Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Might as Well Give In



Scrapbooking page courtesy of How Fast They Grow.

Many of you have emailed asking for ideas for teacher gifts for the holidays. At my kids' school there is a longstanding tradition of collecting donations from parents and putting all the money together toward one gift card for the teacher. Last year we did a Visa debit card and in years past we've done Target, etc. They really seem to appreciate this, as they tend to get lots of (for lack of a better word) cr*p otherwise.

In addition to the gift card donation, I do like to give something small. I usually bake a cake and put it in one of my lovely knock off Williams Sonoma boxes. Other ideas I love include:

Slatkin & Co. Holiday Candles

These are the best smelling holiday candles. Not too floral, not too spicy, just right. You can get the large size for $32 or the smaller votive for $12. Believe me...worth every cent.




I also LOVE this hot chocolate from
Trader Joe's, as well as their gingerbread coffee. Wrap these up in some cellophane with a cute bow and you're set!




I also love the idea of creating a calendar for the teachers. This could prove to be rather time consuming, but if you have the time...it's a great gift. You can go to Kodak.com or Snapfish.com or Shutterfly.com, download pics you've taken of the kids in the classroom, and make your own calendar. You can even put specific pictures on specific dates if you use Snapfish. This way, you can put your child's face on the box that holds the date for his or her birthday. If you do this for every kid in the class, their teacher is sure to remember all the birthdays!




Another gift idea I think is so useful to teachers is a gift certificate to one of the meal assembly stores that have become so popular. Dinner Afare, Corner Cuisine, Let's Dish and Dream Dinnersall come to mind. These outlets offer great, pre-prepped meals that are huge time savers. We have one locally that I use every month. You can't beat the prices and the meals are truly delicious.

I hope this gives you all some great teacher gift ideas!!!

9 comments:

Well I Do Declare said...

Love that scrapbook page!!! I am going to have to try some of that cocoa at TJs. I love the Peppermint JoJos :)

Hopsy said...

I obsessed with Slatkin candles too! The Holiday scent and Elton John are my two favorites. Did you hear Laura (or Lauren, I forgot her name) is now Nest candles. She broke off and Slatkin is sort of no more. Also, if you love the Trader Joe's cocoa you MUST try the WS one!

sara said...

Knock off Williams Sonoma Boxes...DO TELL! This seems like something I want to know more about.

News Readin' Wife said...

Sippycups,

Unrelated to this post - what's the deal about Prepublican? I'm soooo intrigued.

Details please:
asumerford@gmail.com

BTW...those kids of yours are freakin' cute. Nice work.

Alyson

Kelly said...

A word of caution on gift cards that I heard on the news today. Make sure you get it from a stable bank. Apparently people are losing money because their banks have closed or have been taken over by another company. You don't get your money back in those situations and gift cards are not FDIC insured.

Anonymous said...

Hi!
I had saved a bookmark on a post you did on your daughters drapes... I am now ready to start my daughters and I LOVE that fabric! Do you happen to remember the name or who made it? I went to fabric finder but I can't seem to "find" it! Thanks! You can email me at amandatmosher@yahoo.com

Monogramchick said...

those are great gift ideas. when i was a teacher i would have preferred any of those lovelies to the cracker barrell g.c. or the countless crystal apples i received :)

i have been sending everyone i know the bon qui qui video and am still cracking up over it tonight--thank you!

Unknown said...

My grandparents always do a visa debit card or something like that for a Christmas gift. I think it's actually a GREAT gift! It's still heart felt, they just don't know what I want and make sure I have something I need.

Leslie said...

As a former teacher, I would have to agree that the gift card is the best idea. That is what they all want!! Trust me! Especially a Visa Debit card because they can get something anywhere. As opposed to a Target or other specific store card, they have more options with a visa debit card. I got one for Christmas last year and I loved it. Then for the end of the year I got the Target card and found myself using it for household stuff, which is not what I wanted to use my sweet and thoughtful gift for. The thought is what counts and the fact that everyone wants to acknowledge the hard work of a teacher is great. But if you really want to give them something they will actually use, want, enjoy...give the gift card!! Great ideas Sippycups!!