Monday, December 24, 2012

Cutesy Christmas Teacher Gift

We just wanted to post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!

And, of course, to share something I think turned out pretty cute!



Ok, I know you are asking yourself, what IS this?  Weeeeeeeeell, it's a name block.  I like making crafty stuff and I found myself standing in Hobby Lobby looking for a gift for my daugher's teachers.  Well, I started with a different idea in mind but they didn't have anymore of what I was looking for.  Drat!!!  Soooooo, Plan B.  What to do?  What to do?  I saw that all of the glass was on sale 50% off so my crafty brain got ticking.  (This block is normally $9.99 so I got it half off- score!)

Sidenote- I have a Cricut (a die cutting machine).  It's probably the first one that ever came out- I've had it a long time.  I know that there are newer ones, but my little one is perfect for what I need, and it's portable.  Well, the biggest revelation I had last spring (through Pinterest of course) was that there is self-adhesive vinyl that I can cut with the Cricut!  It sticks right on!  Genius!  And super easy!  

Sooooo, back to the glass aisle at Hobby Lobby.  I'm thinking about my Cricut and the vinyl I have at home and I see this glass block.  And it's the perfect size to put a teacher's name on and she can keep it on her desk!  So I grab up 2 (for both of my daughter's teachers) and then head to the ribbon aisle.  Ohhhhhhh, all the pretty ribbon!!  So I grab a bunch of ribbon (because I can't just pick one- it's a problem, I know).  Next up, the scrapbooking section for pretty paper.  Now, due to my more-than-lacking photography skills with my phone, you can't see the pretty green scroll-y paper behind her name.  Sigh.  But I promise it's there.  

So, here is what I did:
I cut the scrapbook paper to size so it would fit inside the block, on the back. (I'm not sure on the exact measurements, I had to play with it).

The block had a plug on the side (no drilling for me!).  I pulled the plug out and slid the paper in.  When it was the right size, I put tacky glue on the back and then pushed it down.  I left the block laying down until the tacky glue dried.

While it was drying, I cut the letters in black (I think they were 1.5 inch letters).

Then, I got out the ribbon and realized I'd gotten so excited about all the pretty ribbon in the ribbon aisle I wasn't paying attention to what I needed.  I got ribbon with no wire.  Darn.  So, now how am I going to make a pretty ribbon for the top?  A crafter's best friend- enter, the hot glue gun (Warning- you may get burned- or is that only me who always gets so excited that I forget how HOT it is???  It's probably just me!)  So, I put the plug back in and glued a strip of ribbon all the way around.  Then I made 2 loops of ribbon, one for the bottom loop and the second one smaller for the top loop.  I glued those down.  Here's another less-than-stellar picture.



The hardest part was sticking on the letters because it requires lining them up and centering, but it still wasn't that hard!  And, if you mess up, you just carefully pull it off and restick it.  No worries!

So, that's it!  Pretty easy, right!!  Both of her teachers loved them (well, it's not like they were going to say otherwise, but I think it was genuine).  They used the word "unique".  I think that's good, right???

Did you do any cutesy crafts for gifts this year?  I'd love to hear about them!

Last sidenote-
We just received the cutest New Year's Packet from Lindsay at If you give a Teacher a Treat.  You have to go check it out!!
If You Give a Teacher a Treat

We wish everyone a VERY Merry Christmas!

I'm headed into cleaning mode (the horrors!!)

Funny Confession Ecard: I get more cleaning done in the ten minutes before someone comes over than I do in a week.

This usually describes me but I can't pull this off with everyone coming to my house for Christmas, so I guess I better get busy!!

With love and best wishes,
Amanda

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