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xmas gifts for teachers...

post #1 of 16
11/20/12 at 7:36am
Thread Starter 

Both my sons are in school and i'd like to MAKE a gift for teachers, but i'd really rather not spend $$ (because then i'd rather buy a starbucks card or something...lol)

 

I sew pretty well, but I don't have much in the way of wovens. I do have lots of knits since I sew pjs and shirts and boxers for the kiddos, and I have some minky and organic bamboo velour scraps.

 

I made ruffled end scarves for my nieces for xmas last year and I had fabric to make them and they were a HIT....but such a pain to make, and I don't think I have any girly color interlocks long enough to make an adult sized one (3yrds I need I think? makes 3 scarves, but you need that much for length) so i'd end up spending 20+ bucks on a cut big enough...

 

right now thats the only thought i had.

 

Oh, and I do have some small cuts of wool from pendleton, but I've never made a hat before so i'd like to wait until i've done some trial and error on that first.

 

Has anyone seen any cute gifty projects that might fit the bill??

 

makes me remember the gift my mom did for my kindy teacher (yes, I still remember)

she took a small cheap wood shutter, like for a window, and painted/stenciled it and then put white address labels along one whole side of the shutter slats. it was for phone numbers!

you hung by your phone and clicked shutters open for numbers and closed to make your house look pretty.

 

it was pretty darn nifty, but nobody needs those these days! lol.

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post #2 of 16
11/20/12 at 7:49am

Hats are always cool in my  book.

 

We made candles last winter (for teachers, instructors, family etc). This year we made vanilla extract (takes a few months to ferment) for gifting teachers etc.

 

My sons teacher was transferred from another school and is trying to stock the room with books and other items, so we will give him a bit of cash for his library in the making as well. (he has made this desire obvious), perhaps your teachers have some kind of goal for the room that your kids can help them with.

post #3 of 16
11/20/12 at 4:46pm

I usually give them bars of good chocolate or homemade cookies or something like that.  

post #4 of 16
11/20/12 at 6:20pm

As a teacher I can say that homemade cookies (especially chocolate chip) are greatly appreciated!

post #5 of 16
11/20/12 at 7:29pm

My teacher-friend was over so I just asked her what her favorite teacher gifts are.  She said that her favorite ones are food, gift cards, and books for her classroom library.  She doesn't care so much for teacher-themed gits simply because she has accumulated LOTS of those over the years.  An easy one that she's received in the past and enjoyed was simply a medium basket with fresh fruit.  You could get a basket for fairly cheap at the thrift store and just buy a few apples, pears, etc.

 

Here's a few other ideas...

 

http://www.dandee-designs.com/2008/12/neighbor-gifts.html

Twizzlers:  http://cateredcrop.com/2011/09/30/hey-hey-good-lookin/

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/12/baking-day-recipes-and-christmas-tag.html

http://tidymom.net/2010/cinnamon-honey-butter-gifts-in-a-jar/

post #6 of 16
11/20/12 at 8:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamatowill View Post

As a teacher I can say that homemade cookies (especially chocolate chip) are greatly appreciated!

I'm a teacher, too and totally agree ;)

post #7 of 16
11/21/12 at 7:21am
Thread Starter 

oohh...now see, I didn't much think of that because *I* wouldn't care for homebaked goodies, but i'm a bit weird with food issues and a REALLY good baker to boot. I'm kinda snobby about my cookies :) Now cookies I can def do!

 

and i'm seriously not just tooting my horn, honest :D

 

700

700

 

 

Biscuits from the other day, and "fudge drops" from king arthur flour blog ... basically brownies in cookie form with chocolate chips. My stepdad's favorite and a huge hit at work the last few times i've brought them in. I prefer my oatmeal spice cookies, or snickerdoodles....but hey....they are fun to make anyway :)

post #8 of 16
11/21/12 at 8:16am

As a high school teacher, we would not eat what the kids brought us (too afraid of being ex-Lax'd or something). However, when I taught elementary school and knew the parents better, I would definitely appreciate that. 

 

Also, when I worked at low income schools, we were often not stocked very well. I just loved getting kleenex, sanitizer and clorax wipes from my parents.

post #9 of 16
11/21/12 at 8:58am

When I was a high school teacher I loved food. mmmmm food. :)

post #10 of 16
11/22/12 at 10:14pm

I gave out shawls one year, chocolate another year, and some various stuff I don't quite remember.  Last year I gave them all coffee shop gift cards.  The fruit baskets are good ideas, but I have 10 teachers to give to and that's a lot of fruits to buy at once.  Plus lugging them to school can be a lot of work.

 

I think I'll stick to G/C this year, maybe with some candles or handmade soap.

 

*My kids are special needs, that's why they have so many teachers.
 

post #11 of 16
11/24/12 at 11:34am

I also like to give these as gifts:

 

http://beadforlifestore.org/bracelets.asp

 

The $5 ones are a great inexpensive gift and they are beautiful and support an awesome cause!  The Bead for Life store is in Boulder and some local stores also sell them, so I have easy access to them, but you can also order online :)

post #12 of 16
11/24/12 at 9:20pm

I don't really understand the whole giving a gift to a teacher thing? Nobody gives me gifts for doing my job! I don't even know the meaning of holiday bonus!

 

 

ok, flame away.....FIREdevil.gif

 

 

edited to add that there are sooooo many people that I would love to get a Christmas gift for but just can't afford to. A teacher would be waaaay at the bottom of my very long list. Oh also I homeschool my kids so maybe that's why I don't get it?

post #13 of 16
11/24/12 at 10:21pm

We homeschool and I can totally see why you would give a gift to your kid's teacher. Think about the amount of time they spend with the kids, they're like part of the family, at least for that school year. I would give a gift to our sitter, who only has the kids 2-3 days a week.

post #14 of 16
11/25/12 at 5:23am

My kids are in elementary, and we always give a little something to their teachers, even though we are very low income. Usually it's a tin of cookies, but this year I think I will have the children themselves make these; http://spoonful.com/crafts/candy-sleigh we will probably paint our message on the side "Happy Holidays Mr. P." or something.

You could always put a different treat in it; cookies, peppermint bark, fudge...

post #15 of 16
11/25/12 at 5:40am

I work at a spa and I give the teachers Aveda products. Buying them at wholesale prices makes my gift look much more expensive than they really are.

post #16 of 16
11/25/12 at 2:38pm

Yesterday I was at the mall and saw something I think would be easy to make.  It's a small fabric-covered journal with "Christmas Memories" on the front.  It had a loop so it could be hung (from the tree or mantle) and each year the recipient could jot down some special memories from that holiday season.  We have something similar that we did for each of our kids starting with their first Christmas.  Now that they're teenagers they love to read back over the past years to see what the "big gifts/moments" were!  You could get small notebooks at the dollar store and then cover them with fabric.  On the inside of the cover you could use pretty wrapping paper over some cardboard to cover the fabric edges.