Back to School Gifts

I love the excitement of Back to School time.  I love to shop.  I love to make things.  And I love to give gifts.  Roll all of that into one and what do you get?  Back to School gifts for my co-teachers!  I made them a cute pencil cup out of a tin can (from a can green beans, corn, or whatever other veggie you eat for dinner), some hot-glued crayons and ribbon, and a gerber daisy.  Super cheap, super easy, and super cute!  Add a few bright neon pencils tied with a string, plus a cute graphic someone else made, and you've got instant gifts!  So easy!

 

 

The graphic says "#2 pencils for a #1 teacher" (in case you can't read it).  I hope my co-teachers like them!

 

 

I'm also linking this post up with Tara today!  Click the button below to check out what everyone else has been up to!  Thanks, Tara!

 



Truffula Trees!

I love all things Dr. Seuss.  I ran across a tutorial on how to make Truffula trees (from The Lorax) sometime last year.  I pinned it but never got around to making one.  I usually don't have the time and/or energy to craft during the school year, so projects get done in the summer.  Well, with less than two weeks left before I go back to school, I decided to give 'em a go.  I love how they turned out!  Ta-da!

They were pretty simple to make, too!  I got the yellow planters at Walmart for $2.97 each.  I added polka dots using acrylic craft paints and a round foam brush. 

The sticks are actually tree limbs from my (neighbor's) yard!  We have pecan trees and are constantly having limbs blown down in storms.  To get them to stay standing up in the planters, first I put a thick layer of dirt from my yard (helps absorb the water from the p of p-->), then I used plaster of paris (found at Lowes for $5.98), mixed according to the directions on the box.  I used 4 cups of plaster for each one.  It said that it needs to set for 24 hours, but it was stable enough for me to start painting them in about 2 hours.  Again, I just used acrylic craft paints and a foam brush.  They needed about 3 coats of each color to be completely covered.

For the top fluffy parts, I used an 8'' Styrofoam ball (ridiculously expensive @ $12.94 a piece!!) and a feather boa ($4.98 each).  I found both at Walmart.  I just started wrapping the boa around the ball and pinning it every so often with straight pins.  I did have to adjust and readjust to get it to cover well.  (Don't try to use hot glue or you will get a gunked up, grody feathered mess). 

Then I just shoved the bottom of the balls down on the top of the tree limb!  Nothing to it!  I added pom poms (also from Wally World: I think they were $3.97 for 100, various sizes) at random places on the sticks just because I felt like it.  Then I got a chevron plastic tablecloth (97 cents from Walmart) to add to the planters to finish them off.  The tablecloth was just chevron on the sides with a white middle, so I just cut it and used one side for each planter.  You could use fabric, rocks, or whatever else you like.

And that's all she wrote!  Super easy and super cute!  I love 'em!  I know my kiddos are gonna get a kick out of them this year!

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Monday, July 29: I've linked up with Tara for Monday Made It!  Click the graphic below to see all the other great projects out there!  Thanks, Tara!

And almost a year later....I'm still alive

Oh my gosh, y'all, it has been almost exactly a year to the day (5 days short!) since I last blogged!  Wow!  I started my blog in June last year, and posted all of the crafts I was creating for my (then new-to-me) 4th grade classroom.  But once I got done with my crafts, I really didn't know what else to say!  Haha!  And then school started, and you all know what that means!  Total craziness!

I fully intended to post pictures of my classroom after I got it ready last August, but then things got so busy that I never got around to it.  And I fully intended to blog about my first year in 4th grade, but as you can see, that never happened either!  I've looked at my blog a few times over the last year, and I almost even decided to delete it, because I just didn't have the energy to add anything to it.  But then I thought about the pics of things I've made that are on Pinterest, and how they would be deleted if I did that, so I decided not to.  But I still didn't have the energy to do more to it.  So here it has been sitting for nearly a year.

So....how've ya been? ;)  I guess I may end up just being a "summer blogger". Haha.  Who knows.  Maybe now that I've gotten a year of 4th under my belt, I'll have more time and energy to focus on blogging?  I guess we'll see.

But I'm back today to show you another craft!  (What else?)  Today I made a school supply cake that I saw on Pinterest.  I followed the tutorial at The Butlers blog.  I love how it turned out!  It is so cute!  Seeeeee???

 

 

I just love it!  I am going to be making something else fun for my room tomorrow!  Stay tuned!