With the start of school just around the corner, we thought this amazingly creative project by Sarah Hodgkinson of Woodstock, ON. would be the perfect project to inspire you!

Here’s Sarah with her tutorial on how she made her gift;

Step One: Creating the Blackboard
Cut a 2 ½” x 2 ½” piece of Core’dinations black cardstock with a white core (either Abracadabra or Nightfall). Round two of the four corners and then lightly sand perimeter with a sanding block or sand paper.

 

Step Two: Creating the leaf and background
Using green patterned paper (Jillibean Soup – Lentil Soup/Vegetable Broth), punch one leaf (EK Success Double Leaf Medium punch). Cut one 5” by 3” piece of graph paper (Jillibean Soup-Lentil Soup/Vegetable Broth or Ground Coriander). Use your binder punch along the right hand side. Adhere the blackboard which your created in step one to the left hand side, allowing for a ¼” border.

Step Three: Creating the apple
Cut a 4” piece of twine and thread it through the red button (Jillibean Soup – Cool Beans in red). Trim the excess on the back and adhere with a Glue Dot. Cut a 3” piece of twine. Loop it in half and hold it firmly in between your fingers. Using your other hand, roll the twine between your fingers. Trim the twisted piece of twine and adhere to the back of your button. Adhere the punched leaf from step two to the back of the button. Apply a generous amount of Glue Dots to the back.

Step Four: Assemble the top
Using Sketch This #90 by Janelle Kelly as a guide, adhere the calendar spot first (Jillibean Soup – Calendar sprout in green), graph/blackboard paper next, then the apple/button. Next I added Basic Grey chipboard letters for the “a, b, c” and used additional glue on the back of each letter to ensure they stay put. I then glued the numbers (Jillibean Soup – Corrugated Alphabet). Sharpen your pencil until it measures approximately 4 ¾” long. Apply a generous amount of Glue Dots to the back and press firmly. Finally, using an 8” piece of twine, thread it through a green button (Jillibean Soup – Cool Beans in green) and tie a bow in the front. Apply another few Glue Dots to the back and affix to the lid.

Step Five: Fill with goodies!
This box is the perfect size for sticker sheets (Trend Enterprises shown here), stamps and other reward items. Teachers will love keeping this box on their desk top for easy access throughout the school day.

Thank you Sarah for sharing your great teacher’s gift idea with us today!

For more inspirational ideas by Sarah, check out her blog, http://thehodgeesonlyinhollywoodstock.blogspot.com/