DIY Teacher Appreciation Gift: Class Birthday Board

by Glenna Anderson

Interesting little fact about myself: in high school I thought I would grow up one day to become a teacher! Then I realized that I didn’t really like kids all that much {queue buzzer sound} so I scratched that idea off the list. I do highly respect teachers, though. How many people do you know who can be cramped in a class full of snotty kids all day and not duct tape them all to a chair? For that reason, we dedicate this post to all teachers, young and old, near and far. And for the special teacher in our life, we designed this DIY Teacher Appreciation Gift: Class Birthday Board!

DIY Teacher Appreciation Gift: Class Birthday Board

There are several variations on Pinterest but we wanted it to be custom to classroom decor. What better than a ruler? Plus… I may have already had a scrap piece of pallet wood from a failed project that happened to remind me of a ruler.

I started out with my scrap piece of pallet wood (28 inches long) and filled the nail holes with wood filler. Once dried, I sanded it smooth and applied my beautiful yellow paint. I thought it was so ironic that the color of yellow I chose was called School Bus Yellow. {PERFECT!}

diy teacher appreciation gift class birthday board, chalkboard paint, crafts, painting, pallet, woodworking projects

I considered creating a stencil with my silhouette and painting the lettering on the wood board. Then I came to my senses and realized I could apply vinyl directly to the wood. After creating the design in Silhouette Studio (apple design from the Silhouette Online Store), I proceeded to cut and apply using normal settings and processes. Since my board is 28 inches long, I did separate the vinyl design into three different sections to conserve vinyl, then lined them up as I applied it to the board.

Once the board is completely set up, I highly recommend applying a thin coat of clear sealant (I prefer the spray paint variety) to help the vinyl adhere to the wood.

To conserve time, you can perform this next step in advance to allow for drying time. The most common design we found for this style board was to use the circle wood discs and small eyelet screws to create little hooks. I’m not a fan of complicated and time consuming projects, so I decided on a simpler (and cuter) way… say good by to small, tedious screws and hello to cute, adorable baby clothes pins. I cut small rectangle shaped chipboard pieces using my rotary cutter (my dimensions were 2″ x 3/4″. I then coated my chipboard in chalkboard paint, allowed to dry, then used my handy-dandy hot glue gun to attach the small clothes pins.

With my hot glue gun handy, I proceeded to glue various strips of ribbon aligned with each of the months (approx. 6″ in length). Combine the ribbons with the chalkboard paint, this easily allows the teacher to change names and move tiles around without much effort at all. We all know they have too many kids running around to take much time rearranging a birthday board. I also created a ribbon hanger with a small accent bow for the board to be easily displayed.

Enjoyed the project?

You can do it! Saved to your projects

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this project?

Ask a Question

Comments

Join the conversation

2 comments

Miriam Illions on Apr 30, 2014
Lol, love your narrative. Fun idea!

Like Reply
Glenna Anderson on May 01, 2014
Thanks Miriam! This was a fun project.

Like Reply