A Gift of Gratitude for Teacher

I always like to start the school year out with a simple gift of gratitude for the time and care the teachers of my children will invest in them over the upcoming year. As I see it, if we expect our teachers to give our children their best, we need to let them know how much they are appreciated throughout the year...not just on Teacher Appreciation Day (which comes toward the end of the school year).

This year, I wanted to do something creative, yet functional. Having my own bath & body line makes for easy go to gift ideas (and our teachers have really enjoyed receiving sudsy sweets in the past!), but this time I was looking for something different. As I browsed the web for ideas, I came across a great little tutorial for an acrylic Post-It note holder. I changed it around a bit, and here's the result...


Start with an inexpensive acrylic picture frame (easily found at Target, Walmart, Michaels, and various dollar stores). I chose a 4x6 frame for this project, which fits with the standard Post-It notepad size nicely. Using the standard frame insert as a template, mark and cut a piece of decorative paper to size and insert (scrapbook paper or card stock work well).


Center your Post-It pad on the lower half of the frame and affix using your choice of double sided craft tape or a glue gun (the hot glue yields a stronger hold and can be removed/replaced to apply a new pad once the notes are used up).


Next, choose your embellishments. I decided to make my own paper flowers using some pre-cut petals and fabric covered buttons. Determine your placement on the upper portion of the frame and affix with a hot glue gun.

Here's the finished product...easy peasey! After snapping this pic, my 1st grader decorated the top note with a self-portrait smiley face and his signature...so sweet!

A big thanks to Dawn's Stamping Thoughts for the inspiration behind this sweet & stylish Post It note holder. Her original design was made using stamping techniques rather than paper flower embellishments, but I really think this alternative came together nicely!

A Valentine Treat for Teacher

Just wanted to share these fun and simple treats that my 4 year old and 5 year old helped me put together for their teachers this Valentine's Day...aren't they cute?

We used simple galvanized pails in Valentine Pink *wink* and added the following goodies to each:

Oversized valentine sucker
Individual packages of Sweet Tarts
Handwritten Valentine to each teacher
Yummy nummy Lemon Drop Lip Smoother from ECN

We used a simply cube of floral foam in the base of each pail to keep the suckers in place and anchor them as the focal points. Then, we layered in recycled pink shred and tucked in our goodies. They passed them out this morning and their teachers adored them! Inexpensive, Simple, & Sweet :)