I wanted to make a short list of some items I've whipped up for my children's teachers. In most cases, you can look and see how to make it, or I'll link it to the pattern or instructions. My daughter's school (and mine as well) is year round. So I have until Tuesday to come up with these. You may not be so lucky.
I'm not going to get into the 'why should we give teachers gifts for doing their job' argument. They deal with your kids all day, love them and help them grow. I think it's nice to give a little thanks. Many of these items I have also made for co workers, those at Mr. Big's office, our AWESOME mail carrier , piano teachers etc. If you have been a regular reader or listener some of these will be very familiar.
Teachers are Angels Tee
The easiest one. Angel wings on the back of a tee. I got both items at JoAnn's. I did embroider the teacher's name on the front but I hate embroidering on knits lately. This was for little Sunshine's Kinder teacher and I have seen her wear it!
Teacher's got a Brand New Bag
Who doesn't need one more bag? I used a bag pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects
Here's the inside. This part isn't laminated. Pockets for keys, cell phones, iPod etc:
To this I added some accouterments. A Checkbook cover from Sewing Mamas Free downloads and a tissue holder from the free downloads at Craftzine.com
Fabric scrap Note cards
These are just about the most fun thing I've ever sewn! So easy and they turn out so pretty!
I got my wovens together, mostly scraps. I ironed them on to heat and bond. I sewed them in patchwork style, cut them up, resewed them until they looked like a crazy quilt.
I then ironed it on to some thick interfacing. I popped on my darning/embroidery foot, lowered the feed dogs and using a variegated embroidery thread I quilted the heck out of the sheet of fabric in a random pattern.
Then I cut them out to fit the card, so that there was a bit of a margin all the way around. I used a straight stitch around the card to secure it to the paper. I didn't have any spray on glue, or I would have used that too.
I either sewed on the tag or a button to the front by hand. Then I cut
a piece of cardstock to fit the inside of the card, again with a small
margin, to hide the stitches.
These are bars of lemon, rose and lavender Bronner's Soap wrapped with organic roving I dyed. Like soap in a sweater LOL. It makes a wonderful combination scrubber/soap for mommy and daddy skin! Once the soap is gone, you can use the wool as a shower scrubber. Good tutorial here. I got the wooden holder at Ikea for just a dollar or so.
Key Fobs
Key Fobs instructions from Sewing Mamas
Marble Magnets
Very simple magnets. I get the marbles in large packages at WalMart or Target for less than ten dollars. Here's another (the original) tutorial. I take the fabric to the copy center where I print it out on cardscock for a heavier more sturdy attachment. I have also found that DAP Aquarium sealer works just as well as anything else with far less stink factor. For my class, I had their pictures taken and reduced them on a color copier. Then each child had a magnet as a gift for a parent! Adorable, flexible and fun too.
Cupcakes in a Jar
By far the most popular item I've given out. I got the idea directly from the etsy shop the FatDaddy Bake shop, which is now the Bangarang Shop.
Thanks mamas! I used an array of recipes, which is why I had to do some
'mixing' -- this one I called 'Neapolitan' . It's fun to mix flavours.. The chocolate and
vanilla cakes came from:http://www.cooksillustrated.com/
For the strawberry I used a basic yellow or white cake and 3/4c pureed strawberries folded
in at the last minute.
You could easily use cake mixes to make it easy on yourselves. It's all in the presentation. The jars were larger than I wanted, I should have checked. So I called it A Cupcake for Two.
The frosting was butter, a bit of cream (milk) and a lot of powdered sugar. For the chocolate I did what my MIL does, added in dry Ovaltine chocolate milk mix. For the vanilla I added in some hazelnut and vanilla extract. Some of the 'cupcakes' I used a raspberry syrup instead of frosting. I just sort of threw together what I had laying around.
I baked sheet cakes, and cut them in rounds to the size of the jars and plopped them in. I put the frosting in a zip lock baggie like this so it didn't get all messy. Put layers of cake and frosting.
Here's another way but I don't think they are quite as fun as the frosting layers etc
Not pictured
I can't locate these pictures. But I made these items for teachers in the past as well
Amy Butler Bags
