News Taffy

It's Back to School week! Is everyone excited? Maybe not. I'm not in school this semester, but my husband is going back for another degree, so yesterday was his first day back in a couple of years. To celebrate his new milestone, I decided to throw a Back to School dinner to surprise him. As I was finding things around the house to make a centerpiece for the table, I was thinking how fun a Back to School themed dinner or party would be for a Friday night after the first week of school for kids!

I had planned on making a pizza, but I was going to make it on my rectangle cookie sheet so I could cut it in smaller rectangles. Nothing says school meal like rectangle shaped pizza, right? I thought about going all out and making rectangle pizza, green beans, and cinnamon rolls, complete with chocolate milk to really go retro, but it didn't sound any more appetizing to me at 25 than it did at 8. Since it was my father-in-law's birthday as well, my in-laws brought over some pizza (in regular triangle shapes), and I made my husband a strawberry cake, his favorite.

I found some black construction paper and wrote on them with white paint, though white out would have been easier. I just put things on them like Back 2 School, ABC, 123, and 2+2=4 kind of things. My husbands was a little harder with E=mc2 and whatnot. I decided since he was going to be Mr. Smartypants, he could have the higher placemat. I laid the pieces of paper at each chair for a placemat, and I looked around for other things I could use. I stacked some books and notebooks and sat on top of them an apple, chalk, and a little eraser. Then I took a trifle dish and filled it with crayons, scissors, colored pencils, and paint brushes.

I didn't have to buy anything at all, and my husband was really surprised and appreciative that I made a big deal out of something when he already did the college thing before. You could have a really fun family night with your kids, or invite some of their friends over too! Order some pizza, make a dessert, and just throw up some back to school decor! If your kids are younger, it would be fun to make crowns or placemats with the number for their grade this year. Make it special and have some fun! After all, they'll never have the first week of that grade again.

Until next time,
Heather