Neato Ideas: The Beginning

My name is Lala and I have an interesting way of looking at things.  I see some things in a way no one else would.  For example, in the spirit of the Holidays, what one person may see as a simple ornament, I see as a unique Thank You card for the staff at my son's after-school program. What one person may see as an unwanted gift received at a gift exchange, I see as a piece to a fabulous gift basket that will make someone else very happy.  This blog is a collection of my ideas and creations from cute gifts, to clever centerpieces, to just plain Neato Ideas.  I hope you enjoy and find this useful!

My first Neato Idea includes the ornaments listed above.  There are 12 fabulous people who work at the after-school program at my son's school that keep the kids busy, help with homework, and take care of them while parents work.  I wanted to give each of them a gift, but could not afford to buy them all something for under $5.00 that actually would have some meaning and express the thanks I felt...so I found sleeves of ornaments in the dollar bin at Target.  With the help of a simple Sharpie, I turned a plain ornament into an expression of thanks:

On one side I wrote "Thank you" and on the other side I had my son write "love, Conner". Also from the Target dollar bin I purchased cute little reindeer felt baskets, filled them with homemade holiday treats in festive bags and placed the ornament on top:

I was able to express my appreciation to the staff in a personal way for less than $4.00 per gift...but the impact was worth much more.

Happy Gifting!!

Lala