If you planned to make a handmade gift for your child's teacher this holiday, there's just enough time to make a personalized clipboard. If you plan right, it's possible to make one within a night, leaving it to dry overnight and then have ready to wrap up as your child rushes out the door.
They're easy to make, making sure you allow for drying time is the most important part to plan for. I like to take unfinished clipboards from office supply stores (usually about $2 a piece), paint the edges, and then use Mod Podge to decoupage on themed scrapbook paper.
All the cute themed paper pads available in school themes make it very easy to design a cute clipboard. Most papers within the stack will coordinate. I found one by
MAMBI at Micheal's that also had very nice sheets dedicated to each of the primary grades. These were fun to use for some clipboards I made for my friend Margaret's daughter's teachers. I simply paired the grade each particular teacher taught with the matching grade level sheet. First grade for her youngest daughter and third for her oldest.
It's nice to include a fresh new pad of lined paper with the clipboards, your child can write a holiday message right on the top sheet, eliminating the need for a Christmas card. We like to also slip a gift card underneath the clip, right on top of the pad of paper makes for a great presentation. What teacher wouldn't love a little $5 or $10 gift card to a local coffee shop to treat herself to a nice hot beverage on the way to school in the morning?
Awesome gift idea Katie. I know any teacher would love one of these! OK dumb question... how do you get around the clamp part?
ReplyDeleteThanks Malia! I only just started going bothering with going around the clamp. Before I would put the paper flush with the bottom of the clamp part that's attached to the board and paint the top edge a coordinating color. I made a paper template for the opening, through trial and error, cutting until I got a nice fit. Then I used it to trace onto the back of the paper. I usually use the same brand of clipboard so now I just pull out the template whenever I want to make one.
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