End Of The Year Student Reward Ribbons

At the end of the school year students love to be rewarded for their hard work. These ribbons are an easy and affordable way to showcase each childs talent.

Items needed:
White cardstock
Various prints of 5/8 inch ribbon
Safety Pins
Glue
Circle Die Cut or punch
Color Printer


To make these ribbons:
1. I first set up a template on Microsoft word. On my template I inserted 2" circles and then typed what the award was for, centering the words in the circle. I then added a small clipart picture from the windows clipboard to go with each theme. I printed my sheet, cut out my circles, and set them aside.

2. I cut 2.5" circles out of construction paper that coordinated with my ribbons and set them aside.

3. I then cut 13 (Thirteen) 2" and two 3.5" strips with a bias edge from each of my ribbons.

4. I folded 12 (Twelve) of my 2" ribbons in half and glued the ends together just slightly askew. Save one!

5. Once the ribbons were dry, I glued them onto my 2.5" inch construction paper circles slightly over lapping as I went around the edge. I glued the 3.5" strips to form a V at the bottom of the award.

6. After the ribbons were dry I glued my award circle on top of the ribbon circle and turned it over.

7. I placed my safety pin on the back and glued my last 2" strip across to hold it in place.

 You can buy awards similar to these at party stores and dollar stores but the price can add up if you are purchasing for an entire class. With these ribbons you can personalize them to a specific student or a specific talent. I have come up with the following sayings:
1. Class Clown
2. Awesome Artist
3. Song Bird
4. Perfect Attendance
5. Remarkable Reader
6. Math Whiz
7. Grammar Genius
8. Superb Speller
9. Stunning Science Skills
10. Fantastic Listener
11. Awesome Handwriting
12. Best Behavior
13. Wonderful Writer
14. Social Studies Star

These awards can literally be made for pennies each.
Cheapest places I have found to buy these supplies:
The dollar bins at Michael's Crafts has some cute 5/8" x 3 yards print ribbons. Good deal for a buck!
The Dollar Tree sells packs of multi sized safety pins for $1.
Walmart sells 8.5" x 11" white cardstock paper 150 sheet packs for less than $5.
Construction paper seems to sell for the same price everywhere.
I ALWAYS stock up on glue sticks and plain old Elmers when Walmart is having their back to school sale.

If you would like me to email you the template I have created just leave me a comment with your email address. DON"T WORRY my comments are set to private and I will not save or share your email address.
Thanks!

Intro

My son goes to a school that is run like a very tight ship. Uniforms, strict discipline, everything scheduled down the the minute, and no Halloween or Christmas celebrations. I love his school though because they are VERY focused on the students education and because so, he is currently testing at two grade levels ahead of where he currently is. I volunteer as the room mom every other year to show him and his teachers my support and interest in his schooling. I noticed right away that the few "parties" they are allowed throughout the year are usually very generic and almost down right boring. I try to go above and beyond to throw an exciting yet affordable party every time. I want them to feel rewarded for all the hard work they are doing and look forward to some silly time in class. Some teachers are very open to trying new things while others are set in there ways, so it makes throwing a memorable shindig somewhat difficult. Over the years I have "borrowed" and come up with some of my own fun ideas that range from simple and clean to crazy and messy and I look forward to sharing them with all of you.


I will post instructions, videos, web links, and credits to the best of my ability. Please bear with me. Even though I think I may have come up with something absolutely great doesn't mean I did. It may already be out there in cyberspace without my knowledge. I will also list where I have found the best deals on the materials needed and and approximate cost of the total craft.

Last week was teacher appreciation week at our school. The door decorating theme was "patriotic". I searched and searched the web looking for inspiration because I was stumped! I didn't want to do flags or stars. It seemed like the obvious choice, therefore I knew all of the other doors would look the same. I can tell you first hand there isn't much out there when it comes to patriotic teacher door decorations. This got me thinking. Every party I've thrown I have had many fun and interesting activities so maybe my ideas could help another stumped mom.

I have a few ideas I will be sharing about last day of school activities and teacher thank you gifts, but since the school year is coming to a close most of the crafts and activies I will be posting in the beginning of this blog will be spring and summer related. They are perfect for keeping your little one busy while keeping there hand eye coordination sharp.

Thanks!