Teacher Gifts From the Heart

Little K has some amazing teachers this year.  

I look forward to picking her up from school every day just to hear her talk about what she has learned, or the funny way her teachers interact with the students, or the exciting experiments/projects they are working on.  These teachers have pushed her beyond her limits - and she has succeeded.  They have made her most difficult subjects exciting and easier to comprehend.  I am forever grateful for their passion - and for sharing it with my child.

(note:  she also has a particularly difficult teacher this year that makes me appreciate the others all that much more)

We don't usually give Teachers gifts at the Holidays - but this year was an exception.

When I came across this quote:  "Great Teachers teach from the Heart, Not from the Book".  I knew it was a perfect way to express how we feel. 

So I made it into a stuffed embroidered fabric picture.  One for each of her favorite teachers.  

The quote is printed on fabric - using Freezer Paper.  If you have never tried this technique before - it so much easier than it sounds.  

THANKS - to my Mom for introducing me to this fun method.

 Cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than a piece of paper.  Also tear a strip of freezer paper of a similar size.  Using a hot iron (no steam), iron the paper (shiny side down) to the back of the fabric.  After just a few seconds of applied heat - the fabric and paper are temporarily fused together.

Cut the paper backed fabric to fit your printer paper size (8 1/2" X 11").  I used a rotary cutter, but a paper cutter works well also.

To get the printed image onto the fabric - load the paper backed fabric into your printer and PRINT.  It's that simple.  Really!

Peel the paper from the fabric.

Then heat set the ink with a few more seconds under a hot iron.  This prevents smudges and bleeding.  It will also make the ink water safe (for hand washing). 

What makes this project so sweet (in my opinion) is the added details of a felt heart stitched to the printed fabric quote using embroidery floss and a blanket stitch.

I'm pretty impressed with myself that I remembered how to do a blanket stitch.  I love how finished it makes the edges of the heart.  If I knew my stitches would be so neat - I might have even attempted a contrast stitching.  Maybe next time.

You can download the printed quote here.

The last step is to layer the printed/embroidered fabric over a layer of batting and wrap it around the frame backing (you know - the piece that you remove from the back of the frame to insert the picture). 

I removed the glass - so the stuffed fabric would puff out of the frame a little.  Insert into the frame and you are done.  

I think it's the perfect gift for several teachers (both Male and Female) that we really appreciate.

Teachers Appreciation 2012 - Day Five

We saved the biggest gift of all for the Last day of Teachers Appreciation.

A Huge Tower of School Supplies to get the classroom stocked up for the next year.

 

I wasn't sure how well this idea would work - since it's usually done using colorful boxes of crayons, and glue sticks, and scissors and glue bottles and construction paper.  

In 5th Grade - the most needed supplies are not very exciting.  Things like Note Book Paper, Pencils and Composition Books.  We managed to make it look pretty festive with the addition of ribbons and tissue.

The tower rests on a base of composition books.  

Tier #1 is made of packaged Notebook Paper and Graph Paper wrapped around a large popcorn tin.  A large rubber band holds it all together. 

Three layers of ribbon (in his favorite colors of blue and purple) are tied to cover the rubber band.  

It looked a little plain with the all white paper - so I sewed a paper garland made from various colors and sizes of punched circles - and draped it along the bottom tier.

Tier #2 is made from boxes of colored pencils and white board markers (he specifically requested the purple ones).  They are held around a metal cookie tin with another rubber band and more ribbon covering the band.

A bit of tissue paper fills in any gaps.

Tier #3 nests inside the colored pencil tier.  Boxes of Pencils and more white board markers are wrapped around a paper towel roll and secured with rubber bands and ribbon.

The Topper is a tomato paste can covered in scrapbook paper - and wrapped with ribbon.  It holds more pencils (we had one extra box that wouldn't fit around the paper towel roll), and makes the perfect "accidental" crown for the top of the "cake".

We transported it in layers and simply stacked it once we got to the classroom.  Nothing is glued, so it can be easily disassembled. 

I think it turned out pretty cute, considering there were only 6 different school supplies used:

composition books

note book paper

graph paper

colored pencils

white board pens

pencils

It's hard to believe another school year is coming to a close. 

a Big THANK YOU to all the teachers that take special care of our kids.

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.        ~Henry Brooks Adams

Teachers Appreciation 2012 - Day 4

A week of Teachers Appreciation is coming to a close - but we are not done yet.

Today, the PTA will be providing a lunch buffet for all the staff, so we thought we would supplement that with some snacks for the rest of the day (and weeks to come).

 

We made a huge jar of "custom blended" Trail Mix.

Added a colorful label to the front

Some bright ribbons (same colors used throughout the week)

and several layered hang tags in different shapes:

"Thanks for leading us down the TRAIL of success"

"we're NUTS about you"

"and a little BANANAS too"

One more day to go. 

 The BEST is yet to come. 
Wait till you see what we have planned for tomorrow. 

Teachers Appreciation 2012 - Day Three

We were looking for a creative way to give Little K's teacher and assortment of Gift Cards, and came across this clever idea for giving a gift of cash.

 (Photo from Lovezilla)

We decided to modify this great idea to fit our needs.

An empty tissue box was decorated with scrapbook paper 

(again in his favorite colors of blue and purple).  

Each side of the tissue box was covered with a "nose" related saying.

Instead of using cash inside the tissue box - we had something different in mind.  

A pull tab indicates where and what to do.  

Just in case he thought it was a plain old box of snot rags.

Inside were notes from the students saying what they liked best about being in his class this year. 

I printed them up on the computer using a variety of fun fonts, taped them together and accordion folded them to fit inside the tissue box. 

 

In between the kids notes were Gift Cards from many of his favorite restaurants.

(Thanks to the generous contributions of our families)

and more sweet notes from the kids.

Something about 5th grade humor made the "snot" reference seem perfect.  

Teachers Appreciation 2012 - Day Two

The Roses and Iris's are in full bloom around here, so many of the Room Parents are asking each of the kids to bring in a single flower from their garden to make a bouquet that the Teachers can enjoy all week during Teachers Appreciation.

Since our teacher is a Man - we decided to do something a little different.

Instead of flowers - we asked each of the kids to bring in a piece of fruit.  

 Little K contributed a crisp red apple - protected from bruising by a sweet crochet Apple Cozy (made by my Mum).

We have a big basket waiting in the classroom to gather all the fruity bounty.  I made a sign using Wordle with all the cheesy fruit sayings I could think of:

ORANGE  you grand

You are a PEACH of a person

You're one in a MELON

You are the top BANANA

You're the BERRY best

You're a GRAPE teacher

Were PLUM crazy about you

and added the teachers name and all the students names.

The basket was spruced up with some ribbons. 

His favorite colors are Blue and Purple - so you will be seeing that color theme repeated all week.  

Teachers Appreciation 2012 - Day One

It's National Teachers Appreciation Week.  

I am so thankful to have had the Most Wonderful Teachers for Little K over the past 8 years (including pre-school and Kindergarden).  Each one of them has helped her become the lovely young girl she is today.

This might be our last year for a Creative Teachers Appreciation, as she is moving on to Middle School next year, and I don't think things are quite as cutise in the upper grades.

Each Day this week we will be paying tribute to Little K's teacher in a different way.

Today - Monday - he was welcomed with a Decorated Door.

 

There are 5 Room Mom's in Little K's class - so I can't take credit for putting this all together myself.  

We had an idea of what we wanted the "letter" to say - but finding some of the candy bars proved more difficult than we imagined.   

Thank goodness for my Partner in Crafting Crime Jadelyn for running around to dozens of stores finding just the right candy.   

Here is how we used them all:

"We think you are worth 100 GRAND on PAYDAY for going the EXTRA mile to turn us WHATCHAMACALLIT kids into SMARTIES.

We used to act like AIR HEADS and NERDS, but because the learning is GOOD n PLENTY in your class, we have really found our STRIDE.  

You taught us how to CRUNCH numbers and SKOR high on our tests. You are a LIFESAVER and have made learning a JOY.  We would have fallen to PIECES without you.

Thanks for putting up with our SNICKERS.  We appreciate the MOUNDS of knowledge you have given us.  Even if we went into ORBIT and searched the MILKY WAY, we would never find a teacher as GOOD as you!

Your Class of GOOBERS"

 

My favorite is the salutaion. 

 "from your Goobers" 

hee hee

I also put together a few additional Door Decorations for other Staff Members that sometimes get overlooked during this week. 

our Librarian

 

our Speach Specialist

our Psychologist

We have lots of Fun Stuff planned.  

I'll be posting more about them each day this week.   

 

Teachers Appreciation 2011

We are coming to the end of Teachers Appreciation Week.

At Little K's new school - the PTA does a great job coordinating the efforts throughout all the classrooms. They put out a schedule suggesting ways to show your appreciation to the teachers on each of the days of the week. You have the option to participate in as many days as you like.

Monday - the Teachers were all greeted with the outside of their Classroom Doors Decorated.



I was a bit worried - because her teacher is not much of a cook - but I loved the idea of showing how she nurtures and develops her students.



The recipe card spells it all out.



I went with a clean - sort of retro style to fit her teachers personality. She loved it.

Funny Story Side Note: I went to the school early on Monday morning (it's an outdoor campus) to put up the door decoration. As I'm working - a bright flashing light starts to go off (like the fire alarm, but white) - and then a voice comes over the loud speaker. "Unauthorized Activity Detected - Photo Taken".

YIKES - apparently the school has motion detectors, and when I started working on the door - I tripped the alarm. Picture me - in my sweats, no morning shower yet, and my hair barely combed. That's going to be one lovely picture.

Luckily - I had already seen the custodian on the grounds, and she told me not to worry about it. Apparently all the other Room Parents put up their decorations on Sunday - Oops.


Tuesday - was the day that each child brought in an individual flower. The roses are all in full bloom here - so she ended up with a beautiful bouquet.



I brought a vase in to hold all the beautiful blooms. She has a bit of a contemporary style, so I went with something more modern. Added a strip of paper and twine as an accent.



And a stacked tag. The outer one says "Thanks". The one underneath says "for helping our kids bloom".



Wednesday - the kids were asked to bring in a home made card or note.

Thursday - was the day to bring in any Gift Cards. I asked for her teachers input before hand and suggested some of her favorite stores to the parents.

Friday - was Fruit Basket day. The kids brought in a single piece of fruit.



We've had a huge participation from the kids so far - I hope the basket is big enough to hold all the fruity bounty.



I made a print using Wordle and some corny fruit sayings, and attached it to the basket handle.



This is the piece of fruit Little K brought in for her. We had to dress it up just a little. Isn't this apple cosy adorable?

I can't take the credit - I found the pattern here, and sent the materials to my Mom to crochet (since that's something I was never able to master).



She had so much fun making them - she whipped up a few extra. Guess what Little K's teachers are getting next year!

In addition to all the individual classroom efforts, the PTA also acknowledges all the Teachers with a Breakfast (on Monday), Lunch (on Wednesday) and Car Wash (on Friday).

Happy Teachers Appreciation Week to all our Teachers - and Thank You for all that you do!

Teachers Appreciation Week

Next week is National Teachers Appreciation Week.

Last year - we were in the middle of selling our house in Arizona and looking for a new place to call home in California.

While I did manage to show our appreciation for Little K's teachers last year, I didn't post about what we did, so here is an update from 2010.

Little K had 2 teachers that we wanted to Thank for all their hard work throughout the year.

First, was her ELP teacher (Extended Learning Program - what they call the program for gifted students)




I put together a basket filled with green and flowering plants.



With a little note of Thanks from Little K.

I didn't realize what a wonderful ELP program the Mesa School District has in place - until we moved and discovered the GATE program (Gifted and Talented Education) in California is not quite the same.

Maybe we should have gotten Mrs. S something better?

I am more thankful than ever for the great year she was able to experience while we were in Arizona.


For her everyday teacher (also Mrs. S), I asked each of the students to bring in a handwritten card or note telling what they liked best about their teacher.



I made a scrapbook album from a basic binder, and covered it with padded fabric and swatch details.



I had to add a fabric flower, and buttons too.

Inside, I used Page Protectors in a variety of configurations, filled with embellished cardstock.



This way the kids notes and cards could easily be slipped into the pockets.



I also added a decorated envelope - to hold more notes and cards and keep them all tidy inside the album.



This page protector was the perfect size to hold the kids wallet school photos.



I included some note cards made from the same scrapbook paper and cardstock, and tucked them into one of the pockets.

We also asked each of the students to bring in a single flower. I had an empty vase, filled with water and tied with a ribbon sitting on her desk. As the kids brought up their note/card - they put the flower into the vase and she had a bouquet of fresh flowers for the rest of the day.



Each of Little K's teachers over the years has been completely different - and yet each one has made such an impression on her (and us). I am thankful for all they have done to help us nurture the loving and kind young girl she has become.

Thank You!