Sunday, December 12, 2010

Teacher Christmas Gift Ideas

10 Holiday Gift Ideas For Teachers
Some years I feel it is so difficult to shop for teacher gifts. Do they really want another Starbucks card? Nash is in 8th grade so he has 7 different teachers, many of them are men, which makes it even harder! Also, this year Chloe's teacher is going through a really difficult time and I want her gift to be perfect. Chloe's teacher just lost her husband to Lymphoma the week before Thanksgiving. She took two weeks off and is already back teaching. She does have two teenage boys to take care of, so it's no wonder. I don't know her well at all, this being a new school for us and all. To top it off I am the room-mom and I've been told that she is extremely private and even instructed the students not to discuss what has happened. Ouch. My heart just aches for her.


1.Here's one of my absolute favorite ideas, because we all know what teachers really want is cold hard cash, and to know we care! It's a sweet little stack of cash all wrapped up in thoughtful notes of admiration!
Book of $100 Reasons @ Every Thing Is Pink


2. My own post brings us to my next suggestion, the always useful teacher supplies. You could put them all in a Christmas basket or even a large stocking and sub the Caramel Apple for some Christmas treats.
Teacher Supplies Basket @ Lavender Clouds.

3. For the men! Pretty easy actually. A treat, a tool, and a techy gadget! The treat is a box of my savory family recipe Chex Mix, the tool is a package of dry erase markers, and the tech is a SanDisc Flashdrive. Total cost, less than $10 bucks!

4. My wine charm ornaments are great gifts for Nash's female teachers. They are handmade and with the right packaging with make a lovely gift. Find them on the Popular Post section of this blog. I have even included printable instructions.

5. A dear friend of mine whom I have much domesticated respect for once put together a wrapping paper storage container full of supplies and gave that to her child's teacher. It was full of wrapping paper, tags, scissors, tape, gift bags, tissue paper, etc. Everything they would need to wrap their gifts. I thought it was a fabulous idea.

6. My SIL is a teacher and while she is in her 20's she said the best gift she ever got was a purse. For me, it's too intimidating to try and purchase something like that for someone, unless I know them really well. Even then, I can mess that up! But, how about a more personal gift card to somewhere more fun than Starbucks! Like, JCrew, The Gap, TJ Maxx, Michael's Craft store. See where I'm going with this. It's December and hopefully you know your teacher a little better by now than I know Chloe's.


7.  Does she enjoy reading? How about Oprah's Book Club Choices w/ a copy of O magazine?

A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Oprah's Current Book Club Picks


8. Homemade Sugar Scrub or if time fails, head over to Bath and Body Works.

all crafts 3 Teacher Gifts from Todays Creative Blog
Homemade Sugar Scrub @ Tip Junkie

9. Personalized Key Chain $9.98
Ruler Key Chain
Personalized Ruler Key Ring @ Lillian Vernon

10. Finally, For a small treat that I want to make a little more special, I will purchase a porcelain Christmas bowl, like the one here that I got for under $5. Perhaps they even have some cute ones at the dollar store? To me this is so much nicer than putting your cookies or what not into a tin that they will in turn gift to someone else. This way they can actually keep the dish and use it to serve their own goodies in. Just line it with some tissue or parchment paper and put the entire dish in a cellophane bag and tie it off with some cute ribbon.

There are amazing and talented people who have many great ideas to share with us. I saw so many fabulous gifts by google searching simply "teacher gift ideas blog". I still haven't decided what to do for Chloe's teacher, so I would appreciate any suggestions! Chloe spends half of her day in this woman's care. Regardless of what is going on in her personal life, I think she deserves something special, because I do appreciate what she does everyday.
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1 comment:

Sue said...

Really great ideas, Lil! We have many teachers in our family and I'm sure they would love any of these gifts! I guess I should ask them for suggestions. My older sister is a kindergarten teacher down your way, in Pt. Loma:) I specifically should ask her for suggestions because she lost her husband 10 years ago to melanoma and didn't take much time off either. Good luck picking a gift.