Teacher Appreciation Week: An Apple A Day

Everyone knows that "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." But did you know that "An apple a day makes the heart happy?" It does. Just look what my daughters class made for her teacher last year:


Isn't this cute? It turned out even better than I had imagined it would. I love when that happens...crafting success!

I had each child write a message on an artificial apple with a Sharpie. I didn't want to have 25 apples...where would you put them all? So I had 3 kids write on each apple. They each wrote a note to their teacher...some of them were REALLY sweet.

I know some days teaching can be really exhausting. What better way to recharge and remind yourself why you teach than messages from your sweet class?

The idea of this project came as I was getting some items together to donate. In my pile were these apples that had been in a decorative container at my house, but I was not using them anymore. As I went to check out my daughters class for gift ideas...I'm sneaky like that...I discovered apple green would be a great compliment to her classroom. Apples and teachers go together like peanut butter and jelly.

The basket was one I had in my craft storage. I sprayed it with a coat of RustOleum black paint to match the black writing on the apples. I love how it allows the children's notes on the apples to really pop. I attached the chalkboard sign to the front of the basket with a hot glue gun, even though chalkboards are pretty non-existent in classrooms anymore. They are still cute.

I love how this turned out. It is clean and simple and a classic design that will look good for years to come. It must have been a hit for our teacher...she still has it out this year.