Friday, May 10, 2013

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week I did my PTA thing and organized some fun activities for the teachers and staff at my kids’ school to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week.

Teacher Appreciation Week Bulletin Board - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Monday – The week started with a Strawberry Shortcake Buffet for the whole staff.  We set up in the lounge and served teachers/staff during their lunch break. 

Teacher Appreciation Week - Strawberry Shortcake Buffet - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Nine loaves of pound cake, ten pounds of strawberries, and 3 cans of whip cream later … I’d say it was a successful day and the teachers loved the treat!

Teacher Appreciation Week - Strawberry Shortcake Buffet - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Tuesday –For Superhero Day, we asked the kids to wear their superhero tshirts to honor their teachers.  (If they didn’t have a superhero tshirt, we told ‘em to be their teacher’s sidekick and wear their teacher’s favorite color instead.)

All heroes have special tools, so we also told the kids to bring their teachers a special “tool” (school supply) to stash their toolkits.

I created this big comic-book inspired bulletin board that reads “Teachers! Able to Leap into our Hearts in a Single Bound”.  (The black and yellow is butcher paper, and I painted random white windows with acrylic paint. Easy!)

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

I made each teacher a custom Superman logo (with their initial) on their door with their awesome superpowers. Here’s a second grade teacher with her sign that reads “Shaping young minds one lesson plan at a time” and “Teacher by day, superhero by night”:

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

I covered the hall ways with lots of fun superpowers we know our teachers could have:

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

(Click any picture to see it enlarged.)

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Here’s some closeups:

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

 Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

And I posted one of these for every grade level:

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

This one says “Can pat head and rub tummy at same time” and these fun teachers proved they’ve all got the talent:

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

I made a set of easy superhero logo posters, too (Everything I Need to Know I Learned From My Heroes):

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Finally, we gave each teacher a lighthearted reminder of our sincere thanks for being crazy good at what they do:

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

and the view from the back with a cape and “Thank you for being our SOUPER hero” sticker:

Teacher Appreciation Week - Superhero Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Wednesday – On this day we gave the teachers a catered lunch from one of their favorite restaurants. They received a box lunch with a sampler of eight different salads. Yum!

Teacher Appreciation Week - Catered Lunch - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Dessert was mini cupcakes and brownie bites. Cupcake stand was recycled boxes we wrapped with wrapping paper.

Teacher Appreciation Week - Catered Lunch - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

The placemats were recycled book covers from first grade math workbooks! 

Teacher Appreciation Week - Catered Lunch - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Catered Lunch - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Catered Lunch - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Thursday – We hand delivered muffins and water to the teachers on Thursday.  We offered blueberry, banana nut or chocolate chip.

Teacher Appreciation Week - Muffin Breakfast - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Everyone also got a bottled water that read “It’s not a fancy schmancy Starbucks drink, but we still thank you.”

Teacher Appreciation Week - Muffin Breakfast - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

The teachers were so excited to get their special breakfast!

Teacher Appreciation Week - Muffin Breakfast - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Muffin Breakfast - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Friday – This is the day we designated for all the kids in the school to bring a snack or dessert to share with the staff.

Teacher Appreciation Week - Dessert Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

We covered the counters in the teachers lounge with lots and lots of goodies for them to enjoy all day!

 Teacher Appreciation Week - Dessert Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Dessert Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Dessert Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

Teacher Appreciation Week - Dessert Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

The lounge was filled to the rim with cookies, brownies, cakes, bars, pudding, snacks, etc.

Teacher Appreciation Week - Dessert Day - mudpiestudio@blogspot.com

What a fun week it has been!  Enjoy, teachers! 
You are very much appreciated!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Teacher Appreciation – Starbucks Gift Card

Thank you Chickabug for this awesome idea!  Teachers love gift cards the most, so I created one specifically for a Starbucks card.

Starbucks Gift Card for Teacher Appreciation 

The teacher listed Starbucks on her “favorite things” list.  She was surprised – and she loved it!

Have you thanked a teacher this week?
Teacher Appreciation Week May 6-10!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

DIY Mirror Makeover for Little Girls Room

So last week was spring break and I worked on a few DIY projects around the house.   Remember this mirror from last year?  It was the first of two.  Well, I finally got around to painting the second one. I’m fast like that.

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

Here’s how it started.  Bare wood frame constructed by my dad which fits around a store-bought (cheap) full length mirror.

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

With the help of my little one, we unscrewed the back piece from the frame then lifted out the mirror:

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

The next picture shows how it looks after we lifted out the mirror and the back piece. The arrows point to where the wood was routed so that the mirror would sit flush in the frame.

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

Next I moved the frame outside and painted white on the top portion (where I wanted the quote to go).  I used my Cricut to make the letters and put them in place.

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

I use repositionable contact paper for these types of projects instead of vinyl since I’m only using the letters as a stencil.

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

Next I gave the entire frame a coat of pink paint.  I used Rustloleum spray paint.  Windy day – extra cans of paint were just holding down my drop cloth.

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

Here is a closeup of the letters with the spray paint applied directly on top.

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

By far my favorite part of the project is peeling off the letters!

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

My little one is happy to have her mirror finally finished…

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

And another DIY project is checked off the list…

DIY Mirror Makeover from mudpiestudio.blogspot.com

Thanks for visiting. What DIY projects did you get done over Spring Break?! I’d love to know!