Teacher - You really MEASURE Up!

For my son's {preschool} teachers, he will be taking these treats to school next week.

In case you can't tell...a ruler tied on to a box of fruit by the foot with a note attached saying "You really MEASURE up!"

Luckily, I have the rest of the weekend to finish up all my other ideas.  I am working on a gift for my parent volunteers so check back...

SUPER Door Decoration

Even though this was used as a bulletin board during teacher appreciation week, it could easily be changed to a door decoration!  I love this SUPER idea from The Teacher's Wife!

Teacher Appreciation - A Week of Ideas

So it is 10:00 and I should be getting ready for bed since I do need to be getting up at 5:45am (YUCK!), but instead I am waiting for my sheets to dry.  I hate when I forget that kind of thing! 
I came across some great ideas from Pens and Needles.  She sent simple gifts each day during teacher appreciation week.  If that seems a little much for you, I have broken it down day-by-day so you can pick one that works for you.
You're Tea-riffic:

You're Out of This World!

You're oFISHally a great teacher:

Thanks for making me a SMARTIE!

We need S'MORE teachers like you...fill a lunch sack with marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate!

On a side note, I had a friend from my {small} town mention that she came across this blog.  I don't know why but I am still embarrassed by that.  Am I weird or what?  I really don't publicize this blog to my friends, so when others I know come across it I think they are caught off guard as much as I am by them finding it.  Does that make sense?  Do others feel the same way?  No matter, I love this blog for many reasons.  It allows me to find great ideas for teaching, clear my mind, and share any ideas I come across.  Thanks for listening and thanks for letting me share all your terrific ideas on here!!

Time for An Easter Party with these Treats!

If you have a family, classroom, church or friend Easter party to attend this weekend, maybe one of these treats will inspire you.  Hey even if you don't have a party to attend, maybe you will want to host one after seeing these...
From Family Go here are some Easter cupcake animals:

Some {rabbit} carrot cupcakes...might be fun to eat after watching the new Hop movie!:

Some easy grab and go treats from Make and Takes:
Marshmallow Bunny or Recess's PB "suckers"

From the Creative Itch, these totally adorable chick cookies:

Oreo Chicks from Brown Paper Packages:

I love holidays!  It's so much fun spending time with the family.  Oh and of course, having a 5 day break from school isn't bad either!  I can't wait to get some things done around the house.  Spring cleaning is definitely calling out to me!

Personalized Easter Baskets

With Easter being just ONE WEEK from tomorrow (YIKES!...that soon already!?!...actually it feels like it should have been forever ago!)  here is a super solution for your kiddos' Easter baskets (and grass).  This idea is from Brown Paper Packages.

If you are lucky enough to have a Silhouette, simply cut out the names of your children in vinyl and attach it to the color of bucket your child likes.  Kierste mentioned that she found this brightly colored spring buckets in the gardening section of Target for only $2.99.  Another reason why I love Target!!

The grass that was used was shredded cardstock.  A do-it-yourself straight from the paper shredder!  I absolutely LOVE this Easter basket idea!! 

Inspired By Blogland...

I've got to say that I love blogging and I love the blogging world!  This blog has opened my eyes to the teaching world so much more.  I love all of the great ideas and creative people who are willing to share their talent...it makes me love teaching that much more.  This post is a shout out to some of those wonderful people. 
A few weeks ago when my class was talking about weather, I decided to spend one day having a "rainbow day".  Our math center (I had a parent there to help with this) was graphing skittles.  My kids thought it was such a fun math idea...who can blame them?  We made these rainbows using tear art and wrote what each color reminded us of.  This idea came from Made for 1st Grade.  We also did the Roy G. Biv featured on their site.  That activity got things rolling by introducing the colors of the rainbow.

 Inspired by none other than Babbling Abby at the Inspired Apple, I decided to use her great popcorn idea to bring adjectives to life for my firsties.  My kids were amazed that you could pop popcorn in anything other than a microwave and I have to admit this was my first time {ever} using an air popcorn popper.  YIKES!

I love this next idea!  Isn't it funny how when you use a word like "PARTY" everything is suddenly more exciting!?!  My kids saw a package of gum and a package of balloons on my desk and asked if they were for them.  Of course they were, but I had to leave them guessing so I told them they were for our balloon party.  To a first grader, I am sure they were picturing balloons and confetti.  I must say they weren't too disappointed with our activity though.  As of today this idea became my current bulletin board and the teachers around the school were loving it.  Right now as part of our writing unit, we are teaching the kids about the writing process using the words First, Next, Then and Finally.  This project was perfect for reinforcing the skill and it is a FREE download at TpT thanks for Lesson Plans SOS. 

When I brought out the gum and told them we would be chewing gum {in class} and practicing blowing bubbles some of the kids just about died.  They wanted to know if the principal knew we were breaking the rules and if we would be getting in trouble.  You have to love the innocence of a 1st grader!

Thanks A Latte!

I'm not a coffee drinker, but for those teachers who are, this gift idea would be perfect for them!  I first saw this idea at The Sellers.  She made these gifts not for teachers, but for staff she worked with so really this gift idea could go to just about anyone...including parent volunteers.  I like the cute little cozy she made to go along with each cup.  Each cup were also filled with a gift certificate to Starbucks!
Skip To My Lou has also done this idea.  I like the way she wrapped it all up.

Super cute ladies!

Personalized Hand Sanitizer

If you are a teacher or around kids very often, one thing you are sure to know is that they always have germy little hands.  So what is better than giving a teacher some custom hand sanitizer for teacher appreciation!?!  Cute and very practical!
This first picture is courtesy of Adventures of Room 129.  To make this, she used clear avery labels and if you stop by her blog, you will see that she has included a free download for this label.  Thank you Mrs. Harris!!

This next hand sanitizer comes from How Does She?  She chose to use vinyl on her sanitizer.  Check out the link to see the tutorial on how to make this...

This last way involves a soap dispenser instead of hand sanitizer, although that would probably work with this method too.  You will use an overhead transparency sheet.  Basically print your saying and print it out on the sheet.  Cut it down to size and slip it in the bottle.  The more detailed instructions I had saved on my computer, but I didn't have where I found this from so I am sorry for not having the link.  If this is your idea, please let me know so I may give you credit.  Thanks!

Personalized Soap Dispenser

Needed:
Soap container (Item #B3222 at Industrial Container)
Pump topper (Item #DP111E at Industrial Container)
8½"x11" paper with individual templates for copying or printing
Transparencies with copied templates
Paper cutter
Wire cutters or heavy duty scissors
Clear hand soap

Directions
Purchase soap container and pump toppers at Industrial Container. Together, they cost $ .83. Using wire cutters or scissors, trim the pump topper so that it will fit in the container.
Create a template for each container on your computer. First create a text box (3.2"Hx2.5"W). In several different fonts, type the words to the "hand text." (See picture) There will be some blank room below the text. That will help the text show up in the correct place when trimmed and placed in the soap container. Copy the text box and paste several next to each other. I fit 9 on a page. At the top, you can put the name of the teacher.
Print or copy templates onto transparencies. (Using a laser printer or copy machine.) Cut out each text box, trimming to just over 3 inches high by 2 ½ inches wide. Roll up and put into the container. Fill the container with clear soap. Screw the pump topper on top and decorate with holiday ribbon. (You can give this alone, or add a hand towel.)

Decorating the Classroom Door for Teacher Appreciation Week

Check out this totally cool Pinkalicious door from Cindy's Craft Corner.  Yes it is in 3-D and included a basket of {pink} cupcakes on the first day.  Click on the link to view more about this fabulous door.  Oh the details... (For some reason though I couldn't view the pictures on the past doors decorated slideshow.) 
Cindy also has several ideas for teacher gifts, including edible crayons with the book The Crayon Box that Talked.  What a clever lady!

From Skip to My Lou, there are many great ideas for decorating the classroom door along with the pictures to help figure out how to recreate.  (Try out both the links for double the ideas!)  Here are just a few pictures to get you thinking...

(You could even use Starbursts or glow in the dark stars on this door...)

Teacher Appreciation Door Ideas

I don't feel that I really need to explain any of the following doors.  I think they speak for themselves...

I still have a few door ideas from readers that I will be sharing, but this is the rest of my collection from last school year.  If you would like to share a door idea, please let me know and I can feature your idea too!  Thank you everyone for sharing!!

Thank You Lindsay!

Recently I wrote a post about how I never {usually} win anything, but how my luck was beginning to change.  First I won the very cute book called Pete the Cat from Mrs. Parker, which by the way, has the most adorable and catchy song to go along with it.  Then I found out that I won a Dr. Pepper (my favorite pop) keychain from Lindsay @ Diary of A Crafty Woman.  Who knew that winning could be so much fun!?!  I love my new keychain!  Thank you Lindsay!! 

Now I think I need to go find a drink...

Water Bottle Thank You Gift

More door ideas to come.  For now though, I felt I needed to share something so here is a simple Thank you gift idea from Frills Fluff and Trucks.  Head on over there for the tutorial on how to make this!