Teacher Gifts: An inexpensive way to say THANK YOU!

 I actually was all set to post a different blog today, but yesterday one of my best girlfriends, D, texted me with an interesting problem.  She asked me if I had any ideas that were budget friendly (in respect to both time and money!) for the teachers of her beautiful little girls.  The twist?  There are about ten teachers to buy for (Her daughters are in day care, which ups the teacher-to-kiddo ratio!)

So how does a working mother of two come up with ten gifts that are affordable, adorable and not terribly time consuming?  Good question.

After some thought and consultation with my favorite retired teacher (my mom), I came up with the perfect little "Thank You" to brighten a teacher's day.  Sweet little potted plants with a personalized message!

I stopped by a local market that features farm fresh produce and flowers and super fabulous prices (Produce Junction for all you Philly natives).  After looking at various options, I found these beautiful little cluster flowers with waxy leaves called Kalanchoe.  The best part? Each potted plant (About 10 inches high from base to tip) was only $2!  Sold.

D liked the white and pink for their cheery colors, so I picked up ten and headed home with my finds.

We certainly could have given the plants as they were, but I knew D wanted something to make them
a little bit special to say "Thank You" for all of the hard work the teachers put in.

Wanting to meet the challenge of keeping cost low, I raided my scrapbook closet to see what extras I had left over.

Funky scissors, ribbons, coordinating scraps of paper and card stock were all gathered.  I added a few halved bamboo skewers to the supply pile, some glue sticks and tape, and finally I printed up text and pictures of D's girls to use on tags.

I cut small discs of paper out with scalloped scissors and then attached the printed sentiment "Thank You" to the center.  Taping to a bamboo skewer, I inserted the flower-like shape into the dirt.

Using additional coordinating scrapbook paper, I created gift tags (if you have a die cut machine this should take about a second.  I don't, so I simply traced a tag I already had and cut them by hand.) and punched a hole in the top for ribbon.  After gluing on black and white photos of D's little girls, I added the additional wording "For helping me bloom!" to the bottom of the tag.  A pretty ribbon or two tied around the base and that's it!

By using supplies that I already had handy, I kept the cost to an even $20.  For 10 gifts?  Not bad! Not bad at all!