2/1 Catholic School Week and Teacher Appreciation Gifts with Pretty Petites from Stampin' Up!

Good Afternoon!

I'm SO excited to finally start to be able to share some of the things I've been working on!  What a busy bee I have been. 

This week was Catholic School Week and today was the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon.  It started out with a notice that came home from school asking for help at school during the lunch, so that the teachers could share a meal together.

I happened to be working today during lunch with my fabulous stamp club meeting ending today, so I couldn't help during lunch, but I called the coordinator to see if I could help donate something anyway. 

During the course of my conversation I found out that they really didn't have anything to give the teachers and I asked if I could make them a little something crafty so they know that they are appreciated.  In my daughter's school, there  are 20 regular teachers and 5 specialties, so I made 30 of these boxes to cover administrators and substitute teachers too.  What, might you ask did I give them a little box of "stuff" for?  Well, I found a few of these online and did a little shopping.  For the items I could find, I made a little poem so the teachers would feel the love and appreciation.  Really, this project took more time collecting my scavenger hunted items than it did to put the 30 boxes together!

Here's a look at the poem:

Again, these are just the items I could find.  If you search for "teacher survival kits" on pinterest you could probably find a whole bunch more items to fit what you have in your pantry already!

So, I mentioned that these 30 boxes went together pretty quickly?  Well, me and my stampin' pit crew (Brian and Alexis) were able to assemble and decorate these on Saturday in about 2 hours!  Here's what we did. 

We started with a wheel.  I know this one is retired, but I wanted stars for the school teachers.  They are so amazing and each star transforms our children into future stars.  I always chuckle when my daughter comes home from school and I can hear her "sound like" her teacher Mrs. Sech.  It's very subtle but so adorable how her phrases imitate what she hears from a mentor.    I didn't have any ink for my wheels, but it didn't matter.  I used an ink pad and it was perfectly long enough to wheel up half my box at a time.  So two zips of my wheel and I had a decoration on my box! 

Next, I added a piece of blue card stock to the bottom of the box.  I didn't want the paperclip to make it's way out of the box or fall.  Plus it made my box a little more sturdy.  I cut the paper to just a little smaller than 3.5" square.  Do you see the blue paper in the bottom of the box?  It's in there! 

These kraft colored boxes are absolutely fabulous!  You get four of them in a package for only $2.95.  How can you beat that?  It comes with directions on assembly, and you really do want to take a second to look at the sheet because they fit together perfectly that way.  It would be very easy to decorate these boxes with a strip of designer paper, or stamp on them, cover them, put them in a bag and tie them up with a bag topper! the possibilities are endless!

 

Sorry to show retired products that you can't buy again, but I found some leftover ribbon from the holiday mini to package them up with.  I love tulle because you just need to know how to tie your shoes, then fluff and you have a bow that is boutique beautiful!  

Next, I added a star punch.  I know we don't sell those anymore but I have a few if my local ladies need one.  :)  I got them on the clearance rack.  Speaking of, there are some amazing deals on the rack this week including $1 content disks for my digital studio!  Click here to check it out.   

Finishing the box, I pulled out my BRAND NEW stamp set from Sale a bration called pretty petite's (item # 129642 for clear)  It matches the SAB punch perfectly!  :)  I stamped and punched the thank you's, then added them to the stars with a dimensional.  Punch a hole in the star and tie them on with the easy fluff ribbon!  Yea Buddy! 

The BEST part of my day today was a text I got from my good friend Pam who teaches kindergarten at my daughters school thanking me for her box.  She said they didn't have to tell her who made them (my name wasn't on them).  She just knew it had to be me because of the quality of the gift.  Wow! 

I feel totally blessed to be able to share what I love and help others enjoy creativity while helping my family.  I can do all of this as a stay at home mom and be here for my daughter after school and through dance class.  I'm very grateful to Stampin' Up! for the vehicle to make a difference, even for something as small as an appreciation gift.

LOTS more to share over the coming week!  I've been a busy bee with my split coast "creative crew" design team things!  I cant wait to share more!  See you tomorrow!

Love,

Selene
My Stampin' Up! Store