Teacher Gift Ideas

"Never get tired of doing little things for others. For sometimes, 

those little things occupy the biggest part of their heart." 

~ Ida Azhari

I love this quote! I am one of those people who LOVE to give! I find it so hard to answer the question "what do you want for Christmas?" as truly I do not know. I rather give something to someone than get something. 

I was trying to figure out the other day what to get my son's teachers for the holidays but it is so hard to come up with a good gift! I could do gift cards but that is so over done. What I would like to do is get them something they would never think of buying for themselves. So I thought I would share with you some of my favorite things for teachers!

Red Glitter Apple Earrings

There are lots of teacher earrings in a variety of styles

So cute! 

Literature on a Scarf

Stacked inspiration

Teacher Apron

Every teacher needs this for the day she forgets to wear

clothing with pockets. (GUILTY!)

Framed Artwork

Monogrammed Basket and Waterbottle

This is perfect for the days when you need to bring more

than will fit in your school bag. I am also always losing my

waterbottle. Now I would know which is mine. 

Gift Cards

You know this has to be on the list!

Teacher's Store, Starbucks, Target, Dollar Tree, and Visa.

I avoid restaurants unless you know their favorite!

Customized key ring or lanyard

Love mine! I have the keychain version and it is connected to

my lanyard along with my whistle and a bunch of other stuff. 

Customized Hot & Cold Cups Set

Personalized Hall Passes

Personalized Door Signs

Personalized Clip boards, Hand Sanitizer, or Desk Sign

Now these ideas are amazing but I think they are out of the price range for most parents. Perhaps you can use these ideas for your best teacher buddy or relative who is a teacher. These are all things teachers would never buy themselves but love. 

Desk Set

Love these new matching sets!

I am still waiting for them to make a black & red version!!

THE pencil sharpener

OH! OH! OH! Be still my heart! 

Todd did it! He really did! 

He made created a red and black version.

Goodbye old blue friend...!

You will be replaced with one of these. 

Who wants my old one?? 

Magnetic Eraser

This comes in so many fun shapes. 

It is on my wish list for my classroom.

Smelly markers. Love my scentos!

Okay... so what would you add to my ideas for teachers? I know this list is no where close to being complete but I thought I would share some of my ideas. And yes... they come in other colors than red and black but I couldn't resist sharing them in my favorite colors. 

Teacher Gifts & Advice Needed

Teachers are some of the most generous, thoughtful people I know!

Take my sweet friend Corrina. Erika and I designed her blog. She was sneaky and asked each of us for the others mailing address to send a surprise thank you. It was so sweet and it was perfect!

It came in a red, white, and black box (see it in the picture) and was wrapped in red bubble wrap or red and black tissue paper. See the frame and saying - I have been looking for a frame like that! It was like she was inside my head and new exactly what I wanted. Right down to the wrapping paper.

I love it!! I took a lovely bath with the cucumber kit and got rid of my black eyes. I am now ready for school tomorrow!

When I was out yesterday... my mentor (Hi Kathy!!) talked about a secret surprise she got for someone. I have heard about bloggers getting gifts for their teams. I have heard about gifts and blogger meet ups. Frankly.. I need some help!!

I come from the business world. We do not believe in gifts. We believe in making money. Since gift cost money yea... they don't happen.

So what is the proper etiquette on gift-giving in teacher land?

Does one give gifts at the beginning of the year to their team? Is it expected or just a nice little extra? Should I buy gifts for my mentors along with a gift card? Do I give a gift to my principal to? The secretary? My child's teacher to start off the year? Do I bring a "thank you for choosing me to be your student teacher" gift when I go in on Monday?

Being the poor out-of-work grad student that I am this seems extravagant but I am one who loves to give to others and getting so much lately makes me want to give more! But the question is if I do give something, how do I know what to give? What is the appropriate price range? What are some ideas of things to give? 

OH! And what does one wear to put together a classroom? Jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes? Somehow I cannot see dress clothes as appropriate then again I am on campus. 

HEEELLLLPPP!!!

Laminating Madness

So here is the other review I promised you of my other new "toy."

I have been looking and looking at a laminator for home use but have you seen some of the prices on these?? I went to Office Max and the cheapest one I found was $180! I was not paying that price. I will just go and visit my pal at the local print shop as I normally do and see what he is up to rather than pay that price.

Fast Forward --- May is known as Mama Month in my house. First is teacher appreciation week, then Mother's Day, then my birthday. So for 3 weeks... its all about me!

So hubby knows all of my requests are always practical so when he saw this laminator at Wal-Mart for $20 he figured he would buy it and see how it works for me. Worst case scenario.... we wasted $20.

I love this little guy! It is so simple to use. Turn it on and the button turns blue. Wait for it to turn red an then your ready to go!

You have to put the items into these pouches. When you do prior to going through the machine they look very foggy. I was kinda concerned when I saw it as I did not want the item to be foggy!! For 50 pouches it was $11! This is the cheapest I have ever found!

This isn't the best picture but the items come out crystal clear and glossy! I can do anything that is regular paper size or smaller. Here are just a few things that I tested it out on. 

You can also find this at amazon for about the same price. It is  cheaper than my printer who laminates thing for me so this pays for itself plus the convenience of being able to laminate things last minute at midnight before class the next day is priceless!

It is also very easy to use. My 7 year old wanted to help so he put the items into the machine while I cut the little pieces a part. The page comes out warm and the machine is warm to the touch but not hot by any means. Which is a big plus for me.

So there ya have it! Time to use that credit card again! LOL!

The Pencil Nightmare

I had to share with you my thoughts on my teacher appreciation gifts. I couldn't not share this with you and at the end... you will need your credit card. So either get it ready or hide it so you won't be tempted!

THE pencil sharpener

Have you heard of THE pencil sharpener everyone is talking about? I gave one away in March as I heard so many good things about it that I put it on my "MUST HAVE" list.

I was waiting for a red one to come out to buy it as Troy said they are coming soon. (YIPPEEE!!).

But the blue is also such a pretty color!

 

I will admit that I was not into all they hype I heard about pencil sharpeners until... I started subbing. 

Day 1... "Mrs. Poland, can I sharpen my pencil?"  "Mrs. Pooand, my pencil broke." "Mrs. Peepland, do you have a pencil I can borrow?" I think a record was set that day until ....

Day 2 happened. It started off with "Can you please sharpen the pencils before class?" Sure. That is a brilliant idea! Now I won't have to here over 100 times today about a broken pencil. WRONGO! The electric pencil sharpener ate pencils but never actually sharpened them. It was nightmarish. 

Day 3... When you plugged in the pencil sharpener it never shut off! Then there was the whole lets sharpen the pencil while the teacher is talking. Sigh... that is when I started to realize how important a pencil sharpener was....

AND I started dreaming of the perfect one. I would pack it in my sub bag. No more borrowing a pencil sharpener as the one I was using was possessed. No more  "Mrs. Peirland"... pencil questions.

I was so excited when I received this in the mail. I HAD to try it out NOW. I just couldn't get the box open fast enough. Was it the sharpener I had been dreaming of? I have to admit, this pencil sharpener stole my heart! Shhhh! Don't tell hubby!

What do I love?

1 - I can talk in a normal at-home voice, not my teacher-voice (which is louder and I sometimes forget to turn it off at home) and someone can hear me across the room while sharpening a pencil! GASP! This fact alone is enough to bring me to tears. "Mrs. Peperson, can I sharpen my pencil?" "Sure - go ahead and sharpen while I teach!"

2 - It is easy to clean 

3 - It is easy to use. My 7 year old has been begging me to sharpen pencils. He thinks its the funnest thing ever. You slide out the medal piece, push the clamps together, insert pencil, let go of clamp, and turn the crank. It slides in as it sharpens, and can see when you have the perfect point.

4 - No more taking pencils in and out to see if they are sharpened enough! The crank also becomes super easy to turn so you know it's done. Its a super sharp point every time... look!

 

5 - The sharpest pencil point you have ever seen... my oldest loves to draw but hates to not have the sharpest point to do so as he says it is necessary for fine lines. I have no idea about this I can barely draw stick figures but I do know that I refuse to use pencils as they are never sharp enough.

I also had to hunt for the pencil sharpener and found it in his room. He told me to go get my own. Them there are fighting words. I will have nightmares again without my pencil sharpener!

6 - It doesn't eat pencils. These are the super cheap 20 for $1 pencils from a bin at Office Max. My youngest two saw them and picked some up for me as a surprise. So sweet and yet so wrong! Its like a dollar tree pencil... they are the fake imitation ones that break pencil sharpeners! But not with this one!

7 - It has replaceable parts just in case one of my kiddos ever figure out how to kill my pencil sharpener.

8 - You can mount it or not (it comes with the thing to mount it with).

9 - It's CHEAP! I have literally gasped in shock when I have seen the prices of pencil sharpeners at the store. This one is only $19.95 and that includes shipping. Buy more 3 or more, and Troy gives you a discount.

10 - My #10 is still on hold. It will say "AND IT MATCHES!" as soon as Troy says the magic words "now available in red" I will also accept the magic words "now available in black." =)

So now here is where ya'll need those credit cards. Please go see my good buddy Troy over at Classroom Friendly Supplies and order one for yourself. I guarantee you won't be sorry.

Just click on the picture but hurry! He tends to run out of stock as people keep buying them. There was a waiting list in March... it is worth the wait!

As for me, I am taking my new friend with me to tease my Mentor Teacher who also has NIGHTMARES about her pencil sharpener. My nightmare is finally over as I have the best pencil sharpener ever!

Teacher Appreciation Sale & Currently

Today is the last day to get 28% off at TpT. You can use your TpT credits as well for an extra bonus! TN is also have some sales and great giveaways as are so many others this week.

I am truly loving all of it and all my bloggy teacher friends!

Erica Bohrer's First Grade is having a linky party! I will warn you though that after reading through these... I promptly refilled my wish list.

So.... what did I buy???

And since I am behind on linking up and funness..... here is my May Currently!

And in case you didn't know what today is....