leg a tug.
I wonder if you can possibly understand
how hard it is for me to let you grow.
On this day, know that my heart breaks,
for this is the first step in letting my baby go.

I used bath tub foam letters and numbers, and laid them out all over the table.

I cut cheese and summer sausage into letters and number shapes.

I used old fence pickets I had left over from another project and made one into a pencil,

And the other into a crayon!

I used an old chalkboard that we had hanging in Rhett's closet as the centerpiece, as well as a dry erase board that we use for practicing writing letters.

I found these printables for each grade level (can't remember where), but they make great first day of school photo props.

This baby block was a vase from a flower arrangement sent to me when Gentry was born.

I printed out these labels, and filled the jars with
Dum Dums and Smarties. They said, "Always Remember, You are a
Smartie", and "Never let anyone call you a
Dum Dum".

I got the idea to hot glue crayons around a bowl from a blog (can't remember where), but boy was it a mess to get off! I filled the bowl and lunchbox (below), with cute little rice
krispie treat apples from
here.

I used
printables for these pretzel crayons, that were so cute, but not so much a hit with the kiddos.

We had a great time, and the kiddos had fun playing before their big day!