Back to School.

We are down to only one week before the start of school! Are you ready?

I have the school clothes pretty much taken care of and the supplies all set to bring to open house - but I still have a few more projects I need to get done this week. Specifically, I need to put together a bulletin or magnetic board to keep us all on track as we get back into the swing of a new schedule. And I also plan on making a little something for each of my kids teachers for them to bring on the first day. If you are looking for ideas for either of these types of projects, today I have some fun project ideas to share with you!

First up, a few organizer board ideas. We created this bulletin board by painting one of our 12x12 frames and swapping out the glass with a 12x12 piece of cork board. Then we embellished with pattern paper from the We R Memory Keepers Hall Pass line and even made our own pins by gluing thumb tacks to the back of metal tag embellishments that coordinated with the paper line.

If you would prefer a magnetic board, Kristine created this adorable magnet board by placing a 12x12 metal sheet into a frame. She covered the metal with pattern paper and then embellished using paper from the My Mind's Eye 6x6 School themed paper pad. She created matching magnets by using glossy accents to adhere pattern paper (from the same line) to the backside of glass tiles and then adhering magnets to the back of the paper.

Here is another take on an organizer board. This board was created on a canvas and was altered by using vinyl, chalkboard paint and pattern paper. I love the addition of the decorated clips at the bottom of the canvas!

As I mentioned it is really easy to create your own magnets by adhering pattern paper to the backside of a glass tile using glossy accents and then gluing a magnet to the back of the pattern paper. Here are a few more magnet ideas that you could use for your own magnet board, or could be given as a teacher gift as well.

For these apple magnets, we punched circles of red cardstock and glued them to the back of the glass tile. Then we hand cut the stems from brown cardstock and leaves from green pattern paper and glued them to the front.

For these magnets, it is even more simple - we just found images that fit the tiles on pattern paper and punched them out and glued them on. These would be great to use just on a refrigerator to hold school papers or special pieces that are brought home!

Next, I wanted to share a few project ideas that would be perfect to create for those special teachers on the first day of school!

We created this apple treat box, by painting one of our paper mache boxes red, and then simply gluing this wood apple onto the front (which is already cut and painted). To add a bit more decoration we cut this "Back to School" tag from a piece of pattern paper and then attached it with a piece of red and white bakers twine. This would be great to fill with some treats or a few small school supplies - or even with a batch of apple magnets I shared above!  

 

Another idea is to embellish and fill one of our clear tubes with something fun for the teacher. We created a few sample ideas below:

 Or you could always fill up a Mason Jar with something fun too:

And one final idea, a teacher supply box. For this project we painted this divided wood box that you can find in our Beads & Basics department and then embellished with pieces from the We R Memory Keepers Hall Pass line and some ruler ribbon. We filled it with some fun office/school supplies, but of course you could also fill it with some treats for the teacher too.

 *To see some of our school themed projects from the past and other fun ideas we found online be sure to check out our Back to School Board on Pinterest too!

Have you created any organizer boards or teacher gifts to get ready for school? I would love to share them if you have!

Teacher Appreciation.

Next week (May 7th-11th) is Teacher Appreciation Week and May 8th specifically is Teacher Appreciation Day.

Whether you plan on doing something small for your child's teacher every day throughout the week or one larger gift on May 8th, we have gathered up some of our favorite Teacher Gifts to help you create something crafty for your favorite teachers.

For my kids teachers we will be doing smaller gifts throughout the week and one 'larger' item at the end of the week. My kids adore their teachers, and I figure a small gesture for all their hard work throughout the year with their classes is not only fun for the kids - but so deserved by the teachers too.

In addition to the projects below we have also posted some of our favorite ideas from Pinterest and online blogs onto a specific "Teacher Appreciation" board on our Pinterest account. You can view those project ideas by clicking HERE.

Teacher Decorative Cone: I love this cone that Katie created with a Teacher 'theme'. This would be perfect to fill up with treats or a small item. You can find a project sheet for this project HERE. 

Tumblers: We have these 16oz. tumblers in a variety of colors. You can then add one of our Vinyl options of your choice to the tumbler or decorate it with paint, embellishments, stickers, etc.

#1 Teacher Vase: For this project we simply added an apple embellishment, some letter stickers, and twine to a white vase that we carry in story. Then just add some fresh (or "life like" :) flowers. 

 

#1 Teacher Pencil Block: For this project we drilled nine small holes in the top of a wood block, painted the block white, and then added some pattern paper, ribbon, and a cute message using alphabet stickers. Again, a project that I think would be a fun addition to any teacher's desk!

Colored Pencil Vase: For this project we just surrounded a glass vase with colored pencils and tied a ruler ribbon around the outside. We placed artificial flowers in the vase but it would work with a bouquet of fresh flowers as well.

Decorated Notepad/Pencil Holder: We offer these pencil holders and a variety of styles of notebooks plain - for theses samples we just decorated them up a bit with pattern paper and a few embellishments. 

Pencil Tubes: Fill plastic tubes with treats or cover with paper to create the look of pencil. More information on this project can be found here. 

Back to School Mason Jars: Simple mason jars embellished with chalkboard paint, crayons, and some ribbon. 

Teaching Touches Lives glass block: Simply adhere a piece of pattern paper to the back of a glass block, add vinyl to the front, tie a ribbon around, and fill with some glass beads. I think this would look great on any teacher's desk!


Hope you have a great weekend...and that next week is full of lots of appreciation for all the teachers and caregivers out there that take such great care of our children and grandchildren!

Decorative Gift Cones.

Today I wanted to share these adorable Decorated Gift Cones that Katie from our Beads & Basics Department created. Using just our standard paper mache unfinished cones and some basic paper and embellishments she was able to create these gorgeous cones in three different themes - the one on the left she decorated with a general spring theme that would be perfect as a May Day Gift Basket, the middle cone is decorated with a teacher/school theme and would be great to hold either a Teacher Appreciation or as an end of the school year gift, and finally the cone on the right Katie decorated with a Mother's Day theme. I think they are all so cute and know a few teachers, neighbors, and a mom that would all love to receive them too!

You can find a project sheet with instructions on how to make your own Gift Cone on our website HERE.