Birthday Cup Bash!

 Are you thinking about back to school time?  I know, I know... summer CAN'T be over yet!  That to-do list starts growing and growing, but so does your excitement as you get closer to meeting your new group of kiddos.  This is one project that is actually FUN to make and gets you excited for the year to come.  And... SO CUTE, right?!

I first learned about Birthday Cups stumbling around online.  Mrs. Hulsey has a great post about how she makes her cups.  I posted the idea to my Facebook page and there were several local teachers interested in having a little assembly party!

Here's what you'll need for your Birthday Cups.  I've linked to the supplies I ordered online.

1) Clear Plastic Cups with Dome Lids:  A little spendy, but so worth it.  They really complete the look!

2) White Tissue Paper:  Dollar store, y'all!  So easy, and cheap!

3) Pencils:  Dollar store!  (Although I bet you have a ton sitting in your prize bucket right now.)

4) Candy:  Any assortment will do!  I put around three pieces in each cup.

5) Sticky Hands and Stamps:  Just for fun!  :)   Amazon and Oriental Trading have great little party favors that would be perfect in these cups.

6) Pom Poms:  You know, like the cherry on top??  I just hot-glued them to the lid.

7) Full Sheet Labels:  Sticker paper would work here, as well as address labels and such.  Use what works for you!

I used Mrs. Hulsey's Birthday Cup Labels, because, come on.... So cute!

I invited my friends over for a few hours and we knocked out over THREE HUNDRED Birthday Cups, in an assembly line.  Each teacher contributed $20 for the cost of supplies, and they each left with over 30 birthday cups!  That's less than a $1 per cup.  What a steal!  :)

BONUS: Post this list of all of your learner's birthdays, and you'll be SO SET for the year!  

Just click to download!

How do you celebrate student birthdays?

Love my Followers!

I am so very thankful for all of my followers.  I also love hearing about things my followers have tried in their classroom that they heard about from Miss Woodward's Class.

My cousin Sonja follows my blog and works at a school in Massachusetts.  For the holiday season, she dug into some old posts for ideas.  Remember these dry erase crayons I tried?  And these clipboards I made for my teacher friends?  She decided to make each coworker a clipboard and attach some dry-erase crayons.  I love how they turned out!

The clipboards

The final product!  Sonja has some lucky coworkers!  :)

Clipboards, dry-erase crayons, and a sweet treat!

Thanks for sharing your success, Sonja!

What have you tried from this little blog?  Tell me about it in the comments below!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

"Monday" Made-It: Play Dough!

I recently read a blog post from Clutter Free Classroom about using play dough on the first day of school.  (Yes, even with third graders.)  I loved the idea so much that I decided to try it for the first day of school!  So.... the night before school started, I was busy making 24 little baggies of play dough for my kiddos.

Read about Clutter Free Classroom's take on play dough here.

If I hadn't run out of salt or cream of tartar, this really wouldn't have taken long at all!  But my extra trip to the store delayed my production time.

I got four small balls of play dough out of one batch.  To speed things up, I doubled the recipe to get eight little balls at a time.  I stored each ball in a plastic zip bag labeled with each student's name.

Pretty soon, I had 24 little baggies of play dough for my students!

Stay tuned for my next post about the first day of school and how the kids responded to the play dough!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

End of the Year Gifts

I am so excited to share with you the gifts I gave my students at the end of the year!

It gave me so much joy when I gave them blankets for Christmas, so I wanted to give them something special to end the year.

First, I found drawstring backpacks here from Oriental Trading.  These were generously paid for by my parents... Thanks Ms. Teresa and Mr. Woodward!  I knew the kids would love having their own backpack that they could use through the summer and into next year.

Then, I used leftover notebooks and wrote each student a personal note inside.  I also included a little baggie of mechanical pencils (I went with mechanical because I couldn't count on the kids having pencil sharpeners at home).

I went to Goodwill and bought each student a book to read.  I made sure it was something they were interested in, and at their reading level.

Lastly, I gave them a stamped and self-addressed envelope, and encouraged them to write me letters.  All they have to do is write the letter, seal it, and put it in the mailbox!

We have only been on summer vacation for two days, and I have already received four letters!  One was even from one of my most difficult students, who struggles with reading and writing.  I am so proud of him that he wrote me a letter!

Until next time,
-Miss Woodward

Gettin' Crafty: Decorated Clipboards

I had a very productive weekend!  I was busy making thank-you gifts for the teachers I work most closely with.

It has been a tough year for everyone at the school, and I have had many hard days growing accustomed to being a full-time teacher.  I wanted to thank everyone on my team that has given me support this year.  I had seen a picture of cute decorated clipboards online somewhere, so I decided to make some for my colleagues.

Decorated Clipboards DIY

You will need:

• a clipboard (any size, I prefer the wooden ones over plastic)
• foam brushes
• scrapbook paper (try and find two-sided, so you automatically have two coordinating patterns)
• Mod Podge Matte adhesive (found at craft stores)
• pencil
• plain paper
• scissors
• cable ties (optional)
• rounded corner punch (optional)

1.  First, I used a cable tie to secure the clip open, so it was easier to work around the hardware.  Otherwise, you'll have to hold the clip open every time you glue or adjust the paper around the hardware.

2.  Next, used white paper and a pencil to make a template of where the scrapbook paper should fit around the clip hardware.  I'll admit it took a lot of playing around, but I finally got a template that worked (thanks, Dad!).

3.  Use your template to trace the cutout shape onto your scrapbook paper.

4.  Cut out the paper and make sure it fits around the clip hardware.  Trim your paper to the width of your clipboard.  I did not make my paper the whole length of the clipboard... I used a coordinating paper for the bottom.  Cut your coordinating paper to the correct width and length.

5.  To be extra fancy, you can use a rounded corner punch to make the corners match that of the clipboard.  You can also do this by hand if you do not have a corner punch.

After cutting your papers, lay them onto the clipboard exactly the way you want them to look.  Now is the time to do any trimming (before you glue).

6.  Now it is time to glue.  Using the foam brush, apply some Mod Podge to the clipboard.  I started with the bottom coordinating paper, before moving around the clip hardware.  I used an old credit card to smooth out any air bubbles.

(Do not worry about being super neat with the gluing.  The Mod Podge dries clear, and you will end up putting a top coat on.  So if you get a little messy, it's okay!)

7.  Work slowly and carefully.  For around the clip, I first put glue directly on the clipboard, and then laid my paper on top.  I glued small areas at a time, and smoothed out air bubbles as I went.

Occasionally, my paper would not lay nicely against the hardware, so I used a craft knife to trim the paper closer to the clip.

8.  Once you have glued and smoothed your paper, apply a generous layer of Mod Podge to seal the clipboard.  Make sure to get the edges and corners well-glued!

Once your clipboard is completely dry, cut the cable tie (watch your fingers!) and enjoy your new fancy-shmancy clipboard!  You will be the envy of your office place!

What are you doing to say "Thank you" to the people you work with?

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward