Pencil Door Hanging

I made this pencil wreath last month as the school year geared up.  

 Step one is to cut out the shape and then run some glue or no fray glue around the edges so the strings won't fray away.  Cut out two of the same shapes and I do this to both the front and back.

I then paint my design on plastic.  Since the holes are so large in burlap it takes a lot of paint and this helps the paint kind of 'pool' and stick better.  

 Once it dries, run hot glue along three side's edges and glue the paint front to the blank back.

 I left an opening so I can stuff this.

I stuffed mine with paper b/c I plan to add some heated vinyl with a name or word eventually, but you can also stuff these with plastic bags or stuffing.  

Glue the last side and then add some rope for hanging.  These would be cute as a pumpkin or I've seen cute summer watermelons and flamingos.

Back to School Treats

 Last year we had a bunch of new teachers at our school.  This means, we spent a lot of time in advance of the first school day planning lessons and getting classes together, which left me very little time to bake cookies etc, so I decided to make some trail mix.

 I bought these Cheez Its that come with alphabet letters, pretzels, nuts, and M&M's.  My teammate and I did it together, so she was given the task of sorting primary colors.  I don't know why.

I added little tags I found for free on the Internet, and then close them with some letter washi I bought on Etsy.  Easy, and affordable for 9 new teachers.

Pencil Pops

 I went into Good Morning, Texas today to post tape a pencil theme craft segment.  I'll be demoing pencil jars, a pencil banner, and finally, pencil pops.  I saw these on Pinterest, and the best I can tell the idea originated at Bakerella.  I modified it a bit so they travel well, but the gist is you take a white cake mix and pour 1/3 of it into a bowl and dye it pink, and dye the other 2/3 yellow.

 I decreased the baking time a bit and just watched it, and then once it cooled I cut small squares.  I used these push pops I grabbed at a craft store and push out a piece of the pink cake.

 I slipped it down into the tub.

 I then took some canned icing and put a line of gray (I just dyed it with a little black) over the pink (eraser).

 I then squared off the yellow and used the container to cut out the cake and then slip it down inside.

 I dyed the other half of the icing a light brown.  The original just piped up a cone shape and put a small chocolate morsel on top.  I wanted to be able to close the lid, so I actually made a little 'cap' out of a half circle of beige paper.

I just taped it to the top.  If you want to just pipe up a cone and add a morsel, I wouldn't use the canned icing-make a buttercream b/c the canned icing is too runny to really create any sort of form, even if you add a bunch of powdered sugar.  I'll post the video to facebook as soon as it airs (tomorrow?).

Pencil Banner

 I'm headed to Good Morning, Texas on Monday....and doing a post tape I THINK will run on Tuesday.  The theme is pencil crafts for back to school.  This is 2 of 3.  A pencil bunting.

 I cut out some 'pencil shapes' from some scrap burlap.  Then I used this no fraying glue I got at the craft store and ran it along the edges so it wouldn't continue to fray.

 I then used some paint to paint up some pencils.

When it was dry I glued it to some twine.  It's super cheap and easy to do.  I'll probably add a word to these pencils once I'm done with the show so they can hang in my classroom at school.

Pencil Cup Squared

 I'm headed to Good Morning Texas in a little over a week and bringing a bunch of pencil themed crafts.  Hello, school year.  I saw these adorable jars and had to give it a go because I love Mason Jars...and pencils.

These are so simple-I got a jar and poured some yellow paint inside, then turned  it upside down and swirled it around so the sides were all covered.  I poured the excess back into the paint container and then let it dry overnight.  I also painted the rim pink and then once both dried I took some polyurethane paint over both so they wouldn't scratch and peel off.  I added a silver ribbon and some black stickers and I'm ready to go.  I'll be making a second jar at GMT as the demo, and then these are going into my class for my sharp/unsharp pencil jars.

Gold Clipboard

 I made this little clipboard for my classroom.  I'm a fan of gold.

 I found these clipboards at Hobby Lobby.  They have a bunch of cute designs.  They were 7.99, but I used a coupon.

I used my cricut to cut out my initials and apply them to the clipboard.  So....one new addition for the end of the year/beginning of next year.  I chose to apply it to the side with the clip facing me b/c I'm going to hang it on the wall, otherwise I'd add it to the back so it was more visible when I was using it because cute school supplies is necessary for a successful school year.

Flamingo Cookies

 A few weeks ago the teachers headed back to school.  Last week, the students headed back. I made some water bottles for our new teachers, but for a few of the 'old' teachers (that understand my sense of humor)-I made these cookies.

I attached a little note on day one....with the number of days until summer vacation...JUST in case.  Keep your eye on the prize, teachers, keep your eye on the prize.  I love teaching...I do....I'm just really good at the summer thing too!  I used this recipe for the sugar cookies, and a flamingo cookie cutter.  For the black, I bought a tube of decorators icing and added about a tablespoon of karo syrup so it would harden.  I have a lot of problem with the colors red and black...so I usually just buy it if I need it premade instead of fighting with dye.

Apple Stamps

 I'm headed to Good Morning, Texas in the morning.  I'm bringing a combination of projects, but the last little thing I'm doing involve the traditional apple stamps....on some new-ish ideas for what to stamp them on.

 It was a little sunny when I took my photos.

I'll post the video on facebook later.  It shouldn't be so sunny in the studio.

Apple Wreath

 Sadly, I'm going to need this wreath soon.  I've been back in meetings off and on already, but the kids are gearing to come back, which means another year.  It's not that I don't love teaching.  It's not that I don't love the students.  I just love summer!
I made this wreath, which I'll be sharing tomorrow on Good Morning, Texas along with a few other projects.  I'll link the video here.
I've actually not made any of these burlap wreaths, though I love them. It turns out they are super easy to make.  I found a wire frame at the Dollar Tree.  It does NOT get any better than that.  I found the red burlap and the bow ribbon at Hobby Lobby.  It was on sale half off.  It goes on sale half off every other week, which made it 3.50 for a roll.  I bought three, but used two, but...I'd rather have extra than have to go back for more.

 To start, you tie a knot in the end.

 You then take a loop and push it up between the wires on one end.

 Push that loop to the side towards the knot and then push the next loop through the middle.

Repeat with the third hole.  Here you can see all three with a loop pushed up between each gap.  Push these together.  Repeat.  If you run out of ribbon, tie another knot and continue.  The key is to make the loops all the same size so you have an even wreath.  It was super easy, and if the pictures don't do it justice-I'll be doing a live demo tomorrow on Good Morning, Texas.  I added a chalkboard (also from Hobby Lobby).  Not too shabby.  I made the whole thing for about 15 dollars.

Book Page Pencils

 Today I'm headed to Good Morning, Texas to do some book themed crafts.  This is one of three projects.  I'll post the video later here.  Recently, we were cleaning out some books in our school library and tossing out some books that were missing their covers etc from too much lovin'....this is a good thing for a reading specialist.

 I cut down a page from the trash bound Charlotte's Web to the size of a pencil.

 I covered the pencil with mod podge and then rolled the paper around it.

 I smoothed it down, cut the excess off and added a little more mod podge to close it off.

It doesn't get much easier than this, and it would be really cute with old dictionary pages as well!