Our Thoughtful & Easy-to-Organize Teacher's Gift Idea from the Whole Class . . . a Wall Calendar Filled with Students' Quotes!

This is my second year organizing classroom gifts for one of our children's teachers.  Somehow it always seems that there is one room that does not have a Room Parent, who usually takes on this and other important tasks.  Last year, another parent and I teamed up and we were floored at how difficult it was to arrange the Holiday gift.  More than half the parents did not provide contact information for the student directory, so we had to send home letters to the families without drawing attention from the teacher.  The participation was staggeringly low, even though we only asked for $5 per family to go towards both the gifts for the primary teacher and the assistant teacher.  I was shocked and a bit dismayed.  The experience was so difficult that the other parent and I agreed not to attempt organizing an end-of-the-year gift.  Instead, we came up with thoughtful gifts on our own for our children to present to their teachers.

This past Holiday, I was presented with the same problem.  There was no official room parent, so I stepped up to organize the classroom gift.  This time, things looked more promising.  Nearly all the parents had provided their email for the student directory, which was a good sign.  I had learned from past experience to make participating as easy on the parents as possible.  I even offered to take contributions with cash sent to school or via PayPal.  So, I came up with a teacher's gift idea that would make it easy on the parents and would be unique and super-thoughtful . . . a personalized wall calendar filled with quotes from the students about their favorite things.  This was easier to do than it sounds.  All you need is to know how to use Google Forms and Spreadsheets, have a basic graphics program where you can turn text into an image, and have a place that prints custom photo calendars, like Walgreens.


Tips for making a 'Favorite Things' Quotes Wall Calendar for a Teacher's Gift from the class . . . 

1.  Create a Google Form with clear instructions for the parents on how to interview their children and how to submit their children's responses in the blank fields.  I found it easier to use a fill-in-the-blank format for the questions.  Be sure to include a mandatory question asking for the child's name.  I offered a wide variety of interview questions, with some pertaining to certain times of the year, but, to make this low-stress on the parents and students, I only made two of them mandatory . . . what the child's favorite thing about their teacher is and what their favorite thing about 1st grade is.

2.  All the interview responses will automatically be collected in a Google Spreadsheet.  At this point, you should figure out how many quotes you would like to include per calendar page and decide if you would like to make a 12-month or an 18-month calendar.  Based on the responses I received and my wanting to include 4 quotes per page for a 12-month calendar, I figured out that each student should have 3 or 4 quotes included in the calendar.

3.  When making your images of the quotes, be sure to change the color of the quotes you've used in order to keep track of how many quotes you've used from each child and to avoid duplicates.  Be sure to make your image in a high resolution format (300 dpi).  If you don't have a graphics program, you can download Gimp for free.  You can make the quotes as simple as you'd like or use different fonts, colors, etc . . . I tried to be sure to include any seasonal quotes on the images to be used on the relevant months in the calendar.  I also made sure to include all the students' quotes about their favorite thing about their teacher and about their grade.  For any families who did not submit their children's quotes, the students' names were still printed on the front cover of the calendar with the rest of the class.

4.  Ordering your photo calendar should be pretty easy.  I used Walgreens Photo, which is extremely user-friendly.  All you need to do is choose the size and format for your calendar to get started.  Then you can choose a theme and customize each page of the calendar with your image, text, and different backgrounds.


For the classroom's Holiday gift, we included this calendar along with other goodies and a gift card in a gift basket.  The teacher was so touched while reading all the quotes that it brought tears to her eyes.

For the end-of-the-year gift this year, I will be making a design with all the student's names on it to print on a canvas tote bag for the teacher.  I think I will be using Walgreens Photo again.  I was pleased with the results last time, plus they always have coupons available on photo gifts and I was able to pick the finished product up at our local store.  Of course we'll be filling the tote with a gift card and other fun things for summer vacation.  Do you have any suggestions about what kinds of things we should include?

Holiday Gift Guides, a Free Printable Organizer, and More Tips for Managing the Holiday Madness! #HappyAllTheWay #shop #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This Walgreens Holiday Gift Guide shop has been compensated as part of a #HappyAllTheWay social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

The Holidays are my favorite time of the year.  I can say that because (if you take blogging out of the equation) I have learned to keep Holiday stress to a minimum when it comes to organizing my Holiday shopping list and coming up with Christmas present ideas.  No, you cannot snap your fingers and suddenly have an unlimited budget for Holiday gifts, but there are some things that are within your control.  You may already do one or more of these things listed below, but, if you do all four, you can be on your way to having a low-stress Holiday where you can actually enjoy the Holiday season.

1.  Start your gift shopping earlier.  Notice, I did not say to start "early" because that s a relevant term.  I usually start my Holiday shopping during the summertime.  If you usually start 2 days before Christmas, try starting 2 weeks before Christmas instead.  You will be amazed at how much it will reduce your stress with every gift you check off your list.  This will eliminate having to run around to find suitable last minute Christmas gifts.  Also, the earlier you start, the more opportunities you will have to come up with more creative gifts.

2.  Keep your gift shopping list(s) organized.  Everyone should make a list of who they need to buy for and possible gift ideas for each person.  This is especially true if you have children.  Not only do gifts for teachers, bus drivers, babysitters, and others come along with having children, you also need to stuff stockings and buy the gifts from Santa in addition to the ones from yourself.  Every year, I make a special list for my children and it is set up exactly like the one below.  Feel free to print it out to use for your own family's shopping.

TO PRINT:  Make sure your printer is on and ready to print.  Click on the image to enlarge.  Then right-click and select print.  Use your browser's back button to return to this page.

I also make a similar list in my head for my husband because, although Santa does not leave a gift for him under the tree, he does stuff my husband's stocking.  I refuse to write any of it down because I know at least part of him likes to be surprised as much as our children do.

3.  Use Holiday Gift Guides as resources for unique gift ideas.  Starting at the beginning of November, you will be bombarded with gift guides left and right.  If you take the time to stop and actually look at them, you might find some creative gift ideas.  They are all free, so why not take a quick look?  For example, I picked up the Walgreens Holiday gift guide last week and was able to find some great gift ideas for teachers, our neighbors, my husband's co-workers, and for hostess gifts.

The Walgreens Holiday catalog can be found in-stores and online, and is full of unique pairings and other Walgreens Holiday solutions.  Be sure to grab one next time you're in your local Walgreens because there are tons of savings and bonus Balance Rewards Points in there!  That's how I discovered the Good & Delish premium snacks, chocolates, cookies, ice cream, nuts, and gourmet party snack ideas.  I had purchased Good & Delish cookies before, but I had no idea the line spanned multiple aisles across the store.  There are tons of decadent snack ideas that would make wonderful gifts.

4.  Buy one for them, pick up one for yourself.  Another way to keep Holiday stress in check is to reward yourself.  Let's face it, organizing, buying, and wrapping all those Holiday gifts is hard work and you should be rewarded.  I'm not saying this rule should apply to cashmere sweaters and tablet PCs (but if you can afford it, go for it!), however, a few little rewards can go a long way.  For example, I am putting together a gift basket for one of my children's teachers as her gift from the whole class.  I knew I wanted to include a personalized wall calendar with quotes from her students and a gift card.  Everything else was a little fuzzy until I saw the Good & Delish chocolates and other sweet treats in the Walgreens Holiday Guide.  I chose a variety of gourmet treats to include in the gift basket for our child's teacher and picked up an extra box of Raspberry Fruit Creme cookies and a pouch of Brittle Bites for myself.  Thanks to one of the ideas I found in the gift guide, I also picked up a bottle of Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice for her and one for myself.

What tips do you have for reducing stress during the Holidays?  I would love it if you shared your tips with me and other 3G2S readers!

Say "Merci For All You Do" with a merci European Chocolates End-of-the-Year Teacher's Gift

Thank you to merci for providing a complimentary prize pack for us to base this review upon and for providing additional products for our contest prize. All opinions expressed are my own.

In some parts of the country, summer vacation has already begun for students.  Where we live, however, students have 3 more weeks of school to look forward to.  They actually lost 5 days of summer vacation due to the abundance of snow days we had this past winter.  If you have multiple children, then you probably have several thank you gifts to buy if you include all the teachers, assistant teachers, and school bus drivers.  One gift that is affordable and always seems to be appreciated is fine chocolates . . . something the teachers can enjoy while celebrating their much-needed summer break.

merci European Chocolates is a different take on the usual box of chocolates.  Inside the box is an assortment of 20 individually wrapped mini candy bars.  Everyone in my family enjoyed trying the seven varieties, which include Milk Chocolate, Coffee and Cream, Hazelnut-Almond, Hazelnut-Creme, Dark Cream, Dark Mousse, and Praline-Creme.  We all had our own favorites.  My husband and daughter liked the classic Milk Chocolate the best, while our oldest son's favorite was the Coffee and Cream.  My personal favorites were the Praline-Creme and the two Hazelnut varieties.

These rich merci chocolates are definitely a crowd-pleaser.  The surprising part is that you can find them at your local Walmart for approximately $5.50!  You can check whether merci chocolates are in stock at your local Walmart right on the product page.  At that price, you can afford to buy a box for all your favorite teachers, the school bus driver, and pick up a few for yourself.  For a limited time, you can get a $1.00 off coupon by "liking" merci on Facebook.

Enter to win a teacher-themed merci European Chocolate Prize Pack . . . 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

10 Easy & Useful Ways to Use Chalkboard Decals in Your Home

Thank you to KiDECALS for providing complimentary product samples to help facilitate this post.

While shopping in the home furnishings department in local stores, I have been noticing chalkboard signs incorporated into everything from storage baskets to spice jars.  I loved the ideas, but I didn't like the prices.  When I saw the chalkboard decals on kidecals.com, I had a "eureka" moment.  I started thinking about all the things on which I could use these decals, which only cost $10 for a sheet of 12 (6 of the 3" and 6 of the 4").  There are also various shapes available.  The ones I used are the Chalkboard Cloud II Labels.  Since KiDECALS was nice enough to send me some chalkboard labels to play with, I was able to experiment a little.  Here are some of the ideas I came up with . . .

1.  Flatware Caddies - For parties and other gatherings, you can place these chalkboard decals on any type of smooth container.  I found the little pails pictured above in the Target dollar section.  They were the perfect size for holding forks, spoons, and knives.

2.  Wine Glass Markers - For parties, put chalkboard decals on acrylic wine glasses, flutes, or tumblers.  Then mark each glass with the guests' names or initials.  Since the decals are dishwasher-safe, you can reuse these chalkboard drinking glasses for the next party.

3.  Home Office or Craft Room Storage - I'm a big fan of using photo boxes for storage on shelves because I can label them and they keep the contents out of sight.  Sometimes those boxes just are too large to hold small items.  That's when smaller labeled jars or buckets can come in handy.  They would look very neat all lined up on a shelf.

4.  Rainy Day Jar - Everyone has something they are saving up for, whether it's a vacation or just mad money.  Place a chalkboard decal on a jar and write what you're currently saving up for on the front.  That way you'll be reminded to make an effort to add to the fund each time you see the jar.

5.  Playroom Storage - These chalkboard decals would be very handy to hold things like crayons, markers, and more.  You can write the name of what belongs in the container for organization or you can write each child's name for personal containers to keep each child's belongings separate.

6.  Mud Room Storage - If you have a mud room, you may have large bins that hold different things depending on the season.  Use these chalkboard decals on bins to label them with their purpose, such as mittens and hats, umbrellas, wet socks, balls and frisbees, etc . . .

7.  Bake Sales - If you participate in bake sales several times a year for school or other organizations, then it would be a time saver to label the side of your reusable containers with chalkboard decals rather than having to make hand written signs for each item you contribute baked goods.

8.  Easy Personalized Teacher's Gift or Get Well Gift - The acrylic stemless wine glass pictured below only cost me $1.99 each at Target.  They would make cute shatter-resistant vases to hold fresh flowers for your child to present to their teacher at the end of the school year.  The would also make thoughtful get well gifts.  It's easy to personalize the vase with a chalkboard decal to make it more special.

9.  Place Cards and Favors - A little personalized vase or glass would make an elegant place card at a wedding or a dinner party.  They could double as a favor for the guest to take home.  You could place a fresh flower or chocolates inside.

10.  Kitchen Treat Canisters - In our house, we use stainless steel canisters with glass lids to store cookies.  You really cannot tell what is inside each canister without picking it up and looking through the lid (or asking Mom).  Using chalkboard decals on these canisters would make it clear what kinds of treats are currently in each canister.


If you have other ideas for using chalkboard decals, I would love to hear them.  Feel free to share them with me and other 3G2S readers in a comment below.

Shop 'n' Share: Replenishing My Husband's Geek T-Shirt Collection

This product was purchased with our own funds.  No compensation was received for sharing this shopping experience with our readers, however, this post may contain affiliate links.

My husband's favorite item of clothing to wear is a comfortable t-shirt.  In fact, I think he would be wear a t-shirt every waking minute if his office did not require him to wear a shirt and tie.  A printed t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts is his uniform 3 months out of the year after work and on the weekends.  Somewhere during our 13 years of marriage, I decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."  I always have my eyes open for t-shirts my husband might like.  My only rule is that I will not buy him white t-shirts anymore because he manages to stain them the very first time he wears them 95% of the time.

A few months ago, my husband discovered LOL Shirts.  He works in IT and is a geek at heart, and he has found tons of geek t-shirts he likes on this site.  This text-based Relax. I can fix it. t-shirt and one that says I'm here because you broke something. are his favorites to wear to work on casual Fridays.  There is always some kind of promotion going on at LOL Shirts and shipping is just $2 per shirt, so I don't mind helping my husband to replace some of his t-shirts that have become stained or worn.

Some of the shirts on this site are available in up to a size 5X.  My husband likes his shirts loose, so I usually buy a 3X for him.  There is an additional cost of just $.99 for size XXL and XXXL shirts.  On average, one shirt would cost me roughly $10, give or take one or two dollars based on the current promotion.  If you're looking for an affordable Father's Day gift this year, whether it be from you or your children, a shirt from LOL Shirts would be a great way to go.

By the way, each of my children's teachers will be receiving a teaching-themed t-shirt for their end of the year teacher's gift that they can wear all summer long.  Be sure to check those out if you are still in need of a gift for your child's teacher.  For a limited time, you can receive $5 off each shirt plus free shipping when you checkout using Promo Code: 5OFFEVERYTHING!

As always, if you shop, be sure to come back and tell me what you purchased!

Fun & Affordable T-Shirts for End-of-the-Year Teacher's Gifts (On sale for $5.99 each)

In our school district, individual teacher's gifts for Holiday and the end of the year are strongly discouraged for ethical reasons, so we usually give one gift to each of my children's teachers from the whole class.  The gift is usually a gift card along with a small token gift, such as a handmade collage, baked goods, or something else along those lines.  Well, I came across some fun teaching-themed t-shirts on sale for just $5.99 each.  These would make a great token gift to go along with a gift card.  The shipping cost per shirt is $1.99, making the total cost for each shirt to be an affordable $7.98.

These unisex shirts come in sizes S-XXXL.  There is an additional $0.99 charge for the XXL and XXXL shirts.  I featured my two favorite designs above, but there are six t-shirt designs to choose from altogether.  You'll have to hurry though, because this sale ends on Sunday, April 21st.

An Original and Affordable End-of-the-Year Teacher's Gift Idea from the Whole Class!

I have several friends who are teachers and have heard it from the source about what teachers love (and what they don't love) to receive for Holiday and end-of-the-year gifts.  How many mugs, magnets, and bottles of scented body products can one person use, right?  Gift cards are always a great way to go, but if you feel they are just too impersonal, here is an idea for a teacher's gift from the whole class that will truly be a cherished keepsake.  In fact, the same teacher could receive this gift every year and would still love it because no two will ever be alike!

I'm talking about a School Photo Book from Blurb.com.  Each student in this year's class could have one or two pages devoted to him or her.  All you need is for each parent to contribute one or more photos of their child and a few dollars to go towards the cost of the book.  Blurb books start at just $12.99 plus the cost of shipping, so one classroom of 20+ students could make a beautiful book for just $2 or $3 from each student's family.  To make it even more special, you can have each child contribute a quote about their favorite school memory from this year.

Through 5/31/13, you can receive 15% off a School Photo Book when you checkout using Promo Code: MYSCHOOLBOOK on Blurb.com.

15% Off Ideas for Teachers' Gifts at Layla Grayce!

The more I talk to the teachers I know about what they think about some of the Holiday and end-of-the-year gifts they receive, the more stressed out I get about choosing something that my children's teachers will actually like and use.  I have come to the conclusion that, if you do not want to go with a gift card, then you need to find that delicate balance between gifty and practical.  Layla Grayce has tons of such items!  In fact, they have a whole section dedicated to gifts for teachers.  Some of them are personalized, some of them are for personal use, and some are perfect for use in the classroom.

One of my favorite ideas for a teacher's gift is the Chalkboard Minis, which are rectangular chalkboard wall decals that can go anywhere, such as on a wall, on the side of the teacher's desk, or on the door.  These chalkboard decals also come in large panels, a cupcake shape, heart shapes, circles, a star shape, an elephant shape, and more.

When you shop, make sure you checkout using Code: merry so you can save 15% off on your order!  This offer expires on December 23rd, 2012.

Easy Craft: Print and Color End-of-the-Year Teacher's Gift Tag for Plants or Flowers

Our 5 year old twins graduated from preschool this year.  In the past, we always gave the teachers small gift cards and hand drawn cards from the children for end-of-the-year thank you gifts.  This year, the twins wanted to give their teachers flowers.  I talked them into going with potted plants because they would last far longer than cut flowers.  They took much care in selecting the perfect plants with the prettiest flowers.

I wanted to do something special with the plants.  I considered having the children paint the pots or make a sign to put in the soil.  Then I came up with this free printable gift tag that would work for both a plant or floral bouquet as an end-of-the-year teacher's gift.

In addition to the free printable below, you will also need . . . 

Crayons or Markers

Thin permanent marker (in a dark color)

Glue stick

Invisible tape

Child safety scissors

1" (or wider) ribbon

Narrow ribbon (can also use twine or yarn)

Below you will find two versions of this printable gift tag.  The one on the left reads "Thank You For Helping Us Bloom!!" and the one on the right says "Thank You For Helping Me Bloom!!"  You should print the one that works for you based on whether you are giving a gift from a single child, siblings, or the whole class.

TO PRINT:  Click on the desired image to enlarge.  Then right-click on the image and select "print."  Use your browser's back arrow to return to this page.

Step 1.  Print out the desired page.  Then ask your child to color in the flower, making sure he or she only uses light colors in the flower's center where the text appears.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Step 2.  Carefully cut out the flowers, making sure to leave the two flowers connected at the dotted line.  An adult may have to do the cutting if you are working with young children who have yet to perfect their cutting skills.

Step 3.  Fold the flowers along the dotted line so that the blank sides of the flowers are together.

Step 4.  Use a glue stick to glue the two halves together, except where the two flowers are connected.  To help with this, you can insert a crayon, pencil, or marker between the two halves at the very top as shown below.  Once the glue dries, remove the crayon and you will have an opening in which you can insert a string or ribbon to hang the gift tag with.

Step 5.  Using the ribbon you have chosen that is 1" or wider, tie a bow around or near the top of the flowerpot.  Use small loops of invisible tape between the ribbon and the flowerpot to help hold the ribbon in place.

Step 6.  Using a thin permanent marker, fill in the "to" and the "from" on the tag.

Step 7.  Thread a small length of narrow ribbon, twine, or yarn through the opening at the top of the tag you created and tie it in a knot to make it hang from the wider ribbon already on the flowerpot.

Here is how our two potted plants turned out.  The teachers both loved the plants, as well as the tags made by the children.  It was definitely more personal than a gift card and the children were so proud to carry the plants into school to present them to their teachers.

Ideas for how to make this project your own . . .

• Paint the flowerpot
• Use stickers on the flower pot and/or the tag
• Use some glue and glitter to make the tag sparkle
• Use wired ribbon to create a fancier bow for the flowerpot
• Decoupage photos from the school year onto the flowerpot

If you end up doing this project, I would love to hear how it turns out.

Help Classrooms Take the "Save the Sleeve" Pledge with Boogie Wipes

Our household just began round #3 of colds this fall. We are only one third of the way through October! This does not bode well for the upcoming winter. We are not the only family who is experiencing this. I have heard parents complaining locally and online about cold symptoms making their way through each member of their families, as well. I even had a parent ask me back in August about whether my children have had their flu shots yet. It is clear that germ prevention is on every parent's mind.

Mindee Doney and Julie Pickens, the founders of Boogie Wipes, a company that offers a saline wipe as a solution for crusty stuffy noses, have begun the Save the Sleeve movement. This well thought out program, encourages children to take the Save the Sleeve Pledge and to become an official "Boogie Kid." All your child needs to do to become a Boogie Kid is to enter the secret code under the tab of any 30ct pack of Boogie Wipes at SaveTheSleeve.com . Your child will even receive an official Boogie Kid badge in the mail

For the holidays, instead of buying your child's teacher yet another tree ornament, why not gift Boogie Wipes and other classroom essentials instead? You can buy Boogie Wipes online or find them at your local retailer of health and beauty products. You can even order a Boogie Wipes Classroom Kit and have it sent to your child's classroom with a personal note card included. Boogie Wipes was nice enough to send 50 Boogie Wipes singles for both our twins' preschool classroom and our 1st grader's classroom to help our children's classmates start to "Save the Sleeve". The teachers were so happy to receive these products and would like to extend a big thank you to Boogie Wipes for being so generous.

Although I did not receive any compensation for sharing this information with my readers, Boogie Wipes did donate product to my children's classrooms.