Jazz Up Your Holiday Party {You need these hats in your life!}

I know, I know... it isn't even Halloween yet and I'm posting about Christmas.

But, trust me.

You want to read this post and I want to get it to you early so you can order these hats!!!!!

You need these hats in your life!

Exhibit A- these metallic cone party hats from Oriental Trading:

Click the picture to view the hats on Oriental Trading or HERE for all party supplies.

Your standard metallic party hat, right?

WRONG.

These hats are the canvas for the most fun your students will ever have at your holiday party.

The good people over at Oriental Trading sent me 300 of these hats... one for each student in my elementary school.  We are going to use them to create the "costumes" for our Holiday Music Program in early December.

Of course, as soon as these arrived this week, I could not WAIT to put the vision in my head for these "costumes" into reality.

Cue the glue gun, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, craft pom-poms, tape, and ribbons!!!!

A few short minutes later, I had created the most adorable hats for my kiddos to wear for our music program!  (Ok, I didn't make all 300 in a few short minutes.  But I did make one of each with the help of some of my little elementary friends...)

We have a Santa hat that just needed a few cotton balls...

A girl elf hat- just add ribbons and paper ears.  The ears were super easy to make- it's just a heart that I cut in half!

Yellow = REINDEER!  This took three brown pipe cleaners and may be my favorite hat of all.

Ok.  I lied.  The green is my favorite.

Blue is a boy elf- ribbon and ears!

And the silver make the perfect candy cane... just add some colored tape!

Here they are... all in a row...

I love them.  Like, seriously love.

I am so thankful that Oriental Trading helped make this possible for our school holiday program.  But, as a former classroom teacher, this would have made the PERFECT station at my classroom Christmas party!  I was THAT teacher... with organized stations and crafts at the party... and this would be the perfect one!

I know you have three thousand craft pom-poms, a variety of pipe cleaners, and miscellaneous ribbons in your storage bins in that closet right now.

Dig them out and order yourself these metallic party hats!  Your kiddos will LOVE making these hats at your holiday party.  Don't miss out on these other holiday finds at Oriental Trading too!

An Oriental Trading Holiday {with a Thanksgiving FREEBIE!}

Can I just shout from the mountain top that I LOVE ORIENTAL TRADING?????

They sent me this...

... full of these Christmas goodies...

Be sure to check out their HOLIDAY stuff.  It's pretty rad!

I will have each class down to the library in December and I will read my favorite Christmas books to them.  Then I will give each kiddo a candy cane and a holiday sticker.  I did this for Halloween and the kids LOVED it!  And my teachers loved getting a little breather too!

...I got these winter items for my school prize box!

...and these for my teachers!  Every holiday I have the staff do a little activity and the prize is a box full of goodies!  I can't wait to fill these cuties for them!

...I also got these stockings and fabric markers.  Shhhh... it's for a Christmas surprise for my staff!

I am so thankful for Oriental Trading sending me these goodies.  Head over to their site to get some great goodies at some amazing prices!

And now... for the Thanksgiving FREEBIE!

I said above that I do a little goodie box for my staff.  This month, I used the "pie favor boxes" that Oriental Trading sent me in October.  I put one card from the pack below in each staff member's mailbox.  They had to find a complete meal and then come show me to get their "dessert"... a cute pie shaped box full of goodies!

Click the link below to download the freebie and spread some Thanksgiving love around your school!

Oriental Trading... All TREATS and NO Tricks!

I am so excited to share some goodies I recently got from Oriental Trading!  I was thrilled when they offered me a mini-shopping spree to get some fall goodies for school.

As a building principal, I didn't need to get any stuff for a classroom this year... which was kind of a weird feeling!  BUT... I was able to get some amazing goodies to benefit the students in my building.  (And... shhhh... some treats for my staff too!)

Check out my amazing haul!

Did you know Oriental Trading has Halloween costumes?  There are SOOOOOO many and they are super affordable.  I got several costumes to share with kiddos who may not be able to afford a costume of their own.  I know they will be thrilled to have these cute costumes!

I love these simple vests... what a great way to turn an ordinary outfit into a Halloween costume!  We have an indoor recess play room and I plan to make these part of our play room when the holiday is over.  These are perfect for a dramatic play area!

Shhh!  These cute little boxes are treats for my teachers!  I'll fill them with goodies and place in their mailboxes for a Halloween and Thanksgiving surprise!

Last... I got these absolutely ADORBS pumpkin stickers!  I am going to give one to each student in the building for Halloween.  I love the variety and I know the kiddos will get a good chuckle!

Go forth and shop!  Don't miss out on these amazing TREATS (and no tricks!) from Oriental Trading!

Most Amazing Prize Box Ever... Thanks to Oriental Trading!

I was so excited to get an e-mail from Oriental Trading a few weeks ago.

Katie asked if I had anything on my wishlist that I would like them to send me...

UMMMM... YES!!!!!!!

And, since I'm not in the classroom anymore, this was such a great opportunity for me to build up my prizes in my office!  Kids in my building receive SOAR tickets for good choices and, if their ticket is pulled, they'll be able to get a prize!  And, now, thanks to Oriental Trading, I have top-notch goodies for my kindergarten, first, and second grade friends!

So, I got home the other day and this little beauty was waiting for me...

I opened it up...

And...

Here's what I got.  You can click each picture to learn more about the goodies!

FIFTY cars for about $20!

A huge assortment of pens!

And the coup de grace of the pen assortment was these lovelies that let you change ink colors!  Who isn't going to want that from the prize box???  Can you tell I'm super stoked?

Along with pens, we had to get an assortment of notebooks, of course!

Had to have stickers...

And tattoos!

 Last... bubbles!!!!!

Would you believe that the total cost for all of these items was under $75.00?!

Here's my wish list so you can see more about these goodies and some of the other things I'd like to get in the future.  YOU should definitely create your wishlist and share it out too.  What an EASY way for parents to help support you in the classroom!!!!!!!

I'm particularly psyched about the Back to School Photo Booth Props on my wishlist.  As a classroom teacher, I took pictures of my students at the start of each month and used lots of these types of props.  I would have LOVED adding those to my collection if I had stayed in the classroom this year!

I hope you enjoyed seeing this items and maybe got some ideas of your own!

Like I said... check out Oriental Trading and build up that wishlist.  I'm sure it would be a hit with classroom families who want to help support you with STUFF in your classroom this year!


F.Y.I.- I was provided with these materials from Oriental Trading.  This post contains my opinion based on my experience with the products.