Archive | Teacher Appreciation Ideas RSS feed for this section

End of School Year Gift Ideas – Part 1

18 May

I cannot believe that the end of the school year is here!

Go out with a BANG using one of these simple End of School Year Gift Ideas for your Happy Buddy’s TEACHER…

Click Image for Idea

Grab a cute notepad and attach this FREE Printable tag from Mommy By Day Crafter By Night for a sweet end of year surprise.

Click Image for Idea

Vintage Umbrella bought a package of highlighters and spiffed it up with happy ribbon and a cute saying.

Click Image for Idea

The Busy Budgeting Mama added the tag above to a movie theater gift card as a creative way to say thanks.I think this End of Year Candy Gram is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

Click Image for Idea

What parent doesn’t have a million bags of goldfish crackers hanging around?

Package up a few handfuls and include this sweet note from Lauren McKinsey Designs.

Click Image for Idea

Or use this FREE Printable tag from The Hip Momma’s Journal to attach to a bag of cookies or even a jar of homemade!

Click Image for Idea

Store and Style picked up an inexpensive pair of flip flops and included a handmade card with a gift card for a pedicure.

How cute is that???

Any teacher would love to get her toes done for summer shoe season.

Click Image for Idea

Do you remember the Teacher Survey I posted about at the beginning of the year?

You can use the answers you got from that to fill up a simple brown paper package like Counting Our Blessings.

I just looooove stuff like that – a whole bag full of favorite things!!!

Ooo, if I were to receive a bag like that it’d have the Happy Baby in it along with a hundred bags of chocolate granola.

And tickets to Disney because when life gets tough that’s the place I want to escape to! :-)

Click Image for Idea

Rachel Berry loaded her Happy Buddies’ teachers up with all of the ingredients for this quintessential summer treat.

Click Image for Idea

This Summer Relaxation Kit from The Lovely Cupboard couldn’t be more perfect!

Any teacher deserves a kit like this to help them kick back and enjoy the stress-free days of summer.

So easy and inexpensive to make – everything you see in the photo came from Wal-Mart!

Click Image for Idea

Finally, I say it all the time, but the BEST gift you can give a teacher is a handwritten note.

Lil’ Blue Boo makes it easy with this FREE Printable Fill-In-The-Blank Teacher Thank You Card.

Need some more End of School Year Teacher Gift Ideas?  Check out THIS FABULOUS ARTICLE featuring 10 perfect ideas that were created based on the feedback of actual teachers. :-)

Come back tomorrow for an awesome post revealing my favorite End of School Year Gift Ideas for your Happy Buddies to pass out to their friends!

Happy End of School Year Gift Idea-ing! :-)

Fun Ways to Give Money as a Gift!

16 May

May is the month for Graduations!

The Happy Hubby is actually a graduate himself this year – May 18th my man will be walking across the platform to receive his Masters of Divinity!

Seriously, with all that we have going on right now, he still wrote two 20-page papers dissecting a piece of Scripture – in GREEK, no less – and turned them in on time so that he can get his diploma along with the rest of his class.

I am so proud of him.

So proud that I am trying to come up with a great gift idea to celebrate all that he has accomplished in the last 6 years of seminary.

Who doesn’t like getting cash as a gift?

But stuffing an envelope with a couple of twenties just doesn’t cut it for this Happy Home Fairy.

So here are some Creative Money Gifting Ideas that any Graduate would love!

Click Image for Idea

I did this fun idea last year for a gal I knew who was graduating from high school.

She laughed and laughed about it!

Check out the idea over at Create My Event.

Click Image for Idea

I love this fabulous Money Lei from Your Homebased Mom.

Click Image for Idea

You could take this Christmas Money Jar idea found HERE and just change the tag!

Click Image for Idea

Or, instead of a jar, carefully cut an opening in the back of an empty 2-liter soda bottle, insert candy and money, then close and cover with scrapbook paper in the graduate’s school colors.

Read more about this clever idea at Nancy’s Craft Spot.

Click Image for Idea

Crafts Unleashed transformed a simple box into a graduation cap!

Roll up money like tiny diplomas and line them inside the box for a happy surprise.

Click Image for Idea

(Every)Nothing Wonderful shows you how to insert money into a bar of soap (not as hard as you’d think!) to encourage graduates to stay on top of showering once they leave home. :-)

Sounds like good clean fun to me!

Click Image for Idea

A neat birthday gift, but also works great for grads, Making Memories with Your Kids made this fun Money in a Can gift that allows the recipient to pull out a whole chain of dollar bills.

How magical that the cash just keeps coming and coming!

OR, take this same idea but stick the roll of bills in an empty tissue box.  Include a note that says, “Don’t BLOW it all in one place!” :-)

Click Image for Idea

Now this is genius!

The Seasonal Home bought an inexpensive umbrella from the dollar store and dangled bills from the inside so that when the graduate opened it up – tada!

A little something for a rainy day… :-)

Click Image for Idea

Increasingly Domestic hangs balloons with dollar bills inside for each year of her Happy Buddy’s lives on their birthdays.

How cool to get to pop balloons and have money fall out on you?

Click Image for Idea

And, finally, I just loooove how awesome and creative this Box of Chocolates Money is from Life As Mom.

Are you trying to think of a graduate whom you can bestow a little dough with one of these fantastic ideas???

The Happy Hubby would be a happy recipient – haha! :-)

Happy Money Gift-ing! :-)

*Come to think of it, these ideas would also work great as End of Year Teacher Gifts or Birthday presents!*

Berry Sweet Ideas for May

5 May

The Happy Buddy and I were at the grocery store yesterday and as we were walking through the produce section, I almost got knocked over by the sweet smell of strawberries.

I grabbed 5 cartons of those beautiful, fat, juicy red fruits and then felt inspired to do a post featuring all things strawberry!

Here are the berry best ideas I found…

Click Image for Idea

With Teacher Appreciation Week starting on Monday, here is one more super cute FREE Printable and idea from eighteen25 using some fresh picked items from Bath and Body Works.

Psst!  This FREE Printable also has a version for moms for Mother’s Day!

Click Image for Idea

Speaking of Mother’s Day, here is a precious Strawberry Mother’s Day Card from All Kids Network that uses your Happy Buddy’s fingerprints as the strawberry seeds.

Click Image for Idea

Or transform your Happy Buddy’s handprint into a strawberry like this one from Meet the Dubiens.

Click Image for Idea

I love this Scented Button Strawberry from itmom because once you have painted the strawberry on white cardstock, you get to sprinkle strawberry Jell-O or Kool Aid powder on top!  Yum!

Click Image for Idea

This clever Strawberry Necklace from Parents is made from a WALNUT (how cool is that?!) and just two other supplies.

Click Image for Idea

Surprise your Happy Buddies after school this month with these cute Strawberry Mice Snacks from Family Fun.

Click Image for Idea

People.

Have you ever tasted a Strawberry Pretzel Salad?

I made this a few months ago for our MOMs group at church and I had a flood of emails practically before the meeting was over begging me for the recipe (you can find it HERE)!

This is the perfect thing to carry to a Spring picnic or Summer BBQ.

OR check out this DELICIOUS Strawberry Trifle Recipe that  I made for my mom last Mother’s Day, as well as this addictive Strawberry Salad Recipe.

Thanks for PICKING Happy Home Fairy as one of the blogs you read! :-)

I think y’all are BERRY sweet.

Happy Strawberry Idea-ing!

Great Teacher Appreciation Ideas

1 May

Teacher Appreciation Week is FAST approaching!

Here are Happy Home Fairy’s Top 8 Favorite Ideas on how to bless your Happy Buddy’s teacher during the week of May 7-11, 2012.

Click Image for Idea

Tatertots and Jello put together a happy looking package featuring a Jamba Juice giftcard and clever FREE PRINTABLE tag.

Click Image for Idea

I love the sweet sentiment Little Pumpkin Grace added to a pot of flowers for her Happy Buddy’s teacher.

Click Image for Idea

Here’s an ad-mitt-edly simple Teacher Appreciation Gift from Somewhat Simple!

Grab an oven mitt, fill it with school supplies, attach a note that reads, “I have to ad-MITT, you are a great teacher!”, and voila!

Click Image for Idea

If you have time this week, pop by the school and take pictures of each student in the class holding letters that spell an encouraging message.

Then you can put them all together to create a wonderful keepsake!

Tutus and Turtles used Photoshop to create the print you see above.

Click Image for Idea

I LOVE this hilarious and easy to put together Teacher’s First Aid Kit from Pioneer Party and Gift.

Click Image for Idea

I giggled out loud when I read this FREE PRINTABLE tag from Detail-Oriented Diva.

Attach to a box of Krispy Kremes and you’re guaranteed to make any teacher’s day awesome.

Click Image for Idea

The gals over at eighteen25 provide you with another fabulous FREE PRINTABLE that you can stick in a pretty frame and help teachers build anticipation in their classrooms for the summer!

Click Image for Idea

Two Busy Blondes gave their teachers some muffins with a note that said, “There’s MUFFIN like a great teacher!”

Plus, they have a neat tutorial on how to transform an egg carton into the perfect muffin carrier. :-)

**BONUS IDEA ALERT!**

Click Image for Idea

Holy cow, if my students had given me THIS for Teacher Appreciation Week, I would have died and gone to heaven! :-)

I have a bit of a passion for glitter.

Find the simple instructions over at Smilemonsters.

But, in all honesty, the BEST gift you can give your Happy Buddy’s teacher next week is a heartfelt note expressing your gratitude for all his/her hard work in helping your child be the best he or she can be.

Happy Teacher Appreciate-ing! :-)

*Find my other Teacher Appreciation Ideas HERE!*

POP-ular Teacher Appreciation Ideas

27 Apr

The Happy Buddy’s teacher has been taking such good care of him while we are going through this crazy season.

How grateful I am that he has a place to go that can provide him with consistency, love, support, and routine trips to the potty – at the rate we are going at home, the Happy Buddy won’t be potty trained until he is in middle school! :-)

All that to say, when Teacher Appreciation Week rolls around – May 7-11, 2012 – I am hoping to put something together to express my thanks.

The Happy Buddy’s teacher just so happens to be a big fan of Coke, so I have been collecting some POP-ular ideas to share with her…

Click Image for Idea

I love the cute saying on this Coke from Beth-A-Palooza.

Click Image for Idea

Junk in Their Trunk came up with a great tag for a 6-pack of Coke (I heart those vintage-y glass bottles).

Click Image for Idea

Tammy Mitchell Designs provides this adorable FREE Printable tag for you!

Click Image for Idea

Or we could just pour the Coke down the drain and use the bottles to make these super fun treat-filled (use Skittles – they are red) Recycled Plastic Bottle Apples from this site!

We think the Happy Buddy’s teacher is THE REAL THING, so one of these ideas will be perfect!

Happy POP-ular Teaching Appreciation Idea-ing! :-)

Teacher Appreciation Wreath

17 Feb

I was in charge of the Happy Buddy’s Valentine Class Party this year and I really wanted to make a special gift for his teachers.

So I put together this simple Teacher Appreciation Wreath featuring all of the precious littles that these amazing women minister to each week!

First, I wrapped a styrofoam wreath form in a roll of pink and white polka-dot ribbon that I picked up at the Dollar Store.

Then I cut out a bunch of paper hearts, glued each child’s picture to the heart, added some stickers, and hot glued the hearts around the wreath.

It took some time, but it was easy as pie and incredibly cheap to make.

Plus, the teachers LOVED it. :-)

I think Teacher Appreciation Week is in May, so ‘pin’ this project for future reference if you get in a jam and need a quick/frugal idea!

Or, you could make a wreath featuring the people in your own Happy Home and display it proudly for all to see!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Wreath-ing! :-)

Valentine Gift Ideas for Teachers

28 Jan

I thank God every day for the patient, kind, loving women God has given the Happy Buddy as teachers.

If only I could come up with something special to give them for Valentine’s Day this year!

Here are a few adorable ideas I have been considering…

Click Image for Idea

A student that I taught several years ago actually gave me this clever idea from Family Fun as a gift for Valentine’s Day!

It was especially helpful because my hands get so chapped in the winter!  I am always needing a bottle of moisturizer.

Click Image for Idea

Not to mention lip balm!

Pizzazzerie has a fun FREE Printable Valentine for you.  Simply add a Burt’s Bees Lip Balm and you’ve got an inexpensive and much appreciated teacher gift.

Click Image for Idea

The wonderful girls over at eighteen25 created these FREE Printable Made With Love Tags for you to use on a jar of homemade treats that any teacher would gobble up.

Click Image for Idea

My love language is Words of Affirmation, so this Jar of Joy from Imperfectly Beautiful would be the BEST gift anybody could ever give me!

Simply cut out a few paper hearts per child in your Happy Buddy’s class, have each student write why they love their teacher on the heart, then fill up a jar with the hearts.

Every day the teacher can pull out a heart-shaped note of love and encouragement.

A gift that keeps on giving!

Click Image for Idea

This jar of Hogs and Kisses from What the Teacher Wants had me giggling and snorting (yes, I do snort when I laugh).

An easy and inexpensive (and not to mention delicious) way to bring a smile to your teacher’s face.

Click Image for Idea

Family Fun also has this fabulous Teacher String of Hearts Card that would be a quick and thoughtful thing for your teacher to open on Valentine’s Day.

Click Image for Idea

We’ve all seen these amazing tiny mailboxes in the Dollar Bins at Target.

Now you can easily put one together for your teacher!

Nothing But Country shares how she made the cute ones above – stuffed with her teacher’s favorite candy!  Special delivery!

Click Image for Idea

And, finally, Lisa Storms made these super amazing Valentine Paper Fortune Cookies for her teacher.

It’s not as hard as you might think!

And what a terrific result!

Your teacher would be so fortunate to receive this gift. :-)

Need some more inspiration?  Click HERE for a whole bunch of other clever Valentine Teacher Gifts.

Happy Valentine Teacher Gift-ing! :-)

Brownie Points – For the Teacher

14 Sep

The Happy Hubby and I like to think that our son is a perfect angel when we release him into the world of PreK-2.

He would never do anything disobedient in school like tackle another child to the ground in a wrestling match over a toy.

Not the Happy Buddy.

But, yes, as a born sinner (along with the rest of us!), our precious little one has much to learn in the never-ending quest of ‘dying to self.’

His teacher quietly took us aside last week and informed us of the physical brawl that had occurred between the Happy Buddy and the poor other kid who hadn’t seen it comin’.

You can bet that I have been on my knees praying ever since!

Asking the Lord for wisdom as the Mommy and self-control for the Happy Buddy! :-)

All that to say, as much as it pained me to hear of the Happy Buddy’s choices, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the way his teacher handled the situation.

She was a true picture of the Gospel – giving the Happy Buddy big, unconditional love hugs – even while her words about his ‘kind-of-a-bummer-of-a-day’ were so freshly spoken.

I’m so glad that the Happy Buddy is surrounded by people who love and accept him in spite of his failures – they see him for who he is – a precious child of the King!

So, I did what any grateful parent would do.

I baked her some brownies. :-) Those, Happy Home Friends, are my Aunt Greta’s famous chocolate brownies.

They are seriously uh-maze-ing.

I baked up a batch and then created a little note to include with the treat.Would you like to score some Brownie Points with your Happy Buddy’s teacher??

Click the image below for a copy of the tag I made.

Click for Printable

And in case you were wondering if I was going to share Aunt Greta’s delicious brownie recipe…

Here it is!!!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 sticks butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 4 T (heaping) cocoa powder
  • 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

  • Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl.
  • Add eggs.
  • Add rest.
  • Pour into a greased 9×13 pan.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Happy Brownie Point-ing! :-)

End of Year Teacher Gift Idea

25 May

I am about to share with you something absolutely REMARKABLE!

A couple of SUPER INCREDIBLE gals from my MOM group at our church are the Room Moms for their Happy Buddies’ PreK-4 class.

They contacted me several weeks ago and asked me for some cute End of School Year Teacher Gift Ideas.

I told them I would be happy to share ideas with them – as long as they took pics of their final product for me to share with all my Happy Home Friends! :-)

Here is what they did for their teacher…

A Pad of Money and Love!

First, the girls secretly sent home a list of questions for each child in the class to answer.

Example questions…  “What does your teacher like to eat for lunch?” or “What was the best thing you learned this year in so-and-so’s class?”Then they printed the questions and answers onto pieces of vellum and cut it to be about the size of a dollar bill.

Next they picked up $100 worth of brand new $2 bills.

Then they stacked all of the pieces of vellum and $2 bills alternating paper, bill, paper, bill, etc.They made a cover to fit the top of the stack and cut a piece of chipboard for the back.

The gals also included a picture of the class on the inside of the cover.Finally, they used a special compound glue to glue the tops of all the pages together.

But I’ve heard that Kinko’s will also inexpensively bind your pad of paper as well!

This part required them clamping the stack together so that the glue and pages dried correctly – it turns out just like a pad of paper!

When it’s all dry, they will present their Pad of Money and Love to their teachers!If you would like a better explanation of this gift, you better head on over to Everything Pink – the genius behind this original idea!

It takes a little bit of planning, but GOLLY PETE!  What a creative and majestic keepsake for any teacher to receive!!!!

I’d love to hear from your Happy Homes what you are doing as an End of the Year Teacher Gift!

Don’t forget to check out THIS POST for other great (and superbly simple) teacher gift ideas!

And for EVEN MOOOORE End of the Year Teacher Gift Ideas check out THIS SITE!

Happy End of the Year Teacher Gift-ing! :-)

Teacher Appreciation Ideas

28 Apr

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 2nd – May 6th!

When I was teaching 2nd grade, I loved receiving little ‘happies’ from my students that expressed their excitement about what we did in our classroom.  It gave me just the encouragement I needed to keep on keeping on!

I hope you’ll take a look at some of these fabulous ideas and then bring a little joy to your Happy Buddy’s teacher next week!

Click Image for Printable

Grab the ingredients for S’mores, throw in a cute plastic bag, and attach this FREE printable topper from Domesticated Lady.

Click Image for Instructions and Poem

This M&M jar is the SWEETEST thing EVER and it has the most adorable and inspiring poem.  Please go read the poem – it’s sooooooooo cute!

Click Image for Printable

Teachers work hard – they often need a little pick-me-up.  Hello caffeine!  Give your Happy Buddy’s teacher this cute FREE printable card and attach a Starbucks gift certificate.  Perfect!

Click Image for Instructions

Who doesn’t love to get giftcards?!  A Turtle’s Life for Me has the CUTEST idea on how to present some inexpensive giftcards to your Happy Buddy’s teacher in a magical way.  If the Happy Buddy were in school right now, I would SO be doing this.

Click Image for Instructions

This Garden of Giftcards is blooming with creative magic!

Click Image for Free Printable

Then there’s this glowing brilliance of an idea!  Sunglasses for the teacher (perfect for summer) and a FREE printable tag that says Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Click Image for Instructions

I love the simplicity of this.  And you can find FREE printable tags for it HERE.

If you’re looking for even more Teacher Appreciation Ideas, please check out the following AMAZING sites.

Skip to My Lou (she has dedicated the whole month of April to Teacher Appreciation Ideas!)

Tip Junkie (check out the adorable door decorations at the bottom!  What a wonderful surprise!)

Room Mom 101   (some super clever and easy candy gifts and more door ideas!)

Family Fun

I also have another post from the beginning of the school year featuring some awesome teacher gifts.  Pop over to see it HERE and modify for the end of the year!

But, you know, the greatest gift I ever received while teaching was a heartfelt note from a parent or student.  I have saved and treasured every one!  So break out the stationary and have a Thank You Note writing party!

Your words will be a blessing!

Happy Teacher Appreciate-ing! :-)

← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 2,280 other followers