End of Year Gifts

Amelia and I made lots of thank you gifts.  First to the teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week.

When I closed my studio many years ago, one of my students gave me a set of thumbtacks made with buttons from her grandmother's button box.  I remarked then that "I had my grandmother's buttons too!"  

 I still have the thumbtacks from back then and thought it would be great to hand her teacher and her assistant a little handmade gift each day.  Since we had tons of buttons in our craft stash, Amelia chose a few cuter ones than from my grandmothers.  I just hot glued them onto a flat thumbtack that I found at Walmart.

Teachers received one of these too during appreciation week:

These bracelets started a craze with Amelia.  Her friend at school gave her one and then a few more.  Of course,  Amelia wanted to make them.  I already had a gift for her that I was saving that had these and the braided kind to make.  She made a few of the rubber band kind, but then was hooked on the knotted ones.  Decided that would be the End of Year Gifts to her classmates. 

I swear every kid was wearing a bracelet of some sorts by the end of the year :)  FYI..the watch is not a watch, but a Sqord to track fitness that she received at school.

Onto Dance:

These were much less time consuming than the bracelets...partly because there are only 6 in her dance class.   Her teacher received one and a gift certificate to a local dance supply store and her classmates received one and a bag with colors and a note book (including a friendship bracelet) to be opened backstage the night of the show.  

On to the teacher gifts for the end of the year.  

I called my niece who is also a Kindergarten teacher and asked what her favorite gifts to receive at the end of the year.  She replied "Gift Cards..hands down."  I thought, how boring.  However, Amelia did learn to read in Kindergarten....Barnes and Noble would be perfect!  Still kinda boring.  I thought hard.  How about a few SIGNED copies of Amelia's favorite books???!  YES.  Luckily, I had time to contact each of the authors.  All sent books ... signed....Anna's came from Australia.

How cool is that?!  We also made a little framed "to teach is to touch a life forever" print and a color journal with colored pencils (Amelia's new craze).

We are now officially on Summer Vacation.  Not doing much these next couple weeks, but will be swimming, dancing and tumbling shortly.  Stay tuned.