Friday Favorite: Back to School Week

Happy Friday! We survived the first week back at school! While the 1st day was filled with mixed emotions, I can say that it has been a great few days! I was sad to see my youngest head to Kindergarten but he was all smiles…so it’s hard to be sad! Anyway, as usual I am sharing my weekly favorites as part of a link up with  Erika, Narci and Andrea. I’ve named this Friday Favorites the Back to School Week edition!

*Some affiliate links used.

Back to school traditions

The first week of school is practically a holiday at our house. We put out a few little school decor items and have several annual traditions. On Wednesday, I shared all of our fun back to school traditions! I know these are things that my kids will always remember.

While my husband was out of town for most of the festivities, I kept the traditions alive! We had our annual night before school dinner. Or in our case it was breakfast for dinner –BRINNER!

Twas the night before Back to School and all of the backpacks were hung by the mudroom with care…

Card My Yard

The kids had a very FUN Back-to-School surprise as we were treated to a Card My Yard display! Could the first day of school be any more festive than having a GIANT sign display in your yard?! The kids loved it! So did our neighbors–we even had people stop by for photo opps:)

I was so excited to get to know the couple behind my local Card My Yard franchise. They are the sweetest people and they were so easy to work with. Local friends- I highly recommend ordering Card My Yard for your next celebration or occasion. A Card My Yard display would be fun for anything from Homecoming, Birthdays, Graduations, New Baby…you name it!

New Farmhouse Decor

Over the weekend, I stopped into Pier One for the first time in a long time. I was looking for new placemats for our dining room table and I found so many options! It didn’t help that all of the placemats are buy one get one 50% off!

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that I was looking for some help on choosing the which placemats to keep! Well, I ended up keeping three different sets. But, I went with the crowd favorite for now…these pretty blue ones!

I also got these Buffalo Check Placemats (you might have noticed them in my back to school dinner picture!). You can’t go wrong with Buffalo Check for so many different holidays and seasons!

Then, finally, I got a neutral set of placemats that I think will go well for every day use. They are actually indoor/outdoor placemats! They will be easy to wipe down and clean!

Besides Pier One, I also got a few decor pieces at Target! Even though I love all things Joanna Gaines, I had yet to purchase anything from her Hearth and Hand Collection at Target. I’ll be honest, I rarely buy much in the way of home decor from Target—I’m much more likely to find things at Homegoods or Marshalls.

But, there are so many cute things in the Magnolia line right now! I ended up coming home with several things!

First,, these melamine trays were on sale at my local store! So cute and perfect for so many occasions.

Gingham Set of 3 Plates

Then, I also got a few things for my dining room table including this galvanized lantern.

Galvanized Lantern

I also got this pretty bowl bowl (in store they were sold individually).

And finally a large wood tray (not available online) to use as a centerpiece for our dining room table.

Home Projects

Now that I have a few hours to myself every day it’s time to tackle some home projects. Although I still hope to fit in blog work, running errands, working out and volunteering at the kids’ school.

This week, while the kids were at school, my focus was on organization! The kids are requesting chore charts (aka a chance to earn money) once again, so we are going to give it another go! I got to thinking we needed a better spot to list all of our chores and stay organized. I am limited on space in the kitchen so I decided to dedicate an unused wall on the stairs to our basement. It’s right by our front door so it’ll be easy for the kids to spot when they come home from school.  I’ll share our finished product next week, so stay tuned!

I also said goodbye to our Summer Fun List Chalkboard. Boo hoo! It’s been a fun summer but I am ready to embrace this next season (both literally and figuratively!)

This week, I’ve been focusing on the good with my kids being back at school. I am so excited for them and the paths that they are forging for themselves! One of the best gifts my parents gave me was the freedom to set my own path without too many expectations. I am trying to do the same for my kids–ultimately I just want them to be happy!

*****************************************************************

Anyway, enough sappiness for this week! Back to School week really gives me all the feels! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!