Quotables - The Perfect Gift for an Educator

The Other Jen has come out with a product that I need badly.  Really neat cards with an inspiring quote on one side and a short bio of the quote author on the other side.  Of course, the brilliant Other Jen has many keen ideas how to use these quotable cards on her website.

My mind is spinning with all the ways I want to use them with my students, colleagues, in training sessions, at conferences, in workshops, etc.  I want a pack like yesterday.

Oh, I just thought of something - these cards would make a LOVELY gift for a classroom teacher for the holidays.  At just $15.95 + shipping what a great gift for an educator.  This introductory price, by the way, ends today!  So order, now.

Go to the Other Jen's website for more.  And no, this isn't a paid advertisement.  I am just admiring another, dare I say, amazing Jen.

Yes, I am full of myself today.

xoxo,

The "Other" Jen

UPDATE:  My department ordered a set for me!  The only catch is I have to share with my colleagues.   No problem.  I'm a great sharer ;)

Homemade Dog Treats - Make That "Homecrafted"

For Jedi's birthday party favors, Lil O and I baked up some gluten-free pumpkin, parsley and brown rice dog treats.  It was fairly easy following this recipe here.  We made a few modifications including:

• We bought all organic products.  Yep, only the healthiest for Jedi and his friends :)  We found the ingredients at our local organic market.
• We baked two batches.  The first batch without parsley, the second batch with parsley.  I think the look/texture of the dried parsley and the nutrition it adds makes the parsley a must!
• Our neighbor and faithful blog reader suggested we roll out the treats between wax paper lightly dusted in flour as the first batch kept sticking to the rolling pin.  The wax paper (we used freezer paper) was a nice rolling trick.  Thanks, S!
• We took the leftover canned pumpkin and stuffed a Kong for Jedi and then froze it.  He will love that delicious snack.  He always loves a frozen Kong.

When it was time to bag them up for the party favors, I jumped on Photoshop Elements 10 and made a label for the treats.  You can see Lil O's faux business name.  "Olive loves Jedi.  Homecrafted Organic Dog Treats for a BFF - A Best Furry Friend"

And by the way, I designed the logo.  Lil O said she envisioned something else.

Crazy kid.

Jedi totally approves of these dog treats.  He is like me and will eat just about anything with the word pumpkin in it. Remember this post here and my pumpkin fascination?

While we are on the subject of dog treats, do you have a favorite dog treat recipe?  I am looking for more recipes that aren't wheat-based.  I think Jedi does better gluten-free like most dogs and humans.

All the best,

Jen

PicMonkey {for Tech Tuesday} + Free Download

Since still mourning the loss of Picnik, I have at least embraced PicMonkey.  It is almost the same as Picnik - easy to use, lots of cool fonts, neat effects and it's free.  I do miss Picnik's ability to connect directly to Facebook and Picasa photos, though.  That made photo editing sooooo easy.

With that said, PicMonkey is doing the trick lately as evidence by the faux chalkboard art I created above.  If you want to make your own faux chalkboard art, download the chalkboard backgrounds here.  Then, upload your favorite background into PicMonkey.  To make the chalkboard art, I chose fonts that looked semi-chalkboard-ish and then faded them about 25% and blended them using the "difference" option.  You can see those features in the PicMonkey screenshot below.

PicMonkey is also easy-to-use for photo-editing, in case you want to embrace it for what is was most likely intended for.  Also, if you'd like a free download of the art I created above, click here and enjoy.  I think the art would look snazzy framed or on a bulletin board in your classroom.  Plus, I love that quote by Sue Monk Kidd.  My dreams are definitely lined up in a queue.

Onward, you photo-editing-art-creating-amazing-blog-reader,

Jen

PS - Special thanks to Kellie at Nest of Posies for the post that inspired this new pastime. 

A New Kind of Party for Our Family

As many of you know, Jedi celebrated his first birthday the past weekend.  Since our family is totally in love with Jedi & slightly kooky, we decided to throw him a first birthday party at a local dog park - decorations and all.

We brought human and dog treats to celebrate.  Plus, party favor bags for all of Jedi's dog friends.  The favor bags included homemade dog biscuits (check back later in the week for the recipe) and samples of Jedi's dog food, Honest Kitchen (leftover from his stint as a spokesdog for their company).  PS - Did you know Honest Kitchen was featured on CBS Sunday Morning last week?  I heart that company.

We asked all of the party-goers to bring a donation for Black Dog Rescue - the amazing rescue that chose Jedi from the shelter in Kentucky and nursed him back to health. If we ever adopted another dog, it would be from Black Dog Rescue in a heartbeat.  

We had quite a crowd of party attendees.  About 10+ dog friends and 30 lovely humans all bundled up in the cold.

Oh, the dogs played!  Only one got bit :(  Many got chased, licked, smelled, wrestled or just explored the dog park.

The kids were quite happy.  They brought Jedi toys, cards and items for the rescue.  I should mention that some families who attended the party don't even have a dog!  Yes, you heard me.  They just like Jedi and so they attended.  Doesn't that tell you how sweet Jedi is?  He is.  What a temperament on that sweet pup.

Case in point, Lil O's friend, N.  She doesn't have a dog.  Her mom asked her to choose between attending Jedi's party and another party she was invited to - a human party.  She chose Jedi's!  N also made this sweet card for him.

The party-goers were so giving.  Here are some of the donations for Black Dog Rescue - new toys, leashes, collars, chew toys/sticks, gift cards, and cash!  I know the rescue will appreciate all the new items.

Have you ever thrown a party for a pet?  Do you have another way you like to celebrate your pet's birthday?  I'd love to hear.  We are already brainstorming celebration ideas for next year and Jedi's second birthday.

xoxo,

Jedi's Mom, Jen :)

More {Free} Holiday & Christmas Art

Image from Nest of Posies

I don't know about you, but I am a sucker for a good chalkboard look lately.  In fact, I have big plans for a chalkboard wall in our kitchen.  More on that another day.

If you like the holiday, chalkboard art pictured above, go to a delicious blog, Nest of Posies to download it.  I think it is tremendously adorable - the art and the blog.

xoxo,

Jen

PS -  Come back this week to see how to use a free web tool to make your own chalkboard art, K?  I will also share some Jedi birthday party photos, too :)