Parent Appreciation Gift

 My Gift

Each Tuesday this past year I've helped in my daughters 1st grade classroom.  Today my daughter came home with this amazing gift from her teacher and class.

Each student wrote me a thank you card.

And Hannah's teacher made this bag for me.  

This is the front...

and the back.

All the students signed it (and Hannah's teacher)!

I absolutely love it!

Dress to Skirt Refashion

Finished skirt with purchased dress.

I bought the dress (below) from Savers, a local thrift store.  The top was a little immodest for our taste, but I knew it would make a super cute skirt!

$3.99 with 50% off, made it only $2.00!!

Here is the back

I cut off the entire top...

folded over the edge to make a casing for the elastic.

A friend of mine suggested using the top as a pocket on the skirt. 

I think it turned out darling.

Growth Chart

Finished Growth Chart

 Following this tutorial from Whipperberry, I made a few portable growth chart.  

I bought all the rolls of Jute Webbing I could find at my local Super Wal-Mart.  Each roll is about 6', so it's perfect for a growth chart.

Here's the roll before I started.

With a ruler I marked off each inch with a sharpie.  Using a stencil, I made numbers for each foot mark.  Whipperberry put numbers every other inch, but this way was easier looked less cluttered.

With WordArt (in Microsoft Word) I made a template for the name.  I used an X-Acto knife to cut away the letters.  

I colored in the first letter with the sharpie...

and then pulled it back to see if it worked.

I finished the rest of the letters and then went over them again to make sure they were dark enough and to fill in any spots I missed.

Goudy Old Style is the font.

I used a grommet for the hanger at the top...

which worked great!  

I love how easy and cheap it is, so that each child can have their own.  

Bunny "Tails"

It's nice when you own a printing company and can print every cute printable on the internet!  These adorable "Bunny Tails" printables are from eighteen25. 

Each of the marshmallow bags I bought had 28 giant marshmallows in them, making 14 "Bunny Tails" total.  My first choice was to use donut holes, but I couldn't find any bags that only had white donuts in them. But the marshmallows did turn out super cute. 

Scrabble Tile Place Settings

Finished Place Setting

I scoured the thrift stores and found a few scrabble games to make these place settings.  

I used a glue line, and cut off the amount I would need for each name

This way it's not permanent in case I need letters for something else.

The finished product!

Nursing Straps

Tutorial found here

These nursing straps are so quick and easy to make!  I've made nursing covers before, but this is an alternative that uses your "regular" blanket as a cover.  Basically you sew fabric that is 18 x 4.5 around drapery rings.  SUPER easy (and cool)!  The full tutorial from "I am Momma Hear me Roar" can be found here.

Heart Clover/Shamrock Shirt

Tutorial found here

I wanted to make Hannah a "Lucky" shirt for St. Patricks Day, but she didn't like that idea, so I started looking for new ideas.  I came across this tutorial from iCandy and Hannah loved the shirt that she made.  

I used green fabric, a shirt from Savers, a heart template (downloaded from the internet) and some Heat n Bond.  

 Here's Hannah's "serious" look

and her "model" pose.

I love that the fabrics are all from projects that my mom or I made.

Best of all, Hannah loves it!