End of the Year Teacher Gifts

Last week, our big boy finished pre-K!  Well, for the time being anyway.  He is on the Autism spectrum, so he goes to our city's extended school year program.  He'll get two weeks off now, then go to school half days for a month, then another two weeks off, then he will start kindergarten!  It makes it much easier on all of us if he can keep a routine.  A whole summer break would make starting the next school year really tough for him.

Anyway, he has had the same teacher and teacher's assistants in his classroom for the last 3 years.  He's moving on to another classroom next year so I wanted to do something special for them.  It can't be easy getting him to do things he doesn't want to do 5 days a week!  Therefore, I put together little gift baskets for them.  I unexpectedly had his last day of school off, so I got to deliver them.  It was a nice surprise.  As I mentioned in my first post, I didn't take a picture of the final product.  Oops.  I'll do my best to make do without it.

A couple of months ago, I went to a craft fair with my best friend.  When I was there, I spotted some notecard holders.  They came with those pens that have fake flowers or fruit on the top.  I've never been a fan of those pens; I find them much too heavy to use regularly.  Anyway, I quickly realized I could easily duplicate the notecard holders at a much cheaper cost.  They were just cheap acrylic photo frames laid down with the front facing up and decorated.  Here's a picture of the original:

I went out that same afternoon and got the supplies.  From AC Moore, I got acrylic photo frames for $1/each.  I also got some scrapbook paper I liked for the background.  Stickers were on sale 2/$1 so I picked up a few school themed packages.  I knew I was going to use my Cricut to make some bigger school themed decorations, so I also bought Glue Dots so they would be 3D.  Here are some shots of them:

One of them had a pencil and pencil stickers. I wrote "You've got the WRITE stuff!" on the first note.

Then there was the scissors one, which is decorated with apple stickers.  I wrote "You're a CUT above!" on that one.

Then there was the glue version.  Sigh.  I could not, for the life of me, come up with any clever sayings using the words glue, or stick, or anything!  So I just wrote, "Thanks for all you do!" and decorated it with star stickers.

I used my Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter to cut the scissors, glue, and pencil.  The images are from the Simply Charmed cartridge.  It is easily one of my favorite cartridges!  I love almost every image in it!  They are all so cute with their smiley faces and rosy cheeks!

So, my step-by-step process was this:  First, I cut the plaid paper to the size of the frames.  I cut out triangles from the same paper and glued them with the plain side up to hold the note pads in place.  Next I cut the dies with my Cricut and used the Glue Dots to put them in place.  I added the stickers and the notes, and voila! The first items for the teachers were complete!

That's right, I said first items.  I didn't stop there.  I went to Dollar Tree and bought small apple-cinnamon scented candles.  I also bought 3 red baskets to put everything in.  Here are links to them:  candle / basket

My next stop was the Christmas Tree Shop.  I'm so glad I live in an area that has them!  I love it!  So does my mom.  So does my best friend.  My boyfriend doesn't even mind it!  I picked up some apple scented hand soap there.  Picking up on the theme of these gifts yet?  I also got some red drink tumblers with straws for cold summer beverages.  I couldn't get any pictures of those.

My final addition to the basket was a bit more daunting.  I picked up some 4x6 magnetic photo frames at the Christmas Tree Shop for $0.89 each.  I cut some white card stock to size and prepared the little artiste!  I used a foam brush to paint red Crayola Washable Paint on the boy's hand and pressed it onto the card stock.  He's not a big fan of arts and craft projects so I held my breath for this part!  But he did great!  He hates doing arts and crafts, but he loves showing them off when he's done!  I added stems and leaves with Bic Mark It permanent markers and we had some awesome handprint apples! Here they are:

(I made 3, but wanted to show the frames I used for them also.  I just love them!)

I recently painstakingly taught him how to write his name one letter at a time, so he was able to write that on the back for them.  I think that made them even more special.  His teacher loved them; she couldn't believe I got such clear prints.  I think the key was that I applied the paint with a brush, rather than dipping his hand in the paint.

Here's a link to my inspiration for the prints:

Mommy Minutes

So those were my teacher gifts!  I am so, so happy with how they ended up.  And this was my first actual crafting post, and my first time adding pictures!  Thanks for looking!

Hello

Hi!  My name is Kelsey.

This is my first blog entry.  I'm not sure how one starts a blog.  I think I'll start by saying why I'm writing this blog in the first place.  I want to be craftier.  With the invasion of Pinterest in my life, I have been inspired to try new projects.

I'm hoping to use this blog to describe my adventures (and inevitable misadventures, I'm sure!).  I've chosen the name "Craptastic Crafter" because I don't think I'll ever be one of those amazing bloggers I see out there!  I also don't have a ton of money to spend on my various crafting hobbies, so I make do with what I can.  Further, I don't have the mindset of a crafter yet!  For example, I just finished making some teacher gifts, and forgot to take pictures of the final product.  Oh well.  I'll get there, I hope!

Since this is my first entry, I'll tell you a little more about myself.  I am 26 years old.  I am the only girl in my family and I have 5 brothers.  I have a great boyfriend, and I'm lucky to be helping him raise his 5 year old son.  He is an amazing little boy.  Everyone who meets him falls in love with his contagious smile and he loves to make people laugh.  We have him from Saturday or Sunday through Wednesday every week, and then he goes to his mother's house.  We all do our best to make the arrangement work.

I work as a nanny watching my niece and nephew while my brother and sister-in-law work.  I went to college for financial counseling, but wasn't happy in the field. My brother and sister-in-law couldn't find a day care they liked, so I left my job at the end of my SIL's maternity leave in January 2010.  My nephew was born in March 2012.  It's not always easy watching two kiddos under 3 years old, but I am so lucky to have the connection I have with each of them.  I also have a 6 year old niece from my oldest brother, who also happens to be my goddaughter.  I, for one, cannot believe she will be 7 this summer!

The kids in my life inspire a lot of the crafts I have made and want to make.  My boyfriend also has 2 nieces.  I love the idea of being able to make personal gifts for them, such as paper dolls or homemade doll clothes.  When I was little I loved my paper doll collection, and I loved all of the doll clothes my mother made for my Barbies or American Girl dolls.  The kiddos are the main reason I want to become a better crafter!