Monday, December 15, 2008

For Our Teachers... {on a dime}









Here's the breakdown...
  • Lunch bags from Walmart {in the card aisle-- not Christmas aisle} $.20 each
  • The polka dot tissue paper came from this same aisle
  • Pretzel rods from WinnDixie
  • Candiquick chocolate {it's so EASY!} from WinnDixie
  • I bought 8.5"x11" sheets of adhesive label paper from Office Max and printed off several different designs. You can make about 60 {6 per sheet} custom stickers for $8. I designed mine in Microsoft Word. And the only negative is that I had to cut them out... but it's not too bad, I don't mind cutting. And I will also use these on all our Christmas presents.
  • Dishtowels from TJ Maxx {4 for $7.99} and they're GOOD ones.
  • The ribbon I had in my ribbon box.

I would say that each gift cost about $2.75 {maybe even less}.
Looks like a lot more doesn't it?

I embroidered Morgan's pre-school teachers towels. Paige's MMO teachers are getting them without the monogram {because there are 4 of them}... still cute though!

The best part of all... doing the entire project on Saturday with my very enthusiastic helpers!

BTW, y'all are killing me on the dishtowel giveaway... I wish I could make hundreds of them and send you each one. If you haven't commented jump over there and do so!

35 comments:

TMB said...

your creativity is endless!!

...ideas i will be storing in my noggin' for our school days ahead!!

Shireen said...

I agree with the Brown's comment! I LOVE your creativity! Your girls are completely BLESSED to have all this great fun! :)

Russell looked at your last post this morning and saw 76 comments! I looked around 11:00, and I saw 111 comments!! CRAZY!!!

I LOVE IT! I love you, girl!! Keep up all the fun! P.S. I just posted! ;)

Ashley Turnbull said...

I am so glad you share all these crafts. I cannot wait to be at home w/ my own little one doing things like this. I promise this engineer has a creative side - just NO time to use it (darn office hours =). I'm bookmarking these things for future ideas! Again, thank you for taking the time to share with us!

Ashley Turnbull said...

PS. You just have a regular laser printer to make those labels? Just curious...that is much cheaper than ordering things like that online. I make my own Christmas card labels that way...

Anonymous said...

Darby...your creativity is endless!! This is an adorable gift. I am a teacher, and would love getting a gift like this and would love the packaging just as much! Merry Christmas!

Dianne said...

You are so creative. How lucky your teachers are! You constantly amaze me.

Mommy Harris said...

Now THAT was impressive! I was a teacher and I would've LOVED this! Thanks girl!

Lydia said...

WOW! Once again, I am impressed by your talent! Thanks for taking the time to share. I hope you don't mind if I steal a few ideas...I will totally give you credit though! :-)

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

I did a embroidered kitchen towel teacher gift too! Such a useful, pretty, personal, and easy gift.

Anonymous said...

Precious gifts! And, I love your Christmas card!! So sweet;) Love you!

margaret said...

i gotta know - where did you get the template for your labels? they are sooo cute!

andi said...

You so blow me out of the water. Will you help your pal learn how to do what you are doing on Word. I don't think mine does anything that cute! Way to go. Can Morgan and Paiger be in my room??????? :) LOL

becky said...

i LOVE to make those dipped pretzel rods. they are my fave!! (and i snuck-is that a word?-and send you another comment on the towel. i just had to. i love to give a personalized gift. it just means so much more to me.

becky said...

oh, speakin of teachers, my boys gave their MMO teachers embroidered umbrellas. how cute is that? the lady that was sissy's main NICU nurse did them. got the umbrellas at the dollar tree and slap an initial on those bad boys...super cute. she does them without a hoop, of course.

Kendra White said...

hey girl i did the same thing on the labels... however i bought the remade round ones... found them on line for cheap... maybe a good thing to tuck into your back pocket for next year!

Melissa said...

You continually amaze me with your creativity! I am hoping some of it will rub off on me as I read your blog. Those teacher gifts are great! I teach high school, so my students don't give me gifts, but I would be THRILLED to death with a goodie bag like that! You're gonna be one of those cool moms that all the teachers love!

Caroline said...

You have 167 comments about the give away! Do you feel famous? Are there photographers outside your house?? Seriously, just imagine how many people are inspired by your crafts and recipies! We finished off our buttermilk pie last night. yes, that's right, it lasted 24 hours!

Ford Family said...

Can you give us a tutorial on how to do the labels?? They are super duper cute!!

Kellie said...

I'm wondering about those labels too - I've bought ours before from specialty stores, but I sure would love to do them myself for cheap!

Brooke Maness said...

Look Darby, this bathroom made me think of yours!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/look-70s-glam-decor-bathroom-in-san-francisco-072055

Cheryl Heysek said...

Hi there! Is there any way you would share your template for those labels? I love them!! I am looking around in microsoft office templates and not finding the right thing. My email is cheysek@hotmail.com if you are willing to share it!
Thank you!

Sarah's Fab Day said...

I was thinking of making those pretzels myself because I thought the boys would be able to help me. I think that they might eat them all before we could give them out. Oh wait...that might be me.

Lindsey said...

wonderful! love the bags. so cute and inexpensive! thanks so much for continuing to share your ideas with us.

Hillary @ The Other Mama said...

I love it! I tried to make those pretzels for some friends last week and mine came out flat on one side. I have had several before that were round and perfect looking- I'm going to hunt down the girl who did them to see if she "hung" them to dry or something. AND, I got that Candiquick at Sam's- even cheaper- but I've got to make 4,328 pretzels!
And the labels are adorable!

simply seleta said...

I'm wishing I were one of the girls' teachers right about now.

Amazing.

The Gentrys said...

Darby, Your ideas are always so precious! Do you mind sharing what kind of sewing/embroidery machine you have? I am in the market for one that will do simple embroidery/monograms that doesn't cost a fortune!

beki said...

I love making these! This year I discovered toffee bits, which are next to the chocolate chips - YUM. I plan to make these for our teachers as well.

Mandy said...

So cute...I love the pretzels and the towels...I need some of your energy but 36 weeks pregnant has gotten me off my feet....I love to do crafts and while we have done a few, we certainly would enjoy some of these! Good ideas...Mandy

Laura said...

This looks like so much fun! I'll have to keep this in mind for future gifts. I bet the girls had fun too!

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh! You are so creative it's ridiculous! I can cook, but I can NOT make cute packages. I LOVE these!!!

Southern Mom said...

Cute! I'm going to Walmart today!!

Anonymous said...

Great gifts and wonderful presentation/wrapping of them! I love it!

Matt, Carrie, Lucy and Molly Allen said...

very cute! you are just too creative! i couldn't find the polka dot bags at our walmart, but i found red ones and polka dot tissue paper-the perfect wrapping for homemade peppermint bark for lucy's teachers! thanks for all the ideas!

Anna said...

I made pretzels tonight and am beyond excited! They are ADORABLE. I never ever would have thought of this on my own. THANK YOU for letting me copy, my neighbors are going to love it!!

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