It’s that time of year again with the ( UK) Summer holidays right on our doorstep. You can tell it’s almost the end of term because the shoes just fit, there’s a hole appearing in all the school uniform trousers and you’ve just realised you’ve been washing less uniform as parts are surely at school. Left as one part of the goal post or on the bench.
Everyone’s tired.
We try and make a teacher gift each year. After being on the end of this annual ritual of gift giving, I loved the gifts that were handmade the most. I never expected gifts and although I can remember a few gifts I really don’t remember who didn’t give me gifts.
Gift giving has gotten a little out of hand. I still use the what-we-can-afford and not what-everyone-else -is-doing as the measure.
The kids felt good doing and making this particular gift. Over the past few months we’ve had all different ideas. But with time on our tail we wanted something that was practical, useful and homemade.
I’d come across these pens in the States at offices when you needed to fill things out. For us that was inevitably the doctors office where we feel we lived with three children as well as any office we went to on the military installation. Before flower pens they must have lost so many! Also I made one during a MOPS session complete with pen holder. Mine lives in the car.
Per child: one artificial flower ( We bought ours at Habitat) There were two flowers on one stem. Habitat is going out of business so we got a mega bargain.
- Floral tape
- Scissors
- Biro
Measure the artificial flower against the pen. Cut so the flower head shows and the base is near the bottom of the pen.
Start wrapping the tape around the pen and the stem of the flower so it overlaps. The MO watched me do a few wraps and was able to complete the whole thing himself. The BG (8) completed it all.
Smooth out the tape and adjust the stem/pen alignment. You may need extra tape at the bottom especially if you cut the end of the stem. check the pen holds well and no sharp edges.
Why a pen?
Teachers use a lot of pens all the time.
They’ll find your pen among all the pens.
Optional
* Add a spray of your favourite flower scent to the flower head or a few drops of essential oil. The boys chose this option.
To complete the gift
I interviewed the MO with some simple questions. He wrote the answers. ( 3-5 words each time around) Five questions, I think in total. I printed out the questions and we stuck his answer down and put the question on top so it was a lift the flap to see the answer. ( Should have taken a picture)
The BG wrote a letter to his teacher talking about the highlights of his year.
Both labeled them Thank You cards.
