I’m Not Late…School Ends Today!

I know many of you have kids who are already out of school, but I kept changing my plans for end of year teacher gifts. Darn that Pinterest!

As the kid of two teachers, I also know teachers don’t want a whole bunch of “stuff” or usually homemade food.  I mean, they've seen your kid all year, doing heaven knows what gross thing. I’ve worked hard all year to convince my kids’ teachers they can eat what I make (pointing out at every opportunity that the kids don't help with food gifts)…and they seem to be!  I tried to make a little something for each teacher, then included it with their gift.


For all the “specials” teachers (art, music, gym, etc) we made these apple and dip combos, with a tag made from clipart I found at Two Yellow Birds.


For the dip, I mixed 8 oz softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and a dash of cinnamon.  Each batch filled three of the little Glad containers.  I think they’re 4 oz ones.  You could also use Mason jars, but I liked these summer-themed Glads.  I put the dip in a large Ziploc, cut the corner off, and piped it into the containers, to be neat. Then I just sprinkled each with Heath bits (they’re with the chocolate chips at the grocery store).

For the teachers, I made S’mores Buckets.  In the bucket are chocolate bars, graham crackers, and marshmallows, and a gift card to a baby store.  The second grader’s teacher is expecting, so I included a set of thank you notes I stamped.  The front is a subway art you can find at Happy Go Lucky.  I just resized it and changed the colors a bit using Photoshop.  It has the ABCs throughout it, which I thought fitting for a teacher.


The kindergarten teacher has three kids, so in her basket I included this set of 101 Boredom Busters.  I figure she’s entertained my kid all year, so I owe her a little bit of entertaining hers!  You can print the ideas here, at Shabby Beach Nest.


For the preschool teachers, Princess Thundercloud helped me put together these sun hats with beach towels, chocolate, and a magazine so they can enjoy their summer.


Last but not least, we made these little treats for their classmates.  I copied the clipart from this post at Itsy Bitsy Paper, then made small tags in Photoshop.  The treats are Scooby Graham Snacks. Super quick and cute.

If your kids are already out of school, you can always pin these for next year…or take a bucket of s’mores along as a hostess gift.  And you know you’re gonna need those 101 ideas to entertain your own kids this summer!  Have fun!

A Plethora of Teacher Gifts

I know, I did it to myself.  I showed the hooligans all these teacher appreciation ideas I’d pinned on Pinterest. So of course each of them chose a different idea for their teacher. Plus another for the bus driver. Really?

Here goes!

For Princess Thundercloud’s preschool teachers

(she actually agreed to give them both the same thing)

The kindergartner chose a Sharpies and Smarties jar for his teacher and her aide.

This was my favorite, for the second grader.  Although it was the most labor intensive, since I had to go to about 43 stores to find all the different candies. And you know how I hate to shop.

The label says “[Teacher’s Name], you totally ROCK (pop rocks)! You’re MOUNDS of fun and the RIESEN I love second grade. You help me learn to CRUNCH numbers and all sorts of EXTRA important things. You’re always KIND even when I act like an AIRHEAD.  I wish your PAYDAY could be 100GRAND! Here’s a giant thanks for putting up with my SNICKERS and silliness, and for helping me become a SMARTIE!”

The one I saw online was all on a posterboard, but I didn't like my mental picture of the hooligan trying to get that to school.


This “bouquet” for the bus driver was inspired by my friend Jennifer.  I added the flower stems made of marshmallow twists and ribbons as leaves. The label is chalkboard.


The flowers Jennifer created are made by stamping using the Mixed Bunch set from Stampin’ Up!, along with the blossom punch, so it took very little time to do. I used Sticky Strip to make them hold together when upright.


Last but certainly not least, these are the cups the parent organization gave to the staff at the boys’ school.  I got to fill them and tie on the ribbons and labels, with a little help from the hooligans.  I think they turned out really cute. They have candy and drink mixes in them.  If you were just giving them to a specific teacher, not 50 of them, it would be fun to put a gift card in there, too.

So, while I wish I could take credit for any of these, I really can’t.  I just put my own spin on things I found online…and you can, too!