Teacher Appreciation

I have some older projects I will be posting here in addition to new projects.  Some of the older ones may not have as many pictures of the process and if my explanation isn't clear feel free to leave a comment and I will do my very best to clarify. 

So, here we go with some Teacher Appreciation gifts!  I know that you must be thinking it is summer, this lady has lost her mind =)  Hopefully though, I will be coming up with new ideas for this school year so posting these now while they are fresh in my mind from the end of last school year.  I made 3 different gifts last year.  One for the girls' actual classroom teachers, one for the resource teachers, and one for the custodial staff.  Ladies and gentlemen, please don't forget the custodians!  These are some of the hardest workers at the school.  I know how hard it is to clean the bathroom after only 3 kids!!  I will start with those.

Now, I wanted to try to show our appreciation throughout the school without making a big hole in our wallet.  Not that it isn't deserved, only that we just don't have a whole lot extra to give.  I'd rather do my best to make it special and something to be remembered versus the price tag.

Orange Ya Glad It's Summer?

 Whole bag under $1!  After we were home I realized that a cute orange lunch bag would have been cool, but this is what we had to work with.  These were for the custodial staff and they were well received! 

Souper Teacher! 

My husband says I am so PUNNY!!  I wanted to make/do something for the special teachers, our school calls them resource teachers.  Library, Art, Music, PE, etc.  I don't know how much ink I used on these, so let's just say these were less than $1.50.  Once again, they were definitely well received!!  These I have a little explanation.  I had the idea and got to messing around on the computer to try to make a soup label.  I ran down to the recycle bin to get a can so that I could get the size of the label correct before I started putting all of the wording on the can.  Got it all printed and I was stoked!!  Just ask my friends, they all got texts about it!  So, off to the Dollar Store I go to get soup and lo and behold they only have the 30% more cans of Campbell's! Alrighty then!  We all probably know that ink isn't cheap, so I came up with a plan on the fly by adding black construction paper.  TA DA

Here's the label before adding details.  I had on hand a gold marker to add embellishments to make it look more similar to the real soup.

Peach Beach

These were for the classroom teachers and assistants.  The card reads:
All year long you've been a peach, now it's time to relax at the beach!
Bottom is a magazine, beach towel, handmade card, and gummy peach rings then tied up with some ribbon.  These were $7 (Look for beach towels on sale!  Plus I used a coupon and saved 20%)

If I were to do it again I would use something different instead of the candy.  I just canned some peaches and soon some peach jam, which would actually be a little more "me".  Once again, I had the idea and ran quick with it.  Plus, I kind of procrastinated getting started <blush>


A few other school appreciation things we did last year were a big hit and plan to do them again! 

Christmas Break
At our school there are several staff members who stand outside loading and unloading cars in all weather.  This is NC and it isn't as cold as say Michigan, but it gets a bit nippy.  We made a big batch of hot chocolate in the crock pot overnight.  In the morning I had a plastic bin big enough for 8 styrofoam cups with about an inch of rice in the bottom.  I heated the bowl and rice in the microwave to get it nice and warm.  Added the cups nestled in the rice to keep them warm and stable.  Filled up the cups right before walking out of the door.  Thankfully my husband was able to go with us that morning to help!  The teachers loved this!!  And I had the girls tell them "To keep you sweet and warm!"

Teacher Appreciation Week
When teacher appreciation week came around we had the girls make cards for their teachers.  I wanted to do something similar for the ladies outside again.   I made 2 gallons of homemade lemonade (reusing jugs from distilled water that I use for making cleaners) When it was time to pick up the girls I put the lemonade and cups into a small cooler.  I set-up in a high traffic area outside the school and poured lemonade and had the kids take it to all of the teachers and staff and say "Thank you for quenching our thirst for knowledge"  I actually made business card size handouts with pictures of lemons and that saying.  I cut them all out and left them at home!