Wow, I wish I could help, but my middle school students do all their work in
class, and rarely take anything home at all. If they take something home and
don't bring it back, they know they have to scrub out the sinks or untangle
yarn.
I'm curious to know what kind of project it is though.
In 4 years I've only had 2 pieces of kid art actually stolen, so sometimes I
give them the choice to keep looking or... to keep looking, no do-overs
unless I decide it is really gone.