The end of the school year is upon us and it is time to start thinking about teacher gifts. There is no shame in not making a handmade gift for your kids teachers. Gift cards and flowers are a great alternative. Let me show you a quick crochet teacher gift idea that doesn’t take a ton of time but still lets you get a little of your favorite craft in there.
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What We’re Making:
Katelyn, my Social Media Director, has two young kids and one was getting ready for the end of their preschool year. When my kids were in preschool I still did teacher gifts and Katelyn thought of a super cute way to incorporate crochet without needing a ton of time.
Work this project up in just a few hours and have it ready to gift next week.
Crochet Teach Gift Supplies:
- 8×8″ Shadow Box Frame
- 24 no. 2 pencils (purchased from the dollar tree)
- Super Glue
- Hot Glue Gun
- Silhouette Cameo Cutting Machine
- Permanent Vinyl
- Teacher quote to cut out
- Transfer tape (or contact paper)
- Red Heart Croquette yarn
- Size C Crochet Hook
- Blocking Materials (blocking board and pins)
6 Steps to Make a Crochet Teacher Gift:
To get started on your yarn teacher gift you will want to collect all of the materials that you need. Select the colors for your vinyl and Red Heart Croquette based on the person that you will be giving the gift to.
Follow these 6 simple steps to create your own personal crochet teacher gift.
Step 1-Making your crochet border:
To start off you will want to crochet your favorite border. This was my first step so that I could block them while I worked on the other parts of this project. Blocking is important when using Red Heart Croquette because it contains cotton which wants to be blocked to show off its beauty.
I selected border #72 from Eddie Eckman’s Crochet Boarder Book, and modified it slightly so that it wasn’t too long. Select anything that you like, but keep in mind you don’t want it to be too long leaving room for your quote. Also be sure that your finished piece is only about 8″ wide, you don’t want it hanging over the sides.
When you have finished you will want to block the pieces, particularly if there is any lace work involved. This will ensure that you see the detail of the border that you selected.
Step 2-Making your teacher quote:
First you will need to download a quote that you love to put on the front of your frame. I searched in the Silhouette Design Studio to find teacher quotes and landed on the one that I am using for the project.
Be sure to read the settings for your machine and cut out the vinyl. Weed your quote, move it to the transfer tape and then set it aside for later.
Step 3-Attaching your background:
Next I worked on getting the background of the crochet teacher gift. Open your frame and get your pencils together. Before starting to glue I tested to see how many pencils I would need to fill the shadow box, and found that 24 was a good number for the box that I had. I found that if I alternated directions they fit into the box in a uniform way that I preferred.
Once I knew how many pencils were needed I started to glue them into place with my hot glue gun. Be sure to use any pieces that came inside your frame to help line up your pencils. Then you know that you are getting the pencils centered.
Step 4-Adding your crochet border:
After your pencils are in place I glued on the crochet border that I made. I glued this to the top of the pencil so that I could put the frame around it to help hold it down. It also helped to hide the edge of the border and make it look a little cleaner.
Using hot glue along the side of the pencil carefully push down your border. NOTE: the glue is VERY hot so be careful when pushing it firm. You want it to be as flat as possible but watch for the glue coming through so that you don’t get burnt.
Because this teacher gift meant to be hung on a wall or set on a table I wanted to make sure that the points of my crochet border were stuck down and didn’t flop around inside. I chose to use super glue for this step since I knew that using a hot glue gun would not be as clean.
Step 5-Adding your quote:
Start by cleaning the glass that came with your frame. You want to make sure that there is no dust on it so that the vinyl can make a clean connection. Use the transfer tape to line up the quote on the glass and burnish it in place.
Step 6-Putting it all together:
Now that you have all of the pieces finished you are ready to assemble it. Put the glass back into the frame with the vinyl quote on the outside, facing out. Add your pencil background and you are all finished! Wrap up your gift and watch how impressed the teacher is with your craftiness.
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