Hi there Skip to My Lou friends! I am Kirstin, half of the sister team that blogs at kojodesigns and shiny happy sprinkles and I’m thrilled to be here today! I adore Cindy, love her fabulous blog… and, as a former elementary school teacher, I am beyond thrilled to share an idea for appreciating teachers today

how to make chalkboard journals as teacher appreciations gifts

Like I said, once-upon-a-before-having-kids-time, I was a classroom teacher (and loved it). Now, as an at-home mama, I am finding all of these fabulous uses for the knowledge I acquired during my teaching days. Monitoring my preschooler’s progress as he learns to read and write? Noted. Spending hours (and hours and hours) of time reading to the Smooches just like I suggested to the parents of my students? Done. Filling our house with a ridiculous number of children’s books? Absolutely.

chalkboard covered notebook tutorialAnd turns out, come teacher appreciation season, I have tons of ideas (and lots of opinions) about the best ways to show teachers how much you appreciate them. I tend towards practical gifts (think Starbucks gift cards) and also love any chance to express heartfelt, personal thanks. I especially love pairing the two of those.

teacher appreciation gift idea- chalkboard journalFor my son, Burke’s, preschool teachers, we decided to make chalkboard covered journals. We turned ours into Quote Books where they can store their stories and quotes and laughable moments and paired with Starbucks gift cards for an early morning caffeine fix, but I think they’d be great just with a blank chalkboard cover as well.

Would you like to make a chalkboard notebook for a teacher in your life?

how to make a chalkboard journalFirst gather your supplies- a plain composition notebook, chalkboard contact paper (I got mine on Amazon), and scissors. Lay your opened notebook on top of the contact paper to measure how much you’ll need. Give yourself a border of at least an inch all the way around the edge. Also, close the notebook while holding the contact paper in place to measure how much you’ll need for the spine. Once measured, cut the contact paper. Notch the corners so you won’t have excess contact paper overlapping at the corners. To adhere, peel up one edge of the contact paper backing and place the back cover of the composition book in the center (again, leaving the perimeter you cut all the way around your cover). Carefully roll the spine of the comp book onto the contact paper, covering. Unpeel the rest of the contact paper and smooth onto the front cover of the comp book. Now, fold the excess around the edges of the book, trimming the excess on the spine and on the corners (if they’re rounded).

chalkboard notebook teacher appreciation giftNow the fun part- grab a chalk pen and some chalk and decorate the notebook (I did the front- Burke did the back), wrap up with a bow (and a gift card) and deliver to the teacher you appreciate!

kirstin and jordan from kojodesigns and shiny happy sprinklesThanks for having us Cindy! Skip to My Lou friends, stop by kojodesigns and Shiny Happy Sprinkles anytime!

Teacher Appreciation Week is the first full week in May. Through all of April I am excited to share some amazing ideas from some of the most wonderful bloggers for my Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas series! It’s a great month! You will be totally prepared with ideas to thank your teachers!

Stop by Kojo Designs for more crafty inspiration and to enter the Show your Appreciation giveaway today (you get a new entry each time your visit our guest blogger)! We are giving away hundreds of dollars worth of fun goodies! You won’t want to miss this!

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Comments

  1. Hi, always looking for new craft/gift ideas, just found this one! I have the chalk contact paper, just never thought of applying it to a book. Two of my favorite things! Thanks, this is a great idea!

  2. I am going to buy chalk board contact paper
    Right now 😉 I didn’t know this kind of paper existed and
    Thought the chalkboard paint was the only way to
    Achieve a chalkboard effect! I’m so excited to make this project!!!!
    Thank you!

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