Homemade Teacher Gift Ideas

I had a friend ask me yesterday if I had any ideas for teacher gifts that she could make.  I'm still a year away from having teachers to get gifts for, but I can see how the cost can quickly add up when your child potentially has multiple teachers and teacher aids! So, what a great, timely idea for a blog post!  (thanks, Kim!)

I pulled several ideas together from my Pinterest boards and some of my previous blog posts.  Here's what I came up with so far!  I'd love to hear if you try any of these and if they go over well!  These are great ideas for ANYBODY, by the way, not JUST teachers, if you're looking for some fun homemade gift ideas!

Bake cookies and wrap them up in empty Pringles cans!

Make hot chocolate dipping spoons! This would be great paired with a couple packets of Swiss Miss!

Felt apple coasters!  So cute!

 

 

 

Fabric wrapped hangers!  Everyone has clothes to hang, right?  This is a great way to recycle fabric scraps from other projects too.

And speaking of hangers, this is posted as a wedding dress hanger, but I was thinking it could also make a cute teacher gift, whether it's hung on a wall as a decoration or actually used.

Framed initial made from crayons!  I've always loved this idea.  You can often find shadow boxes in thrift stores too or you can use a regular frame and skip the glass.  Here's another idea to use pencils!

Cookie cutter fudge!  A treat to enjoy now and a cookie cutter to use later!

Try blinging out a clipboard!

Peppermint bark always makes for a pretty presentation!  Try doing a search on Allrecipes for bark.  You can try peppermint, or maybe a chocolate mint, etc...maybe try a few and do a little sampler of a few kinds in a tin!  I also LOVE this nutter butter bark recipe.

This would be a fun twist on those jars of cookie mixes...make your own spice mixes!  These would make great teacher gifts, of course with a label that looks cuter than a piece of tape ("Seasonings Greetings?"), and maybe some cute fabric covers over the lids.  Take a trip to Whole Foods to buy spices WAY WAY cheaper by bulk.

Cute felt pencil toppers!  I'd love to post a link to this to give the creator credit, but it was shared on Pinterest with a link to a blog that is only shared with invited readers.  (If this is yours, let me know and I'll be glad to credit you!)

Another broken Pinterest link here, so I can't share a tutorial unfortunately.  But these are coasters made from cheap 4" tiles from Home Depot.  Cut scrapbook paper into squares to fit, adhere with mod podge, and put felt on the bottom! Sweet!

Apple cake pops!  Cake pops can get real time consuming, from what I hear.  But if you're up to the challenge, these are totally adorable!

I wish I could knit, then I might try this cute knit apple!  But you could do this with crochet too.  Cute to use as a pin cushion, or just a cute decoration!

What kind of business woman would I be if I didn't promote my own products?!  ;-) I've sold quite a few of my Junk Mail Gems letter magnets to people looking for teacher gifts.  For $1 per letter you can spell the teacher's last name, or choose words like "teach" or "learn," etc. 

 

I also sent out a Facebook message to my fellow teacher friends.  Suggestions included things that they can really use as opposed to gifts of the knick-knack variety.  Also, you can't go wrong with gift cards!  But don't sweat the expense...they seem to me to be just as happy to have a hand written note, a picture made by the kids, or just a heartfelt verbal "thank you!"

Are you a teacher?  I'd LOVE it if you would comment on this post with your favorites and least favorite gifts to receive! (And feel free to shoot down any of the ideas I've found!) I know it would help out a lot of moms!

For more ideas for teachers and other family and friends, be sure to check out one of my posts from last year which has more fun ideas for homemade gifts!