Whether you are ready to admit it or not, Back to School season is knocking at the door. Before long, the school buses will resume their daily routes, homework will become a nightly chore and the lazy, hazy days of summer will be a distant memory.
I have always loved the back to school time of year. Growing up, I loved it at a student. The new school year always meant some new clothes, a new backpack, a new pair of shoes and of course, a new teacher. College brought even more to look forward to – moving into the dorms, reuniting with friends after a summer apart, learning to live on my own.
After college, back to school took on a new meaning for me – this time as a teacher. I remember the excitement that came with buying supplies for my students, setting up my classroom and trying to get everything “just right” for the first day of school.
And now here I am – playing yet ANOTHER new role when it comes to the beginning of school… as a mom! Lily Bean will be 4 in September and will start her 2nd year of preschool. She is PSYCHED. So it was certainly perfect timing when I recently had the opportunity to come up with some sort of back-to-school-related craft, gift or project that uses Smarties candies.
I have to admit, Smarties are a childhood favorite of mine. I can still remember how some teachers would hand out Smarties before big tests – helping us find our “smarts” to perform well. That was such a simple gesture, but it really broke up test-taking anxiety!
I recently learned that the Smarties Candy Company (family owned and run) makes all of its candy in North America between two factories – Union, NJ and Newmarket, Ontario. Three generations of the Dee family work under the same roof at Smarties Headquarters in New Jersey. Pretty neat!
So it was armed with a lifelong love of Smarties that I made my way to Walmart last weekend. I had an idea for my project in mind, and I found all of the supplies that I needed. After picking up my Smarties, I found a cute container (clear glass) and then made my way to the ribbon aisle. I had just a few options when it came to ribbon!
I knew that I was going to shred some tissue paper that I had at home (light blue and white). I also needed some printable labels to use for the custom tag that I designed in Photoshop. I picked up a pack of Avery Labels #25395 and they worked great.
Here is a look at the tag I designed – get your own FREE copy here: Smarties Teacher Gift Label.
Put it all together and what do you get?
Ta-da!
I have to admit – I just LOVE the way this turned out! I guess I know what Lily’s preschool teacher will be receiving on the first day of school, huh?
You can find even more Smarties goodness by checking them out on Facebook and Twitter.
AND because they ROCK, Smarties will be giving THREE lucky readers a Smarties prize pack that includes the following:
1 Theater box Smarties
1 small bag Original Smarties
1 small bag Tropical Smarties
1 small bag X-Treme Sour Smarties
1 small bag Smarties in a Pouch
1 small bag seasonal Smarties
Want to win? Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below!
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I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Smarties #CBias #SocialFabric . As always, all opinions are 100% my own.