DIY

Ribbon Bookmarks

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ribbon bookmark groupHonestly, I need an Etsy store for all of my craft project overages (or I need craft counseling). Currently, I am over-producing ribbon bookmarks to wrap around journal books. I was testing an idea to make some riboon bookmarks to give to my children’s teachers for Teacher’s Appreciation Day on May 3. Come to find out, the ribbon bookmarks are easy to make; the color combinations look super cute, and I like making things in large batches.

I thought these would make nice teacher gifts because, as a teacher, I always need something to mark my page in all of my teacher materials. Teachers use bookmarks for class novels, textbooks, manuals, planning books, grade books… I currently have about 8 Post-it notes, 3 notecards, and 11 scraps of paper peeking out of the stack of teacher books near my school computer. A few ribbon bookmarks would definitely come in handy for me. Plus, they have the added benefit of not dropping out of the book when I pick it up, and I can slide my scraps of papers with notes under the edge of the bookmark where it will hold.

ribbon bookmark supplies

Materials

  • durable ribbon, at least 1/2″ wide (like grosgrain ribbon)
  • buttons in coordinating colors
  • Fray Check (a little like clear fingernail polish to keep ribbon ends from unraveling)
  • covered hair bands in coordinating colors
  • thread in coordinating colors
  • needle

ribbon bookmark flat

Directions

  • Cut strips of ribbon to match the size of the book you will use with your bookmark. I used 5″ x 8″ journals, which are a similar size to a basic paperback book. I cut my ribbons to 15″. This allowed for the length of the attached rubberband not stretched too much and a little end piece to fold around the rubberband when sewing. Your finished bookmark stretches a little because of the rubberband, so the bookmark will fit a book that is a little bigger and smaller than the book you use as a guide for measuring.
  • Drop Fray Check onto each end of the ribbon to prevent the ribbon ends from fraying. Let dry.
  • Place the rubberband near one end of the ribbon and fold the ribbon end over. Stitch across the width of the ribbon with the rubberband held in place. You can hand sew or use a sewing machine.

ribbon bookmark stitched end

  • Loop the ribbon over and let the ends meet to see which side of the ribbon will need the button attached. Sew the button to the non-rubberband end of the ribbon. The button should be attached with only a little ribbon showing beyond the edge of the button.

ribbon bookmark with journals

 

Easy Teacher Valentine Idea

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Even in 6th grade, the students are still at an age where they decorate a bag or shoebox and make Valentine deliveries to classmates in honor of Valentine’s Day. Many of my sweet students bring me a card or piece of chocolate along with the Valentines they share with classmates. I like to reciprocate and give my students a cute teacher Valentine too. This year, my teammate and I are wrapping erasers with white tissue paper to look like a piece of taffy.

easy valentines to make for students

At this point in the school year, the students have rubbed, chewed, or picked away every pencil eraser they own and desperately need a way to cleanly fix writing mistakes or remove stray marks from their papers, so this little teacher Valentine is actually more of a gift for the teachers!

eraser valentine supplies

Valentine Materials:

  • rectangular erasers (I used PaperMate “Expressions” erasers, but you could also choose something like the classic “Pink Pearl”)
  • white tissue paper, ~6″ x 3 1/2″ (wrap a test piece of tissue around your eraser to determine the best size)
  • small stickers (I used Avery 5195, 2/3″ x 1 3/4″, 60 labels per sheet)

Valentine Directions:

  • Determine the tissue paper size you will need. I wrapped the tissue around one eraser, so the tissue covered the wide flat side two times. I had about 2 inches on either end of the eraser for twisting. Cut all of the tissue paper rectangles that you need first, so you can create an assembly line for wrapping the erasers.
Wrap erasers in tissue paper for an easy Valentine

  • Wrap a tissue rectangle around each eraser and twist both ends.
Wrap erasers in tissue paper to look like candy pieces

  • Put a sticker with your name and/or Valentine message on the side of the eraser with the edge of the tissue paper to keep the tissue from unwrapping. I had a tiny glitch with my labels. If you choose to print with a return address sized label like I did (Avery 5195), make sure your words or any images are not up against the edges of the label in the document. The labels are so small that if the printer does not grab the label sheet at exactly the right starting point, the labels print into the label below (see my cut off hearts in the pictures). Yes, the mis-alignment makes me CRAZY, but I ran out of labels, and I am trying not to let the OCD side of me take over on this. I think little heart or Valentine themed stickers would be a good option too.
  • Cut the edge of the twisted ends off a little if they seem too long and flappy.
eraser valentines with label

Teacher Valentine Notes:

  • I tried parchment paper and wax paper before settling on the white tissue paper. The stickers don’t adhere, and the twisted ends with the parchment and wax paper do not stay twisted together as well.
  • If you need a more advanced Valentine’s Day idea, try these mini prescription bottles for HEART MEDICINE filled with the tiny M&Ms.

Mason Jar Cocoa Mixes

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layered cocoa mix

For the past two years, my students have operated a small business at the holidays selling Mason Jar Cookie Mixes to the families in our school community. It is part of our focus on business and financial literacy skills that we cover all year. This year, we changed it up a little and manufactured layered cocoa mixes. The new business had a lower overhead, and it was easier to source pint sized Mason jars, which translated into (a little) less work for the teacher-supervisors!

Mason jar cocoa mix front view

The cocoa mixes make great gifts for friends and neighbors at the holidays and are easy to assemble. Whether you are making 27-dozen like we did or just a few for gifts, it is an easy DIY holiday gift.

IMG_1123

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c. powdered milk
  • 1 T. original powdered creamer
  • 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 c. granulated sugar
  • 1/8 t. salt
  • 1/4 c. semi sweet mini chocolate chips
  • 1/4 c. crushed peppermint bits
  • 1/4 c. mini marshmallows (or enough to fill to the top of the jar)

Directions

  • In a pint Mason jar, layer ingredients in the order listed above beginning with the powdered milk.
  • Press firmly after the chocolate chip layer and again after the peppermint bits layer.
  • Fill to the top of the jar with marshmallows.

Serving Instructions

  • Attach a tag with a ribbon that says, “Mix jar ingredients in a large bowl. For each serving, place 1/3 c. mix in a mug and stir in 1 c. boiling water. Store remaining mix in an airtight container.”

cocoa mix serving

Notes

  • I found 5 oz. bags of crushed peppermint at Walmart in their holiday baking display. If you can’t find pre-crushed peppermint, buy classic candy canes and crush them yourself. If you are making really large quantities, order online from a source like Candy Warehouse in 5-lb. bags.

complete

Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit 2015

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It is finished. This year’s version of the Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit. It is my favorite first day of school gift to a teacher. This year’s emergency kit pouch is smaller than my past choices, so I will not be able to add a bottle of wine, which is probably what my children’s teachers really want after the first day of school. But, it is a handy little back to school teacher gift to store in a desk or teacher bag for daily emergencies.

 

The Teacher Emergency Kit Cloth Pouch

  • If you sew, you can download the Loyalty Card Holder Pattern for free from Craftsy. You will need to register on the site before downloading the pattern. I followed the directions on the Lemon Squeezy Home site. Lemon Squeezy’s sewing skills are clearly superior to mine. After much cursing and ripping out of stitches, I did make all of the bags I needed. I am trying to ignore some of the wrinkly parts in the corners.

teacher emergency kit

  • Lemon Squeezy used a magnetic snap, but I opted for an old fashioned button because I thought it would be a good decorative detail. After messing up multiple button holes, I was rethinking the magnetic snap decision. I think both options would have provided equal frustrations for my sewing abilities. The buttons do look prettier, so the buttons were probably a better choice for me in the end.

teacher emergency kit with contents

The Teacher Emergency Kit Contents

  • Starbucks giftcard (The little bag is credit card size, so I figured it needed a coffee gift card. It’s what I would want.)
  • travel sized sewing kit
  • Band-aids
  • individually wrapped mints
  • Aquaphor (or any kind of chapstick)
  • travel sized Advil (In the past, I included individual Tylenol, Advil, and Tums in mini baggies with printed labels. I had “people” who clearly did not appreciate the cuteness of my packaging get all up in arms about my redistribution of the pills. I really don’t think the Advil police will come after me, but I went ahead and used untampered Advil to avoid any future problems.)

teacher emergency kit interior

Other Content Ideas

  • 4 quarters for soda money
  • safety pins
  • Tide to go stain remover stick
  • cough drops
  • Sharpie pen
  • travel sized hand lotion
  • travel sized Windex Wipes for Electronics (found these one time at Target)
  • travel sized toothbrush and toothpaste
  • dental floss
  • hair clip, hair tie, or rubberband
  • smartphone charger
  • ear buds

teacher emergency kit 2015

Other Packaging Ideas

  • Use a bead box from a store like Michael’s Crafts. Sew a potholder clutch or foldover cloth bag. Pick up a small cosmetics bag; I saw some in the bins near the door at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Fill a simple paper gift bag. Click on the images below to read about other versions of the Back to School Teacher Emergency Kits!

Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit

teacher emergency kit filled and gift tags

teacher emergency kit contents view

Click HERE to read about the GIVEAWAY to win two of these kits. Giveaway ends 7/31/15.

American Girl Goes to Work

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I love Miss Priss loves to make new play scenes for her American Girl dolls. She has a Tri-Fold Project Board Display, the kind used for science fair projects, that we periodically change out for different doll activities. So far, we have made a Restaurant, a Dress Shop, an Art Gallery, and a Hair Salon with the project board. Last week, Miss Priss asked if we could convert the background scene to an office space.

American Girl DIY office play scene American Girl crafts

You don’t have to ask me twice, so we loaded up and headed to Hobby Lobby where all of my great crafty projects start.

American Girl Office SuppliesThe Desk

  • We used a hot pink desk organizer and tipped it on its side. The openings that would have held pencils, paper clips, or Post-it notes became shelves across the front of the desk.
  • We found 5″ sparkly candlesticks and glued them to the desk organizer. I used E6000 Glue, which is a heavy duty craft glue. I did measure the distance from the edges of the desk organizer and center the candlesticks on each side of the desk organizer box before gluing to make sure the candlestick legs were evenly spaced.
  • In order for the scale to be about right, desks and tables should be roughly 9″ tall.

American Girl office deskThe Bulletin Board

  • Purchase a pre-cut mat for a picture frame. The interior dimensions of my frame mat is 4 1/2″ x 6 1/2″. I used the thin corkboard on a roll with adhesive back that I had from making Doll Sandwiches. Cut a corkboard piece a little larger than the opening of your frame mat. Run a line of glue around the front edges of the corkboard and press it to the back of the frame mat. The corkboard sheet rolls up a little, so I placed books on top of the mat and cork on a flat, hard surface (like a kitchen counter) until the glue dried.
  • Once the glue dried, we attached the framed bulletin board to the science fair backboard. I put the science fair backboard flat on my dining table and measured the placement of the bulletin board before gluing, so it would be straight and centered. You can remove the sticky back paper to attach the bulletin board to the project board or attach with craft glue or hot glue.

American Girl office background

  • Map pins work well for attaching notes. Your pins will go all the way through the cork and the backboard.

American Girl bulletin boardOffice Plants

  • Look for mini plant containers at Hobby Lobby, Michael’s Crafts, or gardening centers. We purchased a block of that green oasis material that florists use to make flower arrangements and some fake greenery.

American Girl office plant oasis material

  • Cut a chunk of oasis to fit in the bottom of the container.
  • Cut pieces of greenery and stab the ends into the oasis block.

American Girl office plantCharts

  • We went through the art supply section at Hobby Lobby and found a 6″ x 8″ watercolor paper notepad with the spiral binding on the top (portrait orientation).
  • Using Sharpie markers and a ruler, Miss Priss and I drew a few different graphs.
  • We set the notepad on a small tabletop art easel.

American Girl office sales chartStationery

  • Using my paper cutter, I cut notebook paper, printer paper, and colored cardstock into 2″ x 3″ pieces of paper.
  • Using mini rubber stamps and ink pads, we stamped designs and monogram initials onto the top of the papers, so it looks like personalized stationery.
  • I also found colored paper clips that are smaller than standard size, and we clipped assorted papers together.

American Girl office stationeryAdditional Accessories

  • Hobby Lobby has plain craft boxes with lids in a variety of sizes. We bought 2 boxes that measured 2″ x 3″ x 1 1/2″ and separated the lid from the bottom. The bottom parts of the boxes fit in the desk like a drawer and hold some desk supplies. I used an X-acto knife to cut a small half circle out of one side of each lid and then sanded the rough parts down with a nail file. The lids look like in/out desktop file boxes. Miss Priss has papers in the file boxes.

American Girl in out file boxes

  • We used a sparkly candle votive for a trashcan. Miss Priss wadded up scraps of paper to make the trash can look full.
  • We found small folders (about 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″) that have the string to tie the folder closed like an interoffice mail envelope in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby.

American Girl interoffice envelope

  • We pulled several of our items from the American Girl School crafting binge like the pencil and pencil cup to add to the office play scene as well.

American Girl office

Miss Priss likes the office so much, we needed a second science fair backboard, so this scene can stay up permanently, and our second backboard gets traded out for other scenes. We have also recently become the proud owners of an original Samantha Oversized Book of Cardboard Scenes and Settings. The American Girl village happening in our TV room is quite extensive. I may need an intervention.