Fun Teacher's/Helpers Thank You Gift

I try to come up with fun thank you gifts each year for the teachers and helpers at my kids' school. This year, I was at Dollar Tree and came across these cute totes! I couldn't believe they were only $1! They are made out of strong material and you can easily personalize them! (I am hitting myself for not buying a lot more. A lady came in behind me and asked which aisle I got them in. She bought every last one of them!!!!).

They came in all different colors too!!!

Inside the bags, I came up with different "gifts" to say thanks. Attached to each gift, I put a tag on them describing what it was. This is what I had in this particular bag (which was for my daughter's fifth grade buddy).

• 8 pack of Sprite (the little cans) - the tag reads, "You were the sp'rite' choice for me"
• Pocket size Kleenex - the tag reads, "Thank you for getting me Kleenex when I needed them at church"
• Strawberry Chapstick - the tag reads, "I couldn't have 'picked' a better buddy"
• Box of Junior Mints - the tag reads, "You were 'mint' to be my buddy"
• Box of Sweet Tarts - the tag reads, "Thank you for being such a sweetheart"
• 2 packs of Trident Splashing Mint gum - the tag reads, "Hope you have a 'splashing' summer"
• Pocket size hand sanitizer - the tag reads, "Thank you for always holding my hand"
• Bag of Swedish Fish - the tag reads, "You were o'fish'ally the best 5th grade buddy"
• Water Bottle with Snapple single-serve tea powders inside - the tag reads, "Here's to a refreshing summer"
• Small notebook (that we decorated with scrapbook materials) - the tag reads, "Everyone should take note on what a great buddy you were"
• Beach ball - the tag reads, "Thank you for playing dodge ball with me"

I had my daughter write her a thank you card as well and we stuck a pink felt flower (in picture - got them out of $1 bin at Michaels) to the card. I think they came out really cute and they are all things that they can use. Hopefully this helps you get your creative juices flowing. I would love to hear how yours came out!!!

"Handmade" Valentine's Gifts

I used the simple homemade lotion recipe of 1 jar vitamin E cream, a large tub of Vaseline and a large bottle of baby lotion (I chose the pink lotion for this one because it was for Valentine's gifts). I mixed all of those together in a bowl with a mixer and then I started "bottling" them. I had my husband drill holes in the lids of the old Mason jars I had. I then inserted recycled pumps I have kept from other "pumped bottles". I added a tag and a ribbon that said, "Hands down, you are a great teacher!". This is what I gave the teachers and then I also made tags that said, "You deserve a hand for being a great 5th grade buddy!" for the 5th grader that helps my kindergartner at school. I also recycled the canister that the Vitamin E cream came in. I just cleaned it out and wrapped it with scrapbook paper and put some paper on the lid and then added a tag and ribbon. Cute and fun "handmade" Valentine's gifts!

Happy Valentine's Day!

DIY Valentine Decoration

When I was using my Cricut to cut out "tags" for my kids' Valentines, I cut two that were way too big for what I needed (they were 10" long). I loved the way they looked though - I really liked the paper and the shape. So, I came up with an idea. My husband cut some scrap wood that was the same shape and size as the "tags" and drilled out holes to correspond with the holes on the paper "tags". I Modge Podged the paper "tags" onto the wood templates. I then tied some ribbon onto the top. They make a perfect Valentine decoration - I hung them on my front door!