Crafting a Back to School Tablescape

Years ago when my girls were still in school, we would have a party the night before the first day. For us, this happened to be Labor Day.  It was a “School Bus Party” and I made a school bus cake for the neighborhood kids.  You can see some of them here. We continued the party until my youngest graduated from high school.  After a while their parents joined us and there may have been a little wine as well.  

It has been some time since those kids used to gather around and talk excitedly about teachers and classes and all of the excitement that comes with the beginning of a new school year.  Sometimes I miss those days! 

Fast forward a few years and I have Covid during the last month of summer.  Fortunately it was a light case, but I was bored being isolated from family and friends and not able to go anywhere. Feeling a little sorry for myself I began to reminisce about the end of summer in the past and I found myself in the craft room.  I couldn’t make a cake, but I could still make a school bus! 

I got out the Cricut and an SVG file that I have had for years.  I made my brother’s bus with it previously.

 I will not mention where I got the cutting file, because it is not a good one and required a lot of manipulation to put both buses together. 

Yes, that is my children’s school bus.  Bus 600 took both of my girls to elementary school every year. (It also ran into my car once, but I don't want to talk about that!).

I love the little stop sign on the side.  And how the sun shines through the vellum. 

It took a long time to put this bus together, but even longer to test negative, so when I looked at the bus I thought I needed something else to go with it.  So, I made the apple. That’s back to school, right? 

This is from a Simply Crafty SVG file found here.  I wish I had had it when my kids were younger.  It would make a great gift card holder for a teacher’s gift.  I could also see little favor boxes for a Back to School party.  You could put little erasers, treats or some fun little toys in it (I was thinking maybe “Smarties” candies, of course).  

Then I decided that maybe I had the makings for a centerpiece for our Labor Day get together, but it needed a little bit more.  So I made the pencil to keep with the “Back to School” theme that developed along the way. 

The pencil is also a box. This cut is from Lori Whitlock SVG shop. This would be another cute gift card holder for a teacher’s gift.  I added the “No. 2”.  

While it probably would have made a lot more sense for me to actually rest, I just had to make one more item. The crayon box is another Simply Crafty cutting file that I adapted to look like our favorite art supply. 

This is also a super cute gift card box that would be perfect for a teacher’s gift or for a first day of school treat for an excited student.

Once freed from isolation, I went to the dollar store and picked up a canvas and made a chalkboard for the centerpiece.  

Since we were originally going to eat poolside, I set up plastic plates and cups in the table scape for the “main” table.  It got too hot to eat outside, but they still work for a back porch party.  I like these plastic plates from the Dollar Tree.  They can be easily washed if you are feeling inclined, or tossed for quick clean up- a little sturdier than paper plates, but not a large investment.  I also use them for chargers under paper plates like here. 

I used the same napkin fold that I have been using for picnics for years.  It is an easy fold that you can find the instructions for here.  

The tablecloth is fabric in school colors I bought years ago for school parties, homecoming tailgates, etc.  Blue and yellow have been school colors for us from kindergarten through college! 

My original inclination was to continue the theme with these stadium cups I keep in my craft stash from the dollar store. 

While it is a cute cut, I didn’t really like it here.  If I were still having this party for small children, this cup would be a cute favor holder.  Pencils, a small box of crayons and some after school treats would fit nicely in it.  

Not fancy, but fun.  

So what began as isolation and boredom ended up as a fun little tablescape for a small Labor Day gathering! 

By the way, our family had a Back to School playlist all those years ago.  You can find that here. It is not a bad list if I do say so myself and it holds up after all these years.  It even has a Jimmy Buffet song on it!  We were so sad that he passed over the weekend. He created the soundtrack for most of our favorite family memories since my children were very young, including Back to School! 

I hope you have lots of good Back to School memories too!  Thanks for stopping by today and Stay Healthy! 

~Cynthia