Teacher Appreciation

So it has been a month since I started my new job outside of the classroom. It has been challenging and amazing all at the same time but I learned an important lesson from a past teacher VERY quickly and it has made a world of difference.

For those of you who don't know me, I am a perfectionist but I have also had issues with my own confidence. Basically it means that I do better when people are telling me that I'm doing a good job. I'm not sure everyone operates that way but I do know that it doesn't hurt so I have been working hard to appreciate the teachers at my center as much as possible. My goal is to do three things once a month- 1. a treat for the staff such as doughnuts, cake, or other yumminess. 2. Post a star post-it on their door with something I appreciate them doing during the month. and 3. Give them a small gift with a note to show my appreciation.

In July I got muffins and fruit one morning and put them in the staff room. I rushed through the star stickies because I barely learned the idea. Then I made notes that said, "Thanks for being a TEA-riffic teacher!" and had Crystal Light tea attached.

In August, I had a training called The Foundations of Supervision which further enforced these as good ways to motivate the teachers. So far, I have gotten doughnuts and candy. I put together little bags that say, "You were "MINT" to be a teacher." with both Lifesaver mints and Andes mints inside. I plan to hand those out the last Monday of the month which I have named Motivational Monday. Lastly I need to work on very specific stickies this month to make up for the slacker ones in July...

I have also started my treat for September already because it is time consuming. Each teacher is getting a magnet which I will display on a cookie sheet that says, "Get "Stuck" on Teaching!"

I hope that all administrators or lead teachers can use these types of tools to motivate their teams to be the best teachers we can be! Most of the things I use were dollar store purchases- baggies, ribbons, fun paper, candy, the clear stones on the magnets. I did get the tea at Target and ordered the magnet itself and the adhesive for the magnets on Amazon. Post-Its are a great way to motivate and most schools stock them anyway! I'll post more crafty ways to appreciate teachers as the months go on!

A Fond Farewell

So this week is yet again bittersweet. I will officially be starting training for MY NEW JOB! But that means that people are leaving... At the end of the week, we are having a potluck for three teachers who are leaving the center and since I wanted to do another post, I figured I might as well make cards for them! I found a cute card online that wanted me to have Cricut instruments which I do not have so... My solution was to print out the pictures and cute them by hand! Not as neat but works for this girl on a budget! I made three different cards with the same theme! I tried to pick out colors that fit the people who will receive the cards!

 <---- Julie and Allison --->

April

I selected colors for the background and then picked out the card color to match.

Here we go with my print out flower! The previous maker had used a dark green to make the white pop so I did too! I cut out the white flower first then used that to cut the green flower! Once I had finished those two, I cut the yellow part off the printed flower and used that to cut my own yellow tips!

 One thing to note is that the flower is not symmetrical so watch yourself before you glue!

 Then I glued the flower onto the front of the card.

Ladybugs! I free handed this one because I thought printing it to cut would be more trouble than it was worth. 

It turned out pretty well!

The ladybug sitting on it's flower!

Using a green sharpie (or black), add random dots and dashes around the outside of the flower to add some dimension! I thought it might have been something that the Cricut stuff did but it was easy since it's random!

The outside is complete!

Dragonflies for the inside! I free handed these as well!

The text says "Thank you and good luck. You will be missed." It is meant to look like the flight path of the dragonfly!

 These ladies will truly be missed and I can't believe how quickly time has gone! Guess I better go to the store so I can make the cookies for the potluck too!

Forgetful Photographer...

I found a scalloped card idea online and made some of my own... My mom is in the process of selling her house and buying a new one so I made her a card and then I try to make sure that my grandmother and grandmother-in-law get some mail since they don't have computers! I used one inch strips and then scalloped the end. But I forgot to take extra pictures... So here we go!

Those Tough Days...

So today I said goodbye to another student. I know I should be used to it by now considering how often they come and go but this was a tough one. The little girl, Tessa bonded with me a bit more closely than some of the others... I even got to guest blog on her blog: http://tessabarbero.blogspot.com/

So anyway, for those days when you just want to let someone know you care... A thinking of you card!

This card features a flower pot so start by picking out paper for the back of the card, the flower pot, 2 flowers, and the tag.

To create the flower pot, cut one side of the diagonal and then flip the leftover piece over to make it symmetrical.

I added a scalloped edge to make the pot more decorative.

Glue the flower pot and flowers in 2 colors to the front of the card.

Add circle dots to the center of the flowers.

The tag says "Thinking of You" and here is the completed card!

I have been making cards a lot but forgetting to photograph them... I'll try to do better!

Christmas in May

No surprise that I am giving cards to my family for Christmas (sorry if you didn't know that...) so I'm trying to create themes for each set. I finished the collection for my in-laws this afternoon so here we go! Think about who you're giving the cards too and choose a theme for that person.

I started by picking out black and white paper.

The thing that I choose to keep the same for each card in the set was the "initial". I did a set for my mom with ABC (her initials) and just a D for my in-laws! Since the background was just black and white, I used a light purple with a pink and yellow paisley backing. My father-in-law is never going to write a card anyway...

I measured the cards and cut the paper to fit piecing together the scraps and such to make the most of the paper I was using!

Here are some of the samples of what I came up with...

Two more Scrap Cards

So my cousins are getting married next week and I couldn't decide on a gift so I decided it would be fun to make a card! Their wedding invitation was black and red so I went with that! I had a lot of red scraps so I followed much the process of my last card.

I had a thicker piece and glued a thinner piece in the middle.

It looked pretty cool against the black card.

 The happy couple are M and B so I cut them out of red paper and then decided I didn't like the color so I colored them in silver...

The stamp also shows up really well on the black paper so I thought it looked cool.

I had a lot of free time one day so I made a card to save for my "Thinking of You" collection. I had an hour to kill one day and walked into a shop where I saw a hand towel that said, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about getting out and dancing in the rain." I was feeling pretty down so it hit home right away... I started with blues this time because of the rain.

The card before quote...

And here goes the quote!

I wanted to have something for the inside so I made raindrops and a puddle... Who doesn't want to dance and jump in puddles?

I think that quote is going to be one that gets me every time...

Hey Cutie. You look MAGNIFICENT!

I've had a lot going on over the last couple of days and as anyone who reads this will see, I may be posting cards but they're going to be connected to my emotions as well. If you've ever known someone who died or someone who was dying, you know how much last words mean and how they will never be forgotten. On a trip, I looked out the window and saw a blackbird fly out of a field. It was pure and beautiful and I have not been able to get that picture out of my head. So for all of the memories of last words...

The field was green so I picked out lots of different patterns and shades of green. Scraps are perfect for this type of project so I save long pieces a lot because the design is so neat!

Glue the strips to a larger sheet of paper. It's up to you how to do it but working with thicker pieces and thinner pieces you should try to balance them.

The shortest piece determines the size of your piece so don't pick any that are too small. Glue the square onto the front of your card.

My creativity does not extend to drawing things so I found a picture of the type of blackbird I wanted for my card and cut it out of black paper.

The front of the card turned out much like I imagined and I can't wait to send it to my family!

I know most people hate dandelions but I have found them so comforting in the last couple of weeks that they are my new card logo. I signed my name up the stem- as my husband says, just in case I ever want to sell my cards...