Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Teacher Gift: Pointer & Tutorial

Hi friends,
Today is Day 3 of Teacher Gifts! So, did you guess what today's project was going to be from the clues I left you yesterday??? Well, wonder no more! Today's Project, I call...

"It's a Pointer, Sister!
"
(Yes, I'm a total child of the 80's! Can you tell? Tee! Hee!)
I saw a pointer years ago in a Teacher's Supply Store. It caught my eye so I walked over to see it. I thought "Oh my Gosh! This is so cute!!! Then I looked at the price tag and it was not cute :( I looked at it some more & thought ...I could do this. So I went home & did. When the other teachers got a peek at my pointers, they went ga-ga over them! So that Thursday, during our planning time, we planned on making these. We had such a blast! To be a fly on the wall that day! Well, lets get on with the deets, shall we...

Here's What You'll Need:
1 Glove
Dowel (5/16" x 36")
Strong Fabric Adhesive or glue gun
Fiberfill (Used to stuff dolls, toys, pillows. It's found at most craft stores.)
ribbon


TIPS:
I like using kid's gardening gloves b/c often they're already decorated in cute patterns/ designs and they're a great size. You can use regular adult gloves, but they're a bit big, especially to the younger kiddos. A great time to get these is NOW when they're on clearance. Watch for when stores start moving out their spring gardening items. As you can see, I picked these up for only $1. You can also cut the dowel in half to make 2 shorter pointers. I purchased the Fiberfill from JoAnn's (with coupon). I use it for other school projects as well.

Now let's get started!

Grab your glove, dowel, & the Fiberfill.

Take chunks of fill & stuff the glove 1 finger at a time and work your way through the hand. Add more, take some out, adjust the fill until it's nicely filled (no need to overstuff).
It is helpful to tie a rubber band nea
r the seam of the glove so you have both hands free. Place three fingers (middle, ring, pinky) down on the palm. This is just to see where finger placement will look the best.
Then add adhesive to the middle finger pads...

and firmly press down. Hold until it has adhered well. (I use a glue gun b/c it's an aggressive hold & it also adheres quickly. Use caution when using a glue gun so you don't burn yourself.)
Then remove the rubber band. Take the dowel & push it through the fill so that one end goes all the way up to the tip of the pointer finger. You want to make a little tunnel to make it easier for the next step.

Now add a bit of adhesive to the end of the dowel as shown.

Push the dowel through the little tunnel all the way until you reach the finger tip. The reason for adding glue to the tip of the dowel is so that the glove doesn't spin around on the dowel.

Now to close off the glove, wrap ribbon near the seam & tie a bow.Ta dah!!! You know what comes next. Stick a fork in it...it's DONE! You can also add more ribbons hanging down, add little charms, use a scrunchy with lots of frillys & use it as the closure, add a bracelet- have fun with it!

Here's what it looks like from the other side:
Now, it's all good and everything, but we have to make sure it works. Hmmm, how do we check? Let's see. "Pointer, who's my boyfriend?"

In 3...


2...


1...

BAM!!!

IT WORKS!!!! Yup, it's Johnny Depp :) Swooon. He's so gorgeous- luuuuv him! Plus, he's supah dupah talented! (He's smitten with me too, he just doesn't know it yet ;) But if he ever finds out I exist- WATCH OUT!

Here are some other examples of pointers I've made in the past:

I made all of these by using antenna balls. Talk about easy-peasy lemon squeesy, right! I got these from fast food restaurants (FREE) with purchase of a combo meal. Since I haven't had an exterior antenna on my car for years, I had to put them to good use another way! Tee! Hee! My kiddos use them in my classroom as well. When I taught 1st grade, they used them for "Reading the Room." They luuuuuv these!

Ok, now for the matching card:
I tried to make it look like the pointer :) I used the Mickey & Friends Cricut cartridge to die cut the pointing hand. I added the little caterpillars & apples myself with Copics, copying the pattern. It's popped up with dimensionals, but it's hard to tell in the pic. The sentiment on the front says "Thanks for..." and the inside reads, "pointing our kids in the right direction. Have a great school year!" I'm sure you can think of something clever to write. :)

3 down, 2 to go! I hope you liked these pointers :) They are cute, easy, & inexpensive to make- the theme for this week!

Thanks so much for peekin' at my project today :) I sure hope you enjoy the time you spend at my blog! I hope you come back for tomorrow's project- I promise it won't hurt a bit! I'm off to recharge my camera batteries. Poor things have been working overtime!--- Gotta Go!


5 comments:

  1. Another fun teacher gift. I'm enjoying all these great ideas!

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  2. Karli, what a GREAT gift idea!!!!! Super job!!! (oh, and you'll have to fight me for Johnny!) :)

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  3. LOL you just crack my up with the Pointer Sister ...too cute. I was thinking in my mind... oh the ways my former junior high students would pervert this.....hehe but its adorable!

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  4. This pointer is a hoot - love it!

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