Teacher or Mother Day Gift Ideas

My son's preschool has a silent auction each year and each class is responsible to donate an item that has every child's name/handprint etc.  I have seen all sorts of things like blankets, aprons and chairs with handprints.


I have also seen items decorated with the adorable fingerprint art--you know the ones that turn things into bugs, animals with a fingerprint.  When I went into Michael's I had a unfinished wood frame in my hand.  Then I saw the perfect white frame with a thick border around the picture.  With 40% discount the $10 I was going to spend on this was well worth the effort of priming and painting the unfinished one, plus it would probably look better.

I decided to make a scene out of the bugs before going to school so I lightly sketched one out with 16 bugs.  I brought acrylic paints to school and had each child was able to pick a bug out of the picture as well as the color they would like.

I used a fine sharpie marker to add the details and names.  


Here is the end result.  A great end of year gift for a teacher too.  We can always use frames.

The second auction item I made was inspired by a child's size apron I had left over from my daughter's cooking party several years ago.   Instead of hand prints I thought each child could make a self portrait.

I used fabric markers--lucky for me I had them left over and they still worked- and traced a circle for each child.


Using T-shirt transfer paper I added each child's name and the class name.

At school, each child then used the fabric markers to decorate their face.  


I heat set it in the dryer.


I think children will love wearing this many years to come and remember their sweet preschool friends and chuckle at their art work.  

I was also talking to a friend and she said she still used a table cloth of self-portraits her class did for her when she taught third grade....


Here are some other ideas I have done in the past to celebrate our hard working teachers.


Repurposed Milk Container flowers

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Plants from your garden

Coffee/Tea Cups