I Appreciate my Teachers

Teacher's Appreciation Week begins next week and today I worked on a simple gift for each one of my girls' teachers....today I will show you my first grader's gift.

I bought two of these Prima Craft pencil holders from a friend - a deal at $1.00/each. For this one, I had a pink/ivory theme in my head (this teacher loves the look of the Victorian style) so I began with a quick base of white craft paint. I didn't paint the entire holder, just the edges, top and bottom.
Next, I cut my Basic Grey scrapbook paper to fit the sides and adhered the paper using my trusty Mod Podge. A little goes a long way!

Once the holder was covered with the patterned paper I could move on to the next step, which is my favorite: embellishing. I went to my stash options and pulled items I thought would look good: ribbon, fabric brads, chipboard, lace trim, Prima flowers...sometimes I realize I have too much.

And here it is all fancied up and lookin' pretty. As you can see, I didn't use everything I pulled out (the gems didn't make it) but the elimination process is one of my favorite parts of creating anything. I love that I have options! Once I uploaded the pictures I thought, "Where are the pencils?" Don't worry, I'll have a fresh stash ready for next week.

And here's the close up (click on the picture to make it larger):

I hope she likes it. It isn't my usual style, and I even pulled out a lonely glitter bottle (two times in one week, what a record) to add a bit of shimmer to the flower petals, but I wanted something to reflect her style and look pretty in her classroom. She's one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

I'm also working on one for my third grade teacher and I'll share it later. Different style for a different gal!

Sources: Holder: Prima Craft, Patterned paper & Chipboard: Basic Grey, Solid pink paper: DCWV, Flowers: Prima, Lace Trim: Paper Studio, Border punch: Martha Stewart, Glitter: Making Memories, Rubber stamp: Kitchen Sink Stamps, Mod Podge