My shorties and I love surprising their teachers with little goodies a few times each year. Here is one of the surprises we created for their teachers and these were BIG hits!

We filled the treasure boxes with lots of fun goodies and created a fun description for each item.

My shorties had so much fun decorating the top of each treasure box especially for their teachers!

This was a really fun project! My shorties and I had so much fun thinking of goodies to go inside the treasure box and the teachers said they really loved their boxes!

Each gift cost about $5 to make. File this one under quick, easy, fun, inexpensive, and a big hit with the teachers!  SCORE!

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 Tidy Mom

At some point along the way, it occurred to me that I’d need patience and I’d have to deal with other people’s shorties, and worse, other shorties’ parents, which would require even more patience. And, yeah, I have no patience. Especially for other people’s shorties (the ill-behaved ones anyway) and especially for other shorties’ parents. Have you SEEN the way some parents behave!? Oh. Hell. No.

I can only thank God I saw the light before I became a teacher imagine all that teachers see, hear, and deal with at school. To say I appreciate the teachers who deal with my shorties and my shorties’ parents would be an understatement. During Teacher Appreciation Week, I enjoy creating a little something for our teachers to thank them for all they do.

This year, I have created these:

The total for each of these was $10.09. I love these and hope their teachers will too! Here’s the scoop:

*Scored Germ-X hand sanitizers for $1.50 each. I removed the labels from the front and back of each bottle and personalized each with a personalized vinyl monogram which I created using my Silhouette.

*Found some awesome note cards with envelopes on clearance at Target for $1.18/pack of 12. I purchased 3 different styles and divided them up so each teacher receives a dozen with 4 of each style. I personalized the cards by simply creating a Word document with each teacher’s name and running the cards through my printer.

*Also found some coordinating envelope seals on clearance at Target for 88 cents/pack of 24. I purchased two packs, divided them up so each teacher receives a dozen and I have 12 left to use for another project or gift.

*Found cute glass jars at the dollar store and created personalized vinyl monograms for each one using my Silhouette.

*I checked the expiration date, used a coupon, and scored the Ghirardelli tower of chocolate after the holidays, on clearance at Kohl’s of all places, for a mere $6. It had plenty of chocolate to for each teacher gift PLUS lots of extras which I’ll be using for another gift.

*Found an awesome FREE bookplate printable here and printed two for each teacher.

*Scored the pens during back-to-school clearance days at Target with coupons.

*I had originally planned to place everything in cute wire baskets I found at Target on sale, however my mind was changed when I found the awesome chalkboard caddies (they even came with the cutest little erasers) on clearance at Target for $4.48 marked down from $14.99! SCORE! (in the photo below, pay no attention to those damask and polka dotted boxes…lol…they are for a bake sale project)

*The clear cellophane wrap, shredded filler, ribbons, and tulle were on hand from other projects.

If I were a teacher, I’d love this gift! It’s something that can actually be used and won’t just sit around collecting dust. (hopefully) I’m going to tuck a little gift card to Starbucks inside and can’t wait to deliver them!

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Tidy Mom

So for her birthday, I had an idea. She loves Hostess and Pepsi so I created a gift that I knew she’d love…Kelly’s Hostess Outlet!

Armed with boxes and boxes of the finest Hostess treats (scored a great deal when they were on sale), a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi (which I scored for free with a coupon), and a giant lidded glass jar ($10) from Walmart, I made Kelly’s Hostess Outlet. So fun!

So, here’s how I did it. I purchased everything from Walmart. The 2-liter fit inside the giant glass jar and was exactly the perfect height so I could place the glass lid on top of the jar. Score! Once the 2-liter was inside, I placed as many of the Hostess goodies in and around the 2-liter as possible. Seriously, I fit BOXES of treats inside that jar, filled to the brim with just enough room to fit the lid on top!

And I upcycled the boxes into a cute little banner, which I placed around the outside of the jar. And to say she liked it would be an understatement. She LOVED it!!! It was a huge hit and ya gotta love how she tried to tell me weeks after her party that she still hadn’t eaten all of the Hostess. Yeah, right, Kelly. It’s your cartoon and you can illustrate it anyway you want. Ha! This gift is the reason I’m her favorite sister-in-law. It was a win-win. (and the bigger her ass gets, the better mine looks without having to kill myself working out…BONUS!)

This is a fun gift idea for birthdays, teacher appreciation, graduation, mother’s day, congratulations…you name it! This gift is a sure hit with a Hostess/sweets/dessert loving person! And it can be made any size. For a smaller jar, use a 20 oz bottle of soda, a soda can, or just fill it with sweets. The possibilities are endless!

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