Auction Projects.. Who Knew?

Who knew auction projects would get my creative juices flowing and excitement.  There are two reasons I guess that I get super excited... one is to be working with the kids in some creative format and two, I get to help raise funds for my son's school. 

I am an educator myself that works in a different school and different district than where I live.  I want to desperately be part of my son's educational career and it be in a different mode than "Teacher", (though I believe myself to be his teacher as well)! 

Last year my son was in preschool for the first time and I volunteered to be the Auction Project Mom for the Preschool class.  I got to work with the teacher on the idea, and the kids in creating it.  I had just started my Pinteresting and fell in love.  I now have an Auction Idea board that I pin to frequently as I plan to be the Auction Project Mom as much as possible throughout the years of my son's career. With the help of a friend, I was able to take all the hand prints of the kids and create a canvas alphabet to be auctioned off.. Here's what it looked like! 

 

 

This was before I ordered it through Costco's photo shop a large canvas. It turned out great.  I had to first choose what hand print pictures I wanted the kids to do.. There are a ton of websites that have different hand print shapes and you can find them all over Pinterest as well.  Once I had all of the individual painted hand prints, I scanned them into PDF and had a friend graphically (if that is a word) design them into this alphabet.  It actually sold for $500 well above the previous years auction project for the preschool.

 

Here are some pictures of other auction projects that were auctioned off last year from the other classes.

 

 

 

It is a new year.. What to do?  So I am currently working on a new project with the preschoolers. This year is the last year many in this class will be preschoolers. They will all move on to Kindergarten. Some will move on together in this particular school and others will go on to other schools in the area. It is also my son's last year in preschool before we make the jump to Kindergarten. What a great transitional time.  I compare it to when students graduate 8th grade and transition into high school or better yet graduate from high school and move on to college. It is a great time.  I want this one to be memorable.  So that project is underway.  I am using my photography skills and again with the help of an awesome friend will pull together a print that will be framed or a canvas that will be wrapped with the designed photographs.  I hope to top the $500 that was made or make the same amount. Here we go.  I will also be helping the classroom create and donate a silent auction project.  This is super fun for me. The creative juices are flowing and I can't wait to see the finished projects. Might even have to buy them myself.  What's cool about helping out and facilitating these projects is that I know what will be up for bid before others. I can talk it up or I can know what my limit for bidding will be.  ALL FOR THE KIDS! 

 

P.S. Can't wait to post pictures of the projects when they are finished and getting ready for bid!

Keep Calm and Lego on!

Ahhh who knew when you turned five years old that you would be infatuated with Lego's!  Well that was the theme of my son's fifth birthday party.  Becuase he is getting older and building friends he had the option to invite kids from his class. What I didn't know is that he would want to invite ALL 15 students.  Imagine 15 five year olds filling your home with their crazy energy.  All I could think of was that I used to teach preschool and I can handle this.  (Maybe).

I have found that the key to a great party or event is the plan and the specific little details of the plan. This allows for fun, enjoyment, a flow and adds to the special feeling people or kids will walk away with.  As a mother, I want to create wonderful memories for my children. I want them to remember themes, the decor, the fun and the enjoyment of their birthday celebrations.

In anycase I began planning his birthday party a few right after Christmas! Little did I know that was about the best thing I could have done becuase our family a few weeks ago became very ill, which seemed to cycle through each one of us every three days. 

I was able to fall back on the research I was doing through Pinterest, web searches and the like. I am also about being creative, making my own decorations, working with a friend who is also creative and enlisting her ideas (two heads better than one notion).  In anycase, I hit a few hiccups, persevered and threw a GREAT party!

I would call this birthday a wonderful success. Happy Birthday my son Keep Calm and Lego on! Thank to my friends to help me with the decor and for the free printable package I found online to use for personal use! I used parts of that and found lego wrapping paper etc.  What a great day!