Personalized Statement Take-Aways
UMBC Training Centers' end-of-program awards
UMBC Training Centers is a premier provider of professional and technical training for individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies. UMBC Training Centers is a part of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and is organized as a not-for-profit organization owned by UMBC. See Website >
Students of our Leadership Program receive awards (usually in the form of certificates) at the end of a successful few years. This year, we wanted to do something a little different.
I was asked to create unique gifts that served as both functional and memorial. Each student finished the program with a "capstone" leadership statement that summarized their action plans for the future. Below is the project from I SPY DIY that inspired me to create these unique gifts.
This project was originally inspired by a DIY post for corkboard book ends found here.
The first step was gathering all necessary materials. The most difficult to obtain were the statements themselves - each was written on sticky notes in scrambled handwriting. I sent the statements out to be engraved on bronze plates. Next, I ordered concrete pencil cups, cork board, push-pins, 80lb silk cover paper, stamps, and pens. Construction was quite easy. Before applying anything, I lightly sanded and scrubbed the surfaces of each cup. Next, I cut 12"x12" cork boards to fit the pencil cups, and applied them using regular craft glue. The bronze plates came with adhesive.
After letting the cups set for 24 hours, I stamped the bottom of each cup and its corresponding packaging box with our company's logo using a multi-surface quick-dry stamp. I printed out small thank-you notes and pinned them neatly to each cup, then added a company-branded pen.
Finally, I wrapped each cup in bubble wrap and packaged them for delivery. As always, I ordered extra pencil cups - I do this in the event of any accidents. Since everything went so smoothly, I got to keep one of these beauties for myself! I'm extremely satisfied with the way these turned out, especially given the time-frame (a week) and budget.
