Grab a bouquet of blooms and some basic school supplies – pencils, glue, paint and tape — and I’ll show you three inexpensive and creative teacher appreciation gifts.
Can you believe another summer is almost in the books?
In just a few short weeks here, my kid will be heading back to school for the 5th grade — which means early mornings, alarm clocks and homework. That means it’s also time to get on the honor roll with some thoughtful, homemade teacher appreciation gifts.
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Each of these projects uses a cylindrical glass vases from Dollar Tree. If you don’t have a Dollar Tree locally, you can find a similar vase here or adapt these projects to fit what you have on hand. No rules at all.
No. 2 Pencil Vase
Fill this painted vase with pink carnations or roses to represent the eraser at the end of the pencil.
Supplies
- Cylinder vase
- Painter’s tape
- Yellow craft paint
- Gray craft paint
- Silver craft paint
- Foam paint brush
- Sharpie marker
Instructions
Apply a piece of painter’s tape along the top edge of the vase, pressing edges to seal.
Paint the vase with two or three coats of yellow craft paint. Allow to dry and carefully remove the tape.
Paint the rim of the vase with a coat of gray craft paint, being careful not to overlap the yellow paint.
Allow to dry, then paint the rim with two coats of silver paint to form the top of the pencil.
When the paint is dry, use a black Sharpie marker to write “No. 2” on the vase.
Fill with water and add pink carnations or roses in a tight cluster to mimic the look of an eraser at the end of a pencil.
Pencil Vase
Dress up a plain glass vase with yellow pencils or colorful art pencils, then add a pretty bouquet.
Supplies
- Cylinder vase
- 40 pencils (you may need more, depending on the diameter of your vase)
- Hot glue
- Ribbon
Instructions
Carefully run a line of hot glue onto one side of a pencil and attach to the vase.
Be sure the vase is sitting upright when you attach the pencil. Also, make sure the first pencil is vertical, not slanted.
Continue gluing pencils around the vase, making sure each one is flush against the last.
When you’ve completely covered the vase with pencils, use a hair dryer on high heat to blow away any hot glue threads.
Tie a piece of ribbon around the center of the vase to dress it up a bit, if you like, and then add flowers.
Composition Notebook Vase
Fellow blogger Linda of Mason Jar Crafts Love inspired this school-themed paint treatment. She painted some mason jars to look like old-school composition notebooks, and I borrowed the idea for this vase.
(Be sure to check out Linda’s tutorial for her composition notebook mason jars, as she uses a different painting technique and adds some fun details.)
Supplies
- Cylinder vase
- Painter’s tape
- White craft paint
- Black craft paint
- Foam paint brush
- Sea sponge or small stencil brush
- Sharpie marker
Instructions
Use painter’s tape to mask off a rectangle on the middle of the vase.
Paint with two to three coats of white craft paint, until the glass is completely covered. Remove the tape and allow to dry completely, preferably overnight.
Use painter’s tape to cover the white rectangle. Press down the edges of the tape to ensure a proper seal.
Paint the rest of the vase with two to three coats of black craft paint. Allow to dry completely.
Dip a sea sponge in white paint and dab over the black paint to create the composition notebook pattern. You can also use a small stencil brush, being careful to use only a small amount of paint with each dab. Allow paint to dry.
Carefully remove the painter’s tape from the white rectangle. Peel slowly and carefully to avoid removing the white paint underneath.
Use a black Sharpie marker to write the word “Composition” and draw lines on the white rectangle.
Fill vase with water and add flowers. I chose pink stargazer lilies to contrast with the black-and-white pattern on the vase.
Now that you’ve got teacher appreciation gifts out of the way, you might enjoy these other back-to-school crafts:
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