New Teacher Gifts :)

I've been a teacher for five and a half years now...two years in kindergarten and the past three and a half years in fourth grade. This year, I was given the opportunity to be a mentor to a student teacher intern. What surprised me the most was how much I learned about myself. 

In order to be a good mentor teacher for Alyssa, my intern, I had to coach her, collaborate with her, give her feedback. It gave me motivation to help her start the path in her teaching career.

As her time was ending with our class, I wanted to do something special for her. We made her a basket of teacher goodies to start her off on her first year. In the basket I included a canvas with her name and a personalized clipboard. 

I used a stencil for the chevron detail, polka dot detail, and lettering. I used the same effect for the clipboard.

solid navy for the front of the clipboard

The moment arrived to present her with her gift basket and the kids were so excited! ...and she was super surprised as well! :)

yay! basket full of swag!

happy student teacher :)

Personalized Canvas for Baby

Very good friends of mine are about to have their first baby...a girl! Besides buying them a few things from their gift registry, I wanted to make something personal. I have a hard time these days giving a present without putting some sort of personal touch on it...my heart and my time. For my friends BJ, Jason, and baby...they deserved something really special. 

BJ & I at her wedding, 2007

I knew I wanted to paint a quote on canvas, a quote from the bible because I knew it would have a significant meaning to my dear friends. I found this pin on Pinterest, which gave me the general layout. 

I started with a blank canvas and used a stencil to outline the chevron detail.

I then decided to paint two chevron bands together to make it thicker. I had to use a few coats of paint to make it fairly solid.

I free-handed the elephant...very carefully...and added some of my own personal details the original painting didn't have, such as a tail. 

I knew I wanted a different quote. For days, I struggled over which quote to use and I went back and forth between two specific quotes. Finally, I decided on one I thought had such a sweet meaning and used a stencil, white paint, and a foam brush to add the quote, letter by letter. This part took the longest.

The last step with the quote was to clean up the painting by touching up spots where the white paint bled. I was so happy to have the quote finished because it took so long!

The final step for the canvas was to paint the edges. I chose the turquoise color because, well, it was just so pretty. :)

Because I'm such a sucker for presentation...guess what? I couldn't just be done there. After putting the canvas in the basket and other items I purchased from the registry, I thought something was missing. I found a circular cardboard container I received in a gift for Christmas and decided...hey, I'll paint this.

Isn't it so cute?! I couldn't wait to give the gift after it was all put together. 

shower fun :)

It was a beautiful moment during the shower when she saw the canvas. We both had a little teary eyed moment and I knew I had made the right decision with the quote. I cannot wait to greet little baby girl..hopefully not too long from now!