Teacher/Parent Appreciation: Class Projects

Here are a pair of projects that I used this year for my daughter's class.  

I took a few chalkboards to school and took  two photos of each child: one telling what their favorite subject their teacher taught them and one telling what they want to be when they grow up.  

I used the first for teacher appreciation week... I printed this as an 11x14 and framed it.   

The next one I printed as an 8x10 and brought several copies for the parents to keep.

Fun little keepsakes for both the parents and the teachers!

Brown Bag Reindeer Wrap

Super simple wrapping for the photo booth ornaments in the previous post:

This was a situation where multiple sized circle punches and dollar store clothespins came in handy!

Photo Strip Ornament | Christmas Photo Booth

As the room parent for my daughter's second grade class this year, I wanted to make something pretty cool for the students in class to give their parents for Christmas.

I knew I wanted to incorporate photography and to do something fun and something they would like to keep for years.

This was a project that was a mix of a few ideas... starting with the currently popular 'photo booth' and adding in some amazingly awesome Christmas themed photo booth props. (all cut using the Silhouette machine)

So, the idea was to take several photos of every child in my daughter's second grade class, edit the photos into photo strips, print them at Costco, and then collage pauge them onto wooden boards and make them into ornaments.

Yup, that's a lot of boards and red paint.  I rolled it on because I could do so indoors and they would dry in a reasonable amount of time. (Had to take into consideration the December weather, spray paint wouldn't have dried outside.)

iLoveToCreate: Butterfly Mother's Day Card

I saw this cute Butterfly card over at Our Daily Obsessions 

(Photo from Our Daily Obsessions)

and thought it would be perfect for a gift for my Mom and Grandma from the girls. 

(I'm a big fan of handprint projects... here were the girl's Valentines this year to my family.)

There was just one problem.  I didn't want each girl to make one for each Grandma... that seemed excessive.  I also didn't want one handprint from each on each one... that seemed lopsided. 

So, I came up with a little tweak to the idea:  Stack them up!

I put the oldest's handprint in back and the youngest's in front.  I think this totally makes the butterfly look fun and colorful! 

I reached into my iLoveToCreate stash and grabbed the Aleene's Stiffen-Quik for the ribbon.  I love how it keeps the butterfly's antenna sticking straight up!! 

The poem reads:

This isn't just a butterfly, as you can plainly see.

I made it with my hand, which is a part of me.

It comes with lots of love, especially to say

I hope you have a very

Happy Mother's Day

We attached the card with the poem to the butterfly with a mini clothespin and the Grandma's Loooved them!



Cupcake Party: Cupcake Decorating Bar

As part of the on going saga that was my daughter's 6th birthday party, here is the next installment!

the Cupcake Decorating Bar

The idea was to have each child decorate two cupcakes... one they would take home and one they would have at the party.  I have to say, it worked pretty well... and I love the way it looked. 

Supplies/Ingredients:

• Variety of Sprinkles... I had 6 different types found at a local cake decorating store
• Chocolate and Vanilla frosting, portioned into individual sized cups
• Vanilla frosting and food coloring, mix different colored frosting and add to smaller piping bags with fancy tips or decorating squeezers like the ones shown below (they are from Pampered Chef)
• Cherries
• Plastic spoons and Knives for spooning sprinkles and spreading frosting
• To-go containers, preferably with a spot to put a name
• Sticks or flags to add to the cupcakes to be eaten at the party
• Premade cupcakes... I had 5 different types

The directions read:

Decorate 2 (cupcakes)...put 1 (cupcake) in a box to take home,

add a stick to the other one to eat at the party

The five types of cupcakes... they chose two

The birthday girl (on the right) decorating with a friend.

Completed cupcakes ready to be eaten at the party.

The to-go containers ready to go home with each of the party-goers!



Handprint Hearts

Super easy.

The kids loved getting their hands all squishy with the paint.  I love that they were able to make a keepsake for the family AND that my Kindergartener was able to write her Valentine's message. 

I used acrylic paint because I had it on hand... but wouldn't this be a cute idea to use fabric paint on an apron, onesie, or Valentine's day gift bag?!?

I believe in giving credit where credit is due, but I can't seem to locate the blog that I saw this on... if I find it, I will link up!