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hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

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Here on the East Coast, kiddos are heading back to school this week or after Labor Day next weekend. I know that many areas of the country have already been back, but I’m glad our kiddos have all of August off- it’s been a month full of busy fun!  This is the first year that ALL FOUR kids will be in school at least part-time.  I’ll have a pre-school rookie, a Pre-K rockstar, a shy 2nd grader, and a school-lovin’ 5th grader.  As we’ve been busy getting our supplies organized (umm…btw really expensive for 4 kids! Anyone with me?), and our first day outfits picked out, I’ve been hunting around for fun first day picture ideas! 
 

 

Here’s a little round up of the ones I found and liked:
 

 

Since I know the first morning of school will be a little nutty, I like how simple these free printables are from How Does She & Chickabug Blog.  Print, Hold, Smile, done!
 

 

 

 

 
 

Everyone loves a Polaroid right?  Okay, well at least I do.  This tutorial from No Biggie Blog shows you how to make your own.  What I really love, is that you just take your pics with the plain white frame and then head over to Picmonkey to add the text on top.  That sounds nice and simple for this mama of four!
 

 

 

We love Jamielyn from iheartnaptime and leave it to her to create some super-cute free printables.  I might show the kids all my printable options and let them choose.
 

 

 

Many people have done the picture-with-added-text thing for a kiddo’s birthday, but I love the school year tweak.  This example is from Priceless Impressions Blog and I love how much she was able to write about her son.  Thinking back on Kenzie, she’s so different starting 5th grade than she was starting 4th!  If you’re curious, her favorite band of the moment is The Civil Wars and her favorite song is Lights by Ellie Goulding (what can I say, she has good taste!)

 

school4web

 

 

 

 

There are a million other ideas out there, but these are some of my favs.  I’m pretty sure I’ll also use my favorite mirror-turned-chalkboard to document a few.  Jess and I have had some fun with it in the past… (aren’t we dorks?!?)

 

 

Oh! One other back to school thing I’m psyched about (do people say psyched anymore? I sort of don’t think so, so let me know in a nice comment if perhaps I should stop using it. Thanks!).  I got these super-cool lunch box notes in the Target dollar bin (man, I love those bins)!

Aren’t they cool?  The back slide has lines for you to write a note.  I already informed the hubs that even though he usually makes the sandwiches, that I get to leave the fun notes!
Now, all you mid-westerners and southerners… Tell me what you did for first day pics.  I’d love some more ideas! And, When did your area start school?

 

The comments +

  1. Judy says:

    Cute pics! Cuter kids! My kids went to grade school a long time ago. They always protested having their picture taken with the small poster board signs I made each year to designate their new grade. I thinks the signs are a lot more fun now and the kids actually smile in the pics! What could a mom ask for? I’d get psyched about it if I still had kiddos in school.

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