Mother's Day Gift

I am so excited about the Mother's Day gift I did for my students this year. I think this is my favorite thing I've ever done. It came as a result of several different ideas I've seen.
First---I have the best mom ever and she cut out these very cute boards--then my dad routered the edges. Cost: Free

Then, I've seen everyone making their own chalkboard paint with paint and grout. So, Merlynn tried it out for me. It actually works out pretty good. I used some leftover gray paint from her house.
Cost: Grout

The kids painted them--we did about 4-5 coats. They were so cute about this and never complained that it was kind of boring. They loved the idea that they would be able to write whatever they wanted.

Then Merlynn came and took pictures of the kids. I bought some ribbon--we tied it around the board. Cost: SAD DAY--ribbon wasn't on sale at Michael's--of course $20

Then the kids wrote a message to their mother. And--we ended up with a stinkin' cute Mother's Day gift. Very cute, but still kid made, and useful.