Reindeer Food + A Free Printable

One of my kids favorite after school snacks is popcorn.

I make them popcorn several times a week & around holidays we make "festive" popcorn with m&m's, sprinkles and mix it with melted white chocolate & peanut butter. 

I have a Valentine version HERE and an Easter version HERE.

The kids love making Christmas cookies for friends & family, and this year they asked if we could make a Reindeer food for their friends.

We decided to make our White Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn, but give it a Christmas theme and call it Reindeer food:

Here is what you need:

- 2 packages of microwave popcorn (I used homestyle because it isn't too buttery)
- 12 oz of White Chocolate Chips or White Almond Bark
-  1/2 cup Peanut Butter (I use Skippy Natural)
- Christmas M&M's
-Christmas Sprinkles

Pop 2 bags of Microwave Popcorn & pour them into a bowl (let cool for 10-15 minutes)
***Make sure you get all the un-popped kernels out of the bag***

While your Popcorn is cooling, heat up your white chocolate/almond bark in the microwave or in a double boiler. I heated mine in the microwave at 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring in between.

Then add the 1/2 cup peanut putter to the melted white chocolate & stir. You might want to heat it up for another 15-30 seconds at 50% power:

 When your popcorn is cooled, add the m&ms & sprinkles to the popcorn. I used about 1 1/2 cups of m&ms 

 

 Then pour the white chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the popcorn, sprinkles and m&m's and stir it all together.

Lay down a piece of wax paper & spread the popcorn on wax paper.

Then, I slide the wax paper onto a cookie sheet & then put it in the fridge for an hour.

After it's chilled, I then put it in an airtight container.

Of course, I had to make a printable to go with it because I love making printables :)
We gave these to friends over the weekend.

You need the printable....I printed it on brown paper:

You could also print on white, but I liked the way the brown looks.

I found these cute Reindeer cartons at CVS & they are perfect for Reindeer food.

We added some "Reindeer Food" to a ziplock sandwich bag (so it stays fresher) and then put it in the carton:

We wrote on the labels, cut them out & then attached them to the top with some washi tape.

I think they turned out so cute!
My kids loved putting these together.

We hope you love making these (and eating) this Reindeer Food as much as we do!

 

Here is the printable:

{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}

This is a perfect little treat for your neighbors, friends or teachers!

Teacher Appreciation :: How Sweet it is to be Taught by You {Free Printable}

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week!

I love Teacher Appreciation Week...and not just because I am a teacher ;)

Of course, my reasons are two-fold.

Reason #1 I love Teacher Appreciation Week because I AM a Teacher and it's always nice to be appreciated. Yes, teachers get 3 months off...blah blah blah. BUT we have one of the hardest jobs there....I spend 5 hours a day with 150 7th graders who are 12 & 13 years old.... who are going through puberty. THAT is no easy task. It's exhausting. I am not only trying to teach them math (which is probably the least liked subject out there) but I am also trying to maintain classroom management and teach these kids important Life Skills like time management, teamwork, being KIND and being a good citizen.

Reason #2 I love Teacher Appreciation Week is because my girls are also in school and I LOVE giving gifts to their awesome teachers. I truly am thankful for and appreciate their amazing teachers and want them to know how much they are appreciated, even if it's a small gesture.

I think Teachers have one of the hardest jobs out there and as a parent, I want to make sure my kids teachers KNOW how much I appreciate them.

I like giving little goodies to my kids teachers throughout the year (and giving them THIS questionnaire at the beginning of the school year is super helpful)

I have a mix of Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas that I have on my blog....some are for you to make cookies....others are gift cards or something to buy.

For this one, I wanted to give them Bundt Cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes....I love that place...their Red Velvet is my favorite.

I know what my girls teachers favorite cupcake/cake flavor is because of my Back to School Printable, so that worked out well!

Here is what you need:

- Bundlets from Nothing Bundt Cakes (or make your own bundt cake)
-Printable (found at the bottom of the post)
- Cellophane wrap
-Bakers Twine (or ribbon)
-Scissors
- Hole Punch
- Pen

Here is a close up of the Printable that I made...I made 2 color combos.
A peach/pink one:


 Brown/Blue:

It says "How Sweet it is to be Taught by You" and then at the bottom it says "Thanks a bundt-ch for all you do"You know I love a good play on words :)

 These are SO easy to put together.
I like the Bundlet size because it comes in a container!

Red Velvet is my favorite :)
Fill out the printable, cut out some cellophane wrap & tie a string around it.
Both my girls are in speech, so we are giving one to their speech teacher also :)

I loved how these turned out...so cute & easy to make!

Here are the Free Printables for you to download:

{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}

{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}
I also made a version that doesn't say "Thanks a bundt-ch for all you do"
Not everyone has a Nothing Bundt Cakes near them, so I wanted you to be able to use it for something else.
I have it saying "Thanks for all you do"
This way you, you don't have to use a bundt cake.
You could attach it to cupcakes, doughnuts, candy apples, etc....Anything sweet...the possibilities are endless!

{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}

{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}


I hope you will be able to use this printable!

Need more Teacher Appreciation Ideas?
Here are some other free printables that I have on my blog that would be perfect for Teacher Appreciation and/or End of the School Year Gifts!

Dinner is on Us:

Free Printable {HERE}

Cupcakes in a Mason Jar + Free Printable:

{HERE}

I'm so lucky to have a teacher like you Printable (I add a gift card to this)

{HERE}

Thank you for being my Teacher (Cookie in a CD Sleeve with gift card)

{HERE}


Thanks a latte for all you do:
Get the printable {HERE}

I love this idea because this is what is inside the box....my favorite Anthro mug & coffee gift cards :)

Thanks for helping me bloom printable:

{HERE}

The World Needs S'more Teachers like You Printable

Printable {HERE}

 S'mores Bar Recipe {HERE}

In the Cookie of Life, Teachers are the Chocolate Chips:

Free Printable {HERE}

So, there you have it.
Several easy (& cheap!) gifts you can give the teachers/coaches/office staff in your life as a way of saying Thank You. These work for Teacher Appreciation Week, End of the School Year or Just Because!
And, the beauty of these gifts is that you could always attach a $5 or $10 giftcard to any of these treats (if you want to) 

Trust me, as teachers, we ALWAYS love gift cards :)

Happy {almost} Teacher Appreciation Week to all my fellow teachers out there!

Keep up the good work!
It's almost Summer....we can do it!!

Hope some of these ideas are useful to you!

 See you back here tomorrow for What's Up Wednesday!
Our bonus question is: What's your Favorite Mother's Day gift to give or receive?

Valentine, You make my heart Flip {Free Printable}

I'm excited to share this printable with you.
Kate picked out this bag of Flipz chocolate covered pretzels.
(She is my chocolate loving girl!)

Here is what you need:

- Bag of Flipz chocolate covered pretzels (I got mine at Target)

-Printable (download at bottom of post)

- Pen

-Scissors

-Stapler

 

 Kate said these are her favorites yet :)

Have you (or your child flll out the valentines once they have been printed/

Cut them out:

 Staple each one to the bags of pretzels:

 That's it! Super cute & super easy!

Here is your Printable:

{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}

Hope you haven't gotten too sick of my Valentine printables yet! Ha!

This is the last Valentine printable..... until next year :)

  All of the free printables can be found on my Printables tab {HERE}


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