Homemade Teachers’ Gift Ideas

Teacher Appreciation week starts Monday, May 7th and ends Friday, May 11th, and it’s the perfect time to go the extra step to show your child’s teacher how much all their hard work and dedication means to you and your child. And what better way to thank them for teaching (putting up with) your child then to gather your craft supplies and your children and make them something they will be honored to receive. In my case, I have 6 teacher’s to honor so crafting is a great way to show you care without breaking your bank.

Here are 10 Homemade Gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week:

I stockpile school and art supplies because we go through them at lightning speed and I bet most of you have some extra frames around the house, so this Crayon Frame from Felt So Cute is a great gift idea and one that would be easy for your kids to help you with.

These Monogram Bookmarks from In Between Laundry are adorable and would be great for any gift-giving occasion. Have your child help you pick out the ribbons in their teacher’s favorite colors. You could also use different scrapbook paper and embellishments and laminate them for a sturdier monogrammed bookmark.

If your children are still in preschool, then this Class Tree from A Place Called Joy would be a really touching gift for their teacher. You will have to coordinate with other parents or distract the teacher to get all of the kids’ thumbprints, but it would be worth it. And I love the free printable to wrap around a tin of mints, “You were MINT to teach.”

If you want to enhance the classic teacher gift - an apple – than try out this idea from Detail-Oriented Diva, includes free printables. She pairs it with a clipboard to make a sweet (and tasty) gift.

One more I couldn’t resist from Detail-Oriented Diva is this, “No one holds a candle to you teacher” printable to place on the gift bag. I am sure I have some candles in my gift stash and if not, these would be a relatively inexpensive gift that any teacher would enjoy.

I am kind of in love with all things subway art right now, so this subway art printable for teachers from Eighteen 25 is fantastic! Place it in a frame or on a clipboard as shown or you could even shrink it down and place it in a magnetic frame.

Dress up a gift card to a teacher’s favorite coffee shop with this adorable free printable Gift Card Holder from Skip To My Lou, “Thanks a LATTE for all you do.” That’s definitely cuter than the gift card holders the store gives out.

How about this Summer Fun Bag idea from Skip to My Lou, and while their total cost was $43 you could do it on a smaller scale and still have the same cute gift to give your child’s teacher.

Kari from UCreate has a great Gardening Gift for Teachers that would be easy to put together and timely for this Spring season (I know all about gardening now, so this gift appeals to me).

These Personalized Bookplates from Lavender’s Blue are adorable (I plan on making some for myself!) and would be great alongside a gift certificate to a bookstore or inside a copy of one of their favorite stories.

Remember to include a drawing or handwritten note from your child for sentimental value. Whenever I have been stressed about not having enough money to give the gifts I’ve wanted to over the years, my mother reminds me, “we give what we can,” so making something thoughtful and homemade will be just as special, if not more than, an expensive store-bought gift.