This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.
Back to school season is in full swing over here and well, everywhere. I know for everyone the school season looks different this year. For my kids it’s just way different safety standards and masks in the hallways but for some it includes the school year being pushed back, virtual school, hybrid schedules, and so on. A year ago none of us would have anticipated this which I think is so crazy but here we are. Whether your kids are doing in person, virtual, or hybrid, there is one thing for certain – those teachers are going to be working hard and doing everything possible to figure out how to be the best teachers under new circumstances. I can’t even imagine. Every year I do back to school gifts for teachers because I’m a sucker and want them to like me and my kids – but this year I wanted to make sure they were extra nice so that they know how much we appreciate them showing up and teaching our kids under these strange circumstances. I put together little gift bags for Maddie Grace’s teachers including personalized face masks since they have to wear them all day, tumblers with their names and the school logo, and super cute apple bags with their names!
The first ones I made were the personalized bags. For these I used Cricut’s Influsible Ink which I find such a fun medium to play around with. I’m always nervous I’m going to mess it up but I’ve made several things with Infusible Ink now and they’ve all turned out perfect so don’t be scared it’s really a pretty easy thing to do and makes really cool finished products! I started by cutting out my design on the Cricut using really pretty watercolor Influsible Ink sheets with this pretty apple design I found on the Cricut app – make sure you cut with mirror on for Influsible Ink – I did a few different colors so that the apple and stem/leaf were different colors and the name was in a pretty blue. Then you weed the design which is super easy. Then comes the part that scares me but is actually really easy. I turned on my Easy Press using the heat settings suggested for these products on the Cricut guide and let it heat up. I also took the Influsible Ink tote bag I was using for this product and used a lint roller on it to make sure nothing tiny was stuck on it. Once the Easy Press was heated I preheated the bag for 5 seconds to get out any wrinkles and get a really flat surface to work on. To make sure the ink doesn’t bleed through to the other side of the bag I put a piece of cardstock in the middle of the bag. Then I put the design I was transferring face down on the side I wanted it and taped it flat using Cricut Heat Resistant Tape. Next I covered with a sheet of parchment paper (it comes with the ink sheets) and then I put my Easy Press down on top and held it down for the amount of time the guide told me to (30 seconds). I used light pressure on it and then when I removed to press allowed it to cool for a few minutes before removing the paper to check on my project. And like I said it looked perfect! I have no idea how this magic works but it is so cool and makes the best personalized gifts!!!
Next up was the teacher masks! Our teachers have to wear masks so I wanted to get them a nice mask with their names on them and also put the school logo on the other side which turned out super cute. Plus they match the masks I made for Maddie Grace using the Cricut too and I knew she would get a kick out of matching her teachers! I think the best part with these was her teachers complimented her mask at Meet the Teacher and she told them they had one for each of them in their gifts! These were SUPER easy to make. I just cut out their names using my Cricut machine and the Cricut app and uploaded a digital file of the school logo to cut that out. I used white for the names and yellow for the logo (the school colors are navy and yellow). I weeded the designs and then used the Cricut Easy Press to transfer the vinyl over based on the Cricut Easy Press heat guide. It was super easy and really the perfect teacher gift for this crazy year for any teachers teaching in person!
Finally I did my go to back to school gift – personalized tumblers for teachers! For this I again did the school colors for the tumbler (navy) and cut out the teachers names using a really pretty glitter permanent vinyl from Cricut and used Cricut Transfer Tape to transfer the design to the cup. This glitter vinyl is one of my favorites to work with – cuts easily, weeds like a dream, and transfers smoothly and stays put! I did the logo in a pretty pearl vinyl also from Cricut that worked really well and looked pretty.
For a finishing touch I used the Cricut with Cricut pens to make cards to attach to the gifts. I did a cool back to school drawing using the machine (I still can’t get over how cool it is to have a machine draw for me with a pen) and Maddie Grace colored them in which was a really nice special touch to get her involved with. Then I handwrote a note inside the card for her teachers!
So in closing I know these are crazy times but I really thing if we as parents stay positive and upbeat we can still have a good year! I’m so thankful for all the teachers working hard to give our kids the best education possible and want to show that thankfulness through gifts and these worked great so hopefully this helped some of you come up with ideas for your own gifts! I made some other cool back to school stuff using my Cricut too – Back to school signs for the kids, a cute apple monogram shirt for Tripp, and like I mentioned above Maddie Grace’s personalized masks! Hope everyone has a smooth back to school!
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