Teacher's Gifts...

    We are quickly approaching the end of the school year.  This leaves me with a mixture of relief and dread.

Relief in the fact that the school routine is drawing to a close and it will soon be the lazy, hazy days of summer.  Dread because the end of the school year seems to bring with it a hefty price tag!  Last month with the school fun fair, food days, and various fun raising we handed the school over $200.00.  This month will be close to that again with class trips.  I have 4 kids in school (Elly goes to nursery school one morning a week), that means lots of teachers and teaching assistants.   That means gifts, gifts mean more money.
    I was looking at my favourite new site, PINTEREST and discovered some really thoughtful, inexpensive teachers gifts.  I would like to give credit for this craft, to giglesgalorenmore.blogspot.com.  She has some really neat craft ideas. These flower pots just look so thoughtful.

    I started off with clay pots which I purchased at Walmart for $1.06 each.  I bought 11 of them.  I covered my kitchen table with a cheap dollar store table clothe and got to work.  I pulled off all of the stickers from the bottom, and painted the bottoms black.  When they had dried I then painted the top rim in a bright sunny yellow.  I also painted the inside of the pot that would be seen over top of the dirt when they have been planted with flowers.  It took 3 coats to really get the right amount of coverage that I wanted.

    After the yellow had dried I painted the bottoms black.  The black paint took about 2 coats.  It then took a few touch ups here and there, because my hand was not quite as steady as I would have liked and there was some yellow on my black and some black on my yellow.

    To save time I used a "sharpie" marker to draw the ruler on the top of the pots.  My first one I used a ruler and pencil and marked out the exact centimeters.  I lost patience for the second and decided to just free hand it.

    I had this brilliant idea, I would get the kids to write in chalk and write the message for their own teachers.  It looked great in their handwriting.  Even Elly got in on it.  My plan was to spray a top coat of clear spray over the top to keep the chalk on and to make the pots outdoor ready.  It all went perfectly until I sprayed the first pot and the chalk just melted off.  I swore a little under my breath, then brought all the pots back into the house and painted the messages on them.

    When it is all said and done, I am really happy with the way that they look.  It will cost approximately $3.00 a pot including the flower for each teacher.  We can show our appreciation with a thoughtful gift, and still buy groceries, it's a win win.

The pots say "Thank you for helping me grow"

  On the last week of school I will buy a bag of potting soil and a flat of flowers.  I'm going to let the kids plant the pots.  I think they will have fun, and it also gives them a hand in this handmade gift.  I will probably regret this idea within seconds of the kids starting, but in theory, it's a great idea.  Come back in two weeks and I'll show and tell how the planting went.

Can you guess this one is for Gracie's french teacher?