DIY teacher gift: What Will My Teacher Do This Summer? book with gift cards

Alright, alright. I know I’m more than a little late to the game with this. I meant to post a teacher gift DIY weeks ago, but life happened to get in the way. I didn’t figure out our gift idea until this week (thank you Pinterest and Camp Slop) and we didn’t get to making it until yesterday.

So, yeah. I’m late. A lot of kids have been on summer vacation for weeks now. But take this idea and put it in your pocket (or, you know, your Pinterest gift ideas board) until next year. And it doesn’t just have to be an idea for teachers! You can adapt this for going away gifts or retirement presents, or just about anything really.

DIY teacher gift: What Will My Teacher Do This Summer? book with gift cardsWhat on earth is this adorableness, you ask? Well I’m glad you wondered because I was about to launch into that anyway.

I took to Facebook a couple of weeks ago to ask my teacher friends what kind of gift they actually want at the end of the year. The overwhelming majority of them said gift cards of some sort. But I have issues and didn’t want to leave it at just that.

Sam loves getting crafty and I wanted to work that in somehow. When I saw this super cute idea of creating a little book with gift cards inside that your teacher could use to do different things over the summer, I knew we had to make our own version.DIY teacher gift

I had to consult my boss lady first, of course. Luckily she loved the idea and she helped me come up with some things her teacher might like to do. We settled on four and got $5 gift cards for each little activity. Then my girl got to work.

DIY end of year teacher giftShe drew pictures of each of our four ideas: reading a good book, eating ice cream, taking her daughter shopping (which was her absolute favorite page to illustrate. I love her little shopping cart and all the stickers she used to fill the shelves), and going back to school shopping.

I realize $5 doesn’t buy you much, but it’s something, right?

DIY teacher gift handwritten noteOn the last page she wrote a cute little note. Couldn’t you just squeeze her?

I think the most important thing to remember with gifts like this is to step back and let your kid do it. You may have grand ideas of professional looking amazingness, but it really will mean more if they do it themselves. Plus, they’re so proud of themselves at the end of it. Control your perfectionist twitch and let your kid do the work.

When it comes to teacher gifts, do you go homemade or do you head straight to the store?

Share:
Written by Jennifer Garry
Jen is a freelance writer and girl mom from New York. When she's not knee-deep in glittery crafts and girl talk, you can probably find her sprawled across her couch in the middle of a Netflix marathon with dark chocolate smeared on her face. The struggle is real.