Schultuete

Tomorrow my step-grandson Nathanael has his first day at primary school. It is really exciting - more for us than for him I think! In Germany tradition has it that every child which starts primary school will be presented with a so-called 'Schultuete' (= school cone or school bag) by their parents or grandparents before they set off to school. The 'Schultuete' is a big cardboard cone, prettily decorated and filled with little toys, school supplies, and various other goodies. It is given to children to make this first day of school a little bit sweeter.
To carry on the tradition I decided to make a cone for Nathanael. I got the material from Hobby Craft (paper), used various Sizzix die-cut shapes and bits and bobs I had at home. The first step was to decide on a colour scheme for the cardboard. I chose light blue and chocolate brown for the card.

With the help of a pencil and some string I drew the cone shape onto both cards and then cut it to shape. You might wonder why I needed two cones but the individual cardboard would have been too flimsy to stand the weight of the goodies :-)

For me making two cones which fit into each other has always been a bit of a nightmare. It was not any different this time and it worked only with the help of double-sided tape, a lot of tacky glue and patience.

Crepe paper sits between the two cones. This will later be used to close the cone at the top.
And after the structural work the fun bit - the decoration.







And, of course, not to forget the contents .......

Nathanael's granddad, Peter Pop as he is called, will drop off the cone tonight so that Nathanael will find it tomorrow morning as a surprise.

This project reminded me very much of the days when my two children went to school for the very first time. They were so excited. New environment, new friends, the teachers and, of course, a huge school cone. Today they are both already adults, 24 and 26 years old. Time just goes so quickly.

Happy first school day to all who start tomorrow! Petra.