Teacher Appreciation Week

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. I had fun making the week special for my daughter's kindergarten teacher. The theme was out of this world teacher’s.

MONDAY:  Door poster. 

All the kids got a kick out of finding their alien.

 

Tuesday: Bring flowers for your teacher

Wednesday: Bring a dessert from the Kindergarten Class.

One of our other room moms brought a dessert for the teacher luncheon 

Thursday: Bring a note for your teacher

My daughter wanted to draw her and Ms. Brittle at the beach

 

Friday: Class Gift... Thumb Print Plate

"You made an impression on us this school year!"

 

Our class gift:

Using Crayola Air-Dry Clay I made a plate. I purchased the clay at Michaels craft store. I think I paid roughly $8.00 after using a 20% coupon. It is super easy to use and had a great texture after it dried.

The best way to make this plate is. 

• I took plastic wrap and covered a large plate. This is to protect the plate and it is also easier to take off the plate once it has dried. (I used one of my decorative chargers, because i wanted it to be a bit larger than a normal size dinner plate) 
• I took out the clay and pressed it into the top of the plate trying to keep it at least 1/4" thick throughout so I had a nice solid plate. Using the plate below will allow you to get the natural shape of a plate. I used a little bit of water to get the plate smooth. You want to make sure your center is thick enough for the kids to press their thumb prints into the plate and it doesn't break through to the other side or leave it too thin in that spot. Remember this is handmade and will not be perfect. You will have various imperfections. 
• Once i had my plate shaped I used a tooth pick to carve into it. My daughters teacher loves the beach so I drew some seashells on it as well and wrote out the year and grade. If you make a mistake no worries. just wet your fingers a bit and rub over your design and then re-do it.
• Next i took a few paper towels and wet them and rung them out. Then i opened them up and laid them on top of the plate and then wrapped the whole plate in plastic wrap, stuck it in a shallow box and took it with me to school the next day. 
• At recess I had each child press their thumb print into the center of the plate. I then took the plate home. I put it on the counter took off the plastic wrap and let the plate dry for a full 3 days. 
• Once I felt that it was completely dry I took it off the decorative charger. 
• Then I painted it the teachers favorite color. I bought some acrylic paint as well as some acrylic high gloss glaze. Once that dried i added a very light brown wash and then wiped it down so it was only left in some spots. Then I let that dry. Next I glazed it with the gloss glaze. Let that dry completely on both sides before the next step.
• I also purchased a thin black paint pen. I wrote along the Edge of the plate "Thank you... You have made an impression on us this school year! Kindergarten Then in the center i wrote all the kids names. 

The Teacher absolutely LOVED this gift. As well as the kids. They were sooo excited to see the final product!
(if you make this remember to tell the teacher it is for decorative use only) :)

my pin-spiration for this plate came from...
 http://www.rentstorkmemphis.com/jr-kindergarten-fingerprint.html

Thanks for Reading!

Be Creative!

Amy