teacher thank yous

It's the end of the school year here in Kalamazoo. The year starts in September, there are a few days off for Thanksgiving, a couple of weeks for Christmas, a week for Spring break and that's pretty much it for holidays.

So now they have finally finished for the 3 month long summer. I am a little nervous of how we will all get on but I have lots of fun things planned (including lie-ins!) and hope that some structure to the days will help time fly by... Hmmm I'll get back to you on that one in about 4 weeks!

I wanted to say thank you to all of their teachers and day care staff. With 2 preschool sessions - mornings for Toby and afternoons for Charlotte, both in daycare at opposite times and lots of staff to look after the 100 kids who attend the preschool, I needed something relatively simple.

There are at least 20 members of staff so I decided to make fridge magnets. These are really easy to make and I had lots of the materials I needed. We made them at my MOPS group and I had tried them out at home. With a quick trip to the craft store, I had everything I needed to make a cute thank you gift.

If you would like to have a go making them yourself, I thought I would jot down a couple of tips.

You will need:
- 3/4in round magnets
- glass beads from the floral section of a craft store - they are round with a flat bottom
- scrapbook paper
- 3/4in circle punch
- modge podge or any type of clear glue

If you want to gift them you will also need:
- washers
- thick card
- gift tags
- ribbon
- sellophane bags

Punch circles of scrapbook paper with a bold design that fits into the circle. I found bright patterns like the flowers above worked really well.
Glue the paper to the magnet then glue a glass bead on top. Leave to dry. They will look blurred until the glue dries.
Glitter glue works really well too though they are more fragile because the glue is not very strong.

To gift them, use a washer on the back of the card to attach the magnet to the card, pop into the bag and tie with a ribbon and gift tag.

I hope the teachers like them. The kids have had a wonderful year at their school and we are very grateful to all of the staff for their hard work. My babies are growing up and I am having to let them go bit by bit.