20 Teacher appreciation gifts you can make today!

I don't know about you, but teacher appreciation week sneaks right up on me every.single.year.I sort of work best at the last minute, so I put together a list of 20 teacher appreciation gifts that you can make TODAY! Some of the ideas may require a quick trip to the store, but all of them can be made and packaged in under an hour.

1. My daughter is obsessed with EOS lip balm.  I got my first EOS this past weekend and I can see why! This adorable printable from wine and glue will take you no time at all to put together. It's even available in a silhouette print and cut file if you have one or download it as a normal PDF.

2. There is also this really cute EOS printable from the Country Chic Cottage.

3. Or this butterfly shaped one from The Dating Divas.

4. Heck, while you are at it, buy the Costco multi pack and make some for the whole staff! Thanks to I Should be Mopping the Floor for making sure we didn't leave anyone out!

5. I know when I substitute teach my painted fingernails get noticed a lot when I use the overhead projector.  Why not treat the teacher to some toe-tally awesome nail polish for her fingers  {or feet}? This free printable is from eighteen25 and can even be customized for Mother's day too.

6. This next one isn't a free printable, but an idea of something that you could easily put together with items that you have on hand and with a quick trip to the hardware store to get a succulent and a terra cotta jar. Succulents are hot right now. Any teacher would love to have these easy to maintain plant.

Thanks for the idea Life Made Lovely!

7. I know it's hard to believe for some students, but teachers have a life outside of school.  This popular teacher tag would be great to add to a redbox rental or Netflix subscription or it could be on the top of a bag of popcorn.  The possibilities are endless! Thanks to Digi Scrapping Queen via Keeping My Cents for this one.

8. It's nearing the end of the year and believe it or not those 23 dozen sharpened pencils you sent in with your child at the beginning of school are starting to run low. Part of what I do as a sub is sharpen pencils. The Ticonderoga brand is by far superior and would make any teacher happy to find a cup full of them. Everyday Me even added a little flag to the cup, but you could add your own sentiment...

9.  like these free printables from Lisa Storms.  Instead of pencils, you can fill your cup with ice tea and lemonade.  Trust me, these are fun for teachers to have on hand for one of those days when they need a pick me up.

10. Let's be honest, there are a lot of germs in the classroom. Why not make it fun for your teacher to wash her hands.  Thanks to eighteen25 for these printables.

11. One of the first things I think of when I think of teachers is chalkboards. Why not make a fun mason jar with chalkboard paint. Fill the jar with sharpies, or pencils or flowers for a pretty sweet gift.  Thanks Blue i Style for the tutorial.

12. Who doesn't love ice cream? With warmer weather coming, any teacher would love this ice cream gift card printable from I Heart Naptime.

13. While we are talking about gift cards, this one from Target is pretty awesome.  Because who doesn't love Target? You can find it on Landeelu.

14. Or you can download this free printable and pair it with an Apple gift card from My Sister's Suitcase via Everything Etsy.

15. It's as simple as grabbing a kit kat in the check out line. Eighteen25 does it again!

16. While you are at the grocery store, you can pick up some Simply orange juice and print off the tag that The Fickle Pickle created. 

17. You don't have to get all fancy like Skip to my Lou did and make paper strawberries {though it's awesome if you do!}.  You can grab a berry box like this and add candy or treats you know your teacher would like.

18.  If you have a good relationship with you child's teacher, you can head in after school and slip this to her. I probably wouldn't let me kiddo bring it to class though. This printable label from Soho Sonnet is bound to get a laugh.

19. This handmade fabric key chains won't take you long and they come with a free printable and tutorial from A Girl and a Glue Gun.

20.  These free printables from Sweet Metal Moments can be printed up quickly and contain a sweet {inexpensive} gift for your teacher.

BONUS! 

This free printable donut tag from Happiness is Homemade would be a great treat to bring in to the teachers lounge for everyone to enjoy. 

I hope you have gotten an idea or two to make for your kiddos teachers next week during teacher appreciation week.  A sweet handwritten note is always welcome too. Teachers are the best! Make sure they feel appreciated!

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Plain turquoise bowl gets a face lift

Last week, I attended my first blog conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I've been wanting to go to SNAP for years and I finally signed up and made the time to go and I am so glad that I did!

The part of SNAP that I was most looking forward to was connecting with other bloggers. For months leading up to the event, we were getting updates, connecting on our social media accounts and even being paired with secret sisters.  

My secret sister was Mandy from Sugar Bee Crafts. I was excited and a little nervous since I've read Mandy's blog for years.  She's one of those amazing bloggers that I admire and have on my every day reading list.  When I found out that she liked turquoise, I started to see turquoise every where.  I ended up making a little something for her and I love how it turned out and wanted to share it with you too.

I found this .99 cent turquoise bowl at Target and thought it needed a little punch.  It was the right price to put my own stamp on it.

I used tape to tape off the top rim and used my favorite deco art gold paint. {I also used it for this project}

I simply added a few coats of the gold paint until it had the desired effect that I was going for.  I liked still being able to see the brush strokes.  I also added a coat of mod podge and gold glitter around the rim because what's not to love about gold glitter?!

I hope Mandy loves it as much as I do!

You can find these .99 cent dishes in the household section by the dishes.  These are intended as dip bowls.  I think they make a way better jewelry dish don't you?

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Gifts to make for Mother's day {no macaroni included!}

Mother's day is the perfect day to sit down with your kids and make something for their Grandma or Nana. I love to get and give handmade gifts, so I put together a collection of my favorite Mother's day handmade gifts to give and I have divided them into easy to find categories with links directly to their tutorials.

easy to make

Vintage button bookmark

love you scrap bookmark

DIY brag book

paper and printables

DIY chocolate boxprintable tea tags

tea towels

kids artwork turned into tea towelhandwritten recipe on a tea towel

Photo gifts

photo blocks

photo pendant

photo coasters

Flowers

diy mini flower bouquet

For more ideas, follow my mother's day pinterest board. If you would rather buy than make, check out my mother's day gift giving guide.

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Mother's Day gifts (to wear, for the home, personalized jewelry) to give round up

They say the best gifts to give are the ones that you would want to get yourself.  So I've compiled a list of gifts to give to your mom on Mother's Day, or ones that you can add to your list for your kids to get for you.  Every single item are things that I would love to get {hint hint sweet husband and kids of mine!}
I've broken it up into some easy to find gifts {to wear, for the home, personalized jewelry} and provided the links directly to the products for easy shopping.

To Wear

Fancy Pants shirt from Seven Lemons {I'm a big fan of snarky}Fleece Wrapped cardigan from Nordstrom {I've seen this on all body types, you can't go wrong!}Love Each Other tank from Persimmon Prints {on sale! Plus matching tank for kids!}

For the Home

Her Heart of Love Personalized sweatshirt blanket {classy take on the personalized blanket}Personalized family tree pillow Glamis Highball glass from Anthropologie {for no other reason than it is a stunning glass}Gold dot Starbucks travel mug {because we all know mom's run on coffee}

Personalized Jewelry

Leather wrap mom bracelet{from top to bottom, left to right}personalized sterling silver name ringcrossbar necklace from Lisa Leonard personalized signature braceletmother daughter heart necklacehand stamped sterling silver stacked ringssignature personalized necklace

Easy to send

Shari's Berries Who wouldn't love getting chocolate dipped strawberry treats?Happy shopping!  
Check back on Friday for a round up of Mother's Day gifts that you can make. I promise you, there is no macaroni art included!

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Gold glitter believe wood sign

Do you remember the day when Target didn't have a one spot? It's like thinking about peanut butter without the jelly.  Or mac without the cheese.  But I digress.

I'm sure the one spot is the first place you stop when you walk into Target.  They didn't put it in front of the doors for nothing.  Them there are marketing geniuses!

One such afternoon when I found myself in Target, I saw this plain wood sign for only $3.

Believe isn't the first word I would have been drawn to, but it's the only raw wood one they had and I thought it would look super awesome with a nice coat of gold glitter on it.  I mean, heck, what doesn't look good with gold glitter on it?

I super duper love the decoart metallic paints.  They really do come out metallic which is hard to find. I thought I would do a base coat of gold just in case the glitter didn't sufficiently cover it.

After the paint was dry, I put a coat of mod podge on top.

Sprinkle your gold glitter all over that puppy and then shake off the excess. I sprayed it with a mod podge sealer to keep the glitter in one place, though it doesn't seem to make a difference because, you know, glitter.

Stand back and admire your handiwork!
I had all the supplies on hand, minus the sign, so the project cost me only $3 to complete and was done in about an hour.

I think it would make a great photo booth prop to hold {wedding season} or it could be a great addition to a kids room, especially in their dress up corner.How do you feel about glitter? Do you love it as much as I do?

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Vinyl zippered travel bag

I have been doing a lot of traveling lately.  In fact, I am pretty sure I've spent more nights sleeping in hotel beds than in my own bed this year! Don't get me wrong, I love it! Travel is one of my most favorite things ever. I've actually gotten quite good at packing.  My favorite travel item are these zippered pouches. They are even better now that I personalized them a bit.

Do you have a Diaso store? You all know how much I love the Dollar Store, well Daiso is the Japanese version except everything is $1.50 {exchange rate and all yo}. I haven't been in there for months, so I thought I would pop in this week and I was glad that I did.  I found these super awesome zippered travel pouches that are perfect for putting liquids or wet or dirty clothes. Only problem is, they were super boring. Plain Jane. Lucky for me I have a vinyl cutter.

It took me less than five minutes to type the sayings into my Silhouette program and cut them out of vinyl.  I can't even give you a tutorial because it's so dag on easy it's mind numbing.

This larger wet bag is great for dirty clothes or wet bathing suits. When I cloth diapered it would have been great in the diaper bag or for potty training toddlers if you catch my drift.

I'm pretty much in love with this and have six hundred more ways I'm thinking of making these plain zippered bags more awesome. Trust me, you need these bags when you travel. The ability to make them your own is a bonus. 

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