Magnetic Bookmark Gift Set (Gifts Kids Can Make)

This magnetic bookmark gift set makes the sweetest little gift for anyone. It's perfect for parents, grandparents, siblings, and teachers. They're extremely budget friendly and easy to put together.

This year I helped my four year old make some of these bookmarks to give to her older sister and brothers for Christmas. I've probably said it 100 times, but I'll say it again. When children have opportunities to give they learn to love giving. Christmastime is the perfect time to give kids this opportunity. I especially love the value creating a homemade give adds to the experience. I've seen how the time, thought, and effort my children put into their gifts makes them especially excited about giving them. They become so focused on the gifts they're creating that they don't have much time to think about all the things they want. Be sure to check out more ideas on gifts that kids can make and give HERE.

Didn't these turn out so cute?

This is the perfect project to use up small scraps of scrapbook paper, or digital designs can easily be printed and used. I cut out strips of paper that were five inches long and 3/4 inch wide. The corners were then rounded, which was the perfect task for my four year old to help with.

We then folded the bookmarks in half and applied magnetic tape to the inside. I LOVE this ultra thin magnetic tape. I always have some on hand. It comes in handy for so many things and works perfectly for these bookmarks so they don't end up too bulky. You can see the bottom portion of the magnetic tape is slightly off center. This is so the magnets will line up evenly when closed. Experiment with the magnets you use so that they will be sure to close correctly.

To gift the bookmarks we packaged them together on a card with a quote at the bottom.

For my daughter we stuck with a Paris/music theme. For the boys we did Harry Potter and Star Wars.

I love the subtle Harry Potter hint these digital papers give. I probably could have easily come up with some wise words from Dumbledore or a found a great quote from JK Rowling to add to the bottom of the packaging but instead picked a quote that I thought my kids would love the most. Even though the quote doesn't really fit with the theme I knew my 10 year old would get a kick out of this one. Sticking with the Harry Potter theme though I used a free font called Harry P found on dafont.com.

This last one is for my Star Wars obsessed seven year old. Again, the quote isn't Star Wars related but he'll love it. I used the font called Star Jedi found on dafont.com.

My four year old especially loved clipping each bookmark onto the cards. She helped me wrap them up, complete with lots of pretty Christmas bows and put them under the tree. Her book obsessed siblings are going to love these bookmarks. I have a feeling they'll get a lot of use.

Find more gift ideas that kids can make HERE.

Crossing Guard gifts

You wouldn't think the winters here in the desert get too cold . . . but I sure feel bad for our crossing guards--especially when the wind blows!  Brrrr!  As a token of our gratitude we wanted to give a little gift to each of them for Christmas.  I decided that hot chocolate with some little extras would be just the thing.  I tied up a few packets of hot chocolate along with some mini marshmallows, mints, and paper straws all with baker's twine.  Then we loaded everything into a brown paper sack (my favorite, simple wrapping) and added a cute gift tag (found here) with some more baker's twine.

Super simple and much appreciated!

DIY Personalized Teacher Stationary

I love getting my children's teachers personalized gifts.  I think they're so fun and, well . . . personalized!  I've done clocks, candy jars, vases, notepads, and stationary. I have to admit that in the past I've spent way too much money on personalized stationary.  Last year after receiving my beautiful order of personalized note cards in the mail I looked and them and thought, "I can totally do this myself for a fraction of the cost," and so this year I did.

I purchased some blank note cards and envelopes at Michael's.  A pack of eight cost me about $1. I also purchased some apple clip art on Etsy for about $1 as well.

I designed my cards in a good ol' Word document.  I couldn't decide which look I liked better so I did them both--four of each.

I then printed them off and loved how they turned out . . . crisp, clean, and school-y.

Making this personalized stationary myself was definitely a more cost effective way to go.  I know my kids teachers write so many notes throughout the year, so hopefully this comes as a practical gift that they will readily use.

I bundled the note cards together with a gift card to the teachers favorite restaurant and a thoughtful note that my children wrote to their teachers.  My kids are excited to deliver their gifts this week.

Teacher gift

I often struggle with ideas of what to give to my kid's school teachers.  Every few years I remember this simple idea: a decorative towel and hand soap. Two things that just about everyone can use. If you have a little bit of extra time to spare you can whip up an embellished towel with some of your fabric scraps.  I use this tutorial.

And along with a gift to any teacher I have my child write a thoughtful note and/or draw a picture.

Teacher Card

Looking for a creative card for you kids to tack along with a teacher gift?

My son liked the card that he made last year for his teacher so much that he decided to do the same thing again for his teacher this year.  We changed it up a little this time though.

See the original post here.  Find the free printable tag here.

Hands Down You're the Best Teacher Around (Includes Free Printable!)

There are still a few days left to enter our big quiet book giveaway.  We're giving away 5 already made quiet book pages as well as 3 copies of Amy's book Quiet Book Patterns.  Enter here!
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Teacher appreciation day is coming up and I wanted to share a simple card that my son made for his teacher in the past (inspired by this post).


We started by tracing his hand on a card upside down.

I then made this simple printable tag (using the free subway art I found at Burton Avenue) . . .

And we attached it to the card.

Inside he wrote a sweet and simple note to his teacher to go along with the gift he picked out.

(To print your own printable tag: Click on picture below to enlarge, then right click and copy.  Open a word document, paste, adjust printable to the size you want.)

Homemade Magnets

These homemade magnets make a fun gift.  I had my daughter help make a set to give to her teachers aid at school for teacher appreciation week.  I also had the girls in my 8-11 year old activity days group at my church make them for a mothers day gift.

With a stack of coordinating scrapbook paper you can get really carried away making them too.  There are just so many fun and cute combinations to do.  And the best part is packaging them!  I got this fantastic packaging idea from Sabby.  Want to know what it is?

First you have to make your magnets.  Start with some clear one inch stones.  I get a bag of them from the dollar store.  Decide what paper you want to use, lay your stone down, and trace around the the stone with a pencil.  Cut it out (slightly smaller than your outline), brush a tin layer of modge podge on your stone and lay the paper on top.  Add another thin layer of modge podge on the back and allow to dry.  Once dry apply your magnets using a hot glue gun.

Now here comes the awesome packaging part.  Cut out a piece of cardboard and glue washers where you want your magnets to be (I use tacky glue).

When you place your magnets on top of the washers they stick!  Awesome, huh?

Now slip your package into a clear bag and add a topper using coordinating scrapbook paper.  Doesn't that make for a fun presentation?  I just love it!

I know teacher appreciation day is long past but I'm curious, for all you teachers out there, what kinds of gifts do you appreciate the most?

"Mint" to be my Teacher

Here's another simple idea that can be used as a teacher gift.  I actually made this as a Christmas gift for the teacher's aid in my daughter's kindergarten class.  It didn't seem like nearly enough considering she sewed flannel pillow cases for each student in the class.  I just thought that was the sweetest thing ever.  My daughter is so lucky to have her as a teacher.

To make this little gift I filled a party bag with some chocolate mints and made up this little gift tag to go along with it using my 2" scalloped punch.  I was going for the green and red since it was Christmas time but I also made up some green options available below.

For those of you able to access the Google doc it's available HERE.

If not, click on the image below, copy and paste into a word doc.

What kind of gifts have you given teachers in the past, or are you giving this year?  I'd love to know!

Teacher Appriciation Gift

Teacher appreciation Day is on May 8 (which also happens to be my wedding anniversary!).  It will be here before you know it.  Inspired by Rachel, I made this vase for my daughters kindergarten teacher this year.

I found the vase at the dollar store and Jeanine was nice enough to make the vinyl and send it clear across the country for me.  Aren't sisters great like that?

 Now I just need to decide what to put in it.  I'm drawing a blank here.  Should I stick with the apples?  Maybe some freshly sharpened no. 2 pencils?  What would you put in it?  I'd love some ideas!

Check back next week for another teacher appreciation gift idea with a free printable.

Teacher Appreciation

My oldest son started school in the fall, which means this is my first Teacher Appreciation week as a parent.  I struggled to come up with something unique yet simple that my son and I could give to his teachers.
 

After making some homemade granola (adapted from this recipe) I decided that it was just too yummy not to share!  So after filling up a few quart-sized ziplocks I placed them in brown paper sacks (very school-ish, no?) and added a cute topper made of scrapbook paper. Ta-da!

I also had my son draw a picture for each of his teachers and added a small thank-you note.

It's not anything spectacular but it's definitely heart-felt.