School Jitters Pencil Box

The beginning of school can be a little scary for kids...new school, new teacher, different classmates, new routines and many new things to learn.  That's a lot to get used to for a kid, heck, that would be lot for an adult.  With all the changes a new school year brings, it may cause a bit of separation anxiety, like my daughter Ava had at the start of kindergarten last year.  This year I thought she may need a little something at school, that reminded her of home, to ease her through her day.  A photo would be a great reminder.  When I worked in an office, I always had photos of my loved ones around and it was very comforting to see their faces during the day.  I wanted to somehow send a photo to school with Ava.  I was getting her supplies together and we had her pencil box from last year that was a little marked up but still in perfectly good shape.  I thought, this is how I could send a family photo with her.  I could decoupage the top of the pencil box with a photo and make this old box new for her.

Here's what I started with:
A Pencil Box
Letter stickers
Embellishing stickers
A Photo on Printer Paper
A Piece of Scrapbook Paper
Decoupage Glue
Foam Brush

                       

      

                                                       

First I cut the craft paper to fit the pencil box.  Then painted the decoupage glue onto the pencil box and  placed the paper on it.  I then smoothed out the paper with my fingers.

Next I cut the photo to fit the box in a shape that I thought looked nice.  I painted the decoupage glue on the photo and placed the photo on the paper where I wanted it to go.  Again I smoothed it out with my fingers.

I then spelled my daughters name with stickers and painted the decoupage glue over the photo, paper and stickers.  Any glue that overflowed onto the clear part of the pencil box, I wiped off with a wet cloth.

After it dried, I decided to embellish it a little more with some sparkly flower stickers, with jewels in the center.  Then I painted on another coat of decoupage.

It was dry about an hour later.  Finally finished and ready for her desk, in her new First Grade classroom.

Ava is going to feel so much better this year, being at school all day.  All she has to do when she's missing us, is to look down into her desk and see her family's smiling faces to feel more at home.