Easy Bookmark Teacher Thank You Gifts

   It's that time of year, again. You might be thinking, "Spring?". Well, yes, spring, but also time to start thinking about teacher appreciation gifts! School won't end here until June, but I know that isn't the case for the majority of the United States. Besides, there are plenty of other people that you may want to start planning tokens of gratitude for, such as: sports coaches, Awana leaders, or, in my case, your fellow co-op teachers! 

     These simple elasticized bookmarks are so easy to put together. I ran mine through the sewing machine, which really only took a matter of minutes, but you could choose to make them "no-sew" and use a strong-hold craft glue or hot glue to put them together instead..   

   These fabric bookmarks are so cute, and they are really inexpensive! 

 To get started you will need:
-Ribbon (choose a size that your button will cover completely) Mine is from Hobby Lobby, so it was half price. $2
-Buttons I choose these gemstone-looking ones, also half price, so $1.25 for six
- Hair elastics I choose smaller ones, I don't usually use ones that are this thin for my hair, as they don't hold it well. I can't remember exactly how much these were, I believe around $2 for 36 from Walmart. You could definitely pick up some from the Dollar Tree, too.

    Cut your ribbon to the desired length. I cut mine about 15 inches long, to give me room to fold it over the elastic. I also then heat-sealed the ends by holding them over a burning candle to fuse the threads. This isn't absolutely necessary for the end you will be sewing, but it will help to keep the ribbon from fraying, so you will definitely want to do it to the button end. Then I folded one of the ends under about an 1/8 of an inch, and then folded it over the elastic, leaving enough room to stitch it down. I sewed over it several times to make sure it would hold.

   Once you have stitched all the ends, you will sew your button on the opposite end, so the bookmark can be secured around the pages of a book. Hand-stitching all the buttons on is a great project to do while watching tv! You could glue the button on, too. but I like hand-stitching and I thought it would be most secure, so I did.

    The hand-sewing was even easier because I choose a button with only two holes. Don't sew the buttons too close to the end of the ribbon, as you don't want them to pull off.

      To finish the bookmarks, I choose to glue a tiny piece of coordinating ribbon over the stitching on the end with the elastic. I picked up the ribbon for $0.50 at Walmart and used the most minuscule amount, it was about an inch and half for each bookmark.

   I picked up these little notebooks at Michaels in packs of two for $2. I was thrilled that they matched the bookmarks. I considered buying actual books, but since I wasn't certain about the reading preferences of the recipients, I went with something more universal. I needed to fold the bookmark fabric over in the back and paperclip it to make it the right size, and then I attached the printable with a glue dot. I gifted mine with little bags of coordinating chocolates (For my ribbon, Dove had pieces that were just the right colors!) but you could definitely attach a gift card for a bookstore or coffee shop to your's.

All of the teachers at my co-op were thrilled with them! I was glad that I could put them together for less than $0.75 each! It is really tough when you have more than 2 or 3 people that you want to thank, and I needed about eight. Even with the notebooks and the chocolates, they were still around $3. I think having a handmade element is always such a nice touch to any gift.

   Normally, the printable is the part that I am the most proud of, as my computer expertise is exceptionally limited. In this case, however, I made the printable last year, and saved it in the online program I used to make it. In the past, I have not had any trouble saving a JPEG image, and then uploading it to my blog to use as a printable. That is no longer the case, and for the life of me I cannot figure out how to save the image. So instead, and I have to admit I am not happy with this *at all* is a scanned image. That means that it has neither the clarity nor exact coloring of the original. However, if you are short on time, you may be willing to use it, and it is a lot simpler than creating your own! Just be forewarned that it is not up to the quality standards I usually prefer, but I figured something was marginally better than nothing. If anyone has any suggestions for how I can save from Avery Design and Print Online, I would welcome them! I have spent over a week trying to figure it out and have done nothing but waste time. :(

Right click image to save, print from saved location on letter size (8.5x11) card stock. 

Mod Podge Strikes Again!

My helper in all things crafty. And our supplies. You like the makeshift cutting/glueing surface?

Well, fear not, I have found another Mod Podge craft! Thanks to my sister, Robyn, I got the idea to make a covered notebook from here. There is no real skill involved (my kind of craft!) so I kind of made it up as I went along! I found the scrapbook paper on clearance for $0.21 at Hobby Lobby- I used three different ones, already had the Mod Podge, bought the composition notebook for $0.25 at Target (although I was a little bitter because the first one I went to was out! Another trip out for a notebook that only costs a quarter? Really?) and the big expense was the adorable ribbon- a whole dollar! Other than that, I used my trusty hot glue gun and a button I already had. I knew I had been saving those extra buttons for something! So total cost for (what I think, anyway) is a ridiculously cute notebook -or prayer journal for me- is $1.75 with tax! Score!
This is Jocelyn's notebook. It was kind of the trial run and she was in a hurry to use it. I measured the paper and cut around the cover exactly, but that didn't give me the smooth edges I wanted.

So with mine, I cut an extra flap so that I could fold it over and glue it to the inside of the cover. You can barely see the flap in the right hand side of the photo.

The finished product. I am so proud that I picked such fun paper!


See the super cute ribbon? Don't you want some?:) I glued a piece to the front and back covers so it would tie on the side.
A close up of the flower. I made it myself! I found the easy tutorial here. You better believe I will be making more of these! Definitely worth the time and it turned out so beautifully. I used two different kinds of paper and then I cut two of the green ovals out of the leftover paper to make the leaves.

So there it is. It did take a little while to make (about 1 1/2 hour ) but I was so pleased with the result. Now, I have the perfect sermon note and prayer journal! Yay!