Candy Bar Bouquet

I like to give gifts to my kids' teachers on their birthday.  Generally, I have time to get to know the teacher so that I can pick a gift that they will like.  It just so happens that A.'s teacher's birthday was the first day of school.  I frantically had to figure out what his likes were.  Reading the list of things that were his favorites the only thing that came up was candy bars.  He didn't drink coffee so no starbucks, so I ran with the candy bar theme and decided to make a candy bar bouquet complete with a Kit Kat vase. 

First I went to my stash of styrofoam and I cut out a piece that was the length and width of a Kit Kat bar.  You can use floral styrofoam as well.  I just used what I had.  I taped the Kit Kat bar to each side of the styrofoam.

Voila! I get an instant vase!  It looks cute already, huh?

I used skewers and taped them underneath the candy bar wrapper flap so they wouldn't be seen.

Only the bottom of the skewer is shown.

 

Once all my candy bars were skewered, I stuck them into the styrofoam to make my bouquet.  Easy Peesy!

 

I thought it turned out pretty yummy myself.  One birthday down, a couple more to go!

Flowers for the teacher

Each year we bring the teacher flowers for Teacher Appreciation Week.

The last couple years, I started bringing in a plant instead since it would last longer.  I went to a local nursery and picked out some flowers and potted them in terracotta pots.

This year, I wrote the teacher's name on the front of the pot.

In previous years, I have used a variety of different plants.

 

 I found cute printouts saying, "Thank you for helping R. BLOOM!"

One year, I even gave a flower growing kit with a tag saying, "The grass is always greener with teachers like you."

The possibilities are endless.

Apples for the teacher

Apples and teachers go hand and hand.  That's why, I made these cupcakes last year during teacher appreciation week.

These cupcakes got a lot of oohs and ahhs.

 

With lack of time this year, I bought a large candy filled apple instead.  I thought the apple container could be reused for other things like crayons or erasers

 I cut out a green leaf and wrote, "You are the apple of my eye."  I tried to write it like the veins of the leaf. 

Another thing I thought I could write would be something like, "Thanks for 'leaf'ing such a great impression."  Anything to be punny, right?

Fortune Cookies for the Teacher

I've made sprinkled fortune cookies in the past before that turned out well so I thought I would  re-use the idea for Teacher Appreciation Week.  This time, I omitted the sprinkles and dipped the fortune cookie into melted milk and white chocolate.

I decided to keep it simple this time.  I love how they turned out.  I couldn't make them fast enough because the kiddos kept eating them up. 

For the packaging, I found  metal take out boxes at Michael's that I thought were the perfect.

I was able to fit nearly half a dozen fortune cookies inside.

On top, I printed a label that I nabbed from here that said, "I'm so FORTUNATE to have YOU as a teacher."

I think it turned out super cute!  What do you think?

Teacher Appreciation Stamp of Approval Gift

E.'s teacher loves to collect rubber stamps so she can use in her student's daily folder.  She uses a different stamp each day so I thought I would add to her collection by making it one of the gifts I  would give her this week. 

I bought some cute stamps at Michael's and then used a pencil box that I found at Target.

When I saw the pencil boxes, I loved them.  At the time I bought them, I didn't know what I would use them for, but I knew I wasn't going to be putting pencils in them.  When I saw them staring back at me in my craft room, I thought it was the perfect choice for the rubber stamps.

On the front of the box, I typed, "For being such a great teacher, you've earned our STAMP of approval."

If you prefer, you can write the words on the inside instead.  I couldn't have found a box that was a better fit.  I did also find this translucent box that I filled with stamps as well.

It's not as cute, but it holds a lot more.  Now, I just have to decide upon which one to give.

Either way, I hope she likes it!  If not, the week is just beginning.

Framed Crayon Monogram Letter Art

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

When I saw this idea, I knew I wanted to implement it for Teacher Appreciation Week.

First I printed out a large letter of the teacher's initial.  I also printed her name next to it.  The large "J" was printed very lightly so that it wouldn't be seen.

 

  Next, I lined up my crayons in the order that I was going to use them.

 On a scratch sheet of paper, I marked the length of my cut and started chopping away.

I glued the crayons right onto the paper.

Then I framed it.

I really like the way it turned out.

 The glass that is normally in the front of the frame was removed and placed in the back.  Also, in the back, I added a picture and wrote, "Thanks for making 2nd grade so colorful."

 One done, another to go.

The letter A was much more difficult and time consuming, but it turned out pretty good.

I simply love the way they look. I may use the idea in the boys' room, but on a larger scale.

One day down, 4 more to go! Stay tuned for a full week of Teacher Appreciation ideas!

Teacher Back to School Gift

School for us starts on Monday. Skip to My Lou gave me a cute idea for the first day of school. She bought all her kids' teacher a bottle of hand soap and had a note attached saying, "If you need a hand, don't hesitate to call."

I thought it was a great idea so I am nabbing it. E.'s school is all about sanitizing their hands so when I saw this cute Apple shaped bottle filled with Anti-Bacterial Hand Sanitizer at Bath and Body Works, I thought it was perfect. "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away," right, or is it, "A spritz of hand sanitizer a day, keeps the doctor away?"

An Apple for the Teacher Cupcakes

An Apple for the Teacher Makes 1 basket: 7 apple cupcakes I found this recipe and thought it would be a great appreciation gift for that special teacher. It's taken from the What's New Cupcake Book. The book says, "Whether you want to butter up your teacher, keep the doctor away, or tempt Adam, our apples do the trick. The cupcakes are topped with doughnuts coated in red frosting, rolled in red sugar, and adorned with Tootsie Roll stems and fruit-chew leaves. The tines of a fork make the impression of a bite, which is then coated in white frosting. The seeds are candy-coated sunflower seeds." For more pics, see this post. Ingredients: 7 vanilla cupcakes baked in red paper liners 7 mini plain or chocolate-covered doughnuts 1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting 4 chocolate chews (Tootsie Rolls) 4 green fruit chews (Jolly Rancher, Tootsie Fruit Rolls) 1 cup red decorating sugar Red food coloring (use paste food coloring for a darker red) 3 black candy-coated chocolate-covered sunflower seeds (Sunny Seed Drops) Instructions: 1. Cut 1/2 inch from the bottom of each mini doughnut with a serrated knife and discard bottom piece. 2. Spread some vanilla frosting on the cupcakes and place a mini doughnut piece, cut side down, on top of each. Place the cupcakes in the freezer for 10 minutes, until slightly frozen. 3. For the stems, cut the unwrapped chocolate chews in half lengthwise on the diagonal and shape into stems. For the leaves, roll out the green fruit chews 1/8 inch thick, then cut into ten 1 1/2-by-3/4-inch leaf shapes. Make a crease down the center of each leaf with the back of a paring knife and pinch one end of each leaf. 4. Place the red sugar in a medium shallow bowl. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the vanilla frosting into a small ziplock bag, press out the excess air, and seal. Tint the remaining vanilla frosting in the can red with the food coloring. 5. Working on 1 cupcake at a time, spread some of the red frosting on the top and sides of the doughnut and cupcake to fill in the gaps and lightly coat, making the doughnut look like the top of an apple. 6. Roll the frosted cupcake in the red sugar to coat. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes. 7. To create a bite from the apple, carefully remove a 1 1/2-inch-diameter divot from the top of 1 of the sugar-coated doughnuts, using fork tines or a paring knife. Snip a small (1/8-inch) corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting and pipe a thin layer of frosting to cover the exposed area inside the divot. Spread lightly with the back of a small spoon to smooth. For the apple seeds, arrange the sunflower seeds, pointed ends toward the center. 8. Insert the chocolate-chew stems with the green fruit-chew leaves at the top of the apple cupcakes. Arrange the cupcakes in a basket.

For this recipe or other recipes, consult the What's New Cupcake? book