1. Thanks a Latte Gift Card | 2. Nail File and Polish | 3. Mini Art Easel | 4. Potted Moss and Gift Card | 5. Monogrammed Soap Pump | 6. Apple-Stamped Tote Bag
Here are six thoughtful and creative ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week! Show your kids’ teachers just how much you all appreciate them with a handmade gift. Don’t have time for a handmade creation? Our advice is always: Go with the gift card 🙂
Teacher Appreciation Week is next week! Here is the gift we made for my boys’ teachers, complete with Starbucks gift cards and their sweet little faces.
We are also excited to introduce a new service we’ve been working on for quite some time now. Places for Faces is an application that helps you to personalize any party with faces! Using Places for Faces, you can upload an image of yourself or a friend and add a variety of stickers that match the occasion such as birthday hats, bow ties, tiaras, veils, and so much more. You then choose from a range of templates such as cupcake toppers and thank you notes that save directly to your computer to print as many times as you like. Here is the birthday party that inspired Places for Faces one year ago!
We are thrilled to be in the final stages of preparation and cannot WAIT to launch Places for Faces! If you are interested in being one of the first to try the application, add your email to the subscription list at the bottom of this post. We can’t wait to share it with you!
For this project, we uploaded the boys’ pictures to Places for Faces and added the yellow flower sticker. We are constantly finding more and more ways to use Places for Faces, especially when we’ve got these cute little mugs to work with!
Materials: A small terracotta pot, acrylic paint (we used outdoor patio paint), paint brushes, a Styrofoam ball, moss, plastic party picks, tape, a gift card, and this free printable thank you note.
Click the link above or the image below to download the free PDF! I left a space for you to hand write your child’s name or have them sign it themselves!
Directions:
1. Have your child help paint the terracotta pot. Let dry completely.
2. Add the Styrofoam ball to the bottom of the pot (this is to help the picks to stay where you want them).
3. Cover the Styrofoam with moss.
4. Attach the thank you note, face, gift card, or anything else you’d like to add to the plastic picks using tape or glue.
5. Insert gift card and thank you note into the pot, stabilizing it within the foam ball.
This sweet craft would make a great Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift as well!
Are you making anything for Teacher Appreciation week? We’d love to see it!
Don’t forget to subscribe to Places for Faces to be the first to know about the launch AND be one of the first participants! Just add your email in the space below and click subscribe!
Thank you to all those teachers out there! You are so appreciated!
P.S. Here is the Teacher Appreciation gift I made last year!
1. Paper and Felt Flowers | 2. Shamrock Wreath | 3. Shamrock Streamers | 4. Subway Art Print | 5. Candle Display | 6. Ombre Shamrocks
St. Patrick’s Day is coming up fast! Here are six last minute decorations you can make (or print) this weekend!
P.S. Our Thumb Print Shamrock makes a great little decoration too!
1. Eyes for You | 2. Monster Push Pops | 3. Love Bugs | 4. Gummy Worms | 5. Super Fly | 6. Aim | 7. Sweet on You
Here are seven printable Valentines that don’t cost a dime! You can get creative and add whatever treats and trinkets you think work with each sentiment. We hope these inspire you and your kids to make extra special Valentines this year! Enjoy!
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to be more present in the moment so that I can fully experience each day. Sometimes time seems to fly by and I don’t want to miss a second of it. This year, to better capture some of the highlights, I’ve created a “Happy Things” jar.  When something happens that makes me smile, I’m going to write it down so that when 2014 has come to pass, I can look back at the memories and treasure them always.
Materials: A decorative glass jar (we got ours at Marshall’s for $3.99!), colorful paper, a marker or pen, scissors, and my free “Happy Things | 2014” printable!
Directions:
1. Download the Happy Things free printable and print!
2. Cut out the circular printable and attach to the jar. We used double stick tape so we can easily re-use the jar for something else, but you could also print the printable on adhesive label paper.
3. Cut squares out of colorful paper to make your jar look extra happy! We used a paper cutter and made 3.5″ x 3.5″ squares our of scrapbook paper.
4. Using a marker or pen, write happy things on pieces of paper, fold up, and place in your jar.
Let your kids write their own memories if they can, or ask them what their favorite part of the week was! Their answers, milestones, and cute phrases will make perfect memories for the Happy Things jar.
Click here or on the image below to download your own “Happy Things | 2014” label!
This memory jar is perfect for the whole family. Open the jar at the end of the year and reminisce over all of the wonderful times you all had together!
If you make your own memory jar, please send us a picture or a link! We’d absolutely love to see it. Enjoy!
***UPDATE***
Each year we hear more requests for an updated Happy Things Printable and we are here to deliver! Click below to download the newest printables!
1. Instagram Photo Calendar | 2. Illustrated Wall Calendar | 3. Animal Calendar | 4. Customizable Instagram Calendar | 5. Bold Wall Calendar | 6. DIY Fabric Calendar | 7. DIY Chalkboard Chip Calendar
We’re almost a week into January, and if you’re like us you still don’t have a new wall calendar hanging up! Have no fear, we’ve collected 7 fresh and functional calendars to start 2014 off right (no matter how late that might be)! From Etsy to DIY, we’ve got your year covered. We hope you can check this off of your New Year’s resolution list! Enjoy!
P.S. Keep up with Vicky Barone by following on Facebook and Bloglovin!
1. Mini Silhouettes | 2. Calligraphy Tags | 3. Bow Tie Reindeer | 4. The Merriest Christmas | 5. Peace, Love, and Reindeer Hugs | 6. Mini Wreaths
Can you believe that Christmas is in three weeks? We’re feeling a little overwhelmed, but so excited! We have a lot of fun things in store for the blog this month like these Holiday Gift Tags! From Etsy to DIY to free printables, these gift tags can add the perfect last minute touch to your pretty packages.
Stay tuned for more holiday inspiration!
This week we made our very own memory game using family pictures! Pinhole Press makes a beautiful set of customized memory game pieces that make for a great gift! This, of course, inspired us to make our own! It’s a little time consuming, but overall it was a fun project that turned out looking great. The kids love it, and get really excited when they flip over the pieces to reveal pictures of themselves!
We’ve even attached some free PDFs of Vicky Barone’s signature chevron design in three colors so you can print your own! Scroll down and click on the color you like to download it. There are six squares per page so make sure you print four pages!
Materials:
– 24 unfinished wood squares (we ordered ours from here and got them in 3×3 inch)
– Fine grain sandpaper
– Mod Podge
– Foam paint brush
– 12 pictures, printed twice (ours are about 2.75×2.75 inches)
– 24 pieces of patterned paper (Download a free PDF at the bottom! You can also use scrapbook paper or even just paint the back of each square. Just make sure you make them all the same!)
What to do:
– Sand the edges of each of the wood pieces and round the corners. They’re unfinished so they can have a lot of splinters and sharp corners.
– Paint a thin layer of Mod Podge on one side of a square and press on a picture. Let dry.
– Seal the picture using another thin layer of Mod Podge on top. Let dry.
– Once completely dry, repeat with the flip side of the wood square.
Click on the squares below to open the free PDFs in your favorite color!
