DIY

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Teacher Appreciation Ideas

Teacher Appreciation ideas

impatien

Impatient Plant – Plant a simple impantien into a bright colored plastic pot. Tape a card onto a pencil and stick in dirt. Tie a ribbon. Cute and witty.

teacher appreciation gift lanternLantern – We bought a lantern from Target and fill with chocolate covered pretzels.  Attach a card with a reference to the teacher being a “light” in your life.

personalized teacher appreciation gift starbucks Personalized Starbucks treats –  I bought cups from the dollar store and a package of chocolate covered shortbread from costco. I personalized these labels with each teacher’s name from this link. Printed them on sticker paper, cut and attached. Great way to start any day!teacher appreciation tea gift printable  Tea Jar – Fill a canister with tea and then print this label from  www.lifecreated.com

teacher appreciation poem Personalized Heart Poem – I asked my child what they love about their teacher, typed in his reply on this link , and it generates a heart shaped card. Print and give. You can never go wrong with a child’s sweet words.

gift of strawberriesHand Picked strawberries – with a cute tag “I couldn’t have picked a better teacher”(from Dixie Delights).

teacher apprecaition

photo from “Hello from the Natos”

Homemade Cookie Dough – Wrapped adorably in parchment paper, a favorite cookie dough has always been a well received gift. You can write a recipe directly on the parchment or print it out. You can also print the label from Nato’s photo from this link. double-chocolate-chews-l

teacher-munchkinsMunchins – Cute idea from the Happy Home Fairy to bring in Munchkins with note. Click here to print their note.

finished gift bags“Orange you glad it’s summer” Printable – I found the  printable over at Coley’s Corner and you can attach it to pretty much anything. Thanks to them for allowing us to use it.

teacher appreciation gift idea Gift Card – “A teacher can’t survive on apples alone…” – I saw this months ago as a Christmas gift but think it’d be just as cute for a year end gift.

cake pops

Cake Pop Stand – after packaging each cake pop in plastic bags from Michaels, we wrapped a styrofoam rectangle in wrapping paper, stuck them in, and made a sign. Great Grab and Go treat when lots of teachers are involved.

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Personalized Gifts – These ideas are easiest if you have a die cutter machine. Here are some ways we personalized an inexpensive item which are just so much fun to receive.

teacher appreciation ideas

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Personalized Mugs

personalized mugs

Cups! Cups! and more Cups! That’s what I was cleaning all day long. There are only 5 of us yet 10 cups on the counter. My children also had the habit of drinking from any cup on the counter. So if one child had a cold, we quickly passed it around. That’s when I had the idea of everybody has ONE cup that they are allowed to use. If it’s next to your bed and you’re thirsty, go get it. This simple idea was so easy to implement and drastically reduced the amount of washing I was doing. Here’s how I made these:

Here is how I made these:

  1. CUT letters from vinyl – I have a silhouette cutting machine so I designed the names on that software and then cut the letters from that machine. If you do not have a machine, it is a bit harder. You can print a word document on thick cardstock, cut each letter out to use a template, trace the letters onto the vinyl and cut out letters.
  2. Transfer Paper- Stick the transfer tape on the top of your cut out name. Use a credit card to smooth it out and make it stick.
  3. Remove the backing to the vinyl (your name will now be held together on the transfer paper.
  4. Position where you want the name on the cup. Press firmly down and rub credit card to make sure it sticks. You really want to rub harder during this step to make sure it does not peel off later (If some of the vinyl does not transfer to the cup, lay the transfer tape back down and rub again).
  5. You can handwash them or put them in the top section of your dishwasher

packaged cups

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Monogrammed Rainboots Tutorial

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I am a little obsessed with my Die Cutting machine at the moment. So when I saw these boots on sale, I knew my sister needed them to wear as she cleared out the woods behind her house.

Here’s how I made them:

  • Lay a 12×12 sheet of  Waterproof adhesive vinyl on my cutting mat.
  • Designed initials using “Boys R Crazy” font. Increased the size of the center initial
  • After it was cut, I picked the background vinyl
  • Stick transfer tape on to of name, rubbed it for 10 seconds and then remove backing to vinyl
  • Position transfer tape on boots and stick. Rub vigorously for 30 seconds and then peel
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Photo Coasters

DIY coasters photo tutorialDSC_0425coasters

Photo Coasters are a great inexpensive but personal gift. It is a similar craft to the Patterned Coasters and Hot Plate tutorial. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 4 square bathroom tiles from Home Depot. They are about $.17 each. I like the look of a black tile with photographs, but it’s a preference.
  • mod podge and brush
  • 4 photographs
  • sealant spray 

Cut your photographs into a square just smaller than the size of the tile.  Brush on a layer of mod podge onto each clean tile. Position and then firmly press the photograph where you want it. Make sure it is perfectly flat with no air bubbles. Then apply another layer of mod podge on top of the photograph. Allow an hour to dry before adding another layer of mod podge. Not waiting an hour can cause stickiness and bubbles so try to be patience. Then add a 3rd layer of mod podge. When that is dry, take them outside and spray on a sealant which will protect them from the drink. You can package them cute and you have a great personalized gift.

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Patterned Coasters and Hot Plate tutorial

coastersPatterned Coasters are similar to the Photo Coaster Tutorial except scrapbooking paper is used instead of photographs. We wanted to add pop of color, so I cut up a Lilly Pulitzer shopping bag for paper.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 4 square bathroom tiles from Home Depot. They are about $.17 each. I like the look of a black tile with photographs, but it’s a preference.
  • mod podge and brushIMG_6236
  • scrapbooking paper, wrapping paper, or even shopping bags
  • sealant spray 

Cut your paper into a square just smaller than the size of the tile.  Brush on a layer of mod podge onto each clean tile. Position and then firmly press the paper square where you want it. Make sure it is perfectly flat with no air bub

bles. Then apply another layer of mod podge on top of the paper. Allow an hour to dry before adding another layer of mod podge. Not waiting an hour can cause stickiness and bubbles so try to be patience. Then add a 3rd layer of mod podge. When that is dry, take them outside and spray on a sealant which will protect them from the drink. You can package them cute and you have a great personalized gift.

The Hot Plate below is created the same way as the coasters. The only difference is the size of the tile you purchase from Home Depot. This was a bathroom tile for about $.80.
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Christmas Topiary

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To make a Christmas Topiary:

  • 2 bag of peppermints
  • styrofoam ball (from Michaels)
  • Hot glue gun
  • Thick wood stick (Michaels)
  • Metal tin or container
  • green foam brick used for flower arranging (from Michael’s)
  • sealant spray

The most time consuming part of this craft is unwrapping each mint. Once you have completed this step, begin hot gluing each mint onto the Styrofoam ball. You could spray paint the foam ball red first to peep through, but I like white. Keep a one inch portion without a mint so that you have room to attach it to the stick. I used a Sealant Spray to keep it from being sticky. This step also helped enforce the “No licking the topiary” rule. Then simply put one end of the wooden stick into the topiary. I would use a thicker one than the one pictured because the topiary was very heavy. Trim the green brick to fit into your container. Secure the other side of the wood stick into green brick. Hot glue around sides. Decorate it with a bow and green shredded paper. Now you have a cute centerpiece.

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“My top 65 Memories for your 65th birthday”

IMG_5275IMG_5274What do you get a parent when they have a milestone birthday? My father was turning 65 and nothing seemed right. What gift could possibly communicate how much he means to me? There isn’t one. When I began reminiscing of him in my life, I started laughing and then crying at my memories. So I started writing them down and before you know it, I had 65 of my favorite memories. They ranged from “When you would take us to the grocery store for junk food trips” to “Our fishing trip to the Bahamas”.  I typed them, printed them on a really thick cardstock, and then cut them into stripes. I bought a neat leather and wood box from TJ Maxx and stuck them inside. After his birthday dinner, we went around and took turns reading them. It lasted hours as we reminisced together.