Category: Holiday gifts

Holiday treats for neighbors, teachers

Inspired by my “Mason Jar” gift win from the open house, I found a recipe for a dry apple cider mix recipe and a stove-top spiced pecan recipe. 

I started a little early on this project, so I ordered 4-ounce jars and plastic bags to package everything. 

I assembled the jars and printed a label; I toasted the pecans with the sugar and spices, then let them cool on a mat. I spooned the pecans into small bags after I added a sticker with the ingredients printed on them. Then, in a slightly larger bag, I nestled the apple-cider jar in the bottom and placed the tied bag of pecans on top. Then, I sealed the outer bag. 

I decided this was a great neighbor gift, but for the teachers, I wanted to jazz it up a tiny bit more. I found an Etsy page with hand-sewn pocket, rice hand warmers for $1! I ordered two for each teacher. I also stumbled on ceramic travel mugs with a single serving of hot chocolate and marshmallows included. These extra items fit my “comfort” and “warmth” theme, so I packaged all of it together in gift bags.

Here’s hoping these go over well… still a few days before I’ll be able to deliver them.

As always, these didn’t take forever to assemble, but I feel showing a little time in my gift idea helps show the teachers how much they are appreciated for hanging out with my little one all day!

Happy Holidays!

I finally remembered to snap a pic… 🙂  

 

“Back to school” Teacher gifts

You’ve probably seen elaborate teacher gifts all over the web or in your classroom? 

Well, I saw a note when I picked up my little one that the child center was having their “back to school” open house and figured I needed to not show up empty handed! However, I seriously had a grand sum of five minutes to put something together while Dad distracted the baby, and I had zero time to shop.

Fortunately, I try to stay stocked up on small things that can build a variety of spectacular-looking or sounding things in a snap. 

So… What did I make?

5-minute hand scrub: Coconut oil, raw sugar and lavender oil… That’s it. I used roughly equal parts sugar and coconut oil until I liked the consistency. I evenly portioned the scrub into 4-ounce canning jars, printed a quick label, tied it on… and voila. 

As it turns out, one of my son’s guest teachers is British and loved the lavender. Who knew? 🙂 

My thoughts… These ladies wash their hands a million times a day and might appreciate a luxurious and moisturizing scrub to pamper themselves with. Bonus: I had enough to keep some on my own sink counter!