Handmade Holidays 2011: Teacher Gifts

Here is another idea I completely lifted from Pinterest. Boy, my gifts this year sure would be ordinary and run-of-the-mill if I hadn't come across this silly time-consuming, yet awesome website!
I came across a link to this Crafting with Class blog that showed a cute idea for wrapping a Starbucks gift card. I thought what a perfect and thoughtful gift for the girls' teachers this year (and quite possibly every teacher from here on out....) The Crafting with Class blog gives you a link to a tutorial for making the box out of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper. It was super easy and maybe took me a 1/2 hour total to make. I let the girls help me pick out the paper.
The lid is even easier than the box!
I used glue dots to adhere the inside of the lid, and to attach the items to the sides of the box. I asked the barista at Starbucks for a couple of their sample cups and filled them with cotton.
Soooo stinkin' easy!! And then we wrapped it up with shiny ribbon and a tag.
The tag is strategically placed so the girls would know where the front of the box is. That way, when their teacher opens it, it will be facing the right direction for them to read the girls' writing inside. This last tidbit actually was my husband's idea. When Ella was showing him her box, he opened it so the writing was upside down. :-)

And last, but not least, we will be including some of these yummy candy cane pretzels in a treat bag.
All you have to do is melt candy candy Hersey's kisses in the middle of pretzels. Place them in the oven at 250 degrees for 3-4 minutes. I used a spoon to swirl them a bit once they were out of the oven. You could add a Christmas colored M&M to the middle as well for a hint of chocolate. Let them harden. Viola! A super easy holiday treat to hand out!