You're supposed to give teacher gifts?! Quick help...

I am SO not one of those moms that have it all together!

So here I sit in blogland (a lot of them for this area) and learn that most moms/students give their teachers a gift upon arriving the first day back. So I see all these adorable back to school gift/crafts. I had NO idea!

Now when I was a wee one we never gave stuff to our teachers upon our arrival back to school, I mean besides the momentary excitement over the new outfit and the possible blip of excitement over new school pencils, crayons, and folders we weren't all that happy to be back. They were, after all, taking away our freedom play time!

So anyhow I am now seeing all these cute projects that I have absolutely no time for. and to be honest, like I said since i had no idea this was the trend, I wasn't planning on giving anything! Needless to say, I was not prepared! Story of my life.

Last minute, yes that is me, last minute Colleen, I decided I wanted something for the girls three teachers. Now why can't I ever decide to do something that doesn't put pressure on myself? When i say last minute, I mean it. It was 5pm the night before school starts. So I needed a quick and easy project that a teacher would actually use. I am NOT about giving gifts that one feels obligated to keep but really doesn't need or want. I really refuse to subject people to that!

I ventured to the dollar store, and alone with my 6 year old, tried to come up with an idea. About 10 minutes before I had to pick up the Cakes from soccer practice it struck me! Crayons (they are teachers of lil ones) a vase/votive holder, and flowers.

This is what I came up with....

Isn't it pretty? I am actually WAY more pleased with it than I expected. And it was fast and easy. And the cherry on top, not expensive, especially if you plan ahead, even dirt cheap! shhhhhhhh



What you need:



Glue gun
Crayons (the fat kind)
Ribbon
Flower
3. oz Dixie cup (plastic ones)
Vase/votive holder
Fresh flowers
Flameless tea light

All of these items came from the dollar store...

First take your crayons and open them up so you can move quickly. Then as you start, space them out just a little (they, at least in this vase don't go perfectly around. always do a test run first to see how they fit)

Put a dot of glue on the bottom and along the top side. Quickly place and press it into the jar. Continue this all the way around until your inside is filled with the crayons. Make sure they are stable and adding glue to any that might seem loose.

There your major part is done! Now just take a ribbon and glue it snugly around the neck of the jar (to cover the glue) and glue your little embellishment flower on.



Next fill the Dixie cup with half water, and set it in the middle of the crayons.



Arrange your flowers.

To give an added use I purchased (3 for a dollar) flameless votives and included an extra cup with the votive in it.



There you have it. A perfect cute back to school gift for your teachers!



The note I attached was cute, it said:

To color your day
Or to light your night
Hope this helps your school year
to start out right!

I even made my own floral pick by taking a stir stick and gluing a business card with the saying on it to the stick. Then I just stuck it amongst the flowers.



There ya have it, a pretty, cute, useful, inexpensive back to school teacher gift! Let me know if you think you might try something like this. Or upload pics (if you can?) or tell me about your variation on this project. I would love to hear/see the creativity!!