Teacher Appreciation Week: Day Four

After a week of pretty, sweet, and healthy treats for our teacher, it was time to get practical.  Blessed with a generous class gift fund, I created a bouquet of gift cards:

Although I got a chuckle out of this, I kept it wholesome and purchased gift cards from our teacher's favorite stores.  I taped each gift card onto a flower cut-out, attached the flower to a long craft stick, and inserted the stick into floral foam at the bottom of a pail.  I covered the floral foam with raffia, wrote "Thank you for helping us grow" and the year on the pail, and that's it!  An easy, cute way to present otherwise practical gift cards.

How are you honoring your children's teachers this week?

Sharing with Ladybird Ln

Teacher Appreciation Week: Day Three

We had a day off from Teacher Appreciation gifting because our teacher was at a conference, but when she comes back to her classroom today, she'll find this:

A basket of apples, how cliche.  But when each apple is individually tied to an Apple Store gift card?

Much more fun!  Our school has smart boards in every classroom and issues an ipad to every student; our teachers are thus expected to be up-to-date on all things technology.  We're hoping she can use these Apple gift cards to buy apps, music, books, or even hardware of her choice.  Our teacher is APP-solutely wonderful, and as one of the homeroom moms, I'm having fun organizing class gifts for her this week!

Our Teacher Appreciation Week Plan: Something pretty (sunflowers in a pencil vase); something sweet (the bundt cake tower); something healthy (the apples); and something practical (tomorrow's bouquet of gift cards).   Each child is also presenting her with a handwritten card or letter on Friday.  We're saving the tear-jerker, personalized gifts from the kids for the end-of-year gift presentation in just two weeks.  :)

How are you honoring your teachers this week?

(Sharing with Five Days...5 Ways and Sun Scholars)

Teacher Appreciation Week: Day Two

Our week-long appreciation of our first-grade teacher continues.  On Monday, this. On Tuesday, a tower of little bundt cakes in our teacher's favorite flavors:

By the way, if you haven't tried Nothing Bundt Cakes, you must.  They opened shop in my neighborhood last year, and they've become my go-to bakery for holidays and special occasions.  So. Amazing.  :-)

How are you honoring your teachers this week?

Teacher Appreciation Week: Day One

I did it:

after I pinned it:

A sweet bouquet of sunflowers, posing in a pencil-wrapped vase, ready to present to our first-grade teacher on the first day of Teacher Appreciation Week. As one of the homeroom moms, I'm responsible for coordinating the Teacher Appreciation effort.  And while the week will culminate in a practical presentation of gift cards, we wanted to surprise our beloved teacher with something pretty or fun every day.  

Pinterest to the rescue.  For this copycat project, I used a plain glass vase and ribbon I had on hand, exactly 40 pencils at a cost of $1.50, and a $10 bouquet of sunflowers.  I simply inserted the pencils between two rubber bands on the vase, and then covered the bands with ribbon.  I chose not to glue so that the pencils and vase would be reusable. Total cost, $11.50; total time invested, about 10 minutes. 

How are you celebrating your teachers this week? 


(Sharing with Making the World Cuter and My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia)

Holiday Treats for Classmates

Stuffed with (gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free) candy, ready for distribution to my daughter's kindergarten classmates:

The personalized muslin favor bags are from Perideau Designs.

Go-To Gifts for Kids' Birthday Parties

With three kids, we spend most weekends chauffeuring them between their friends’ birthday parties.  They love a good party, whether at someone’s home, a commercial venue, or a park, and we enjoy socializing with the other parents.  However, these frequent appearances on the birthday party circuit mean that I have to always be prepared with a present.

As a working mom, I have little time or inclination for last-minute shopping trips to brick and mortar toy and book stores (my apologies to such merchants, but schlepping three kids around in a gas guzzling SUV in our town’s heavy traffic and hot weather is not conducive to maintaining my sanity).  I also strongly prefer to give personalized gifts, as most kids narcissistically love to receive things with their names on them, and presenting something personalized conveys a subtle sense of thoughtfulness, which a hastily purchased toy usually doesn’t.  I also don’t want to buy junk that will get thrown away or garage-saled immediately.  So, I employ some organizational strategies to plan and buy gifts ahead:

• I keep an updated list of the kids’ closest friends and classmates on my iPhone, along with their birth months.  Since my iPhone and I are inseparable (unlike a paper list, which I would lose), I always have a gift recipient list handy.

• I spend no more than 5 minutes, once a month, here, looking for can’t-miss deals on personalized kids’ stuff.

• When I find a deal, I hop on it and order enough for all of the children on our gift list, for the coming year.   

• I also take advantage of Amazon’s 4-for-3 deals and purchase budget-friendly and kid-pleasing items like Melissa & Doug sticker books and puzzles, to give as presents for acquaintances and unexpected party invitations.

• I then store all of these gifts, personalized and stock, in a spare bedroom closet along with wrap.  It’s not well organized, but at least it’s all in one place.

And voila, I’m done with birthday present shopping for the year, usually in one or two quick and inexpensive online shopping sprees.  No frantic, last-minute, pre-party trips to the toy store on Saturday mornings!

Examples of my purchased-in-advance personalized presents:

• Three years ago, I used the “secret sale codes” at Pottery Barn Kids and scored over two dozen kids’ beach towels for $6.99 each, including shipping and personalization.  They normally cost $31.  They were a hit each time, and my oldest daughter loves it when she often sees the recipients with their towels at swim lessons or a pool party.

• I took advantage of a similar short-term sale at Williams-Sonoma and bought ten personalized pink kids’ aprons for $1.99 each, again, including personalization and shipping.  These normally retail for $26 each.  At the time, my oldest daughter and her friends were all taking weekly cooking classes at their school, so they made for timely and appreciated gifts, especially when paired with pink spatulas and signed cookbooks from our favorite local kids’ culinary expert.

• This year, taking a cue from my oldest who loves to write her friends letters on her personalized stationery, I bought all the older kids on my list personalized notecards from Shutterfly during one of their awesome sales coupled with a free shipping promotion.  Because I ordered so many sets, the total cost was around $5 per gift recipient for a dozen personalized cards with envelopes.  I wrap each set in pretty ribbon and include a sheet of stickers.  Simple and easy. 

• For younger kids, I buy personalized piggy banks in bulk during Nordstrom’s anniversary sale (which is obviously an annual event) for $10-11.  Nordstrom clerks personalize them on the spot, in the store, and do a lovely job.  I’ve bought so many dozens over the years that I am now referred to by name as “the piggy bank lady” when I walk into my local store.  There are worse nicknames, I suppose!

• For parties where there is an express no-gifts request, or where charitable donations are preferred, we either donate online to our favorite local kids’ charity or arrange for a symbolic adoption of a dolphin or other popular animal through an environmental organization.

• Finally, we often give close friends and family personalized storybooks (like these or these) or photo books.  Again, I wait for special promotions, and then buy as many as possible in advance of when I need them.  Next year, I’m considering giving personalized placemats or plates. I've also seen great ideas on Etsy, like personalized super-hero capes and library bags.

You may be wondering: Do I ever buy personalized gifts for children who end up not inviting my kids to their parties?  Yep, but because I’m judicious with my advance purchase birthday gift list, it’s only happened twice.  And both times, we just gave the birthday child the gift anyway -- after all, presents shouldn't be tied to parties, and vice versa.

Because I love to save time and money, I’d love to hear your gift-giving strategies, too!