"Handy" handmade coasters

It's that time of year to show our teachers how much we appreciate them. Last year, my two oldest daughters and I found this handmade gift idea in Family Fun magazine and worked on these hand-shaped coasters to give to their teachers.

To make them I traced my daughter's handprint onto a sheet of cardstock and cut it out for a template.  We traced four handprints from each girl onto a piece of scrap fabric using chalk.  I trimmed the fabric so that it would fit nicely onto my sheet of Stiff Fusible Interfacing.  Then I placed another piece of coordinating fabric on the underside of the interfacing.  I ran a hot iron (of course this is an adult's job) over the fabric and interfacing "sandwich" for roughly 30 seconds or so.  You can tell if you're done ironing because the fusing will be adhered to the fabric.  After the fabric was cool enough to pick up, I cut along the traced handprint and had 4 handprints shaped coasters to give to each teacher.

I felt like these needed something extra so I attached this little poem to the package:


"I know my hands are little
And sometimes make a mess,
So I’ve made for you some coasters
 to give your drinks a rest.

Thanks for being my teacher,
It’s kind of funny, can’t you see?
Now I’ll be helping you
By putting mess on me."


These were fun for my girls to give to their teachers last year, but would also make a meaningful Mother's Day gift for grandma.

I haven't decided what to do this year for our teachers, but have found some great inspiration around the web.  Check out some fantastic ideas on my Teacher Gifts board on Pinterest.