Teacher Appreciation Week ~ Paper Flower Tree (Craft)

This week is Teacher (or staff) Appreciation week and this is a great opportunity to show appreciation to those who have the stamina and heart to put up with our kids for 6 + hours a day for minimal pay. =0)

At my kids' school the grades take a day (Monday was the 6th graders' day) and the parents provide a lunch or an array of treats for the staff to enjoy.  Since I was in charge of Monday we provided a Tapas lunch for the staff and I made this tree (thanks in part to the inspiration from the Craftberry Bush).

The "tree" has 51 flowers and in the picture frame next to the tree, I wrote that each flower represents a 6th grader at the school whom the teachers have touched and whose soul they have helped to blossom.  Then, I also included a poem about being a teacher.

Here is how I created this tree:

1.  I used an old pot that once used to house a lemon tree (dwarf).......I have no green thumbs. =0(   But, the pot had great character and aging.

2.  I cut up styrofoam from packing in a product that I had purchased previously (I might not have green thumbs but I do like to be "green" when I can) and filled the pot.

3.  I cut a dead limb from my lilac tree and glued that down inside the styrofoam as the tree base.

4.  I used my Cricut and cut out 3 different sizes of flowers on card stock.

5.  I cut circles out of an old statistics book and folded them up for the centers of the flowers.  I then glued them in the middle of the flowers.

6.  I used watered down food coloring and painted the centers of the flowers blue.

7.  I curled up the edges of the flower petals using my thumb and a screwdriver (a pencil would also work great).

8.  I covered the base of my tree with moss and glued it down.

9.  I then glued the flowers on the tree starting with the larger ones on the bottom and then decreased in size as I went up the tree.

Several staff members came into the teacher's lounge just to check out the tree as I was setting up. And, from what I hear from my kids it was the talk of the school.  I am glad that I was able to have this opportunity to thank the staff at Webster school for all that they do. =0)