Teacher Gifts
Thanks so much for all the kind words on the checker set. If you’re thinking of making one, go for it and include the kids on the felted rock making, they will love it, super easy. Be sure and check back in the comment section of that post, I answered some general questions that came up and linked to a tutorial on making the rocks.
OK, the school year is nearing its end. T minus 2 days and counting. Some teacher gifts were in order. I thought a stack of fabric covered moleskines would be a nice goodbye gift, what do you teachers out there think? Aren’t things better in stacks?
Betz mentioned that the kraft brown covers of her moleskines showed through on the ones she tried, so I played around with some different light-grounded fabrics. Light ground fabric does seem to give mixed results, so maker be warned. I would say quality of fabric definitely makes a difference in these, meaning if you use a thinner, quilting weight fabric with a primarily white background, there may be some show through from behind it. And you may not consider it a problem if its uniform in appearance. But you may consider using a home dec weight fabric, or just go with a darker ground instead.
For those of you who are interested in these, but who don’t want to make them yourself, I will be putting some in my etsy shop, along with some other things I’m working on, very soon (let me get through this super busy last week of school). I’ll let you know when.
The kids will write a thank you note on the front page of one of them after school today, and I’ll tie up a set of 3 (the one with the note on top). Its such a small gesture for teachers who have been so good to my kids this year. They are amazing.
If anyone local hears screams of delight on Friday afternoon, that will
be my kids. Do you remember the feeling of that last day of school? I
do. I think cupcakes will be in order…or maybe ice cream.
Having to make a decision like that will keep my kids quiet and
reflective for at least a minute. Then it will be back to happy
screaming.
Vanessa
June 10, 2009 at 1:41 pmthese are such a nice idea. so pretty and a nice way for a teacher to keep track of their “summer vacation”.
Frogdancer
June 10, 2009 at 2:13 pmWell, I’m a teacher and I’d adore a gift like that!
By the way, it’s winter here and I’ve yet to turn on my electric blanket. I made one of your heat packs with flax seed in it, and now every night I pop it in the microwave for 2.5 minutes and shove it on and around my feet when I leap into bed. (The heat pack, not the microwave oven.)
Haven’t needed to turn on the electric blanket (and I’m a real reptile so that situation in the middle of June (brrrr!!!) is totally unprecedented. ) Imagine the electricity I’ll save by the end of winter….
Thanks for that tutorial. I love my heat pack more than my children.
blair/wisecraft
June 10, 2009 at 2:27 pmthat’s fantastic! Thanks for telling me. (And I don’t know about you, but
when I crawl into bed and wrap one of those rice packs around my feet its
almost like a sedative, puts me right out!)
celine
June 10, 2009 at 2:52 pmso much inspiration around for teatchers’ presents. Shame mine don’t finish school until the end of July…
Stephanie
June 10, 2009 at 5:41 pmHow cute! What lucky teachers.
Sara Jane
June 10, 2009 at 8:40 pmthose are wonderful! i love those pens, by the way. I have to that I use exclusively for journaling and sketching.
what kind of paper did you use inside?
sara o’
kate
June 10, 2009 at 9:05 pmlucky teachers. i just read back on your august 2006 post about how you spend your days with the kids. just what i needed to get inspired in time for summer. sometimes we forget what we already know and it’s nice to be reminded of all the creative things we can do with our littles.
patty
June 10, 2009 at 11:28 pmI’m a teacher and I’d love to get one of these! they’re gorgeous!
blair/wisecraft
June 11, 2009 at 6:52 amThanks Sara Jane! These journals are the moleskines with the lined journal
paper inside.
Sarah
June 11, 2009 at 10:08 amI love the fact your children are writing a thank-you note in them!! Really sweet and thoughtful!
Joy
June 11, 2009 at 6:20 pmHello! The thoughtfulness behind these gifts is so sweet. When something so nice is packaged as fabric-covered journals, well, that’s extra special! This teacher (who is at T-8 days) loves your ideas (and blog)!
Christina
June 20, 2009 at 9:59 amYour idea for these are genius. I covered one of my notebooks: http://jchristinahuh.blogspot.com/2009/06/fabric-covered-notebook.html.
I had a little bit of problem with the fabric fraying… How did you ensure that your covers stay so neat and not have any fraying?
blair/wisecraft
June 20, 2009 at 11:13 amHI Christina! The pictures of the notebook(s?) you made is not showing up when I pull up your blog. I found the post, though. I think the key to keeping any fraying under control is making sure the fusible webbing (interfacing) is well-adhered to the very edge of both the fabric and the notebook. That really does the trick for me, I've had not problems with fraying. Hope that helps. Thanks for letting me know you made them!