this is my second post of the day. wanted to sneek this one in, in case tomorrow is the end of your school year and you need a gift idea. scroll down for my layout share from this morning.
it's that time of year. the end of the school year. time for teacher gifts and graduation gifts. i managed to sneak one of each in this week, just in time to hand them out.
most of us have family members or friends that are graduating from junior high school, high school, or college. i think one of the most given gifts for graduates is good old fashioned cash. it's usually my gift of choice. and while opening up a card to find a $20 bill or a $50 bill is pretty cool, i wanted to come up with a more unique way of giving the gift of money.
so i picked out a few pieces from the bravissimo collection, by making memories. you can find these at your local michaels store now. i picked out a small rosette, a medium streamer, and a medium sentiment. i choose the silver and white sentiment first, and then matched the streamer colors. then i picked out a rosette to compliment them both.
these pieces are so easy and simple to assemble. they come with glue dots or foam dots, depending which piece you're buying. it even tells you, "place sentiment here", "place rosette here". you can't mess up. i adhered the sentiment to the rosette, and then rosette to the streamer.
then i glue dotted the ribbon to a glass jar. this is just like the jar i used for my oreo cookie jar, last week, except it's taller. they were both from target. then i filled up the jar with money.
instead of giving a $50 bill, i asked for all one dollar bills. i loosely rolled each one, and placed it in the jar. i just thought it was a fun and different way, to give the gift of money. i have a certain neice, who is graduating from high school tomorrow. i think she'll like this ;)
next up, is a fun teacher gift. i started this one, by choosing the sentiment. the "A+ Teacher" sentiment came in a 4 pack. you get 3 sentiments, and one metal piece. the teacher sentiment had a touch of green around the outside. so i choose this fun green ribbon. this ribbon was all assembled, and i just had to add the sentiment to it.
i had bought a few boxes of pencils. i knew i wanted to bunch them up, or put them around something. i went in search for a container and found this. it's from a wall vinyl piece that i had gotten in the mail. i took the vinyl piece out, to find a spot for on my wall. the container is made from a thick chipboard type of material. once i took the lid off, it was the perfect height for the pencils.
i used a hot glue gun to adhere the pencils around the container. it took me about 5 minutes, and 36 pencils, to cover the container in pencils. then i hot glued the ribbon to the front. the inside of the container is empty. so you just have to come up with something to fill it with. i figured it would make a cute pencil cup. and i still had a box of pencils left. so i stuck all the remaining pencils inside. you could also stick candy inside, extra school goodies, or even flowers. some daisies would be cute. not in water of course, but just for presentation.
i think you really have to see these in person, to appreciate how nice they are. i'm super impressed with the quality of the ribbons. each one has lots of layers to them. fun papers, chipboard pieces, and really cute ribbons. and they're durable and strong.
in fact, i was actually trying to bend this ribbon a little bit. i wanted to see it curve a little more around my pencil covered container. but it's made with such quality, that it won't budge. which is a good thing, in my book.
for more fun ideas, check out the bravissimo blog. it's called a daily dose of happy. how fun is that! and if you're on facebook, make sure and become a fan of the bravissimo facebook page, to keep up with ideas, news, and giveaways. speaking of giveaways, i saw that maggie holmes is hosting one on her blog today, for a chance at some bravissimo goodies ;)
woah Nelly, you are cranking these projects and posts out!!! I love both of these projects! So creative!
Posted by: Carla | May 26, 2011 at 04:56 PM
I cannot believe you made that first project, I saw it somewhere and thought WOW what a great idea. I would not have pinned it for yours though! Great job! And I love love the pencil project!
Posted by: wendy | May 27, 2011 at 01:57 AM
Both of these are great and fun. You really are spoiling us on your blog. Have a great weekend.
Posted by: dawn | May 27, 2011 at 02:45 AM
I have seen the Bravissimo collection at Michael's. They are so pretty!!! I love your money jar and teacher gift!!! What a great ideas!
Posted by: Michelle | May 27, 2011 at 06:49 AM
Love the grad gift! May do that one next year. Graduation here was last friday.
Posted by: {vicki} | May 27, 2011 at 06:50 AM
What a fun way to give $$!! Love both ideas! I have a feeling there will be a M's & Target trip in my future!! ;)
Posted by: Sara Rossi | May 28, 2011 at 08:57 AM
Loving all those projects, have to get to my local Michael's (an hour away..ugh...) and look for those MM products, very cool! Love the money in a jar idea, very fun! Wish I looked at it earlier, just gave my cousin $50 for college graduation in the form of a boring check...lol.
Posted by: Laurie LaRiviere | May 29, 2011 at 06:17 PM
I did both of these!! I loved how they turned out. For both projects I only had a total of $26 invested, the $20 in cash for the grad and $6 in candy for the teachers. I ended up using pencils that my kids had collected over the years, tons of character and holidays but they turned out cute. Thank you for the great idea!!!
Posted by: Stacy | June 02, 2011 at 12:22 PM
love the rolled dollar idea! kids would love that!
~danni
Posted by: danni | June 16, 2011 at 09:47 PM