What about pillowcases that the class can sign or possibly a throw pillow to do the same way? These are popular among children's birthday parties & etc.

Hi Nicki,

Maybe some of the other teachers in the group will disagree with me, but "things" like this usually end up in the Goodwill box most of the time. Or even worse, since all of the kids sign, you feel like you have to keep it.

How about rather than an item which will take so much time and effort on your part, give a certificate for a loaf of fresh bread from a bakery, book store certificate in a pretty envelope, a small basket of fancy apples, a really nice ink pen that I don't have to share, or something along those lines.

Our PSTA even gave us pansies we could plant later. Cheered up the window sill for a few weeks.

I don't ever want to sound ungrateful. That isn't my intention, but it was sometimes difficult to say thanks when the money the PSTA spent could have reimbursed me for many of the items I had to puchase for the classroom. This time of year a box of glue sticks comes in really handy.

Just a thought. I'd hate for you to spend a great deal of time making something.

Gloria

Our preacher told us a joke that I recall about students bringing teachers presents.

They were lined up in front of her desk to present & one kid whose father worked at a liquor store had a long wine box in his hands. She got the usual whatnots, candies & etc but kept her eye on the wine box as the line got shorter & shorter.

When the kid got to her, she noticed the box was leaking. She asked the kid what he had for her & he told her to guess. She guessed several type wines & she even put her finger out to catch a drop & put it in her mouth. He shook his head no after every guess & finally told her "No.It's a puppy".

Today my granddaughter's class signed a clay pot that had the teacher's name painted on it. It will be varnished, have to cure for a couple of weeks, then filled with pansies. The families can also give a small individual gift if they wish.

I decided to tell the HASA group what the teachers and elsewhere have said, which basically was save your time and money. I suggested gift cards to the bookstore or even the gas station (since we all know how expensive that is these days) Thanks for the help.

Nicki

Hope this isn't too late Nicki, but we always tried to get them something for the room. A bookcase, shelf, table, books, charts, graphs, maps ... that was needed or worn out during the year. These can have a little plaque attached with names and date.

beverly

This is a little late for this year but I wanted to share the response to the teacher appreciation gift I made for a 1st grade niece. She is always "designing" things for herself for us to embroidery. Last fall she came up with her idea but it didn't get stitched out until much later. It was the name of her school on the first row, elementary school on the next row, 5 stick kids on the 3rd row & "a fun place to learn" on the 4th row.

She wore her's to school around spring break & her teacher commented that she needed one of those. She also had some flip flops she'd tied gingham check strips of fabric onto to match the pants she wore with her shirt. The teacher was admiring those too. As it got closer to school ending, she wanted to do flip flops for her herself & me make her a shirt. She gave it to her the day before school ended & she wore it the last day. I picked my niece up when school let out & she had a note with names & phone numbers of teachers that wanted to purchase one for themselves. Her teacher told her to give the note to her Mom so it wouldn't do for me to get it. Her Mom got with me on a price & started calling the teachers. She spoke with one she knew personally & she told her that all the first grade teachers had seen it on their hall, but when they went to lunch, the poor teacher couldn't eat for answering questions & standing up to model her outfit. She told her they were having a final teacher's meeting the following morning & she would pass the info on to those who may not have seen the gift.

So ever who wanted to know what everybody was doing????? My answer is "Embroiderying shirts for school teachers".

Joan

You're a 'class' act for sure :-) Sounds great.

I guess you must have paid for your embroidery machine many times over with all the things you do.

Keep on keepin on!

Cheers,
AJ

I use my machine, that's for sure. If it isn't used for profit, it is used toward something on a gift. So if it isn't making money, it's saving money on gifts.

One year a crafty mom bought a white Tshirt and had all the kids sign their name with a permanent marker. I remember a friend who was a teacher and had all those "World's Best Teacher" knicknacks (mostly mugs) lined up. Boy, did they look tacky!

Hey , you give them a books, Dairies or costly pens.

Here is a link that might be useful: birthday gift ideas