Back to School with a Post-It Clipboard!

Summer vacation is winding down (though here in Texas, the temperatures show no sign of cooling off in the near future!) and kids are getting ready to return to school. I love blessing my childrens’ preschool teachers with a little first-day-of-school gift so I thought I would show you what I have up my sleeve for them this year.

It’s yet another quick, simple, and inexpensive project that turns out to be super cute and useful! What teacher can’t use a sweet little notepad on a small clipboard? And who doesn’t love a few morsels of chocolate?

So here we go!

Supplies I used:

A is for Apple Digichick Boutique collab
4″ coaster
3″ post-it note pad
large binder clip
Mod Podge
sponge
Hershey Treasures candy
sheet of white address labels, size 1″ x 2 5/8″ (3o on a sheet)
Epson Premium Matte Photo Paper
Fiskars Paper Trimmer
sandpaper
scalloped circle punch
small hole punch
ribbon
straight pin
brown ink for distressing
small sponge to apply ink

I started by printing some of the papers from the A is for Apple collab kit onto my address labels. I love labels in this size because they are the perfect dimensions to wrap around Hershey Treasures candies to give them a cute decorative touch. I wrapped the label around each candy by placing the center of the label onto the candy and then folding the sides down to where they met at the bottom.

See how much cuter they look all wrapped up in festive, colorful papers?

Next, I created the base for my clipboard. I sanded the coaster as it had a glossy finish and I wanted to rough it up a bit so the Mod Podge would adhere better.

After sanding the coaster, I used the sponge brush to apply a fairly thick coat of Mod Podge.

Next, I placed the coaster onto the back of the background paper. I turned the whole thing over and applied firm, even pressure to the front, paying special attention to the edges and corners.

Once again, I used my tried-and-true method of running a straight pin around the edge of the coaster to score the paper and remove the excess.

I turned my coaster over and sanded the remaining paper off. Then I took my brown ink pad and a sponge and distressed the edges. I repeated this step for the back of the coaster.

After that, I cut a paper strip that measured 1.25″ x 2″ and applied Mod Podge to the back of the strip.

I adhered the paper to the outside of the binder clip. I used the straight pin to tuck the edges of the paper under the curved part of the binder clip.

Once the Mod Podge was dry, I used the binder clip to attach the post it notepad to the coaster. I tucked a little yellow pencil under the binder clip.

I used my scalloped circle punch to make a little tag to attach to the coaster clipboard. I turned the punch upside down so I could “fussy cut” and make sure the apple was in the center of the circle. Then I used a small hole punch to make a hole through which I could thread ribbon to attach the tag to the clipboard.

I stamped a sentiment using the “For You” stamp from my Minis4Circles stamp set by The {Stamps} of Life.

Finally, I used a red gingham ribbon to attach the tag to the clip.

After I tied the tag to the clip, I decided I would rather package up the clipboard and chocolates into one clear plastic bag. Isn’t it adorable?

I’m not a teacher, but I know if someone presented me with this thoughtful little gift, I would be thrilled! I really hope my kiddos’ preschool teachers love them.

Back to School with a Post-It Clipboard!

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