Thursday, August 12, 2010

Push Pins and Pencils Bouquet

For those of you new and old that don't know, I am a teacher. While teaching summer school makes me feel like I have been going NON-stop for the past year, I still became appropriately excited and anxious for back to school time and new school supplies. In fact I am always this way. One of my favorite movies is probably You've Got Mail if for no other reason than this line: "I love the smell of New York in the fall. If I knew your name and address I'd send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils." LOVE IT! Ever since I saw it the first time, I have desperately wanted someone to do that very thing for me. I think I would pass out in happiness!

Anyway, it gave me an idea when I was thinking of something cute to give a great teacher (and even better friend!) on the first day of school. I decided I wanted to create something using some of my favorite school supplies and this is what I came up with:



The best part: It was super easy to create and functional too! All I needed was a few simple supplies.



First I cut some petals out of scrapbook paper (I recommend double sided so that you don't have to glue 2 together like I did.)



Next, I glued the petals onto a Styrofoam ball (with hot glue.) Oh, and see that stem? It is a freshly sharpened pencil!



Then I used an assortment of push pins to create the center part of the flower. I just pushed them into the styrofoam in a circular pattern.They are easy to pull out and replace later. And trust me, as a teacher you might just have a LOT of push pins lying around.



Next I hot glued matching buttons to the very center of the push pin flower. It didn't take more than 10 on each side.




When I was done with the flower part, I moved on the pot. I quickly used an ordinary black paint pen to initial the pre-painted pot.



To "plant" my flower I just filled a skinny ceramic vase with some of my favorite BIC markers and stuck the pencil stem in the center. (And of course tied on the cutest bow I could find as a nice 'finishing touch!')



Finally, I attached a personalized note for 'ms. johnson,' or as you know her 'Jessica who posts on Fridays.' We just so happen to be fellow teachers and bloggers. Aren't I lucky to get to work with such wonderful people all the time?



And that is it, I was done! In less than 1 hour and at a reasonable price I had a personalized gift I could be happy with. Do you know any teachers whose days you can brighten? Trust me, they are working over time as they go back to school to make sure everything goes as planned, and they would love to know they are appreciated!



Hope you are motivated to put those extra school supplies to good use this week! Come by tomorrow to see another great way you can use supplies to brighten someone's day. I'll be linking to these great parties this week.

Oh, and stop by the CSI Back To School Challenge to find me too!

Visit thecsiproject.com

Happy Thursday and Back to School Time too!

http://thecsiproject.com" target="_blank">http://thecsiproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/top-10-Project-150-thecsiproject.com_.png" alt="Visit thecsiproject.com" /a>



(Side note: I will finally be uploading my dining room makeover and answering some questions about my new farm table next week, so stay tuned...)

19 comments:

Danielle Leal August 12, 2010 at 7:47 AM  

That is such a fabulous idea!!! That would be perfect for my Aunt who is a school teacher! I have been racking my head for ideas for a Christmas present for her! That's so wonderful! Thank you for sharing!

The Autocrat: Haley August 12, 2010 at 8:01 AM  

Very creative!! Looks fabulous too!!

Roo@nicegirlnotes August 12, 2010 at 9:15 AM  

Oh my, that is so cute! As a former teacher, I would have *loved* a gift like that. Adorable!

Jessica August 12, 2010 at 9:39 AM  

Yay! My gift is published and I am so lucky to see my favorite crafter and friend in and out of school! I adore this Patrice! You are an awesome person and my future secret pal.

Sassy Sites! August 12, 2010 at 1:37 PM  

just stopped by to say that I LOVE love LOVE your blog! Lots of sassy ideas! I would love it if you would add me to your blog list... you are already on mine! :)

...visiting from Sassy Sites!
(cause your blog is a sassy site!)

Tiffany August 12, 2010 at 2:33 PM  

So clever and adorable! Love it!

Teri August 12, 2010 at 2:38 PM  

Adorable! I'm a teacher too, so I definitely see the appeal! :) I'm sure she'll love it!

Debbie Corbari August 12, 2010 at 4:26 PM  

OMW! This is absolutely FABULOUS! I am TOTALLY casing this!! I just showed my 6 year old daughter and asked if she'd like to give something like this to her new 1st grade teacher! She is so excited and SO AM I! YAY!!!

Unknown August 13, 2010 at 7:22 AM  

That is just an adorable idea!

Erin A August 13, 2010 at 7:44 AM  

So cute!! Can't think of any teacher who wouldn't love this!

Andrea August 14, 2010 at 8:20 PM  

VERY cute! What a great idea! I may have to make one of these for my daughter's new teacher!

Kristin Renee' Wynegar August 16, 2010 at 9:30 PM  

I love this! I really want to use this and put it on my desk in my classroom!!!

Unknown August 20, 2010 at 2:42 PM  

Your super cute push pins and pencils bouguet has been featured at CraftOManiac.blogspot.com THANKS jen

Jami August 20, 2010 at 3:44 PM  

That is a wonderful idea for teachers...a cute gift they will actually use!
smiles!

Krystal Marie August 28, 2010 at 5:57 PM  

OH that's a superterrific Idea that I am going to use! My sister is a teacher I think she would love it ...and would make a cute Christmas present :)

Anonymous September 7, 2010 at 9:30 PM  

That is adorable! What a great idea! :)

Erin September 9, 2010 at 12:00 PM  

That is super cute! How clever to think of such an adorable idea using push pins!!!

www.makingmemorieswithyourkids.blogspot.com

Amanda @ Frills and Frolic April 30, 2011 at 12:35 PM  

New school supplies is my favorite part of fall!

I shared this project in a round-up of teacher gift ideas!

Amanda

frillsandfrolic.blogspot.com

Anonymous May 5, 2011 at 3:59 PM  

very cute. saw it when i googled "personalized flower pots" thought it was golf tees but still very cute... i may just try it with golf tees for my mother-in-law for mother's day!

Related Posts with Thumbnails