"I'm of the opinion that we just send a congratulatory card, but DH is upset because he feels obligated to send some money. He's more ticked off about this than I am...we had to look up the cousins info on FB to figure out this was her son. So this begs the question, at what point is it ok to say ENOUGH when the graduation/shower/wedding season starts?" I'd say the point at which you have to look a relative up on a social network site to know who s/he is. Seriously, I don't understand why your husband would feel any obligation to send anything to someone that distant. Really, why? If there is no social relationship, no interaction, and certainly no emotional warmth then what negative consequence does your husband foresee? As for graduations, my younger child is graduating from HS at the end of May. It's a milestone for us because we are now offically done with having kids in K-12. We have a somewhat unusual wrinkle too: because of an employment benefit my kids' college tuition is covered. Since they went to private school from Pre-K through 12 this means our tuition payments are now OVER!!! Much rejoicing as you may imagine. And you betcha we're celebrating. What we are not doing is sending graduation announcements. My daughter told me months ago she thinks they are tacky ways to ask for money or a gift and I agree. The people who are important in her life all know she will soon be a high school graduate. I've mentioned it to friends and colleagues. That's as much as we feel is appropriate or necessary in terms of an announcement. Since we've got a fairly large extended family I found a nice restaurant that serves one of her favorite dishes. I'm inviting the whole family, plus a friend each for daughter and her brother, for dinner after the ceremony. As our guests of course; we will not be sending anyone a request to pay for the meal, a solicitation for a gift, a jocular mention of a money tree or wishing well or any of that nonsense. I just put down the deposit on the meal: salad and empanadas as appetizers, choice of 3 entrees (fish/meat/chicken) and non alcoholic drinks are included. I'll be talking to the catering mgr about wine/beer options for those who might want that (NOT the grad girl :). They said I can bring my own cake. We'll be about 20 for dinner and both my daughter and I can't wait. It will be such a joy to have everyone there to enjoy a good meal and each other's company. We are making a family memory and celebrating a family milestone. And that's our graduation gift to her and ourselves. If we couldn't afford a restaurant I'd invite everyone to our house. The gift of having people she loves share her-and our-joy is the point, not, in the immortal words of Bernadette Peters, 'the stuff'. Ann

A little more background would help us give you more ideas, Lynne. What are your favorite methods of making cards... using die-cuts, paperfolding, pop-ups, embellishments, ribbons, painting, stamping, embossing, beads, ??? Will the card be hand-delivered or will it go through the US mail? Some of the suggestions below would have to be hand-delivered (or mailed in a box) because of the thickness (and fragility) of the embellishments. Minnie has given you a good idea to avoid going to the craft store and investing in a whole different bunch of supplies (LOL!! - not that you don't want to do that, but sometimes it is far less expensive to just [heaven forbid!!] buy a card than to get all the supplies to make one!). Are you giving her just a card, or a card with money or a check in it? A cute way to give $$ is to make a pop-up card with a hand that holds the $$ and "pops" up and out when the card is opened. Another way to give money is to make a diploma using a cardboard tube (from aluminum foil, saran wrap, etc.) covering it with parchment or other paper that has been aged with tea. Tie a red (or HS color) ribbon around the tube, seal with a gold sticker or sealing wax. Put the check or $$ inside the tube. Write a message of congratulations on the paper before sealing it! A third way to give money is to make a purse from cardstock. (If this idea appeals to you, email me and I can send you instructions.) A three-deep graduated petals card can be used as a holder for money, too, or just as a card with lots of messages of congratulations. Playing on Minnie suggestion of graduate stickers, use your niece's HS colors as the backgrounds, and for dimension add a bit of gold thread made into a tassel to the mortarboard. And maybe a black "button eyelet" to hold the tassel in place. Is she going on to college and do you know which one? You could incorporate that school's logo or mascot into your card, or maybe a roadmap from her home to the college. Does she like nature or the outdoors? Make the card with the cover message "Never stop chasing your dreams..." and decorate it with a subtle background of butterflies, perhaps overlaid with sheer vellum. Punch a hole about 2" in diameter in the cover and mount a little butterfly net inside so it is just visible through the hole. Put a couple butterfly stickers inside on or near the net, with inside verse, "Congratulations _ _ _ _ _ (niece's name)!" Here's a very simple one... Print and cut out (or use a sticker) of the world (Earth) that is just the size of a clear, flat-backed glass piece. Mount a plain white square on a textured card. Glue the Earth to the center of the square, then glue on the glass piece. Inside verse could be something like, "The world is waiting for you. Go for it!" Make an accordian pleat card with lots of die-cut hands mounted inside. Mount a single hand on the front on a couple layered rectangles (in HS colors).Tie a little tag to one finger on front hand that says "Clap Clap Clap." Put another set on layered rectangles inside with your message or just "Congratulations!" If you need further explanation for any of the above ideas, Lynne, just email me. Hope these ideas will inspire you.

chefkev... thanks for the idea to try Excel. I haven't tried that at all and will take a shot at it. I hope it works as well for me as it did for you. If it's not a hassle I would love a link to see how it worked for you. I'm a very very visual person. buehl... you are like a layout hero! I've seen what you've done to help other people as I religiously read layout threads. Many of the drawings look like they are done by KD's or archeticts. Our remodel is whole house. We are adding about a 220 sq. ft. extension onto the back which will house a bathroom, laundry room, and an extension onto the bedroom. Those drawings I think I may have figured out but want to post them somewhere too. Remodeling forum perhaps? I haven't hung out there much. celticmoon... my printer is a scanner as well but it's not compatible with my MAC. The MAC is my school computer which I take back and forth daily. I know there is a scanner for each grade level team, but have no clue who has it. ( I ougtha know since I'm grade level chair!) I will check it out tomorrow. I took the day off because my son is coming home from NY for a week. He moved back up there 3 months ago to start his career. Pick him up from the airport in 3 hours... CAN'T WAIT to see my oldest boy!! This is my kid who still acts like a needy 10 year old when he's with me. Thanks to all for your input. My fiance and I made the decision to move back to his smaller home in about a year and either sell or rent mine. He thought I was just being obsessive about reading these threads until I showed him some of the information and input that people generouly provide. I can't believe how much I've learned on here and the appliance forum. Those choices I've pretty much made. His home is about 900 sq. ft. smaller then mine and in a "less desirable" area. This move will afford me the opportunity to build my dream kitchen (within reason). The biggest plus is the gorgeous large backyard which is like a tropical oasis. Our psyche is the outside so for us... that's the biggest draw. Plus... if we scale down I'll be able to afford to retire early. He's already retired due to a leg injury so we'll be able to either do the work ourselves or at least GC that which we cannot do. I don't think his leg will allow him to lay floors but if he does the lifting I'm willing to try the grunt work! As long as it doens't involve power tools... I've been forbidden to go near them as I tend to be very impetutious. I burn or nick myself in the kithcen on a regular basis! I think that's because I have a 6' personality stuffed into a 5' body and tend to just dive head first into things without much forethought. Hence... the power tool moritorium has been placed upon me. He, on the other hand, still has his cop mentality and thinks, rethinks, plans, scopes out, assesses, and measures contingencies. It oughta be an intersting year as a creative minded ambitious teacher and practical technical retired cop steeped in realism embark on a total DIY remodel!! IT"S GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!! I can't even begin to express how excited I am. Thanks again... I'll be posting my crude drawings in a couple of days. Once my son gets sick of spending too much time with Mom!

Michelle -- are you still working on this? I have the same assignment for my daughter's class. The past few years they have included: * full formal class pic with teachers, * many candids, * individual pic of each child, * individual baby pic of each child (w/out captions -- anwer key at end, a guessing game, really), * write-ups for every grade/teacher (In Mrs. Lucy's Kindergarten class, we....), * a Remember When section, for kids to post both funny stories and on-going pass-times, * a "trends" page (names of popular artists, fashions), * poetry, artwork, etc. * a "In the year XXXX I will be ..." section for each students predictions. * a couple of pages for autographs. Any other ideas from anyone? Any other resources you've found helpful?