Jessica- Teacher's Survival Kit

Next month, my little girl will begin pre-kindergarten. Her teacher will be coming over to our home prior to school starting for an initial meeting. As a present, I made (with a little help from my daughter Anberlin) a "teacher's survival kit." It is filled with 2 mini tag albums. Each individual page has a small positive reminder.

Teacher's Survival Kit
by Jessica Summers

SUPPLIES
Patterned Paper: October Afternoon- Detours "Gazebo, Walk in the Park, Fruit Stand." Love, Elsie- Toby.
Die Cut Paper: Making Memories Noteworthy
Alphabet Stickers: Jenni Bowlin Chalkboard Alphabet
Chipboard: Maya Road Trees
Ranger Perfect Medium
Embossing Powder: Ranger-Gold
Paint: Making Memories Manila
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink- Tea Dye
Buttons: Autumn Leaves, Fancy Pants
Box- We R Memory Makers Card Box
Ribbon: American Crafts, Miscellanious Organza
Small Embellishments: Jolee's
Tools: Sizzix Big Kick, Cricut Machine (Christmas Cheer), Heat Tool (Marvy Uchida), 3m 414 ATG, sandpaper, felt, embroidery thread, glue dots, staples.

HOW TO
I altered a box that held a set of blank cards for this project. Cover each side individually with paper, trim excess with a craft knife. To get your paper edge closer to the box's edge, run sandpaper along the sides. This will distress your paper, but also get rid of any small excess.
For the tree, first stamp the trunk with the Ranger Perfect Medium and emboss gold powder onto it. Then cover the "leaves" part with a piece of green felt. The contrast of the two will give it more dimension.
Thread each individual button, the adhere using a strong glue dot. The tags were cut using a Cricut, then the edges distressed with Tea Dye ink.
Each tag reads:
-A rainbow to remind you that after every storm there is a calm and a star to remind you to shine!
-An eraser to remind yourself that everyoe makes mistakes. That's ok; we learn by our errors.
-Clothespins to help you "hang in there."
-Candles for those days wen you feel you need to light a fire under you students.
-Tea bags to remind you to take time to relax daily.
-A gift to remind you that your students are a gift to you and you are a gift to them.
-A puzzle piece to remind you that without you, things would not be complete.
-Animal cookies for when your classroom seems like a zoo.
-Smiley faces to remind you to wear a happy face.
-Rubber gloves for when you need a helping hand.

The tags are then decorated with various Jolee's embellishments and other things from my stash.