Teacher Gifts

Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit 2015

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It is finished. This year’s version of the Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit. It is my favorite first day of school gift to a teacher. This year’s emergency kit pouch is smaller than my past choices, so I will not be able to add a bottle of wine, which is probably what my children’s teachers really want after the first day of school. But, it is a handy little back to school teacher gift to store in a desk or teacher bag for daily emergencies.

 

The Teacher Emergency Kit Cloth Pouch

  • If you sew, you can download the Loyalty Card Holder Pattern for free from Craftsy. You will need to register on the site before downloading the pattern. I followed the directions on the Lemon Squeezy Home site. Lemon Squeezy’s sewing skills are clearly superior to mine. After much cursing and ripping out of stitches, I did make all of the bags I needed. I am trying to ignore some of the wrinkly parts in the corners.

teacher emergency kit

  • Lemon Squeezy used a magnetic snap, but I opted for an old fashioned button because I thought it would be a good decorative detail. After messing up multiple button holes, I was rethinking the magnetic snap decision. I think both options would have provided equal frustrations for my sewing abilities. The buttons do look prettier, so the buttons were probably a better choice for me in the end.

teacher emergency kit with contents

The Teacher Emergency Kit Contents

  • Starbucks giftcard (The little bag is credit card size, so I figured it needed a coffee gift card. It’s what I would want.)
  • travel sized sewing kit
  • Band-aids
  • individually wrapped mints
  • Aquaphor (or any kind of chapstick)
  • travel sized Advil (In the past, I included individual Tylenol, Advil, and Tums in mini baggies with printed labels. I had “people” who clearly did not appreciate the cuteness of my packaging get all up in arms about my redistribution of the pills. I really don’t think the Advil police will come after me, but I went ahead and used untampered Advil to avoid any future problems.)

teacher emergency kit interior

Other Content Ideas

  • 4 quarters for soda money
  • safety pins
  • Tide to go stain remover stick
  • cough drops
  • Sharpie pen
  • travel sized hand lotion
  • travel sized Windex Wipes for Electronics (found these one time at Target)
  • travel sized toothbrush and toothpaste
  • dental floss
  • hair clip, hair tie, or rubberband
  • smartphone charger
  • ear buds

teacher emergency kit 2015

Other Packaging Ideas

  • Use a bead box from a store like Michael’s Crafts. Sew a potholder clutch or foldover cloth bag. Pick up a small cosmetics bag; I saw some in the bins near the door at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Fill a simple paper gift bag. Click on the images below to read about other versions of the Back to School Teacher Emergency Kits!

Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit

teacher emergency kit filled and gift tags

teacher emergency kit contents view

Click HERE to read about the GIVEAWAY to win two of these kits. Giveaway ends 7/31/15.

End of Year Teacher Gift

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paper pockets finished all

Not too long ago, I found pictures of Gift Holding Cards made with scrapbook paper. I filed the idea away knowing I could do something along the same lines in the near future. Miss Priss and Mr. Star Wars wanted to give scratch off lottery tickets as end of year teacher gifts again (mostly because they know they get to scratch any leftovers), and I have spent three days engineering my own gift holding cards to hold the lottery tickets.

paper pockets supplies

I used scrapbook paper and located all of the various trim, ribbon, sequins, and embellishments I have from American Girl projects. I dug out craft scissors with the decorative edges and my fancy hole punchers. You can really use any kind of decorative materials you have on hand (stamps, stickers…).

paper pockets prep

Cut two coordinating pieces of paper to 4″ x 6″. Fold one piece over about 2/3 of the way along the 4″ side and press firmly to crease. I first sewed the folded piece and any front trim together along the folded edge before attaching to the back piece. I then stacked the two pieces together, lining up the edges, and sewed around the outside to attach the folded piece of paper to the back leaving the top of the pocket open. If you don’t sew, double sided adhesive roller tape along the edges would work too, but I must tell you, sewing paper is super fun.

paper pockets finished set 1

We filled our gift pockets with the lottery tickets and slipped a small handwritten note in the front of the pocket. The pockets also fit gift cards. I think they would be a pretty way to deliver a thoughtful note too. The Original Blog Post with the pocket idea had single fancy tea bags in the pocket.

paper pockets finished set 2

paper pockets finished set 3

paper pockets finished set 4

Teacher Appreciation Week Gift

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teacher appreciation sachet

I am exhausted. The teachers at my school all feel the same way. We pass each other in the hallway with a slight nod and a reference to the remaining time until our summer release. I am not sure why this year I feel more tired than usual, but since it seems to be a common theme, I put together small “restful” gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week. I found directions at MarthaStewart.com for sachets filled with lavender. Apparently, if you place lavender under your pillow while you sleep, it will bring sweet dreams. Sign me up!

The parents’ group at our school organizes daily events for teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, but I usually like to send an extra thank you to all of the teachers who work with my two children. Since I work at the school my children attend, I know teachers put in additional time with my kids who arrive early and leave late every day. The lavender sachets are meant to be a fancy version of a card. Just a small sirsee to say that we appreciate our teachers.

Materials:

  • 5″ fabric squares with pinked edges (Hobby Lobby sells 24 packs of assorted fabrics)
  • lavender buds (Whole Foods sells small quantities in the spice section, I ordered in bulk from www.thesage.com)
  • funnel (to fill sachet pouches)
  • sewing machine
  • Sachet Gift Tag
  • ribbon

Directions:

  • Sew two fabric squares together with a 1/2″ seam allowance, right sides out. Leave a 1 1/2″ opening.

teacher appreciation sachet fill

  • Poke the funnel into the opening and fill with lavender. I filled with about 1/4 c. of lavender.
  • Sew opening closed.

teacher appreciation sachet tag

  • Print and cut the Sachet Gift Tag labels on white cardstock, add a signature and short note to the tag, and tie to the sachet with coordinating ribbon.

teacher appreciation sachet 2

 For more Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas, visit my Teacher Gifts link in the side bar.

lavender sachets

Teacher Appreciation Muffin

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teacher appreciation muffin 2Last week my school held its annual Field Day and served bananas as part of the mid-morning snack to the students. Guess how many teachers and staff have leftover bananas at home? My family does not eat that many bananas, so it was time to bake. I made a batch of Ina Garten’s Banana Crunch Muffins and bagged them up as little sirsees for my children’s teachers. We are close to the end of the year; we have testing next week, and teachers need a little appreciation gift when it gets close to the final weeks of school. (Alert: Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4-8 this year.)

banana nut muffins

These muffins taste the best fresh out of the oven, but they are still mighty delicious the next day. Ina Garten’s Recipe includes whole milk, granola, coconut, and walnuts. I used buttermilk in place of the whole milk and replaced the walnuts with pecans because it saved me a trip to the grocery store.

teacher appreciation breakfast muffin

The muffins are baked in cupcake liners, but after the muffins cooled, I placed each muffin inside a Specialty Wilton Cupcake Liner that has tall, scalloped sides. The large liner protects the muffin inside the clear bag. I tied the bags with curly ribbon and added gift enclosure cards with a handwritten label. We arrived at school early and put the treats on each teacher’s desk for a breakfast surprise.

teacher appreciation gift

Holiday Teacher Gift 2014

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herb dip mix set

Tis the season when I start obsessing about holiday teacher gifts for my children’s teachers. Let’s recap. I teach at the school my children attend. I like to give a sirsee to each teacher who works with my children, so I need close to twenty little gifts at a low cost. Since I am a teacher too, I (over) analyze the practicality of the gift and whether I think the teachers and administrators receiving these holiday treats will need them and use them– and like them.

After much consideration, I chose to make herb mixes in little jars. Over the holidays, people often have guests or extended family at their house and need group food or dips on hand. These herb mixes are easy to mix by adding sour cream or mayonnaise (or both). They look pretty in the jars, are easy to assemble in large quantities, and will keep if they are not used right away.

herb dip mix ingredients

I found the recipe for the herb mixes at Bubbly Nature Creations. I tested the Fiesta Dip Mix, Italian Dip Mix, and Ranch Herb Dip Mix. The original recipes fit perfectly into the smaller jars with cork stoppers that I had. I ended up doubling the Fiesta Dip Mix and using 65 mL jars with a flip lid. The jars held roughly 1/4 c. of dry mix. I purchased the jars at Hobby Lobby.

Fiesta Dip Mix w Label

I made Fiesta Dip Mix Labels to tie around the jars. I printed the labels on green cardstock and used my paper cutter to make sure the labels were cut evenly with straight edges. We glued each label onto a piece of red cardstock that was a little larger than the green label, punched a hole in the top, and tied to the jar with curly ribbon. The red paper border really isn’t necessary and made the label a little too long for the height of the jar. I will skip that detail next time.

herb dip mix gifts

Notes:

  • The Fiesta Dip Mix would work really well as the sour cream layer in a Classic 7 Layer Dip.
  • I made extra jars to give to neighbors and take with us to holiday parties to give to the hosts as a thank you.
  • The directions at Bubbly Nature Creations tell you to use a funnel to pour your herb mix from the mixing bowl into the gift container. I rolled up paper and used that as a funnel.

herb dip mix paper funnel