School started for us this week (already!). Last Monday we had a Meet the Teacher night, where the girls got to see their classrooms and were introduced to their new teachers. We got the school supplies list that night too, which asked for pretty basic stuff, but there was also a wish list at the bottom that asked for more out-of-the-box, and maybe a little more expensive items. It reminded me of a post I read on Design Mom that talked about how teachers spend on average about $1000 of their own money on classroom supplies! That really broke my heart and made me want to pitch in as much as we could give.
Coincidentally, Office Depot contacted me about sharing their #TeachersChangeLives campaign with a DIY teacher’s gift that included school supplies for the new school year. The campaign is a great one, and they have even provided coupons to Office Depot to make it a little easier for families to help out these wonderful teachers!
I talked it over with my girls, and after consulting the bottom of the school supplies wish list, we decided it would be fun to make a bouquet of paper flowers with Sharpie stems. It ended up being a better project for my bigger girls, but Evie helped out a lot on hers, too. I cannot tell you just how excited they were to give their teachers this bouquet!!! It was so fun for all of us.
I like using crepe paper for flower projects the best because it holds its shape so well, but it can be hard to find crepe paper in sheets. I had a lightbulb moment when I realized that party streamers are 1) crepe paper 2) incredibly cheap, and 3) abundant. Also they come in TONS of colors and are about the width of a petal! We grabbed some from the dollar store and a party supply store.
Once we had all the petals ready, it was time to wrap the flower stems and assemble the blooms. I love this Martha Stewart Weddings tutorial the best for DIY paper flower making. It illustrates beautifully the continuous petal approach vs the single petal.
A big thank you to Office Depot for sponsoring this post and for providing the Sharpies! For more information about these products please visit here.
What a darling project with your girls. I know they were so proud.
Steve Finnell is making this comments section unfun.
SO beautiful! I'm sure the teachers were delighted to receive them. I think they're so pretty I would keep them in my house all the time…no need to worry about flowers dying!
So clever. And I love the bright color combination. I had a friend give me a bouquet of some hand made flowers for my Birthday!
Super cute! Love to hear how excited the girls were about it too.
Who invited Steve?
This is great! I am a realtor is Denver and I do a program called Homes for Heroes. I provide substantial rebates to local heroes that buy or sell a home through me- teacher included. I have been looking for a way to get the word out about the program but also provide something of value to the teachers. I'm going to give this project a whirl! Thanks again for the idea.
$1000 of their own money? Ouch. Teachers do so much, and it's nice to give back a little bit to show how much they're appreciated. Thank you for sharing this.
I have a friend that is a teacher and she's spent over $4,000 in just 3 years of teaching for her classroom. It's astounding what teachers will do for their kids. I know she would love a gift like this. Cute idea!
Wow, what a cute project! I'm sure the girls' teachers will love these!
It's so great that you brought this up. It makes me want to bring lots of things for my son's new kindergarten teacher. Thank you for this great reminder. Super cute project!
I hope teachers are aware that all their out of pocket expenditures are tax deductible on schedule A!!! So as long as they are able to itemize, out of pocket expenditure will reduce dollar for dollar their federal income tax liability.
This is a really great idea! Lovely how they turned out.
Such a cute thoughtful idea. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful! I think I need them for my own desk. They would certainly brighten my office up.
You have the BEST projects! This is lovely. :)
Oh my gosh, what a great idea! I love it and want to make one now! :)
thanks the info
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Would have to say that love the Adele ring – shaunie @ twitter.com/sandyhills25