Back to School

Here in Germany schools started again on Monday and over at Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog our theme for this week is "back to school". It is fitting perfectly, I think...

We're having some great sponsors for this challenge:

The Poodles Doodles

 

Prize - 7 Digis of winners choice

and 

Fred she said

Prize - $15 Gift Certificate

and

Eye Candie Creations

Prize - 4 digis of winners choice

First I made a bookmark as that was the only thing I came up with when I thought about the theme... Here in Germany it is not common to give cards to the kids that return to school after the summer holidays, that's why I had been struggling a lot with that theme  -  actually I always skipped those challenges in the past.

Here's the great corner bookmark I made:

and a bit closer as well...

Stamp: "Emma Blowing Bubbles" from Fred She Said & "Sparkling Bubbles" from Magnolia

Pigment Ink Pad in silver

Colours: Polychromos from Faber Castell

Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities

Punches: Floral Punch from Nellie Snellen

Charm: from Pink Gem Designs

Stickles, rocailles pearls, plain papers and cardstock from my stash.

I am entering the card in the following challenges:

trimmies craft challenge 167 - add a charm
moving along with the times challenge 157 - summer
just hanna stamps challenge 151 - summer
crafty catz weekly challenge 145 - anything goes
allsorts challenge 167 - going around in circles
di's digi designs challenge - no squares allowed
cards und more challenge 62 - anything goes
stempelsonne challenge 69 - Lesezeichen (bookmark)

But as the start of school always reminds me of the first years that start school, I also made something different  -  a small "Schultüte" (a Schultüte is a large cornet of cardboard filled with sweets and little presents given to children in Germany on their first day at school).

The tradition of the "Schultüte" leads back to approximately 1810, to Saxony and Thuringia in Germany. The first documented report of the cone-shaped Schultüte comes from the city of Jena in 1817, closely followed by reports from Dresden (1820) and Leipzig (1836). It started in the bigger cities but spread quickly to the small towns and villages, soon becoming an institution all over Germany.

At first the practice of the school cone, which did not spread to other parts of Germany at this time, was to not give the bag to the kids directly. Marked with the students' names, they were taken to the school by parents or godparents and in a ritual, reminiscent of the Mexican piñata, hung on a metal "Schultüten-Baum" (School cone tree) from which each child had to pick their cone, without breaking them. The story told to the children goes, that there is a Schultütenbaum growing at the school, and if the fruits (the Schultüten) are ripe and big enough to pick, it's time to go to school for the first time.

The only custom that has changed in the later half of the 20th century is that fewer sweets seem to appear in the Schultüte, with more practical gifts such as crayons and pencils, small toys, CDs, books and even articles of clothing replacing the traditional chocolates and candies. (from Wikipedia) 

The kids are also bringing the Schultüte into school... it's a good thing to hold on to when you're pretty shy (as I had been when I was small).

This is me with my Schultüte on my first day at school...

 Back then people bought those Schultüte, nowadays most moms craft their own in kindergarten.

 and a close up of the bubble blowing girl...

 

Stamp: "Emma Blowing Bubbles" from Fred She Said & "Sparkling Bubbles" from Magnolia

Pigment Ink Pad in silver and red

Colours: Polychromos from Faber Castell

Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities

Stickles, ribbon, crêpe paper,  plain papers and cardstock from my stash.

I am entering the card in the following challenges:

just hanna stamps challenge 151 - summer
stampin for the weekend challenge 15 - monochromatic
everybody art challenge 201 - summer