Thirsty? Grab a Drink to Give as a Gift!

Since my last post included a pop bottle, I thought I would continue on with the pop theme.  Here are some more gift suggestions including pop (or soda, depending on where you live!)

First of all I have to send a shout out to one of my college friends, Adrianne, who is the author of Cog Works.  Not only did she provide you with FREE printables for parent volunteer gifts, but some of these could even be adapted to become a teacher thank you gift.  Thanks Adrianne for sharing!

Source: (Volunteer) Thank You Gifts

Make a tag that reads:  "My teacher is AWesome!"  and attach to the top of an A&W 6 pack or liter bottle.

Source:  My Mix of 6

"You're the apple of my eye" and other catchy sayings to attach to (non-pop)drinks from Darling Doodles.  Soda pop tags can also be found HERE.  Oh and can I just say, she has the greatest ideas for gift baskets for all occasions!?!  I will definitely be visiting her site the next time I am in need of giving a gift!!

Even though this next one isn't pop, it's close enough.  I wish I knew where this idea came from, but I found it on Pinterest without a link back to the source. :(  Let me know if you know where to find this idea so I can give credit.  Anyway, judging from the picture, I would say to fill a cello bag with lemon flavored items such as Minute Maid pink lemonade, Lemon Heads, lemon drops, crystal lite packets, lemonade flavored bubble gum, etc. and attach a tag saying: "When life hands you LEMONS, make lemonade!"

Gifts (for coaches, secretaries and parent helpers)

Judging from the title of this post, I hope I haven't left anyone out!  Whew!  What a mouth full!!  In case you aren't aware, today is secretary appreciation day.  Don't worry I am posting this in the morning so you still have time to get something together.  This year I decided to make a class book for each of my elementary school's 2 secretaries.  The pages in the book say:  "I think you're a great secretary because you __________ ."  I was a little nervous of the first grader's responses! :)  Here are a few samples:

...are funny and really nice.

...give us cookies.

I also included a little treat (Skor candy bar) with a tag that read:  "Our school really SKORed when we got you for a secretary!"  My daughter who is in middle school wanted to take some to her school's secretaries too.  Nothing like showin' a little love!

My same daughter recently completed her basketball season.  The season lasted forever and her coaches were both super cute.  Both coaches are young moms and with the hours of time they spent coaching games, driving to games and attending practices, we wanted to do something to show how much we appreciated their willingness to help out.  I came across this teacher gift idea thru Simply Savvy, and decided to change it up a bit to make it more coach friendly.  A few changes in the words, and wa-la:

 I grabbed two clear plastic paint cans from Michael's craft store for $2.00 each and filled them with candy (as labeled on the tag). 
Last, but definitely not least, I made my parent volunteer some thank you gifts.  This idea comes from Event Trender.  Put a green apple and jar of homemade dip in a clear cello bag, add a tag and hopefully it gets the message across of just how much I have loved and appreciated my parent volunteers this year!

See?  I told you...amazing helpers...9 to be exact!

Easy DIY Valentine Treat Ideas

From Fiskars:

This reminds me of the Christmas gift my son gave his friends for Christmas, which said, "I hope your Christmas ROCKS!"...FYI I recently found a 3 pack of Pop Rocks at the Dollar Store in case you are searching for some!

 

"I've got a CRUSH on you!" from Monograms and Manicures.  The gift tag has already been created.  

All you need to do is print and sign your name!

"Dear HONEY, won't you BEE mine?"  from Make It Do.

Since honey can be a little pricey, maybe save that gift for a teacher, neighbor or friend.  If you're set on the whole "BEE mine" theme, you could give Bit-O-Honey candies instead.

If you're looking for something catchy and non-edible, buy a package of soldiers from the dollar store and attach a note saying "Love is a battlefield!", "All is fair in love and war!", or "I can't FIGHT this feeling anymore!"...try saying the last saying without singing it! 

Source:  Jacolyn Murphy

From Living with Three Moon Babies, comes this great little gumballs machine that reads "I CHEWS you!"  You can download the gumball machines on her site to create your own.

End of the Year Gift

The school year is coming to an end which means CrAzY, cRaZy, CrAzY!  Summer officially begins in one week, which is hard to believe considering today we had rain, hail and SNOW (that actually stuck to the ground for a while)!  What a day!! 
I created an end of the year teacher gift for my daughter's teacher.  If you have never tried out WORDLE, you totally should!   I had my daughter list all the things she could think of pertaining to this school year.

I really like the wordle puzzles where the words are going both horizontal and vertical, but this was my daughter's project and she created it the way she wanted. 

So...where to begin?  Here is a step by step of what to do:

1.  Go to WORDLE

2.  Click on create.

3.  Type in a list of words you want into the box.  One word or phrase per line.  When you are done click on GO and your project will appear.

4.  From here you can edit your wordle puzzle...the direction of the words, font, colors, etc.

5.  Print your wordle and trim your paper down to 8 x 10.  (If you want your wordle in a 5x7 frame, reduce your wordle on a copy machine first.  Get a frame and you are done!

For FAQ click on the link, otherwise these were some tips I found very helpful...

*All words will be the same size of font, unless you type the same word multiple times.  For example, if I were typing up words that described my family, but wanted my last name to really stand out, I would type my last name 2 or 3 times so that it would appear 2-3 times larger than the other words.

*If you want 2 or more words side by side in your wordle, add a ~ between each word. (Mr. Smith would look like Mr.~Smith)

*I saved my word list on Microsoft Word so that I could edit anything I didn't like or change it up.  Just a suggestion because it's better be to safe than sorry right!?!

Hope this idea helps out.  This would also make for a great Mother's Day/Father's Day gift!



Fortunate to Have Your Help!

 I have had {8} of the best parents this year.  Ok so I have really had more than just 8 fabulous parents, but those 8 I am referring to have been my parent helpers.  They have been so good about coming into my classroom to work with my students on reading, math skills, and any project we might be working on.  I wanted to give them each something to tell them thank you, so I came up with this:

I started with these fortune cookies I found at Walmart.  There are about 12 in a box for a little over a dollar.

 I grabbed some {chocolate and vanilla} almond bark (located by the chocolate chips).

 Then it was time for dipping.  I melted 4 squares (half the package) of almond bark in a small sauce pan and heated it on the stove on LOW heat.  You need to be sure to stir the almond bark continually so it doesn't scorch, but overall very easy.  When I was done, I dipped the fortune cookies one at a time into the {melted} almond bark and then dipped them into sprinkles.  Some I left just plain chocolate.  Then I laid them on wax paper to harden and set up.

I them added 10 to a take out box, padded by tissue paper...5 of each kind.  I found the take out boxes at Walmart down the party aisle.  They came in packages of 4 and I think they were $1.50/package.  Overall, a very easy way to let my parents know how I appreciated all their hard work.

 My (6th grade) daughter decided she wanted to make a candy gram poster for her teacher for teacher appreciation.  I think she did a pretty good job!

I still have so many teacher appreciation ideas I will be sharing.  This happens to be a crazy busy week though so bare with me.

Thanks A Latte!

I'm not a coffee drinker, but for those teachers who are, this gift idea would be perfect for them!  I first saw this idea at The Sellers.  She made these gifts not for teachers, but for staff she worked with so really this gift idea could go to just about anyone...including parent volunteers.  I like the cute little cozy she made to go along with each cup.  Each cup were also filled with a gift certificate to Starbucks!
Skip To My Lou has also done this idea.  I like the way she wrapped it all up.

Super cute ladies!