End of the Year Teacher Gift {Chips and Salsa}

Ah, the end of the school year is upon us yet again.  Between testing, field trips, soccer, homework, and this vicious spring fever, we have been quite busy around here!  Now, to take something off your list of things to do...

We are sharing an end of the year teacher gift.  We love giving our teachers a little something to say, 'Thank you for taking care of our sweet children all year long!'  This year is no different and we are sharing a chips and salsa gift that your child's teacher is going to LOVE!

 These are the materials you will need to assemble your Chips and Salsa gift...

-bag of Mission tortilla chips (or similar)
-hot tamales box candy
-red basket (this one is from Dollar Tree)
-salsa container (I got mine from my local grocery store) or mason jar
-homemade salsa (or make it even easier and buy a jar of salsa)
-free printable (I print this on pretty scrapbook paper)
-ribbon and/or twine
-paper bags
-cellophane wrap and decorative shred (optional)

Put the chips, salsa, and hot tamales inside the basket.  You might need some filler to prop the items up a bit.  I usually use lunch sacks, torn and wrinkled up, like so...

As you put your items on top of the crinkled paper bags, fill in with decorative shred to make it more appealing to the eye.

Once everything is in the basket, wrap it all in cellophane (if desired).  Place basket in the middle of the cellophane and gather it all up above the chips.

 Using clear tape, secure the top ends together.

 Tuck in the sides of the cellophane like wrapping a present and use clear tape to secure the ends.

Tie the free printable on with ribbon or twine.

When adding the pretty bow, remember this trick.  Tie your bow upside down.  Meaning, you are above the bow and tying it, so that the ends lay flat.  Sometimes when you tie it looking straight at it, the ends flip up and are out of control.  Tying it upside down helps with that problem.

Here is the finished product.

You could also add some ink to the edges of your card to give it a antiqued finish.

 Now, that was easy, right??  You can mark this off your never ending list.  :)

{Valerie}

Disneyland Teacher Souvenir

I searched high and low on the internet for ideas of what to buy for our kiddo's teachers for souvenirs.  I couldn't find anything that would work for us.  I wanted ideas of what you could find inside Disneyland...nothing.

My original idea was to find a cute Minnie Mouse notepad and pair it with some candy and a cute pen.  I couldn't see any Minnie Mouse notepads that looked grown up enough online.  So I bought the cute pens I found at Target and left for Disneyland, hoping to find something to go with them.

Lucky me, on the last day, and in total desperation mode, I found these adorable Mickey Mouse silhouette Post-it style notepads.  SCORE!!

The bonus was that they came in a box of 4.  The exact number that I needed.  sigh...sometimes things really do work out.

I also bought these adorable (though slightly overpriced) Mickey suckers while in Disneyland.

Then I just packaged it all together with some chocolate candy bars, a seashell(since we also visited the beach), and the pens I already had. 

To assemble them, I used Washi Tape to adhere the sucker and pen to the candy bars and then tied the notepad onto the candy bars using thin colorful ribbon.

Our kiddo's teachers LOVED them and appreciated the fact that we had thought of them while on vacation! 

Pens = $2 for 4 pens
Notepads = $9.95 for 4 pads
Suckers = $6 for 5 suckers
Candy bars = $4 for 4 packages
Seashells = Free (since I already had a bunch)
Divided by 4 teachers
Total per souvenir =  $5.48

Not bad, in my book!

Plus, if you have more teachers and don't want to spend as much per teacher, you could forgo everything but the pen and note pad.  Just a thought.  :)

Valerie

Getting to Know Your Child's Teacher

As our kiddos get back to school in the next month, we have a lot of planning and preparation to complete.  After we check off buying new school clothes, picking up school supplies, and getting them back on their school schedules, we might start to think about who their teacher will be. 

My daughter's class list just went up last Friday.  It was exciting to see who her teacher was going to be.  We went right to the school website to check the teacher out.  Most, if not all teachers now have a website.  If you can't find one, make sure you ask the teacher at back to school night.  These websites have class information, a calendar, and a little bit about the teacher. 

Of course, I wanted to know more about my daughter's teacher so I can use his/her interests in my teacher appreciation gifts throughout the year.  I've seen a few of these questionnaires around the blogosphere, but I decided to make one of my own.  I'm sharing it with you today!!  If you want to use it at back to school night, great!, if not, you can save it for teacher appreciation week.  This way you can personalize your appreciation gifts. 

For a Mrs.

 {here}

For a Mr.

{here}

We should get to know our teachers a little better, after all, they love getting to know our kiddos.  And, yes, I am a fan of The King and I.  Best wishes as you get to know your child's teacher.

Valerie