A teacher sewed 22 hats, one for each drawing

Ashley Lowry, a first grade teacher at Wallace Elementary in Kelso, Washington, spent her winter break sewing 22 hats, one for each student, based on the designs they had colored in class. The project came from her aunt, Amy LaFave, who suggested it as a midwinter idea. Lowry photocopied blank winter-hat outlines and let the kids fill them in, some with solid blue or purple, others with careful repeating stripes. "I guess I didn't realize 22 hats was going to take as long as it did, but we managed," Lowry said. On the day of the reveal, she sent the children to recess, tucked a wrapped hat into each desk, then read them the book Extra Yarn. "Let's say magic magic! Drumroll!" she told them, and 22 kids drummed on their desks before opening their drawers. One girl got the unicorn hat she drew. "Because those are my favorite colors in the world," another explained.