Teacher Gifts

Remember those big Kanzashi flowers I  wrote about last week?  Here they are, backed with felt and pins and ready to go for my kids’ teachers.  I fastened them to 1/2 pint mason jar lids.  The jars are filled with a lovely peppermint hand scrub that the kids made.

I’m so tickled with the way these came out.  All in all, they were very inexpensive to make, and the kids were so excited to take them to school.  I had to smile when my oldest, very politely, said the white flower was a bit “too plain,” and could I make a flower for that teacher in blue instead?  Of course I wasn’t offended.  I’m just trying to decide what kind of accesory to make for me with the white one!

And no, I didn’t come up with the idea all on my own.  The mason jars filled with hand scrub came from the latest issue of Stitch, Craft, Create.  If you haven’t checked out that magazine yet, you should!  It’s like finding an awesome blog written by someone you know you’d be best friends with.  I love that it includes a range of creative projects, not just quilting.  They even had the recipe for the hand scrub!  Later this summer, I’m going to try their super-easy-sounding yarn dyeing techniques with the kids.  Even though I don’t knit, or crochet, the technique just looks like too much fun to pass up.

Today is the kids’ last day of school.  I’m more excited than they are, I think.  I’m planning to use the time we would normally spend driving and doing homework on crafty stuff with the kids.  My oldest has several hand-sewn felt monsters he has designed that we need to turn into reality.  And the girls have a backlog of projects, from doll slings and jumpers to purses and pillow cases that I want to work on with them.  I have a feeling the summer is going to fly!

Happy Stitching!