An Apple A Day

Yesterday, all 4 of my kids went to school.  This is a big DEAL at my house.  This will be the first time they will ALL be gone ALL day.  I'm torn.  I love my kids, and for the most part, love to be with them, but I admit I've been super excited for weeks at the thought of having 7 hours a day to finally get things accomplished (and have them stay DONE.) 

So yesterday was DAY 1 of the school year.  I just imagined all the things I would get done.  My house would get cleaned.  I would have the laundry finally done.  I would be able to get my craft room organized.  I would start on the HUGE list of things needed done before my craft show season starts in 2 weeks...

As those of you who are stay-home moms know, things NEVER go as planned.  I got almost nothing accomplished.  Where did the day go?  I have no idea.

So when it came time to make the amazing Back to School dinner I had planned for my kids, it wasn't that amazing.  But I think it's sometimes the small things that make the BIG impressions.  So I had to share my Back to School Apples.

I chose green apples to make these from so they would stand out from the red background on my table and the tags.

Then to make these, I punched out a red flower tag background from cardstock and a 1 7/8 flower punch that I have. Using some fun EDUCATIONAL quotes from around the web, I typed and printed them out on white cardstock to fit inside a 1 1/2 inch circle punch.

After gluing the quote to the front of the flower tag, I glued them to a toothpick.  Then, easy enough, I stuck the topper inside the apple and put it in the center of the plate. 

Turned out SUPER cute.  It was FAST and EASY.  And I think my kids were excited to have a SPECIAL dinner to tell me all about our time spent apart.  Maybe tomorrow I'll actually have something to tell them about MY day.