Teacher's Gift Guide

I feel that everyone in this household has officially engaged in transition mode and that typically means a bit (as in lots) of madness for MOI.  You see, mes chers, the month of June is mainly about two things, closure and excitement. 

The "closure" aspect of the school year means gifting and finding meaningful and thoughtful ways to thank teachers - let's not forget principals and secretaries too!  I really feel this is a perfect time for us parents to involve our kids in the whole process of gifting and encouraging small gestures of gratitude as simple as they might be. 

I literally fell down an Internet rabbit hole while trying to find some teacher's gifts ideas that could be made with kids, that would be useful without braking the bank.  The things I do for you, darlings.  I am also hoping that this post will help you discover fantastic new blogs!  So have fun.

In a nutshell, a good teacher's gift is....

• made with or by kids - if you want thoughtful children, make saying "Merci" fun!
• green or écolo
• clever and original - no more frames or coffee mugs, please!
• 'useful '- key to avoid the landfill
• beautiful and tasteful - crafty things can have a cheap-tacky look so be careful
• 'affordable' and 'thoughtful' - these two can go hand in hand!  

My goal is to hopefully inspire you and your kids to create a simple, yet useful (maybe even yummy) gift that will say "Thank you, I appreciate you!" and that will be used and enjoyed by the teacher that has given your child so much throughout the year. If you have no time to create anything, and are thinking of purchasing, perhaps you can also inspire yourself from the following ideas.
Get inspired by these dry mixes, recipe and details on Bakerella, just follow the link! 
http://www.bakerella.com/mix-things-up/

http://www.skiptomylou.org/teacher-appreciation/

OK, so I know I said "NO more frames" but I know there's some serious frame lovers out there... so just to make you happy... here's a cute idea, and the fact that it's a great way to reuse crayons makes it awesome. 

http://keepingupwiththecomptons.blogspot.com/2009/12/being-craftyagain.html

http://testosteronetimesthree.blogspot.com/2007/12/teacher-gifts.html

Here's another great way to say thank you - all year around!  Never go wrong with Chocolate!

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/04/quick-cheesy-teacher-appreciation-gifts.html

I thought this was pretty cool... give a clipboard a facelift!
http://createstudio.blogspot.com/2011/04/quick-clipboard-facelift.html

If you are a parent-volunteer and have access to the kids, then maybe this is a great idea for your teacher! Using different inks, print finger prints to create a tree or anything else.  I really think this technique would also be a great way to create a tasteful set of blank cards.  Teachers are forever writing cards!!!

Teachers love to be organized!  Check out 'Solutions' for great organizers!
Summer is about taking it easy and enjoying friend's company! You can give this recipe to your teacher (or to ME!)

http://kaycee62.tumblr.com/post/6600878196/i-must-figure-out-how-to-make-these

I thought these to be very cute and I think you can be creative with them. 

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.0e0eb51a2e6b5ad593598e10d373a0a0?vgnextoid=34b12e912b11f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy_kw=crayon%20hearts&rsc=ns2006_m1

Make a lantern...
Just add....  Tissue paper + Mason jars + White glue = Gardenparty Nightlights.  A set of 3 or 5 would be cool!
This one is for the seriously classy and crafty!  Teacher's are forever carrying stuff back and forth. A tote is a great idea (as long as it's tasteful!  Don't bother embroidering the teacher's name... she might like to use it to go to the beach too!)  I'm sure kids could be involved in the making of such wonder too!

http://creationcorner.blogspot.com/2011/05/teacher-summer-totes.html

I love the organic feel of this pencil holder.... so cool!

http://strawberry-chic.blogspot.com/2011/05/diy-tuesday-rustic-pencil-holder.html

Teachers are forever collecting 'Thank you' cards and sweet written treasures.  They come in handy on tough days.  Tastefully decorate an "Encouraging box" to collect them all, and add a sweet note to it!

http://forrestandabbie.blogspot.com/2011/01/dotty-started-somethingand-then-i-added.html

Be clever when you wrap!!!! Keep it green! You can stamp words or glue up-cycled Scrabble letters to just about any gift!
Finally, life is not perfect!  Bad years happen....
OK so you had a bad year.  Johnny and his teacher hated strongly disliked each other and will both be openly secretly cheering as they say goodbye and never look back. It happens, to all of us.  So what?  Well, Johnny still needs to be gracious and thank his teacher.  There's gotta be something good that happened along the year and worth mentioning.  THINK!!  It's part of life to work with people that are not perfect matches to our personality.  In my opinion, even when we're not having a great time, we still growing and that is worth a sincere merci.  The sooner Johnny grasps that concept the better off he'll be in life.  I promise you. 
I hope you found this little guide helpful!