Creativity 521 #75 - DIY Trees and Butterflies Bookmarks {Happy Teacher's Day 2015!}

Teacher's Day is the best time for the little ones to show their appreciation for all the teachers they love and who have been an important part of their learning journey. When I was teaching in Berries, I remember how a small handwritten card would touch my heart and remind me that everything was worth it. Anyway, both Angel and Ariel (yup, the fast-growing toddler has people whom she calls teachers this year!) were thrilled when I told them that we would be making handmade gifts for their teachers.

What we did was to walk into Popular and just see where our inspiration took us. Eventually, we decided on making simple but useful bookmarks for the teachers! Although these were pretty straightforward to make in my view, the thing is the kids took charge and did most of the work so you can say that every gift is filled with love and sincerity from them. Yeah yeah, you know how I always value things that are handmade.

In today's Creativity 521, I share with you our DIY Trees and Butterflies Bookmarks.

Materials:

1) Butterfly and tree paper diecuts in assorted colours
2) Glitter confetti
3) Ribbons
4) Scissors and glue
5) Single hole punch
6) Printed messages

Firstly, we wanted our bookmarks to be slightly thicker and more colourful so we decided to put three layers of diecuts together to form one bookmark. The kids chose all the colours and sizes and did the arrangement on their own. As best as they can, they also applied and spread the glue and I only had to step in when it got stuck or when we had to wipe off excess glue.

We overlapped the layers to form nice multicoloured shapes as shown above. Don't they look bright and cheery?

Next, we stuck on the printed messages which read "Thanks for helping me spread my wings" for the butterflies and "Thanks for helping me grow" for the trees. I had measured and resized these accordingly on Photoshop before printing them out.

Then it was ribbon time! I taught Angel how to cut ribbons which were similar in length by using one to gauge the other. She had a little difficulty doing that but at least she tried.

She also learnt to fold the ribbon into half, poke it through the hole created with the single hole punch and insert the ends through the loop.

After that, it was time for the most tedious part - Writing!! Yes, one by one, the kids wrote their teacher's and their own names onto the bookmarks.

Of course, while Angel only needed my help with the spelling, I had to guide the little sister in writing the words. It was also a learning experience for the big girl because sometimes she would write wrongly when she got distracted, misspell the names or make her font so big that she ran out of space. I told her it was a case of practice makes perfect and she just had to learn from every mistake she made in order to be better the next time.

Lastly, we decorated the bookmarks with some glitter confetti to jazz things up! These were rather small so I had to help with applying the glue though the kids were the ones who chose, placed and stuck every single one of them. Yes, imagine how much time we took for these simple bookmarks (ok, just one whole night, but I could have done it in an hour on my own)! But that's the fun and that's the way we wanna show our sincerity, right?

Ta-dah! We made a total of 12 bookmarks and here's how they look in the end!

Yes, I know, fairly simple and ordinary looking but you know what, the girls were delighted with their achievement and proud to say that these gifts were made by them. I'm pretty sure the teachers will be happy to receive these, the kids will be happy knowing that they played a big part in the making and I will be happy knowing that we did something handmade to show our appreciation.

Happy Teachers' Day 2015!!

For more DIY tutorials and craft inspiration, visit my gallery here.

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To fellow bloggers who have a fun craft session, DIY tip or creative idea to share, come join in the party! Highlight and press Ctrl + C to copy my button above, include it in your post/sidebar and add your link below. I will be hosting Creativity 521 on the 5th and 21st of every month, do hop over for more inspiration. Remember: The sky's the limit when it comes to creativity!