Teacher Board Gift

At the end of every year, I try to make my kids' teachers a hallway pass board.  I started this tradition about three or four years ago.  It's been really fun to see my style evolve, and also to see how creative I can get based on what I know the teacher likes.  This is one I've made this year to give to one of Adam's teachers tomorrow.  She is a sweet lady.  She let Adam bring Shelby in for his "show and tell" this year when he earned a certain number of reading points.  Anyway, I noticed her classroom is very "beachy" so I decided to try this out.  What do you think?  I hope she likes it.  :)

Pocahontas Costume

Carly had a school assignment to study and educate others on a person in history - she chose Pocahontas.  For her school presentation, I wanted her to seem authentic, so I made her a Pocahontas costume to wear.  (Plus, being 10 years old and in women's clothing sizes, it's really hard to find a modest Indian costume!)  I bought all of the materials at JoAnn's.  The suede cloth already had the cut-outs and fringes, so basically all I did was take one of her basic form church dresses, and use it as a pattern to cut the dress for this costume.  Then I sewed the sides and shoulders together, and voila!  It was ready.  I also bought the Indian-looking trim at JoAnn's and sewed it along skirt bottom.  The feather band on her head came from the $1.00 spot at JoAnn's, and again, I only added the trim by sewing machine.  Her wig came from KMart on sale for $7.00 and the brown tights are from Target.  The turquoise around her neck were string of beads also from JoAnn's that I strung onto elastic cord for a quick necklace.  All in all, this was an easy project and I am pleased with the outcome of the look.  She looked great for the presentation at school!

Teacher Gifts - My Latest Hallway Pass Boards

I just created these two boards for each of my school children's teachers.  I hope they like them as an end-of-the-year gift!  Thanks for looking!  PS - I sell these in my Etsy shop.  Look for shop name:  thecozyhouse OR seller name:  ScrapMom8.  Thanks!

School Christmas Crafts

So, I've mentioned before I'm heavily involved as the Volunteer Coordinator at my kids' elementary school, and this month is no exception! It's Christmas-time! And as such, our PTO decided to do away with the typical "Secret Santa Shop" and host our own craft nights so the gifts are more sentimental and handmade. I scoured Pinterest for ideas (of course!), and also received some ideas from friends. Since we live in the great state of OSU territory, some of the crafts are buckeye keychains and necklaces. We are also crafting fleece scarves (the kids are basically just tying the fringe at the ends into knots); making Christmas tree canvases; glitter bulbs; painting porcelain tiles; and decorating picture frames, etc. I am also crafting some snowman face kits with buttons for the kids to use on their real snowmen this winter.

We have a total of 175 kids participating, with a grand total of 580 craft orders placed. We have two nights with the children (approximately 5 hours total) to finish everything! We'll see how it goes. I am sure it will be hectic...but when kids are involved, isn't it fun?!?! I love spending time with my kids and their friends at school. It's heartwarming. However, I do need to learn to say "NO!" sometimes. :) But aren't these cute ideas?!

End-of-Year Teacher Gifts

I decided to make some teacher hall pass boards for the teachers this year as a final gift...just as I did for Mr. Betz last year. But the fun this year was personalizing it to the teachers who will be receiving them. Adam's teacher loves monkeys and has decorated her room in monkeys since Carly had her for Kindergarten a few years ago. So I found some awesome embellishments and ribbons and went with it! I love the way it turned out. For Carly's teacher, I had to ask Carly for help. I haven't been as involved in her classroom, not for lack of trying, but her teacher is very organized and doesn't request much help. Carly said Mrs. Bitler loves dolphins and the ocean...which is evident in her classroom with shells hanging around and pictures of the beach. So that was my theme for her board. I wanted to put the title "Life's a beach" or "got beach?" on hers but I thought it would sound funny to 3rd graders and thus maybe wasn't a good idea? So I kept it simple. It looks fine. I have to say my fave of the two is the monkey board. This style board will be for sale in my Etsy shop in the near future. Thanks!

Hallway Passes

I created another hallway pass board for a customer, and love the way it turned out! She wanted some bright green and pink...and I didn't have vinyl those colors. So at first, I decided to try painting the dots...big mistake! I had to sand the board back down and try something again. I borrowed some hot pink vinyl from a friend to try out the look, but I didn't have green to go along. So I decided at the last minute to try some scrapbook paper, and it turned out great! (in my opinion!) I really do like the look of it and it's soooo different from the one I created for Carly's teacher last year. I hope you like it, Annie! Thanks so very much! :)

Carly's Valentine's Box

This year the teacher issued an assignment for the children to make their own Valentine's box at home. Since I have a ton of paper, glue, ribbon and such, Carly was in craft heaven! hehe This is what she came up with for her 2010 box (which is a recycled shoebox). She used some paper from the My Mind's Eye that I also used on my Valentine's wreath. The birds and nest were on some patterned paper that she decided to cut out and use as decor on the top of her box, and we used pop dots to give it extra dimension. We bought some pink, red, and purple gem stickers and also crystal heart stickers for the bling at Hobby Lobby. And then she decided she wanted the hole on top to be in the shape of a heart instead of a plain old slot. Good idea, Carly! It turned out super cute. We cut her name with the Storybook font with my Cricut. She did everything except for the heart hole on top. I handled the glue gun for her as well. Thanks for looking! And stay tuned for her cute Valentine gifts we are making for her classmates!