be YOU tiful sign & whiteboard gifts

In some ways the end of May has the overtones of Christmas; parties, formal celebrations, traditions, and presents! While our immediate family didn't celebrate any big graduations we had four teachers to gift for and I had the end of MOPS, which includes a Favorite Things gift exchange for every.single.person.at.my.table. Of course I wanted to be crafty and upcycle and a whole month to prepare seemed feasible, and then all three kids came down with a low grade fever and had to miss school. :(

Time management took a flying leap out the window as I tackled these homemade-with-love-gifts. Forget housework. Forget dishes. Forget changing out of my pajamas. Totally could rename my blog "Crafting instead of Housework."

And showering regularly is overrated, right?  
A nurse's shower. #Autoclave #Nurses #NurseHumor


Last year, for our Favorite Things, I gave out coffee singles and hot cocoa packets, which are still favorites but I wanted to give something more substantial and meaningful. Our MOPS theme this year was "A Beautiful Mess." Part of this included seeing ourselves as beautiful. While "be YOU tiful"  isn't a very original idea, it fit the theme and gave me a chance to create signs from paint sticks. Oh, and to practice my favorite weathered wood technique from Cherished Bliss.

mix-n-matched acrylic paints for the hand painted letters
made doubles of some color combos


I was hoping there would be an extra leftover for myself....but some wanted two! I'll take the complement 
and then go home and make another one. It would be perfect above my full length mirror where I most need the encouraging reminder.


dark walnut stain

 weathered wood technique from Cherished Bliss

spray painted back of signs to cover store logo
then, twine Gorilla-glued on as a hanger 



Anyways, from the Dollar Store and craft stash I made these adorable dry erase message boards for my son's teachers. (Yes, plural. Two aides who rotate through + the teacher.) My only regret is that I didn't make one for myself. 


The marker/eraser canister was made similar to a chalk holder for my fridge. Supplies pictured below. For the whiteboard, ribbon was hot glued around. The tricky part was pattern matching the two ribbon strips, but the guazey bow distracts enough from any errors.

Marker holder hot glued to frame.

A square of rolled turquoise fleece is the eraser, and a lovely pop of color. 




My favorite thing about making gifts for others is that I get to play around with colors and patterns that I wouldn't normally use for myself. Its a fun break from the "usual" craft supplies.




Comments

  1. love all your ideas...a girl after my own heart! I love turning junk into treasure! and I'm making my own homemade chalk paint as well. So fun :)

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