DIY Teacher Valentine Gift Idea + Art Class Valentines for Students

 This is a bit late, but here are some Valentine's Day gift and card ideas I created this year for my teacher colleagues and students. Some of the student cards are themed around artworks/artists, such as the middle school ones, which had a Howard Finster pun since we've been studying GA folk art. I found an artwork of Mark from the Bible to go with my markers and marker pun for my second graders. I used sweet treat artwork by Wayne Thiebaud for some of my lower school student gifts. Some of the gift tags just had a pun and I handwrote them. For the teachers, I bought containers of Valentine's Day donuts, put two in each bag, and separately packaged soap roses I fond at a local store in bulk. The poem I wrote for them is below on the free printable, but if you needed to change the wording like the word "colleague" or do different gifts, I made my tags in the Paint program most computers come with. I shopped all over and the stores all kept running out of supplies, so I had to do different things for each class. I gave glitter pens to my first grade class (since they all love glitter) and ice cream pens, chalk markers and chalk tags to my second grade class who expressed interest in using chalk markers, Sharpies or special pens with glitter glue sticks or rainbow pens for my third-to-seventh grade students, note sets with cats or dogs for my high school small group members, and stacked highlighters for my art appreciation class. I decorated my classroom with a balloon arch you may recognize from the party I recently posted (it was still put together, too, which saved a lot of time), and gave the option of spending the Monday before Valentine's Day creating Valentine's cards or drawing animals holding hearts in art class. I unfortunately did not really photograph the beautiful works before I sent them home. 

Free Printable Cards:

I hope you enjoyed these free printable cards and find the Valentine's Day ideas handy for next year! 

-Lauryn 

Cast Gift idea: Wood-Burned Keychains

 Hey everyone! Here is a quick cast gift idea for theater folks and directors who may want to give their cast a personal, custom but affordable gift. I bought these keychains at Hobby Lobby or Michaels on sale and wanted to do a wood-burned keychain for everyone but I ran out and could not get to Gainesville that week. So the first cast gift idea is to use a wood burner and carve out the characters along with the actors' and actresses' names on such keychains. I like to give each cast member a personal gift, as well. The second gift used Dollar Tree chalkboard tags, chalk taped onto to each so they could be drawn on, and I painted with white acrylic paint a show symbol (for Addams Family I did a snapping hand) and the actor's or actress's name on each. These types of gifts could really apply to any group of people, though. 

Thank you for visiting, I hope you enjoyed! 

-Lauryn 

Simple DIY Music-Themed Bowling Party Favors

 

Here is a super easy party idea that combines both music and bowling, for I could not decorate the bowling alley where my brother had one of his birthday parties, but he still wanted music-themed favors. I therefore came up with the pun used on the favor tags (I would include the free printable but I cannot currently find the file) and made these last-minute. The tags read "You rock! Thank you for being such an un-bowl-ievably great friend!" I bought cookies at Walmart, as well as dye-free icing. I couldn't use plastic wrap and had no bags, so instead of using icing tips I just used a butter knife (it was a container of icing since the other kinds had dyes). I put them in paper goodie bags and taped on the tags. For me, these took a total of probably twenty minutes (plus a while longer figuring out what to put them in. As you can see, they got squished in the bags, so cookie boxes would be ideal). 

I hope these come in handy or can at least be inspiration for future bowling parties! Thank you for stopping by! 

-Lauryn

DIY Bird Magnet Party Favors

Hey everyone! I'm finally back. Here is a quick tutorial on how to create bird magnet party favors. These are super easy (meaning they can be made at the last minute if necessary. I know from experience.), practical, fun and pretty inexpensive. They do require several phases of drying time, however. If you substitute the clay I listed below, then they can be even cheaper. I created these for a bird-themed party, but you could create something else to fit your theme or use the bird magnets for a more open-ended theme such as nature, animals, etc. Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the process, so hopefully the instructions make sense. These are overall pretty self-explanatory.

For this project, you will need:
-Polymer Clay (NOTE: The acrylic paint is completely unnecessary if you have the colors of clay you want. I used old clay, so I had to paint on top of it once my birds dried. You can do details with the clay and skip that trouble, though.)
-Acrylic Paint or Nail Polish (I used Apple Barrel acrylic paint)
-Paint Brush(es)
-Clear Gloss (this could be Dollar Tree nail polish or a gloss paint. I like to use one from a local store called The Artful Barn that is only $2 or less, is triple-thick, and works great)
-Magnets (I bought mine in bulk on Amazon for cheap, although they are very miniature so I need to use two on the back of each)
-Adhesive (hot glue did not work for me, so I had to use J.B. Weld epoxy. Don't get it on your fingers, car, clothes, or carpet! I learned the hard way.)

Step 1.
First of all, you need to form the birds out of clay. Roll and squish the clay in your hands until the clay is pliable, then roll it into a ball. You'll want the ball to be just a tad bit wider than a quarter, probably, if that makes sense. Then place the clay down on a plastic plate, parchment paper or anything it won't stain or get stuck to. Use your thumb to press down and make a two-ball snowman shape with a small circle and large circle (all in one piece). Pinch the tip of the small, top circle and pull it to form a beak. Pinch and pull the bottom left part of the large, bottom circle to create a broad tail. Pinch and pull on the bottom of the large circle to create a cylindrical shape and press down so it is rectangular. This should be narrow. At the bottom of this rectangle, pinch both the left and right sides to create feet. The right should be longer than the left if your bird is facing right. You can use a fork, needle or other tool to engrave toes. You can add other details if desired, such as a wing sticking up, a varied head shape, a branch, etc. If you have the right colors, form the eyes, wings, beak, feet, and other different-colored elements and stick them on, making sure the edges are securely combined, and skip Step 2. I did not do this, so I will describe my process in Step 2. Bake the clay at around 275 degrees for around thirty minutes. This is a vague estimate, and ovens vary.

Step 2.
Once the clay has hardened and cooled off completely, coat the bird in the acrylic paint or nail polish color of choice. If you use paints, this may take three coats, involving each to dry before adding a new coat. Once that is dry, use black to paint on tiny dots for the eyes, and use black or another color of choice to paint a simple wing shape, the feet, the beak, and any details or designs you wish to add. I went for a very minimalist, graphic-design look, so my birds are highly unrealistic and more whimsical. To save time, you could paint the backs of the magnets plain black. Let the paint dry.

Step 3.
Add a coat of clear gloss to one side, let that dry, then do the other side and let that dry.

Step 4.
Glue on the magnets. Hot glue was not strong enough for my magnets to I used J.B. Weld epoxy. I had to mix two different parts together, and I used a popsicle stick. Then, with the popsicle stick, I dabbed two spots of glue for two magnets on the back of each bird, rubbed some on one side of each magnet, and stuck the magnets on. Do NOT get J.B. Weld or super glue on your skin or anything but this project! Let that dry, and you're done!

To package the magnets, I cut out squares of card-stock and wrote "You're a mother like no other!" You could substitute 'mother' for any word befitting your purpose. At the bottom I wrote "Happy Mother's Day!" I just used a regular gel ink pen. Even a decent ball-point pen could work. I tied them on with string or twine, and punching holes into the card-stock to tie the string through is highly recommended.

I hope you find this useful! I have a lot of events to share soon! 

-Lauryn

Feminine Football Birthday Party (Adult) + DIY Favors

Hello! Today I'd like to share a super last-minute birthday party I did back in January that was themed around football. I wanted a pastel color scheme (inspired by a football party I saw in Pinterest), and a fun but stylish look. I painted the black poster with white acrylic paint in quick, sketchy-like strokes. I used scrapbook paper to make little props such as a megaphone, helmet and football. I also used some trophies from Dollar Tree and painted them white, as well. My grandparents made/decorated the cake. The streamers were from Hobby Lobby (used in an earlier event I posted, Morgan's 3rd Cars Birthday Party). Below I list a quick tutorial on how to make punny "Extra" gum football favors. I hope you enjoy! 

DIY Football Favors:

You Will Need:
-Extra Gum (one package per person)
-Consruction or Scrapbook Paper
-Scissors
-A Pen
-Tape

Step 1.
Cut the paper into the hand shape seen in the photos above (I don't know the proper terminology).

Step 2.
Write with pen "You are 'extra'-ordinary! Thanks for coming!" or your own extra gum pun.

Step 3.
Tape the back of the paper cutouts to the gum packages. That's all!

Thank you for visiting!

-Lauryn

DIY Mario Piñata Favor Boxes

I made these Mario mystery boxes for my brother's Modern Mario birthday party. I have another Mario party coming up, and I plan to make these in purple, so of course you don't have to limit yourself to yellow. You can make them, too, by following the steps below:

You Will Need:

-Yellow Streamers

-Glue

-Scissors

-Recylced Cardboard (preferably thin, such as Caprison boxes)

-White Paper

Step 1. 

Cut your boxes into small squares. I cut my Caprison boxes in half, then hot-glued on an extra sqaure to cover the sideless part once the favors were inside.

Step 2. 

Now unroll your streamer, cut it,and fold it up. You will repeat this process, so how much doesn't really matter. I try to do it pretty long to save time. With it folded as in the photo below, make several slits along the bottom edge. Now unroll your bundle of streamers, and you now have a fringe.

Step 3.

Using regular glue, glue your fringe on one row at a time, either going all the way around or doing one side at a time, from bottom to top. you want them to partly overlap.

Step 4. 

Cut out the boxy, Mario-style question mark from white paper, preferrably cardstock. Glue it onto the middle of the front of your mini pinata with regular or hot glue.

You're done!

Wondering what to fill it with besides candy? I will share some cheap, easy, DIY Mario favors soon!

-Lauryn