12 Days of Christmas (Day 5 - Popcorn)

We made it to Day 5.  Today's gift can be as simple or extravagant as you want.  I added a little extra to the packaging of this one.

Today's Poem should read:
For the 5th day of Christmas,
some popcorn for a snack,
sorry, that's all the food
I could fit in my backpack!

So, anyway you want to package 5 packages of popcorn will work.  To keep things simple, you could just wrap up 5 with ribbon.  I had purchased a box of 10 for the 2 teachers, so I was not giving them an entire box, which means I needed to add some sort of package.  I had the clear treat bags on hand already and 5 packs of popcorn fit perfectly . . .well, almost perfectly - it left very little room at the top to tie it off with ribbon or anything.  The only option was to staple it closed which looked messy.  That is when I came up with the idea to make a coordinating bag topper.
A bag topper is very simple.  First, measure the width of the bag.  In my case, I needed it to be about 5" wide.  Then, determine how high you want the tag to be and double it.  I wanted mine pretty short, so my tag ended up being 2 3/4" tall (about 1 1/2" doubled).  I made the tag digitally, but you could make it out of regular paper just as easily.  I created it with the same papers that I used for Day 5's tag.

I laid down first the grey background paper to the full size of the topper.  Then, I cut out the same shape in the striped paper, but made it 1/2" smaller in each direction (so that it has a 1/4" border on all sides).  Then, I added a cream rectangle another 1/2" smaller again.  Lastly, I added decorations, and the teacher's name.  Besides the Scrap Orchard Advent papers and swirl, I also used Chelle's Creations Naughty or Nice (elf flair), CC's Holiday Stitch-a-bet and Just So Scrappy's Big Top (popcorn).
After I created it digitally, I printed it out on the white card stock and cut it out and stapled it to the top of the popcorn.
I did add a little green metallic shred to make the bag look a little more festive.  The last step is to punch a hole in the bag topper and attach you Day 5 tag.

I think it was made a simple gift very cute.
I can't wait to share tomorrow's packaging.  :)
See you then.

12 Days of Christmas (Day 4)

Welcome to Day 4 of our teacher gifts during the 12 Days of Christmas.
I plan on spending today getting ahead on the gifts and baking for the 2 cookie exchanges that I am doing, plus the homemade goodies that I like to give as gifts.  One of my favorite things to make is Chocolate dipped Peanut Butter Balls - mmmmmmm,  I will share that one soon :D

Today's gift was pretty simple.  I think it was nice to mix easy with cute.  (hint - Day 5 & 6 fall in the "cute" category)

The poem for today reads:
For the 4th day of Christmas,
Dry-erase markers come in four . . .
As my 4th grade teacher,
you really help me soar!

I found these 4 packs of Dry-erase markers made by Remarx.  I left them in their original package and added a bow and tag (told you it was easy).

Tomorrow has a cute twist.  See you then and until then, I hope you are having a great holiday.
Meagan

12 Days of Christmas (Day 3)

I am back with Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas for a teacher.
This is another one that I changed.  Although I kept the gift the same, I didn't like the imagery of the poem for this one, which said something about the teacher wishing she/he could use the binder clips on the child's lips.  So, I changed the wording.

Here is the poem:
On the 3rd Day of Christmas,
I give 3 binder clips to you,
since some things shouldn't
be put together with glue!

Today's is even more simple than yesterday!
I bought a 15 pack of the medium size binder clips.  Again, I probably could have used the generic black ones, but I thought that these red ones were so festive and worked with everything else.  I took 3 out of the package and put them in a clear treat bag from my craft store.  These are the kind that you find to put hand-made candy in.  Then, I use curling ribbon to tie it shut and extra curled ribbon for decoration.

and that's it.  Pretty easy, right?

So, far the teachers have been loving getting all these little gifts.  They are feeling very special and telling all of their fellow teachers about it.

I highly recommend it.

Oh, on a side note - I really wish that I had had more time to shop around.  I was at Target today and saw that many of my items were there and less expensive than I paid at Staples.  So, plan ahead and get these on sale or look around.

12 Days of Christmas (Day 2)

As I promised, today's post is MUCH easier.
The poem for today reads:
The 2nd Day of Christmas
Your students are busy like hens
You can correct their papers
with these two red pens

Like I mentioned before, the original post had 2 red sharpies as the gift with a slightly different poem.  To get 2 red sharpies, I would either have to buy a dozen for $10 or 2 multi-color packs for $6/each.  Also, I just didn't think that teachers would get as much use out of 2 red Sharpies, as they would 2 red regular pens.  I did purchase a 'nice' red pen pack (with an ergonomic comfort grip) by Zebra.  It was a pack of 7, so I have 3 left over for me (with 2 for each of my girl's teachers).

I kept it simple, but nice.  I took curling ribbon and tied first a red ribbon around both pens and slid it up the shafts, just under the clip.  Then, I tied a white curling ribbon the same way and slid it next to the red ribbon.  I then wrapped the red and then white around the 2 pens to create a candy cane effect.  Last, I added a bunch of curling ribbon and curled it.  Adding the tag to the mix.

And, you are done!

Hope you are enjoying these.  Be back for tomorrow's Day 3

12 Days of Christmas (Day 1 - embellishing a clipboard)

Welcome back!
Now that you have all your supplies and you have created your labels with your 12 days, it is time to start working on the days.  I must admit that today's (Day 1) and the last day's (day 12) are really the ones that  I spent time on.
I went ahead a bought inexpensive, generic recycled hardboard Staples clipboards.

The first step is to measure your paper to cover the surface.  I found that the board was just a tiny bit too tall to be covered by the 12x12 paper that I purchased.  I cut the paper to fit side-to-side.  Since it came up a little past the part that connects the silver clip to the board, I cut out a little rectangle out of the top for it to fit around it.  Make sure to trim off the rounded corners on the bottom, too.  I covered the back as well, so I cut another coordinating piece to fit the back.  This leaves a 3/4" at the top of the front and back that is uncovered.
The next step is to attach the paper to the board.  I first tried to do it with my regular scrapbook tape - bad idea.  When I tried to seal the top with the Mod Podge, it buckled badly.  Instead, lay down a good and complete layer of Mod Podge on the board and attach the paper that way.  Wait for it to dry.  Another tip for this step.  How do you get the Mod Podge under the clip without sealing it to the surface?  Using ribbon or thick string, tie the top hole to the bottom with it open as far as you can get it.  Don't forget to protect your surface so that you do not get it on anything else.

Step 3 would be to add any other additional decorations.  Since my front paper was already very busy, I only added a ribbon to cover that top 3/4" that was blank.  The back was fairly busy, too, but I wanted to personalize it, so I used my Sizzix to cut out the letters of their name in red paper.  To attached the individual letters, I ran them through my Zyron to add adhesive to the back and stuck them on haphazardly.
Step 4 is to then seal the top with Mod Podge.  You are going to want to add at least 3-5 layers, letting it dry in between.

After it is completely dry, you could use a sealer to make sure that it is no longer tacky, but I didn't do that.  I just went right ahead to step 5

Step 5 - package it up for giving.  I kept it pretty simple by making a bow out of the same ribbon that I used for the top of the clipboard.  I added my pre-made tag and walla - Done.

I already posted what the front of #1 looked like, but here is the back.

*sorry, I did not take a picture of the whole thing bow and all. 

That morning, I coached my girls about sneaking it onto their teacher's desks since it was supposed to be a surprise.  What I did not reckon with, is that other kids in class ratting us out.  BOTH my girls were able to sneak this first surprise onto the desks and BOTH of their teachers went "oh, where did this come from?" and BOTH of them had someone in class go, "that is from ____".  Darn!  So, maybe making it a secret from everyone would help.
Either way, I think that it is a fun gift.
Stayed turned for tomorrow much more simple gift.

12 Days of Christmas (the set-up)

By now, you should have gotten all of your items.  Most of these gifts take little to no work.  So today's post will be longer since it is all about the set up.
The biggest thing that I wanted to get ready was all the tags with their sayings.  First, I wanted to change some of the original sayings to be more personal and some I had to change because I didn't find what they had.  This is one big reason to shop for your items all at once.  For instance, I found gum in an 8-pack and they had it listed as #7 (meaning you would give the teacher 7 pieces of gum).  So, I needed to swap the gift for #8 (which was paperclips on the original blog).  Another change was #12, I really didn't want give the teacher 12 apples.  I have heard that teachers get sooo many apple things, that they get a little tired of it and 12 apples seems like a lot for any one person.  So, I decided to do hand-made thank you cards with an apple/teacher theme. Day 2, listed Sharpies as what a teacher would correct papers with and most teachers don't correct with Sharpies (plus they are more expensive), so I switched it to regular red pens.  One last change was the wording on #3, the binder clips.  I didn't like the image of a teacher wanting to binder clip my child's lips, so I re-worded it.
Here are the poems for each day:

There are many ways that you can create these tags.
I created each tag to be about 3"w x 2"t.  I used my SBC+ software to "cut" out the green paper into a tag shape and then again with the cream paper slightly smaller.  Both digital papers are from the digital free downloads from Scrap Orchard's Advent.  I added a text box to the center and typed in the phrase.  Then, I added holly and berries to each corner from the same kit.  I printed these phrases on white card stock and hand cut them out.  Then, printed the backs with the countdown numbers and attached them to the front with scrapbooking adhesive.
With something like a Cricut, you could cut them out a little easier.
Another method would be to use traditional supplies with a tag punch or hand cut them out.  Print the phrases onto cream paper and then cut out and attach. You could even hand write them if you want or have your child do it.
The method that you use is not nearly as important as the thought and that you are letting them know each day's poem

At first, I was only going to do the poem on one side and nothing on the back, but I got a little carried away and did a cute back with the number.
While the front was the same with each poem, the back, I made unique.  The Advent freebie was perfect for this, since it came with a mixture of fonts.  Here is day 1:

It was so easy to do with the kit that I have gathered so far.  It had all of these digital elements, papers and alpha.
After I attached the front to the back, I punched a hole in the top and attached them with ribbon.

My next post will talk about Day 1 and how I took the plain brown clipboard from generic to special.

12 Days of Christmas (for a teacher)

Hello all of you out in Digi Land!

The months have flown by and while I have 'thought' of updating my blog, it just honestly got away from me.  So, here I am months later with a post about the holidays.
I will just right to it. ;)

First, for those of you that digitally scrapbook (or even if you don't), have you been checking out the Scrap Orchard's Advent Calendar freebie.  Each day, they "open" a new door to a coordinated freebie and the designer that designed it is 50% for that 24 hours.  If you download each free mini, you end up with a HUGE, gorgeous Christmas kit.  The best part is that you can start now (on day 8) and have a great kit.  You have to get it while it's there, because it is too cool to pass up and if you forget, you miss that day's download.  The best way is to sign up for their newsletter and they send you an e-mail each night at 9 pm (pacific) with the download link.  It is so cool, that I have already been using it - twice!

What have I done with it?  Well, the first thing, is that I am creating my annual Christmas Newsletter with it, but more importantly, I am creating a gift for my daughter's teachers with it.  I found the cutest little idea on, what else, Pinterest.  Here is my link to my board, it is an idea for a 12 Days of Christmas for your teacher over at How Does She.  I pinned it a long time ago, but knew that I wanted to do it sometime.  I love that it is small little gifts for the teacher, but things that they can really use.

So, for the next couple of weeks, I will show you each of the days and how you can do this gift, too.
The first thing that you need to do, is to hit your local office/stationary store.  Some of these items could be found at a discount/Dollar store as well.  I also added some items from a my craft store (JoAnn's).  I really wish that I had planned ahead and got these items back in September, when most of these items were on sale!  I had 2 teachers to do this for, so some of my items, I bought a bigger package and got a better deal.
Here is your shopping list:

• 1 Clipboard - $2.29/each generic Staples brand, but then I embellished it (see Day 1 later)
• 2 Red pens (the original post had 2 red Sharpies, but I thought that regular pens would be of more use) -$4.79/7, enough for both teachers to get 2, plus 3 left over for me
• 3 Binder Clips -$3.99/15 pack of cute red ones.  I split these between the 2 teachers and am keeping the rest
• 4 Dry-Erase marker set - $5.29/4pack
• 5 pkgs. Popcorn $4.99/10 at grocery store
• 6 pkgs Hot Cocoa & marshmallows $2.29/package 10 packets cocoa + $1.99 marshamallow at grocery store
• 7 (times 10 = 70) Paperclips - $1.99/100 red plastic coated ones.  Generic ones would have been cheaper if cost is an issue.  Have your kiddos help count out the 70 that are needed and maybe not tell them that it would be easier to subtract 30, then to add 70 ;)
• 8 Chewing Gum (the original had this as #7, but I couldn't find a package of 7 pieces of gum) $1 at dollar store for a double pack of 8
• 9 Candy Canes - $2.24/ box of 40 minis at JoAnn's, you could give big/regular ones instead.
• 10 Magnets - I chose a ten pack of white board magnets -$3.99
• 11 Pencils - $5.29/24 Ticonderoga (the good ones, you could get the Dollar Store ones, but many times they are more trouble than they are worth, this was enough for both teachers)
• 12 Apple Thank You cards (the original post has 12 apples, I really couldn't see my kids dropping a dozen apples on the teachers desk, so I thought they could find more use out of some hand-made thank you cards.)

optional:

• white card stock (to print your labels on) - I bought a big package since I use it a lot.  $13.99 at Staples.  You could use whatever you have.
• ribbon and/or clear bags- to wrap your gifts
• Package blank cards and and envelopes to stamp/embellish for thank you cards - $6.99/48 cream colored at JoAnn's
• Teacher paper pack - I used to embellish the clipboard and I will use it to make the cards.  I got this one DCWV Grade School at JoAnn's for $9.99.
• Mod Podge - to seal an embellished clipboard. I already had this
• Die-Cut letters - for clipboard.  I used my Sizzix and cut them out with red paper that I had
• Adhesive, hole-punch, scissors, etc.

I will be back tomorrow with how to embellish and decorate the generic clipboard to take it from "whatever" to "how cute".