gifts for teachers

Simple Crepe Paper Flower Pin

08.04.11

I adore all things paper. And I adore flowers.

So this crepe paper flower pin has become a staple for me to give on all occasions that deserve a big to-do. And a little to-do (we gave one to my kids’ school secretary on secretary day). It is very fun to clip on a gift, and is a good grown up version of pulling a bow off the top of a gift and sticking it on top of your head. Don’t you think?

So here are a couple pics I’ve snapped of a few I’ve made, with an exact how to, now that I’ve gotten it down to a science.
Supplies
2 lengths of crepe streamers, each about as tall as you (same or contrasting colors)
Needle and length of thread about as long as your arm
Masking tape (optional)
Hair pin or safety pin

Method

Thread and knot the needle. Thread the needle and knot the thread using the traditional method, or just use a small strip of masking tape and fold it over the end of the thread, sticky sides together, in place of a knot.
Match up the streamers. Lay the streamers one on top of another, so you have a double-layer streamer.
Stitch the streamer on one side to create a ruffle. Begin stitching the double layer streamer. Stitch all the way up one side, leaving a small margin on the side where you are stitching so the thread does not tear through. Use a basic running stitch, down from the top, up from the bottom. After sewing several stitches, compact the streamer down on the thread so it is folded into a ruffle. Your ruffle should be tight, but not too packed. The streamer will naturally begin to take a spiral shape that resembles a flower. The extra thread is going to want to tangle as you stitch, so be careful.
Tie off the thread. Once you have sewn through the entire streamer and created a spiral ruffle, tie off the thread using the traditional method or using a small strip of masking tape.
Fluff the layers of streamers, then knot the thread again. Use your fingers to slightly pull the two layers of streamers apart from each other, creating a fuller flower. Prepare the thread to sew again by tying off the end or folding a small strip of masking tape over the end.
Arrange the ruffle into a flower and stitch the bottom together. Begin shaping the ruffle into a flower. The tight stitched sides of the ruffle will be the base of the flower and the unstitched sides will be the top of the petals. Create the center of the spiral by folding the end of the tight stitched side of the ruffle against itself. Push the needle through both sides of the ruffle, right about at the same point where you stitched to create the ruffle. Wrap the ruffle around to create another half loop and stitch through this second layer of the spiral. Continue wrapping half a loop at a time, and stitching the base together until you have created a flower.
Stitch on a pin and finish. Stitch a few loops through the flower and around one leg of a hair pin or around the stationary side of a safety pin. Tie off the thread or secure with a couple small strips of masking tape.

And there you go. You have the perfect I-AM-Special hair piece. simple, festive, and pretty.

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Kindergarten Teacher Gift, Part Two

06.01.11

I wanted to show you what we ended up doing with our Meant to Be Calligraphy stamp that we’re giving my son’s totally amazing kindergarten teacher.

I always think it’s fun to let the kids in on making a gift for their teacher. They always feel so proud. Even if it’s just a note to go with the gift, which is usually the simplest solution. But this time we thought we’d use our stamp to create some handmade stationary. We really tried to keep it simple and my son loved the project. We packaged it all up with some fun supplies from my favorite Japanese packaging shop, and I’m really satisfied with how it turned out.

I used the giant drawing paper you find at the art store because I love the colors and texture.
We folded it in half and ran it through my paper cutter, then my son got to work with his watercolors and a toothbrush.
I love how it turned out.
We also made some fabric name tape using this method.
Then wrapped it all up with some tape and envelopes from UGUiSU (i want to buy everything there).

And now it is all set to give to one amazing kindergarten teacher.
(p.s. If you’re still searching around for a last-minute teacher gift idea, you might find something to spark your creativity here, here, or here.)

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Butterfly and Catapillar Garden Seed Tape

04.27.11

This spring I have been a little in denial. I know the time is coming soon when I have to decide if I’m going to start a garden. But I just don’t know if I’m ready to commit! I dropped by a farmer’s market yesterday and was told, here in Cali, I have two weeks left to decide. I’ve been totally inspired by this hydroponic herb garden, and this DIY green house trick, but I just need something to push me over the edge, or pull me back.

(btw, if you’re thinking of starting an herb garden, don’t miss my 13 tips for starting an herb garden I picked up last year)

While I’m putting off the garden commitment, we did manage to pick out a few strands of seeds to plant a small caterpillar and butterfly garden. We stopped by our nursery and asked what plants might be good to attract local critters. We decided to make seed tape (see my seed tape tutorial here), because it is my kids’ favorite.
Seed tape is great for my kids, they love putting globs of paste on the strips of newspaper. And seed tape is also a great way to store seeds so they’re ready to plant in seconds.

Of course we had to make an extra to give away and add a few embellishments. Butterfly garden seeds on top, caterpillar seeds on bottom. All that’s left to do is lay the strips on soil, sprinkle with a little extra soil, water, and watch!

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DIY Shadow Puppet Theatre

12.13.10

I’m not sure if you’ve been around long enough to remember the last shadow puppet theater I made for my kids? We love that thing. Just last week we turned down the lights, lit up our Christmas tree, and used our theatre to dramatize our version of the Grinch (the Grinch was played by a green T-Rex toy. Very apropos).

The only problem is, the last time I made a theater, it was an involved project. But I wanted to make another. So I came up with a slightly simpler version. I’m so pleased with how it turned out. Do you like it? I’m including the DIY here because you could totally still whip out one of these in time for Christmas.

supplies & equipment:
-panel of fabric, solid-color and thin enough so light can shine through
-contact paper
-acrylic or fabric paint
-small sponge roller (available for a dollar or two at any craft store)
-extra fabric scraps and fabric glue for embellishments
-paper or plastic to protect your work surface

method:
1. Lay your fabric flat and cut to the size you’d like your theater to be. No need to hem the edges, they won’t fray once we’re done with them (see! so easy.)

2. Lay the contact paper down and sketch the shape of your theatre. The places where you stick the contact paper will be the places where the light is able to shine through the fabric. Cut out the shape, remove the backing, and stick the contact paper onto your fabric.

3. Get out your roller and start painting. Roll paint everywhere fabric is showing. Don’t be stingy. Roll right to the edges.

4. Allow the paint to dry. Peel off and discard the contact paper. Now notice the fabric edges do not fray because they are painted? Nice.

5. Cut out fabric scraps for any special touches you’d like to add, and glue them on with fabric glue.

Stand back and admire your new theater! When you’re ready to use it, you have a few options, but the simplest is just to tie a piece of string between two chairs and clothespin your theatre to the string. All you need is a flashlight and a puppeteer or two and you’re ready for a performance.

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You Made It: Teacher Request Basket

09.20.10

I love this idea that Lilianna came up with. She took a standard list of supplies her daughter’s teacher requested for her classroom for the year and added extra goodies. She even threw in some box tops. What a great way to start the year. Thanks, Lilianna!

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T-Shirt Bags

09.09.10

Hello! I am here today to spread the word about t-shirt bags. Are you familiar with them? I learned about them from (who else?) Martha Stewart a few years ago. Is it too much to say that they’ve changed my life? Probably. But I really really really love them.

I love that I can still keep those old, sentimental t-shirts around without them taking up valuable real estate in my itty-bitty closet. I love that those shirts are now more useful than they ever were as a garment that I would only wear while cleaning my house. I love that when I take them to the store I can be loud & proud of the fact that I love Tia Babe’s Mexican food in Santa Paula, California. Or that I was indeed, on senior cabinet in high school. And I really love that I get large, sturdy, reusable shopping bags that are made from 100% cotton and don’t cost me anything, instead of bags that I have to pay for and are often made from questionable plastics. They are such a fantastic way to reuse something that would otherwise be tossed.

Oh! I just thought of another good thing about these bags: making them is a super forgiving project. Straight cuts and sewing lines are not required. This is one of those projects that takes 10 minutes or less and non-perfectionists are invited and encouraged to participate. Those are my kind of projects!

Have I sold you on the idea of t-shirt bags yet? If not, I’ll try one more. How about making a custom trick-or-treat bag for a child you love from one of their old t-shirts? (Ah! Is it too early to start thinking about Halloween?) Or, if trick-or-treating isn’t in your future, perhaps you could make a great library bag. Martha has a nice tutorial on her website, but here’s a photographic version from me:

Items needed: a shirt, scissors, sewing machine.

Additional items needed if you want to applique: fusible web (I used Wonder-Under), iron, ironing board. (Remember to read the directions thoroughly on your webbing, in case they differ from those shown below.)

Your t-shirt bag is now finished. Easy as pie, right? You can stop here or go on to add a bit of custom magic to your bag. I chose designs that read a bit Halloween-y, but wouldn’t look completely out of place when we use them as library bags for the rest of the year.

Viola! You now have a super cute and custom bag for your child. Now go dig through your closets, pull out all your old t-shirts and get cutting. Your shirts will be so happy to be back in your life.

What is your favorite way to reduce/reuse/recycle?

What simple items make your life easier?

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Crystal stops by GiversLog a couple times a month to share her fresh ideas. When she’s not writing for GiversLog, Crystal can be found mothering, knitting, and cooking. Stop by and see what’s new at her etsy shop: monograms, Greek keys, and chevron stripes. Oh my!

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when all else fails, DIY

08.05.10

When it comes to my preferred method of keeping track of my grocery budget, grocery list, and weekly menu selections, I like to keep everything front & center and totally non-digital. Impromptu to-do lists fall under this category, too. (I have a really great planner that keeps my life in order and is full of daily to-do lists, but occasionally I need something quick and visual for those moments when I have company arriving in an hour and I still need to sweep the floor, wipe the smudges off the windows, take the diapers out, switch the laundry, and unload the dishwasher. ) I wanted a board I could hang on a bare spot in my kitchen, but I wasn’t finding anything that was a great solution.

Here’s a bit of my method for keeping these items up-to-date and accurate:

Grocery Budget: I like to jot down how much I spent after each grocery shopping trip so I don’t have to keep receipts or enter it into any sort of computer/spreadsheet or have to open my online bank account to check my balance. I have a two-week budget, so anytime I spend money on food during those two weeks, I jot it down and keep a running total so I know how much I’ve spent. (I used to keep the total budget amount at the top and subtract each time I spent something, but I’ve decided that it’s way easier to add than subtract! Ha!)

Grocery List: I like to keep a running grocery list that I can add to every time I notice we’re running low on something.

Weekly Menu: I like to pick three meals a week, add any needed ingredients to my grocery list, and then write down the names of the meals so I don’t have to remember what we are going to eat that week. (Wondering why I don’t cook more often? My husband is in grad school so he’s gone a few nights a week. On the nights he is gone, the boys and I generally have something super fab like quesadillas, eggs + toast, or leftovers for dinner.)

So.

My Problem: wanting a pretty whiteboard but not finding a pretty whiteboard.

My Solution: DIY! This tutorial from eighteen25 and our own AmberLee’s post at The Idea Room got my wheels turning, but I’ve adapted them a bit. This would be a fun {and easy} gift to personalize for a teacher or boss, too!

I bought a few yards of fabric from a thrift store. It’s kind of fun, right? You could also use pretty paper or a photograph. And I picked up this clip frame from Hobby Lobby. It says it is $5.99, but don’t let that fool you. These things are always on sale–I think I paid $3.00 for this one. I’ve also picked them up at IKEA for just a few dollars. Take the glass off the backing and figure out what part of the pattern you would like to feature. Trace around the glass and cut out the fabric, being careful not to tug on the fabric as you go. (I made that mistake on my first try. The fabric ended up smaller than the frame. Oops!)

I didn’t get a picture of this, but after some trial and error, I spray mounted the fabric on a piece of light cardboard (think: cereal box) just to give it a bit of stability when putting it back in the frame. You can skip this step if you use paper or a photo.

Now it’s time to hang. If you have a little boy at your house, he’ll probably come a’runnin as soon as he sees the hammer & nail come out of the tool box. And then he’ll go get his toy saw and hammer so he can help. What a sweetheart.

Since this board will be used for some serious list-making, I would suggest anchoring it with some Command Picture Hanging Strips as well. Have you ever used them? They. are. amazing.

And viola! Pull out your dry-erase marker and start making lists lists lists.

Do you use a grocery list? Do you have a grocery budget? Do you create a menu? I’d love to hear what works for you.

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Shoot Along Gift Idea: Personalized Game Pieces

08.03.10

So it has taken a little longer than expected, but I finally have for you the final game gift promised from this post. Here’s a little project I did with my kids as a follow-up to our Tahoe vacation.

I am always looking for ways to use pictures from favorite trips or memorable periods of our life. I like the pictures not only of the people but of the details that were important to us at that moment that we could easily forget.

Did anyone play with shrinkie dinks as a kid? I remember having a Rainbow Bright set. Did you know you can get blank sheets of them for your printer? It’s almost more fun than I can handle.

We printed off a few pictures from our trip. For photos to work on shrinkie dinks, they need to be a bit washed out to make the final color true. We had fun picking out the pics. For this project we picked out several subjects that were in transit.

We added a little hand-drawn detail with a water-based marker.

Then cut along the lines.

And then came the fun part, we popped them in the oven. It is so much fun watching them curl up and become itty-bitty versions of themselves. Note, if you have an emergency and some curl over themselves, don’t panic! Just put them back in a little longer and they should flatten. Use a butter knife to carefully and gently flatten them a bit if you need to.

We added stands and have a pretty fun final product. Candy Land, anyone?

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Printable Swim Teacher Thank You

07.06.10

We are off to our second week of swim lessons. If you’re like us, and have a swim teacher deserving of a big thank you for patiently coaxing your child away from the wall and into the water, don’t miss last year’s free printable.

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Sponsor Hello: Mini Goals Clockboards and Chalkboards

06.01.10

I am thrilled today to have you meet my new sponsor. MaryKate McDevitt of Portland has been on my personal Etsy favorites list for some time. When I first saw her handpainted mini goals chalkboards, I was immediately in love. I am a list girl, and I especially like the idea of a simple list in plain view. Perfect for scribbling down my most important plans, like call grandma for roll recipe and make it with kids.

pretty handpainted mini goals chalkboards

on display at Orange Beautiful’s lovely Chicago shop

And as if the mini goals chalkboards weren’t enough to make your heart go pitter pat, you also need to see MaryKate’s mini goals clockboards. Now that it is June and I have officially kicked my husband off this blog until Father’s Day, I feel at liberty to tell you, I think a clock would be perfect for the garage or workshop. Especially if I left it at the right height, I am sure the kids could not resist doodling notes to him now and then.

MaryKate’s mini goals clockboards

a peek at how your mini goals chalkboard will arrive

Be sure to visit MaryKate McDevitt’s shop or flickr to see more of her lovely designs.

P.S. What’s on your to do list today?

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Printable Teacher Thank You Notes

05.27.10

I was up early this morning putting together some thank you cards for my daughter’s class to color for her teacher. I thought these might come in handy for you too, so I’ll include them here. You can download each by clicking on the link below the image. Then put your kids to work coloring and doodling. (I tried to give you the easy job.)

Either click here to download from DropBox:
Printable Teacher Thank You Note, Cake
Printable Teacher Thank You Note, Crown
Printable Teacher Thank You Note, Ribbon

Or click here to go to Scribd and download all the images as a pdf file.

(helpful downloading hints: You might have to right click and choose “save link as” or “download linked file.”)

Download from Dropbox: Printable Teacher Thank You Note, Cake
or download here: Printable Teacher Thank You, cake (4387)

Download from DropBox: Printable Teacher Thank You Note, Crown
or download here: Printable Teacher Thank You, crown (2716)

Download from Dropbox: Printable Teacher Thank You Note, Ribbon
or download here: Printable Teacher Thank You, ribbon (2491)

For more teacher appreciation gifts kids can make, visit here.
For more teacher gift ideas, visit here.

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Group Gifts for Our Teachers

05.26.10

Wow. I can’t thank you enough for your help yesterday with Tab’s teacher gift dilemma. I’m always overwhelmed, on days like yesterday, with how many amazing, thoughtful people I’ve met through this blog. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your comments and ideas.

I thought I’d share the group gifts we did or are doing for our teachers this year.
My son’s preschool teacher is going to be moving over the summer, so we picked up this Japanese maple for her to plant at her new place. Isn’t it pretty? We also had each of the kids paint a rock for her to put at the foot of the tree. They really enjoyed getting to do something for their adored teacher. We also found out about some software she’d been wanting, so we got that for her too.

For my daughter’s teacher, we had the wonderful admin at the office do a little spy work for us. We found out she loves the beach, so we’re pitching in for a Select Registry gift card. She can pick out any bed & breakfast she likes and get away for a weekend. I found this one in Monterey while browsing the registry. Isn’t it dreamy? We’re also planning to plaster her door with thank-yous on the last day.

Have you done any fun group gifts for teachers? I’d love to hear.

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Did you hear, the new website for Whisker Graphics is up and running. You can now have instant gratification with all of the Whisker Graphics printables. As soon as you order a printable, it is yours to download right away. Go stop by if you have a moment.

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Reader Question: Male Teacher Gift?

05.25.10

Dear Readers, I have a bit of an urgent question for you. Tab is looking for something for a great teacher, and the last day of school is only 11 days away. If you have any ideas, Tab and I need you!

“My youngest son is finishing 3rd grade. He has a male teacher who is wonderful. My children have all been blessed by having this teacher. I have 3 boys. Seeing as this is the last of my children to have him, we were hoping to give him something over-the-top special to remember us by.”

“I want him to remember us, but I don’t want it to be knick knacks, because he’s a bit of a neat freak. He’s in his early 30s. Not married. A wonderful sense of humor. With no real deep interests that he has shared.”

“Money is always an object, but I’d even be willing to go up to $50 if it was something I thought was great. I’d love any help on this.” —Tab

have the local creamery name a custom creation after your favorite teacher

The great thing about honoring a teacher is that it’s easy to get others on board. Get an hour dedicated to him on the radio or get his name on the reader board on the way into town. Maybe have the local pizzeria create a pizza in his honor, and give him a gift card for a few pizzas while you’re there. (I called a male teacher friend last night, and he said that good local food is always appreciated.) Maybe give him a really great pizza cutter while you’re at it, and have it engraved, so it’s kind of like a trophy, but not really.

And if all of that seems to be stretching it, try bargain shopping for a super hip bag. Include a thank you note from each son tucked inside, and you might have just the thing.

What about you readers? Any ideas Tab can use for giving a teacher an memorable thank you? She and I would love to hear them.

[photo from here]

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Teacher Retirement Ideas

05.25.10

I love ideas for celebrating big. I just added a couple of these ideas to my list of ways to celebrate a landmark birthday, but thought they would also be a great way to send off a beloved teacher.