What you’ll need:

School supplies

Tub of disinfecting wipes (105-ct)

Pencils, 9 boxes (12-ct)

Crayons, 8 boxes (24-ct)

Glue (5 bottles)

Glue sticks (10 sticks)

Pencil cup

Colored pencils

Other materials

12-inch to 14-inch round piece of cardboard

Roll of glue dots

Rubber bands

Ribbon

Note: Of course, you can vary the type of supplies you use based on the student’s grade level.

1. Position the tub of Clorox disinfecting wipes in the middle of a cardboard round. (You can cover the cardboard first with wrapping paper, if you wish.) Place glue dots on the bottom of the tub so it won’t move around.

2. Line the Ticonderoga pencil boxes around the tub of wipes, keeping them in place with a rubber band. They happen to be the exact height of the disinfecting wipes.

3. Wrap the crayon boxes around the pencil boxes, using another rubber band to keep them in place.

4. Arrange the glue sticks horizontally end to end around the crayon boxes. Secure them with glue dots to keep them from rolling off the cardboard base.

5. Wrap the glue bottles around the pencil cup with a rubber band, then place them on top of the tub of disinfecting wipes, securing with glue dots. Fill the pencil cup with colored pencils for the cake topper.

6. Tie a ribbon around each tier of the cake to hide the rubber bands. I found this cute chalkboard ribbon at Michael’s. I then layered it with plain yellow ribbon on the top tiers to help it stand out a little more.

When it comes to teacher appreciation gifts, this takes the cake!

]]> https://jonathanfongstyle.com/decorating-your-insulated-lunch-boxes-for-back-to-school/feed/ 2 https://jonathanfongstyle.com/giant-clothespin-teacher-appreciation-gift/ https://jonathanfongstyle.com/giant-clothespin-teacher-appreciation-gift/#comments Thu, 29 Aug 2013 06:19:29 +0000 /?p=1056 When I was in school, we didn’t give teacher appreciation gifts. But I was such a joy to my teachers, my presence was gift enough, I suppose. But school is a lot different these days, and teachers deserve all the accolades and tributes they can get. Unfortunately, most teacher appreciation gifts are a little corny and end up stashed away in the bottom drawer with the extra cans of Diet Coke.

Remember, teachers today aren’t school marms. They’re hip, with-it people. And they would love this absolutely fabulous gift inspired by Cher. Yes, Cher.

What we have here is a giant clothespin note holder decorated on two sides, with the first side saying “If I could turn back time, I’d thank all my teachers,” and the second side saying “Because you can’t spell ‘teacher’ without ‘Cher’.”

I bought the giant clothespin at Woodcrafter.com, and I decorated it with some Wood Attitude printable film from Craft Attitude. I love how Wood Attitude feels on a piece of unfinished wood. You get a velvety finish that looks like the design is printed right on the wood.

Here’s how easy it was to make this:

Measure the sides of the clothespin, and create the design to those measurements. To download the design I created, click here: clothespin_art

Print the design on a sheet of Wood Attitude. Actually, any of the Craft Attitude films will work, e.g., Shoe Attitude, Jewelry Attitude, etc. Be sure to print it in reverse, like you see above, because you’ll be flipping the image over ink side down.

Trim the designs with a craft knife so they will fit on the sides of the clothespin. Don’t peel the film off its protective backing yet.

Spray the Craft Attitude film with some spray adhesive like Super 77. Place it face down on the clothespin, burnish with your fingers, and peel off the protective backing. If you don’t have spray adhesive, apply a glue stick on the clothespin, peel off the Craft Attitude film, and then place it on the wood.

And we’re done! Now this is a gift any teacher would love, even if the class is filled with “gypsies, tramps and thieves.”

Disclosure: The Craft Attitude links in this post are affiliate links. While I am the designer/spokesperson for Craft Attitude, my views here are genuine, and I was using the product way before I did any official work for them. So there.

Well, I wish I had Craft Attitude printable film when I was in school, because I would’ve customized all my pencils like I did here. I bought some plain, neon pencils from Oriental Trading (I order them without any personalization), a glue stick, and a sheet of Craft Attitude (any of the Craft Attitude line will work, e.g., Shoe Attitude, Wood Attitude, etc.).

I created my designs using Photoshop and images I bought on 300dpi by DCWV. I personalized the pencils with messages like “Property of Class Genius,” “Magic Pencil of Right Answers,” and “Anti-Homework Device.” I flipped the image in reverse on Photoshop, and then printed it out on my inkjet printer.

To download a free printable PDF of the artwork I created, click the link here: Pencil Printable

Then I trimmed the individual images. Keep the Craft Attitude on the protective backing. It will make cutting the images a lot easier.

Rub a glue stick all over the printed side of the Craft Attitude. Again, don’t peel it from the protective backing sheet yet.

Now, peel the Craft Attitude film from its protective backing and place on the pencil. I start by pressing down along the middle and then working outward.

And in case you were wondering, yes, you can sharpen the pencil with the Craft Attitude film on it.

Here are all the ones I made. These No. 2 pencils are No. 1 in creativity.

Disclosure: I am the designer/spokesperson for Craft Attitude, and links on this page are affiliate links. Still, you should know I was a big fan of Craft Attitude before I did any work for them, and seeing how easy and cool this product is to customize practically anything, you can see why.

Decorating brown paper bags is so easy with Craft Attitude printable film. It lets you apply any image, design or photograph onto the paper bag with just a glue stick or a spray adhesive. I’ve created some fun designs for this project that you can download with the links below. The great thing about Craft Attitude film is it actually provides an extra layer of protection to the bags, so you really can reuse the bags over and over again.

back to school images1

back to school images 2

Step 1: Print the images on a sheet of Craft Attitude film on an inkjet printer. Any of Craft Attitude’s line of products will work, e.g., Shoe Attitude, Scrapbooking Attitude, Wood Attitude, etc. Be sure to print the images in reverse. (The images in the links above are already in reverse, so you don’t need to do it yourself. I know, I’m always thinking of you.)

Step 2: Trim excess film the images to fit onto the side of the paper bags.

Step 3: Apply spray adhesive to the ink side of the film.

Step 4: Place the Craft Attitude film face down on the paper bag and burnish with a brayer or your hands.

Step 5: Peel the white protective backing from the film and burnish the Craft Attitude once more to the bag.

Boy, I wish I had lunch bags like this when I was in school. Of course, mine would’ve said “I’m the child of a Tiger Mom so I don’t get to do arts and crafts, but I will make up for it when I get older and become a professional designer and big time crafter.”

Disclosure: I am a designer/spokesperson for Craft Attitude, and links on these pages are affiliate links. But I was loving and using Craft Attitude way before I did any work for them, and I have really become addicted to the stuff.