School Days

Whether you’re recording your child’s school year, congratulating a graduate or thanking a dedicated teacher; May is the time to bring school projects into full focus. Heritage Makers offers beautiful yearbooks for almost every grade, meaningful gifts or greetings for the graduate and one-of-a-kind teacher appreciation gifts. Let’s take a look at a few examples in each of these areas.

Yearbooks to Remember
From pre-school to graduation, every grade and experience is something to be preserved and celebrated. Ask any grandma and she’ll tell you, you may THINK you’ll never forget your child’s performance in the school play or his third grade best friend; but memories fade fast. As a parent, one of the greatest legacies you can leave your child is a record of his or her younger years. Roxanne Buchholz has an entire line of 8 x 8 yearbooks that span pre-school to high school. You’ll love how easy these books are to use and how they coordinate with one another so you can make one each year. Those shown here are “HM Kindergarten Yearbook,” template 81118; “HM 1st Grade Yearbook,” template 56434; “HM 2nd Grade Yearbook,” template 56433; and “HM 6th Grade Yearbook,” template 25798.



Words of Advice for the Graduate
Looking for a classic gift of wisdom and encouragement that can go with the graduate as he or she starts her life journey? Sandra Dovre’s “A Bit of Advice-Son,” template 34717 and “A Bit of Advice-Daughter,” template 34832 are Heritage Makers projects that celebrate the occasion and become lifelong keepsakes.



A Memento for the Graduate
One of the simplest graduate gifts you can create is a framed 11 x 14 “Graduate Subway Gift.” Template 84423 is by Lynda Angelastro and can be customized with appropriate school colors, name and initials along with the graduate’s name. Buy a large frame at the hobby and craft store that is matted for an 11 x 14 photo. Use a 40% off coupon and a good frame should be well under $20. With your Club HM membership, you’ll be creating a wonderful, original, personalized gift that’s also very reasonably priced!



Teacher Appreciation Time
At Heritage Makers, there are a many a one-of-a-kind ways to tell your child’s teacher “thank you.” Try these two ideas from Sharon Macfarlane. They are made on simple 7 x 5 Invitations that can be hole punched and attached to a beach bag for the “Teacher Fun-in-the-Sun Kit,” template 83307 or to any kind of container for the “Teacher Movie Mania Kit,” template 83309. Instructions are included on the reverse side for teacher to use an assortment of small gifts for a day at the beach or the movies. The reverse side also includes a place for a “thank you” from your child.




Group Teacher Appreciation Gifts
If you’re responsible for gifts for all the teachers in the school or want to say thank you to several of your children’s teachers, try these fun ideas from Roxanne Buchholz. “HM POP-ular Gift Tags” template 86184 and “HM Smart Cookie Gift Tags,” template 86183 are each designed especially for teacher gifts. Each card of these decks can be personalized on the front side to make up to 54 custom labels for cellophane bags of gourmet popcorn or cookies. Personalize with the name of the teacher and the child, or the class if it’s a group gift. If you’re using the gifts tags on cello bags of cookies, make the cookies from any recipe that stores well for a couple of days. For the popcorn tags, use your family’s favorite gourmet popcorn recipe or try the ones we show here.

LIME POPCORN
3/4 cup popcorn
1/4 cup olive oil for cooking popcorn
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Pop popcorn in hot-air popper or in olive oil in large lidded pan on stove. Mix together the butter, lime juice, lime zest and salt. Put popcorn in large, lightweight paper bag and pour over popcorn. Shake until popcorn is coated and moist. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spread popcorn evenly. Heat oven to 300 degrees and bake popcorn for 5-7 minutes until dry.

WHITE CHOCOLATE POPCORN
Two 3 1/3 ounce bags microwave popcorn
6 ounces white chocolate chips
Pop popcorn, remove unpopped kernels. Melt white chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Place popcorn in large bowl or on cookie sheet. Drizzle melted white chocolate over all and refrigerate until hardened. Break up into smaller clumps before bagging.

Heritage Makers offers gifts and greetings for every school occasion. To find templates for commemorating your child’s school year, gifting a graduate or saying “thank you” to your child’s teacher; simply head to the Template Gallery. Search on “school,” “teacher,” “graduate” or “gift” to find well over a thousand perfect present possibilities for your school needs.

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.