Thanks for Helping Us GROW!

I love Brandon & Andrew's classroom teachers.  They have the patience to be consistent and understanding with my children when I am running on empty.  And as we, the parents at our school like to fondly say, we wish we ran into our offices the way our children run into their school.  For that I say, Thank you!  I was a little more on-the-ball this year (wohoo!  chalk it up to still being in awe over my new found free-time since the school's silent auction ended) with organizing and preparing the teacher's end-of-year gifts.  My inspiration for these gifts came from a photo I found on Pinterest.  These little projects were so much fun to create.  Here's the step-by-step in case you want to make some too, or some variation of them.

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Supplies you will need:

Terra-cotta pot

Exterior/Outdoor paint

Paintbrush

Permanent marker

Flexible ruler

Dirt

Plant

Optional:

For staked "Thank You for Helping us GROW!" sign:

Wood garden stake

Ribbon

Wood oval

Hot glue gun & glue sticks

For gift card:

Gift card envelope

Gift card

Rubber stamp

Black pen

Step 1:  Using yellow & black outdoor paint, paint the exterior of the terra-cotta pots like this. (I painted two coats of each color.)

Step 2: Using a flexible ruler and a permanent marker, mark the 1" ruler lines on the pot.

Step 3: Using the permanent marker, make the 1" marker lines the longest (leaving enough space at the bottom to write the numbers for the inches (see image below)), fill in the 1/2" lines and the 1/4" lines.

Step 4: Write in the numbers indicating the inches onto the pot.

Step 5 (Optional): I also painted a wooden stake and oval (Michael's Crafts), hot-glued on an orange flower and wrote in permanent marker "Thanks for helping us GROW".  I then hot-glued the oval onto the green painted wooden stake.  

Step 6: Decorate the gift card envelope if desired (I used a rubber stamp & ink pen).  Then, using glue gun, attach the gift card envelope (with gift card inside) to the garden stake.

Step 7: Insert stake into the dirt.  Present to teachers. :)