Christmas Gifts - Teachers & Grandma's

 

I really appreciate Jacob's teachers.  They are helping to raise my sweet little boy, and I wanted to show them how much I appreciate that during Christmas.  The only problem?  Currently he has 4 consistent teachers he sees within a 2 day period.  There are 3 each day, to take care of the 12 toddlers tearing up the room.    That being said, I need to stick to a budget, and I didnt want to give them each a $10 gift card.  I know they would appreciate it, but it seemed to be not enough.

 

Enter Pinterest...

I think Mike is starting to despise Pinterest.  Now he knows how i feel about Craigslist.  Really, that's what Pinterst is, a girl's version of CL.

 

I found this great idea of making homemade cake/plate stands.  These are melamine plates and bowls, and all you need is a little super glue.  So, off to the holy land (aka Target) in search of cute bowls. 

 

I found several, each one different and didn't think to take a pic of each one before gluing, but if i did the post would be super long.

 

 

 

Plate one

Glued to the base

 All you need to do is put some super glue on the bottom ridge of the bowl and attach to bottom of plate.  Then let it cure for about 8 hours.

On the trip to target, i found little gifts to add:  coffee mugs, candle holder, Ferrio Rocher candies, and some lotion.  I went to the dollar store and got the FUZZIEST softest socks.  I had some hot chocolate at home, and added to packets to each gift.  I also put a votive into each candle holder.

All assembled

 

Close up of tree tray (my fav)

 

 Then, I took some cellophane bags, wrapped around the gift, and secured the top with some fun garland and a sparkly snowflake ornament.

All lined up

Close up of garland and ornament

 Cost and location:
Plates : Average 2.50 (I found some on cleareance)  Target
Bowls: Average 2.00  Target
Mugs:  1.99 Target
Choc:  1.25 Target
Lotion: 1.99 Target
Ornament: .50 Target
Socks:  1.00 Dollar Tree
Garland:  .50 Target
Candle Holder:  .48 Target (Clearance)
Votives:  .50? (I had at home)
Hot Choc: .50?  (again, at home)
Average cost:  $13.21 if you had to buy everything

I thought much better than a gift card!

For my grandmas, I have always struggled with what to give them. THey have everything they could need, and I didnt want to get them another pair of slippers, or other stuff that is a waste of money.

So, I took the plate stand idea from above, and took a Trader Joe's twist to it instead of target.  I got some crackers and cookies.  I did pick up mugs from Target (both coffee drinkers), and from the dollar store I got a kitchen holiday towel and a candle.

Who wouldn't love some TJ's snacks??

 

Grandma's gifts!

Grandma's gift cost:
Plates:  Ave $2.50  Target
Bowls:  Ave 2.00 Target
Mugs:  1.48 (clearance) Target
Snowflake:  .50 Target
Garland:  .50 Target
Candle:  1.00 Dollar Tree
Towel:  1.00 Dollar Tree
Crackers:  3.99 TJ's
Cookies:  3.29 Tj's
Total Cost:  $16.26

Super easy to do, and easy on the budget, without doing the gift card route.  I had fun making them, and wish i would have thought of the idea sooner for other gifts I have given.  You could do theme ones, or I had debated on adding a small shot size bottle of peppermint schnapps to the teachers mugs for an adult hot choc, but didnt make it to the liqour store to get it.