Summer Beginings; Year-End Projects

Sorry for the hiatus! I was working on finishing up one job, starting another, going on vacation, crafting like mad, moving, and job hunting for the fall.

On top of all that, my entire life plan changed in the course of a month.

But this is not the blog where I'll get into that.

So on to the year-end projects I crafted up for my coworkers I was leaving! After a year working closely with a staff of 10, we did become fairly close. It was bittersweet to leave them, but in the end I think I made the right decision. I've been provided with some new and exciting possibilities (more on that later) and three other coworkers have left the school as well. When you work that close with so few others, any changes would just stretch my already-stretched ability to deal with change. Might as well shake it all up and start from scratch!

...(if you know me only slightly, you'll think that doesn't make any sense with how I really am... But if you know me really well, you will know that's how I deal with change. I start over)...

 The final product looked like this!:

First I made a bunch of different cute crafts I found on Pinterest to go inside the owls. The owls themselves, I found on CraftGawker.



#1 Teacher Pencils:

 Supplies:

The original directions said to use Rolos, but I used Mentos. Any round candy-bar type candy will do. You will also need Hershy's kisses (any flavor... I used Hugs), some yellow paper, tape, something to write with, and Zots. (I suppose you could use tape or glue, but Zots are easier, with less mess, and no dry time).

Wrap the Mentos in yellow paper (after cutting them to size). I used tape to attach the paper. 

Use a Zot to attach the Kiss to one end of the wrapped Mentos.

Sharpie it up by writing "#1 Teacher!" or anything else you want.










Mini Notepads:

Supplies:

Coasters (I got mine at the Target Dollar section, but Michael's always has cute ones too. Just the cardboard kind.)
Pretty Binder Clips (medium or large sized)
and Post-it Note pads.

Simple and easy. Attach the Post-it Notes to the coasters with a binder clip and done!










Paperclip Bookmarks:

Supplies:
Ribbon scraps
Large paperclips (...and by large I mean Jumbo!)

This craft is a good way to use up all those ribbon scraps you probably have...

 Tie a ribbon to the end of the jumbo clip...

...make some pretty bows... and you're done!











Owls:

After searching through five different stores for oatmeal tubs, I finally found some at Walmart (cheaper by 50 cents than Save Mart, btw!) and proceeded to buy ten of them.

The first step was to empty out the oatmeal...

Each oatmeal tub filled one gallon sized ziplock bag.

Some of the oatmeal I used in the Cookies in a Jar gift for my coworkers... but that used up barely one bag.

My mom has been very awesome about eating oatmeal for breakfast every day and trying some interesting oatmeal recipes for dinners. Thanks Mom!

Now I just need to find some use for all of these lids! I wonder what creative crafts I can come up with? If you have any ideas, please share!









Fold down the tops of the oatmeal tubs to look like ears, and decorate to look like an owl. At first I used Zots to connect the paper to the tub, but that actually took a lot more Zots than anticipated, and those aren't cheap. So I finished the rest with Tacky Glue. However, you have to use rubber bands around the oatmeal tub to hold the paper on until it dries.

After they dried and I added the eyes, beak, and "Owl Miss You" sign (for those I did use Zots), I opened their ears back up and put the Pencils, Mini Notepads, some candy, and an letter stamp (first initial of their last names, bought at Michael's for 50 cents) and closed them back up!

Sunshine Cookies in a Jar:

I got the Recipe from this blog. It was especially ideal because it involved oatmeal, and as you saw in the Owls how-to, I had an excess of oatmeal.... haha (we still do in fact. One of my day camps is going to make oatmeal playdough this week to help alleviate my abundance).

I was able to buy the correct size mason jars at my local Safeway because I was living in ranch county. City-dwellers may have to go to a craft store.

After spilling flour and oatmeal all over my kitchen, I started to use a piece of printer paper as a funnel (my funnel was too skinny, apparently).

Fill the jars in the order the recipe says.
It says to make sure to pack down everything, it really means it. I had to bang the jars on the table to pack things down in order to make everything fit.

I used scrapbook paper and Sharpie to label the tops, and I had some extra flower cut-outs from my Flower Wreath Craft so I used those to write the rest of the directions on. I tied them around the jar with some ribbon and viola!

Using photos I'd taken throughout the school year, I made a collage of the school's Year One to hang in the principal's brand-new office and surprised her with it at the student award ceremony.

I handed out the owls and the jars to all the staff on the last day of school.



Despite the fact that all of the students helped me clean out my classroom, none of the students realized I wasn't coming back next year until the very last day, and then only a few figured it out. I think its for the best.





I'll miss them... the students and parents... my coworkers... the community... It was a great experience that I'm sure I'll remember forever. But it's time to move on. Because what people don't realize is that even in Limbo, things are always constantly changing. I might be between where I started and where I want to be, but if I don't move around, see different things, learn new things, and try doing things differently... I won't GO anywhere. And with no forward motion, I'll be stuck in Limbo forever.