School is nearly upon us and I wanted to share a fun idea that I had stashed away in my "This is an awesome idea I had and someday I'll find the time to use it" stash. This particular idea is for a College Survival Can but you could easily adjust it to different grade levels.

Find yourself a clean, empty paint can (you can buy these at home improvement stores), decorate it up and fill it with:

A teabag - in case you ever get into hot water, make tea and share it
A pack of tissues - to remind you to dry each other's tears
A toothpick - to pick out the good in yourself and others
A package of salt - to remember to take some things with a grain of salt
A lifesaver - to remind you that Friends are lifesavers
A penny - so you are never broke
A package of sweetarts - to take the bitter with the sweet in life
A rubber band - to remind you to stay flexible
A kiss - to remind you to kiss away boo-boos and that you are loved
A star - to remind you to shine and always try your best
A pencil and eraser  - to remind you that we are all sharp, but we all make mistakes too
A paper clip - to hold your life together
A snickers - to remind us to laugh more and enjoy life
A graduation cap - to remind you to always seek knowledge
A duck - to remind you to let some things roll off your back
A mint - to remind you that we're all worth a mint as long as we work together
A hug - of which we can never give or receive too many

Hmm...now that I read over this list, this would make an awesome wedding gift for some friends of mine. I wonder if I could do one by Friday.....




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Ok, I know it's Thursday, but I just finished what I needed to finish to do my Wednesday post. Over at Sunday Shutterbugs, the theme for this week is Heart. Now, this is a great theme. It's one that you can interpret in so many different ways. I'm taking something that someone special said to me the other day and using that for my interpretation. He told me that every time he receives a homemade present from me, he can see my heart and love in each and every one of them. So, with all of that being said, here is the project I've been working on for the past week. It's going to my nephew, Dominic, for Christmas. It's just a shame that all of my tape is outside in the van...*looks outside at the snow, knowing that it's like 0 with the windchill without even checking weather.com*



And there it is...one completed Train Bank for Mr. Dominic Nathaniel.

Yes folks, it's true! I am a scrapbooking, craft supply hording junkie! I've often wondered if there's a 12 Step program for this, but I suspect that unless it was a new way to find fabulous craft finds, I'd fall off the wagon super quick!

Speaking of falling off the wagon, I got a small paycheck (clearing out my workstudy funds at school) and could not not not resist this Etsy shop! It's called Quality Craft Supplies and all it took was one look at their stock and I was hooked! I mean, who doesn't love a shop where the owner is super nice, the stock is fabulous (and green friendly!) and they do free shipping on any order that is $10 or more!

I have to show you the goodies that I bought! I just have to!

Up first, some gorgeous beads!



Aren't the colors on those gorgeous?!? Ok, my second item..I think I may have bought this for a few reasons:
1. The name...Blue Banana Paper.
2. It looks soooo pretty!
3. It's made from the waste bark of banana trees that are cut.

Which brings us to my very last item...and probably, possibly my absolute favorite! Ecofriendly Lokta Paper! It's sooo gorgeous and totally Ecofriendly which makes it an even bigger hit in this house!

Isn't it gorgeous? I think that may be my word of the day for this post! lol! Now, by now some of you may be asking what it is that I did for me today? I got to tear open this package and oooh and ahhh and touch and dream about what I'm going to use all these goodies for!

I totally wasn't expecting these to arrive in the mail yet. Jodi told me she was mailing them, but wow! Super fast shipping and yay for USPS for delivering something quickly for once.

Now, I just know that all of you are itching to get your fingers on some of these fantastic items (and trust me, there are even more great items over at the store!) so you're going to be doubly excited when I tell you that for my first ever giveaway here at Crafts By Katie, I'm going to give away a 10 sheet pack of Lokta Paper! There are 2 sheets of each of the colors shown in the above picture.

To earn entries:
1. Head on over to Quality Craft Supplies or their sister store, This Is It! Creations and then come back here and leave a comment letting me know what your favorite product is!
2. Add me to your blogroll. Make sure you leave a separate comment letting me know that you have. I don't have a picture link yet (still need to figure out how you all do that) but hopefully I will before the contest closes. Don't worry, a text link works just as nice!
3. Subscribe. That's right...find out what I'm doing every day via your inbox. Again, make sure you leave me a comment letting me know that you have.
4. Blog about my giveaway and leave me a comment here so I can check it out!

Also, if you are a non-blogger, please feel free to enter, but make sure you leave me an email address so that I can contact you!

This giveaway will stay open until June 18th. I will announce the lucky winner next Thursday in my Time For Me Thursday post. I'm sorry, but this giveaway is open to US residents only. (6/12/08 - 6:23pm)