Teacher and Classmate Gifts

So many parents get stressed out over the age old question – what do I give my child's teacher for Christmas? Or worse yet, what about the classmates? Or the bus driver? If your crafty, teacher gifts shouldn't have to bring you to tears, it's simple, everything looks better in a pretty package.

Some people pay $50 or more for classy and elegant stationary and gift sets, but come on, is the paper in that notepad really any better than the $1.99 for 3 counterpart sitting right beside it? Of course it isn't, retailers simply know that if you put something in a pretty package it sells better. So rule one of great teacher gifts – DRESS IT UP.

Another tip with teacher gifting is to simply remember that she probably, if she's been in the profession for any length of time, has it ALL. There are only so many mugs and paperweights and ornaments to be bought, so when you pick your gift think outside the box. One thing that comes to mind in particular this year is school supplies. Due to the economic crisis many schools were forced to cut the teacher's supply budget putting more responsibility on the teacher to buy class supplies. So why not gift what she probably already needs? Pick up supplies on after school clearance racks for this type of gift and you'll look impressive while keeping your own costs down. What types of things would be useful? Think composition books, crayons, colored pencils, markers, glue sticks, scissors, etc. Taylor your items to the grade level of your child (if you couldn't tell, we still deal with preschoolers here...lol.) Same thing goes for the bus driver, he probably doesn't need another travel mug (Shouldn't be drinking and driving anyway, right?) and he's probably got 3 fruitcakes stashed away from his last 3 stops. So what's a mom to do? I can honestly say, in this household anyway, I don't think twice about gifting the bus driver a nice (and small) gift card for the local coffee and donut shop. We keep it simple and inexpensive at $5, enough for one coffee and one donut or breakfast sandwich. There is no need to buy his breakfast for the next year. Package it in a nice gift card holder or a small decorated gift bag and your good to go. So, to recap, rules 2 and 3 – KEEP IT SIMPLE AND PERSONALIZED and DON'T BREAK THE BANK, SMALL IS OK.

So, you might ask, how do I pull all these off and still make it look impessive? It's easy and I'll show you. Go to the dollar store and gather up a few supplies. For this example I bought...

A colorful bucket (Target usually has these in their $1 section every season. I happened to pick these up in the summer months and they were bright and colorful.)

Some shredded paper or, as I've shown here, some $.99 tissue paper (If you have a paper shredder at home, this is even easier, put some colored scraps through there and shred your own.)

A few fillers (My son is giving this as a gift to his “play date” friend.) here I used Markers, some Safety Scissors, and some mini Play Dough Tubs and cookie cutters.

Add some ribbon and you've got it!

Now, just a few tips about arranging it.

1. Make sure all the contents of your container can be easily seen. You can make things more visible by putting paper shreds or tissue paper directly into the base of your container.

2. Keep larger items to the back and smaller, less visible items up front where they can be easily seen. Use crumpled tissue paper or paper shreds to hold up smaller items so they don't slip to the bottom of the container.

3. Make good use of product packaging (colors, designs, etc.) but if packaging makes something too big to fit or too bulky, don't be afraid to discard it, as I did here with the markers.

4. Arrange everything in a pleasing manner and don't be afraid to re-arrange until you like what you've got.

5. If a small object doesn't fit (example, the cookie cutters I added) tie it onto a fun bow as an accent.

6. If you wish, you can buy inexpensive rolls of cellophane at most craft stores to wrap up your finished creation. Add a great card and some ribbon and you've got a fun, personalized gift.

You can hop on over to my blog to view more of the gift items I've been crafting this season. Have fun making a personalized gift for your special teacher!

NEW CONTEST/CHALLENGE!!

Here are the details for a brand new contest!!! There will be TWO winners, one $35 dollar gift certificate to the scrapbook.com store and one prize pack from me :) . The end date is Jan. 31st midnight EST and the contributors for this blog will pick their favorite pages. Winners will be announced on Feb. 4th and their layouts will be posted here on this blog!

Here is the link!! Please follow this to learn all the details.
I am posting this on scrapbook.com! Please either post your pages at the scrapbook gallery and link it to the thread or you can email me your entry to scrappingpam73@yahoo.com .

"L" Shaped Template!

Hi all! This is a brand new one I created tonight! This was inspired by a much older layout I did and I wanted to replicate the shape! It is perfect for four smallish photos and would look great as a holiday layout or any occasion! It would look so cute with some Christmas tree photos and your "ornament" embellishments on the top and side in place of the flowers!

First is the template, feel free to play around with the photo placement and embellishment sizes to get a whole different feel! Print and play!

(Click on each individual image and a larger sized image will appear)

Here is the photoblock template with the photos and other stuff! Print and trace onto your photos! I included a place for extra cardstock on the outside if you are looking for that!

Lastly, I know people love sketches ... so here you go!

Here is the digital layers download!
http://www.4shared.com/file/186302137/ebbd8cae/pc_Lshaped_template.html

Tomorrow (well today for me!) I will announce the new contest and you won't want to miss it, so be sure to check back later in the day! Have a good one!

Christmas Card Boxes!

Here’s a quick and inexpensive Christmas gift. The card box will hold five cards and five envelopes easily. The cards were quick and easy to make and I really loved how they turned out. I used plain white cardstock (like from the office supply store). I cut each 8.5 x 11 sheet in half crosswise, which gave me two cards from each sheet of cardstock that measure 4.25 x 5.5 inches.

(BTW...I recently purchased a Scor-Pal...and it was perfect for this project, although not necessary)
For each of the cards, I stamped the Christmas design in black ink in the corner of the card and then added a word phrase approximately 1/2 inch from the edge of the card. Using template (cut it the same size as the card front, then cut a rectangle from the middle leaving 1/2 inch on each edge) or use the Tim Holtz zero center ruler. Using the ruler, I drew a solid black line 1/2 inch from the edge of the card. When I came to a spot that was stamped...I just skipped over it and resumed my line on the other side of the stamped image.








Now, here's the pattern for the adorable little box. (this is not my original idea, I saw one at Splitcoast Stampers and I've tweaked it for my use.)
You will need an 8.5 x 11 sheet of cardstock (paper won't work for this part - it must be cardstock).

1. On the 11 side, score the cardstock at 3 1/4", 3 3/4" and then at 8 1/4" and 8 3/4 "
2. On the 8.5 inch side score the paper at 3/4", 1 1/4" and then at 7 1/4" and 7 3/4"



3. Cut the flaps as shown in this photo - by cutting away where the black is.



4. The shorter end at the top is the flap of the envelope box. You might want to round the corners on that and on the side tabs that fold in.
5. Fold on all scored lines.
6. Use very stick double sided tape to adhere the bottom flap to the tabs that fold in. (it folds just like an envelope.)
7. Decorate as desired. I used a small magnet under the flap and on the envelope to snap the box closed, but you could use ribbon adhered with brads to tie it together or a small piece of velcro on each side.
Use your imagination..and remember...it's QUICK, EASY, and INEXPENSIVE! (And it makes a great gift!)

Today!

Hi everyone! Instead of a featured artist, today one of the contributing artists will be sharing how to make a beautiful project! Just perfect for those holiday cards! Stay tuned this week and next when a new contest is revealed (tomorrow) and favorite holiday projects made by the contributors! You won't want to miss it! :)
ps- have you been enjoying the projects lately? I sure have!

Gift Bow Tutorial

I imagine by now that most of you have finished making your holiday cards and are placing the finishing touches on any projects you’ve created as gifts. I also imagine you’re a lot like me, and now have a bunch of scraps left over.

Let’s use those scraps! We can make gift bows with them. This is a super easy, quick project. So easy, in fact, that your children can join in the crafting fun.

Using a patterned paper with a design on both sides, cut the following:

8 each – 1 inch x 4.5 inches
4 each – 1 inch x 3.5 inches
1 each – 1 inch x 2.5 inches



Fold all of the strips (with the exception of the short one) as pictured below and tack in place with adhesive or craft glue. When you’re working with the 4.5” lengths, fold 4 using one side of the patterned paper then fold the other four using the opposite side.

Take the remaining length (1 inch x 2.5 inches) and make a small loop.



Pierce a small hole in each bow petal and on the underside of the loop.



Insert a brad through the center of the loop piece.



Flip it over and place the 1 inch x 3.5 inch petals (facing downward) onto the brad.
Repeat the process for the other two layers.



Use glue dots to stack each layer of the bow. And there you go! You now have a package topper that anyone (including the family pet) will find hard to resist.

New Shaped Template!

I came up with this sketch/template while playing around in Photoshop today. I thought maybe someone could use it! It would be great with a horizontal and vertical 4x6 trimmed to fit inside the bracket shape. You can use patterned paper or cardstock for the other pieces, it's all up to you!

As always, I made it into a layered digital template as well for the digital and hybrid girls out there. You can pick it up at the link below. (If you only want the sketch/printable template, just right click on the image above and save it to your computer.)
http://www.4shared.com/file/168488279/6d522886/HL_BracketSketchTemplate.html

(note: this template was inspired by one done by Heidi S. for this site)