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August 18, 2011

"TEA"cher Gift: Pencil Coaster with Coffee Mug

Hey friends!  I have missed you!
The first thing on my craft agenda is this cute gift for Cati's kindergarten teacher. For those of you new to reading my blog, Cati attends a small Christian school where she attend 3 days a week and then I homeschool her 2 days a week.  The school is set up this way and all the families follow this curriculum with their children.  We love it. And because we are a small school, we all know each other and Cati already knows her teacher and she knows her.  Which is NICE!

So I happen to know that her teacher is an avid scrapbooker and appreciates a little creativity. I decided to make her a gift just to bless her as we come back to school to start the new year.  I for one appreciate all the hard work teachers invest and I want her to know we appreciate and pray for her.


I came up with an idea to make a Pencil Coaster and give a fun coffee mug with some tea for the "TEA"cher. Fun, right? It is a simple project which everyone likes! 
First...find some pencils. :)
I think I found these pretty pencils in the dollar section of Target. I'm glad I grabbed several packs.  
I have to be honest...Pretty + Pink= Me
So the first thing I did was take these pretty pencils and figured out that 14 of them cut to about 4 inches in length would give me an almost perfect square shape to create a coaster.  I then asked hubby to saw them for me with some light sanding on the ends.  
He does not bat an eye at my crafty requests. If I ask him to saw some pencils in half...he loves me enough to just do it without more information.  I
'm crazy about that guy.
 They were the right length I needed and they cut really clean. :)
Now to glue them together...I used E6000 glue but any heavy duty glue would work here like super glue or gorilla glue (which I happened to be out of). 
I lined them up with the number stamped thingys you see in the above pic facing one way tot be the bottom of the coaster.
(what are those for anyway?)
I glued each pencil one at a time to another pencil using a line of glue down its entire length. The glue was flexible so if I was a little off in lining it up, I could fix it right away.  Not a luxury with something like hot glue. I then let it set overnight to cure.
I think it turned out so cute!
Next I grabbed a rotary cutter, cutting mat and some leftover cork shelf liner I had on hand and cut it to size of about 3.5 inches to glue to the bottom of the coaster.
 It did NOT turn out that way I measure but nothing I ever do with math turns out correctly. But honest to goodness I did try.
 I peeled off the backing of the shelf liner and added more glue to secure it to the coaster.
(wow. sorry for the grainy shots here)
  It will do. Totally not to the measurements that I attempted.  
Do as I say. Not as I do. :)
  I found the coffee mug and this adorable canister of ginger peach tea at Marshall's.  How excited was I that it had the vintagey looking label with kids in front of a school chalkboard?!  So sweet!  And the colors were all working together too.  I just love when things work out like that. :)
 I put the canister in the yellow bag and folded the top over.  Then I used a 4 inch doily and folded that over the top of the bag and punched a hole through the fold. 
 I made this cute little tag on cardstock to attach to the bag and tie with the ribbon.
Now Cati has a cute teacher gift for the first day of school!

 I would love to hear what you think!
Hugs my friends!

P.S.  Did you wonder what you could do with the other ends of the pencils?
Why not do the same thing?
Or try sharpening the ends into dull points for a cute twist.
I thinks this idea has lots of potential.


linking to:
Tatertots and Jello
Creation Corner
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Be Different...Act Normal
Under the Table and Dreaming
A Crafty Soiree
Clean and Scentsible: The Creative Spark

33 comments:

  1. Okay..So my question would be...How do I get on the List for getting one of these ADORABLE sets..So SO SO inGENIOUS !!!! Cute color combo also.. : )

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  2. Okay. I am a teacher and just have to say, I would simply die if I got a gift this pretty! You are awesome!

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  3. Really cute! Reminds of the days when I needed, and loved, putting together cute gifts for my daughter's teachers! Alas, she is in college now but thanks for the memories! I think the pics of the pencils at the top look like rolls of wrapping paper!

    Best,
    Sheila

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  4. Oh my goodness! You never cease to amaze me with brilliant ideas! I love that YOU love color! Isn't it just one of God's greatest gifts? =)

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  5. Jess - - With my baby starting preschool so soon, I am getting a little emo. Crafting up something cute for the teacher would probably help. This is ADORABLE. Love it. And you. :)

    P.S. Introduced Peaches and Basil to my parents tonight. Success!

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  6. Wonderfully creative...as always! ..I"m a sucker for pencils, especially pretty ones :)

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  7. Very cute! Your daughter's teacher is going to love it! p.s. I LOVE your new blog banner...I forgot to tell you that last time!!

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  8. so AWESOME!!!! i LOVE IT!!!!!!! it is so incredibly adorable and what a special gift! so many variations can be done and my mind is just exploding!!!! thank you so much for sharing this project with us -- you are an angel! HAPPY 1st DAY of SCHOOL1!!!!

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  9. oh great idea, love the colors. I really like the coffee cup. the other ends of the pencils are perfect for little hands too.

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  10. So adorable..what a lucky teacher she is. I teach at a small Christian School and LOVE it.

    hugs for a great weekend. xoxo

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  11. Very creative and beautiful! It's so thoughtful of you to encourage a teacher.

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  12. Are you kidding me! The coaster is GENIUS...it is all just so cute I can't stand it.

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  13. This is adorable!!! I'm a first grade teacher and would love this! Very interesting set up by the way with three days of school and two of home school. Sounds like the best of both worlds.
    Jacqueline (visiting from TT and J)

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  14. Fabulous idea! Thanks for sharing your beautiful inspirations with us.

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  15. This is awesome! Sharing on my Facebook!

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  16. OMG! AMAZING...I want one of these for myself. Great job.
    www.itsybitsypaperblog.com

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  17. I love everything about this! The colors, the idea, all of it! I am visiting from Tatertots & Jello and I am a new follower! I would love if you linked this up to my Delicately Constructed linky party tomorrow morning! Also, I am having a giveaway over at my blog and I would love if you would come enter!
    Hope to see you soon!
    Michelle
    www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com

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  18. And you never cease to amaze me. Great gift idea!

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  19. I am loving this idea for my kids to make their parents for a holiday gift. If we start finding pencils NOW, but December we should have enough to create a coaster set for the parents. Variety, variety, variety = Fun, fun, fun!

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  20. That is such a cute idea, I love it!!!

    Lauralee

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  21. awesome project and i love that your husband is so helpful! great joint project lol

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  22. I love your project! Those pencils are adorable! I just love Target's dollar section. I also love your new banner at the top of the page! Toooooo Cute! Kathy Love of family and Home

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  23. I love this! So cleaver and perfect for showing teachers some appreciation. :)

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  24. Such a cute idea!! Pinned it and I might just try this for our back to school gifts! If you get a chance I would love it if you could link up to my party, The Creative Spark. It's my first time visiting your blog and I can't wait to look around!
    Jenn :)
    www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com

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  25. This craft is so beautiful! I love your colors, your Tea saying and the way you packaged it all up! I'm pinning you and following you! Thanks for the inspiration!
    --michellepaige.blogspot.com

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  26. Hello,
    I love your blog! It's so sweet! I'd love to get this adorable gift! I look forward to following your blog!
    Carly

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  27. Such a delightful idea. Got your link from shabby blogs. So glad I stopped by

    Cheers from Bangalore ,India
    Dr Sonia S V
    http://cardsandschoolprojects.blogspot.com

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  28. Just wanted to let you know that I will be featuring these tomorrow. Thanks so much for linking up to The Creative Spark. You're awesome!! Have a great weekend!
    Jenn :)

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  29. So cute! I am adding this to my to-do list. Thank you for sharing.

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  30. adorable idea!! can't wait to try it out!

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  31. That's so cute idea you give i really like.

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