Mother's Day Ideas and a {FREEBIE}!

Hi Friends!
   Let me start by saying Happy Teacher's Appreciation!!  It's that time of year when everything starts piling up, and it's really hard to keep up with it all!

   With field day, end of year testing, paperwork, report cards, and of course, TEACHING, it gets a little overwhelming! On top of that, Mother's Day is this weekend, and sometimes we found ourselves scrounging for something to do that's, easy, cute and heartfelt.

   Here are some things I've done in the past, and I thought I'd pass along some ideas that worked for me.

Last year and this year, we made these adorable clay fingerprint necklaces.  I got the idea from the fabulous Lory Evans, and they were a huge hit. The kids and the mommas absolutely loved them!!

You get Sculpey Oven-Bake Clay (one box will be plenty!). Roll it out like dough, and use a heart-shaped cookie cutter.  Cut out the hearts, and have students use their pointer finger to make two fingerprints to make a heart.

Make sure you put the hole in it while the clay is still pliable.  Bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes. Paint with acrylic pant, let dry, string and VOILA!

{You can also use colored Sculpey clay and avoid the painting if you would like}

 A couple years ago, we made these super cute tea towels.  You get really heavy grit sandpaper (40 grit, no more than 60), and flour sack tea towels. You can find all this at WalMart for pretty cheap.  The kids will draw a SIMPLE picture on the sandpaper. *The image needs to be the mirror of what you want it to look like on the towel*

Lay the tea towel down on an ironing board, then put the sand paper drawing face down onto the tea towel. Place an old towel in between the sand paper and your iron and press.  You will leave your iron for a few seconds until it's hot enough and the image will transfer onto the towel.

Throw the towels into the dryer for 1-2 minutes to set, and you're done!  I have former parents that STILL have these towels and they've washed them successfully.  Big hit!

{The sandpaper EATS the crayons, so be prepared to go through a bunch while doing this!}

 Handprint bags!   I grabbed these totes for about 50 cents a piece at Garden Ride (At Home, now).  It's pretty self explanatory, but I just painted their little hands, and placed around a circle in the middle of the bag.  The kids then painted the stem, and we laid them out to dry. 

 Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Lastly, we are making these cute little booklets for our mama's this year. My kids are so excited about their little cupcake books, and I wanted to share them with you, too!! 

 You can grab this for FREE in my TpT store by clicking {here} or on either of the pictures. 

Alternatives for aunt, grandma and other loved ones are included in the file.

 I hope you've found some ideas you can use this week.  Wishing you all the happiest of Teacher Appreciation Weeks, too!  I hope you all have a moment this week when you realize just how much of a difference you make each and every day.  As always, thanks for stopping by!!