Budget-Friendly Teacher's Gift Idea…
If you’re still in need of a last minute teacher’s gift that’s budget-friendly, check out this creative gift reader, Suzie, put together:
I wanted to share my teacher’s & bus driver gifts this year. I snagged 3 copies of the movie “The Blind Side” with Sandra Bullock off amazon for $4.99 each and put a pack of popcorn and a $1 box of movie theatre candy with it. Added some ribbon and a bow and I had a awesome inexpensive gift! I spent $6.50 on each teacher!
Walmart has $5 movies and so does Target. This makes a great teachers gift and a great alternative to the Hot Cocoa I’ve given in the past.. 🙂
Just wanted to share in case any of your readers were looking for a neat quick teachers gift!
Thanks for passing along your idea, Suzie! Also, if any of you have any last minute frugal gift ideas, please feel free to share them in the comment section. Thanks so much! 🙂
I’m a teacher – and I love this gift! It’s thoughtful and fun.
As a teacher, I LOVE this. Thanks so much for thinking of us. It really doesn’t take much to make us feel appreciated!
So much better than a crummy body lotion/bath bubbles set!
You should be thankful anyone spent time to pick anything out for you. If you don’t like it, then regift it.
Ouch – that is what I was planning on giving my son’s teachers. The school asked us to give cash. I don’t feel comfortable doing that. I also don’t like giving gift cards because that is like cash, only it limits where they can spend. Let me clarify – he’s in preschool, so there are SEVEN teachers he rotates with weekly. This year I have been slowly collecting all the lotions, razors, soaps, etc (full-size) as well as hoarding some cool baskets. I was going to make each of them a basket (worth about $75 off the shelf!) with a poem. However, I’s hate for his teachers to think it’s a crummy gift. I’ve been working on this idea all year – but your post is making me think twice. Any advice would be helpful.
As a teacher I can say that I am thankful for any gift that I receive. I think your son’s teachers would be pleased to get the goodies that you have gathered. Bless you for thinking of them at all.
Your idea is good though! I think she just means the “pre-made lotion giftsets”, from walmart and various places.. my! Those things are so ugly! & It seems like you don’t care about the person if you give it to them, People should at least change the packaging.
You just might want to make sure none of the teachers have any allergies to any of the scents you have chosen or chose unscented items…
That’s a cute idea, I think you could do it for even less than $6.50.
How, I am into saving. lol
The Blind side was $3.99 on black Friday and Walgreens theater candy was $0.50 that weekend — but hind sight is 20/20, you still made it a great deal!
you can still get a $5 video on demand credit wyb this dvd from amazon. it is currently $7.99 which is still a good price, but even better with the movie credit.
Sooo cute!!
What an awesome idea! As a former teacher I would have LOVED this!
this is very creative.. and very tempting. I want rasinets now!
I did this last year with a Blockbuster gift card, movie candy & a box of popcorn for my son’s teachers and they seemed to love it. This year I did the same gift for my Brother in law, his wife & son since I have no clue what to buy for them.
I love this idea! I would like it and i’m not even a teacher! 🙂
I do the same kinda thing but with a blockbuster gift card for $5 instead of the DVD and I put them in the plastic popcorn containers in the dollar section at Target or a red and white popcorn I found at the grocery store.
Great minds think alike!!!
yeah, wtg! this is way better!!!
This year I am using wordle.net to create a wordle with words that describe school (which my kids helped me with), the name of the school, mascot, teacher name, names of the kids in each childs class, the school year, what grade, etc. I bought nice $3 frames at Walmart to put the printed piece in. I will just print on my home computer. It is a simple, inexpensive gift that they can hang in their classroom for years to come. I made one for our family and have it hanging in our reading room! I love it and I hope the teachers love theirs as well!
Angie – Love the wordle.net idea. My students had a blast using wordle last year. I plan on making one for my boys this year.
My son made a Christmas bulb for his preschool teachers this year. I bought the clear bulbs and we worked together cutting strips of designer paper, crinkling the paper, curling it around a pen and dropping it in the bulb. We added fake shimmer snow to give it some sparkle. It was a very inexpensive gift and absolutely beautiful!
This sounds awesome but for the life of me I can’t figure it out. Is there a trick to Wordle? I will admit I am not tech savvy at all.
Just type
OK…I will try this again. Just type what ever words you want into the text box. If you want a word to appear larger, just type it over and over seperated by a comma (school, school, school, school). Keep typing all the words you want on your wordle. Then click enter or create. At that point you will be able to select colors, fonts and orientation. Play around with it. It really is fun! Let me know how it works out for you!
I did the same thing last year but in a basket, with a Blockbuster gift card- lots of movie candy and popcorn for a fun family movie night for one of my kids teachers. They loved the gift.
What a great idea! I
As a teacher, I would love that! Much better than the strong smelling candles and lotions I normally get!!
Why do our students always give us lotions and soaps? Do we smell bad? Sigh… Thankfully Bath and Body Works has a liberal return policy! I’m just glad they don’t give me flat tires or key my car. Kids are so crazy these days!
LOL!
I feel bad because years past I’ve always gave Bath & Body Works! 🙁
i think teachers get those alot because it is something that is pretty universal and easy for people to grab.
ok, i’m a lotion and candle giver because i like those things! i don’t give dvds because i prefer to not own them. we probably all extend our preferences to others when we give. i would rather have a $5 gift card than a dvd. but it’s being remembered that counts, to me.
Wow, how unappretiative some of you sound on here! Makes me as a parent not want to even bother giving Teachers anything at all! Just have to have hope that not all teachers are so ungrateful!
i am not a teacher, nor would i ever have any desire to be one…however, i do appreciate all that they do for my child. i do not see the comments here as ungrateful, just the kind of comment my husband would have if i gave him nivea men’s body wash for christmas; when you have an abundance of one thing, something different would be nice. i personally appreciate this honest feedback as a parent so i know what they would like.
here is my question to you teachers, i was going to give my son’s teacher a coffee mug, home made white chocalate pretzels and a $5 starbucks card…cand i get some feedback on this gift?
Because you asked–we appreciate any gift. However, I never eat anything homemade because I am scared to. People are crazy and you never know what they might put in your food! Even if the teacher doesn’t eat the pretzels, she will love that you thought of her. I promise!
Hey there – I did almost the same thing for my son b/c I had four preschool teachers to buy for. I did a small jar of home-made apple butter (we have an apple tree that was LOADED), a small loaf of home-made wheat bread, and a $5 gift card to a locally owned coffee shop that is close by the school. I checked with a friend who teaches at a public elementary and she said that to her, it sounded great. She said that a LOT of people don’t do ANYTHING – and some people go WAY over the top. I have been working hard on our budget and savings this past year and I’m still very strict with what I spend, so this was the best I could do and really, my friend says, that’s all that counts. 😀 HTH **PS – we attend a very small private preschool, so I’m really hoping our teachers weren’t afraid about the eats LOL from their comments, I don’t think so… but maybe they’re just good actors! LOL
Just sent my son to school with a candle for the teacher! and some chocolate. Now I feel bad because of these comments on here. Geesh! You ladies do sound very ungrateful!
I’m not a teacher, but I would love to get some bath stuff for Christmas…especially from Bath and Body Works. If any of you teachers get some that you don’t want, feel free to send it my way! I’ll gladly use it!
I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful! I’m just allergic to all things scented. It is great to be thought of at all.
This is the first year I have had to think of teacher gifts, this is a great idea. I think I will start looking for stuff, throughout the year. I got 4 books for the classroom library, but it was $10. I know I could do better.
I would have loved getting books for the classroom library – that’s a great idea! Maybe not as inexpensive, but equally good as the one Collin posted about.
If your child’s school is served by Scholastic Book Clubs you can buy gift certificates for the classroom so the teacher can choose what they don’t already have.
books for the classroom is an AWESOME gift!
Totally! My mom used to do that when my sister and I were growing up!
seems like a nice gift for anyone 🙂
I’m a teacher and I would love this gift! Even if a family cannot afford a gift or don’t want to buy something the least they could do is have the child make a card for their teacher.
Very cute and thoughtful gift. I also know that teachers spend a lot of their own money in their classroom so even a $5 gift card to a box store or office store tucked in would also be appreciated.
A great teacher budget friendly gift is a candy bouquet! I have purchased several of these candy bouquets for my kids teachers , coaches, postman,newspaper carrier, school nurse, bus drivers etc. they range from $5 and up ! http://www.facebook.com/Sweet2thCandyBouquets
Went there to take a look and there’s nothing there but a regular facebook page. How do you see what they have to sell???
I made these myself for my daughter’s preschool teachers. I used all the free/cheap candy from Rite aid recently, taped the candy bars onto pencils I bought at back to school time, and stuck them in a small vase I had. I used mini Reeses peanut butter cups to hold the pencils in place in the vase. Then I put a $5 Dunkin Donuts gc in thee middle of the “bouquet”. It looks cute!
I’m a teacher, and I love being appreciated at Christmas time. A couple of my students just wrote me a note saying that they appreciate me, and that was great. I’ve gotten gift cards to Amazon, a Lettuce Entertain You gift card, home made candy, and some other things. Even if it’s a $5 gift card to Starbucks, I find that to be nicer than some regift that someone located from last year (I got a stained glass baby Jesus night light a few years back). Thanks for appreciating us!
Well, technically a Starbucks card could be a re-gift from last year. I know a lot of people who receive gift cards they are not going to use.
My bf is a teacher and she said that she gets all kinds of inexpensive gifts but her favorite is a $5 gift card from her students. They add up.
Agree!!
I picked up some really nice Isotoner mittens for under $4 a while back. I am inserting a small pack of coffee in one mitten and a smallbox of chocolates in another (both Target $1 spot finds). I know the teachers stand outside a lot (at recess and waiting for kids to gt picked up) so I thought these would keep them warm!
I also threw in some card games for the classroom for indoor recesses!
very cute idea! i dont have a last minute idea but last year after christmas i went to hobby lobby and purchased their plain wreaths at 90% off making them $.80 a piece. i also went to several different places such as hobby lobby, walmart, kmart etc. to purchase floral stems, etc after they were on sale. i made my kids teachers wreaths for about $4 a piece this year!
As a teacher from a family of teachers, we would rather you spent your money on a $5 gift card to a teacher store or Target-type store. You never know your teacher’s tastes in movies, food, etc. A gift card can be used either for more classroom supplies or something for home. Another favorite gift is a quality game to give to the class for the kids to use during indoor recess.
Yes, I agree. I love the gift idea, but my first thought was “How will I know if the teacher already has this movie?” I don’t think they would bother returning it if they already had it. LOL I live in a neighborhood full of teachers and from their annual yard sales I can tell they basically get rid of most of what they are given.
I made up gift baskets with lots of goodies for the teachers and principal…
classroom items: Clorox wipes, sticky notes, tape, pens, pencils, etc
personal items: lotion, body wash, lip balm, shampoo/conditioner, etc
of course: candy
I used decorative basket bags from Dollar Tree and tied them with a ribbon. They look so festive! The gift tag attached was one of the photo postcards of our family that I got cheap through Vistaprint.
I made this type of basket for several family friends and smaller bags for lots of leaders at church.
These items were all over-flowing in my stash and I won’t even miss them. Have no idea the out-of-pocket cost, but the value is high. I did most of my non-family Christmas shopping in my “drug-store closet” this year thanks to Collin!
I did something very similar for our school’s admins and they really appreciated it! I just did different kinds of cleaning wipes, hand sanitizer and office/craft supplies. I told them that I just didn’t want to give them even MORE baked goods as I know a lot of people drop things like that off this time of year and it’s the office staff who end up eating them LOL bless their hearts…
it would be too late for this year through vistaprint but for my daughters teacher i got a personalized notepad, post its, and pen which cost me approx $3 in shipping then we used some scrap fabric and made a ‘snap’ bag to hold it all in (here’s the pattern it’s SUCH a cute little bag if you sew and fairly easy and the ‘snap’ closure is made from a metal measuring tape)
https://www.sewthankful.com/StitchinSistersSnapHappyPattern.html
for the ‘specials’ teachers we are giving each one a small bag.
if you have lots of scrap fabric there is little to no expense and even if not for the smaller bags it’s very minimal and 1 tape measure does a handful of bags. (for the bus driver we added a cute little bus button
of for my daughters gs leaders we made ‘washer’ necklaces…
thin washers, scrapbooking paper, cording and crystal affects dimensional craft lacquer.. a little time but only $1 or so per necklace. and so cute…
As you can see by the comment above, you will NEVER be able to make everyone happy but I think this is a fantastic idea! Please don’t take this as me picking on the above commented Jill. I only wanted you to know that it is a great idea unfortunately not everyone will love it.
Not a problem. 🙂 Our family members just always end up with many things we don’t want/need. Luckily, we are good at sharing with those who would want them. For example, my mom always gives me the scented lotions she doesn’t want. Yay for me! Ha!
We take a coffee can and wrap it with nice scrapbook paper then we add stickers of the teachers favorite things and use alphabet stickers to write Mr. or Mrs. ______ ‘s Bank.
We cut a slot in the top and bingo! You’ve got an easy homemade gift. The kids love making them and year after year we get rave reviews from the teachers. Very inexpensive as well.
Hand sanitizer and a gift card to walmart. Every teacher needs that.
Now you’re talking! We need germ-x!
oh I’m so glad to hear that I just finished my teachers’ gifts and after the slamming on soap and lotion I was feeling bad. I made them soap dispensers similar to these. https://www.theidearoom.net/2009/02/personalized-hand-sanitizer-soaps.html I tied a big red or green bow around them for the wrapping. They were cute and not expensive. I got the bottles on line for really cheap and then looked for sales on the soap. It was a fun project and the kids could help.
I feel so bad! I didn’t mean to slam lotions! Its just that fragrances are so personal. Unless you know the person well enough to know what scents they can tolerate, its really just a gamble.
I made little gift bags with a bath and body works hand soap and a hand santizer with holder. I thought they were adorable! Plus I got enough from 6 gifts for around $22 (just $3.70 each)! Also, B&BW provided the bags, ribbon and gift tag for FREE! I hope the techers like them as much as I do, lol.
I think this is a great idea, however reading the comments from above doesn’t sound like it is very appreciated. This is why I think twice about teacher gifts, if I am not giving them money in the form of a gift card then they don’t seem to want it. I just decided to send in a big donation for the treasure box instead. Saves the teacher money that way and the kids truly benefit.
Thanks Angel! Yeah, after I posted my comment I read all of the others and now I realize mabey my gift is not that cute after-all 🙁 Mabey next year I will just do a gift card to wal-mart.
I would have loved your gift! All I want to do is clean my hands. Perfect gift!
Thanks! That makes me feel better!
I think any teacher should appreciate anything a student brings in for them. The way the economy is now a days…
Thank you!!!! It really is the thought that counts. I am a teacher and I have received some interesting gifts, but I would never complain about them. The fact that my student and their family thought of me touches my heart, regardless of the gift.
Thank you!!! It truly is the thought that counts.
I used the Coldwater Creek scarves that you posted about in the summer (I think they were $3 or $4) and added a Starbucks gift card. My kids made homemade cards that I had printed off on our printer that said “something to keep you warm on the inside and out”. Already gave them to the teachers and they loved them! The total of the gift was under $10.
I’m totally going to steal your idea for next year!!! Love it!!! This year was a simple loaf of my homemade Banana Nut Bread with a hand written thank you note.
Super cute!
I wasn’t quite as creative, but on Black Friday I got 2 crockpots and each one was 2.97 plus tax. I believe they were 2 qt. My sons teachers got those.
It might not be extremely creative in itself but what if you added in some soup mix? like a jar mix. (sort of like a jar mix for cookies – but for soup). Then it would be more than just a $3 crock pot.
I do every year for the teacher, Principal, Secretary and school aid. I know not everybody can afford to do everybody but I feel the office people get slighted alot! This year I did the Resturant.com 90% off code dinner of the month deal. So I bought one for the teacher and one for the principal and those came with FREE $50 g.c. that will go to secretary and school Aide. The Teacher is getting a big Yankee Jar candle and the other 3 are getting one small Yankee Jar Candle wich I got for free at Kohls if you Spent $30 in Yankee products. Each candle comes with a Bic candle lighter that was .49 at Wags a few weeks back. So for all 4 gifts my out of pocket was $46.96 making each gift approximately $11.75 each. That was 1.75 over my budget but they are way nicer gifts then I normally get. So yes I am giving the teachers stinky candles lol SORRY teachers 🙂
This is a great idea and as a teacher myself I would love this as a gift.
Here’s another idea…A few years ago one of my students gave me a ruler with an apple and a bow glued on it along with a golf pencil with “Teacher’s Measure Up!” written on it…this is a gift that has been hanging on my wall since the day it was given to me, again I’m sure it didn’t cost a whole lot to make it but it truly is the thought that counts.
Just a reminder that us Middle School teachers like gifts too! 🙂
For my son’s two preschool teachers I made gift bags with ornaments that have a picture of him on them and the year for $1.99 on artscow.com. Then with my Yankee candle coupons I got a two pack of med jar christmas candles ($19.99 before coupons 🙂 ) that I will split up.
I LOVE THIS IDEA! Will probably plan on this for next year.
Going to do a $5 Dunkin Donuts gift card this year w/ homemade cookies.
I just dropped off Pumpkin Cheesecake and Lemon Cake (both made from scratch) for my daughter’s school so teachers can eat extra sweet for their lunch time. 🙂
I made sweets-in-a-jar for her teachers (3 of them) call “Dreamsicle Bar”. Just layering ingredients in a quart size jar. I use Rubbermaid jars, I got for less than $1 with coupons instead of regular jars. Then the direction paper comes with Christmas card which she made it to each teacher. This is cheaper than buying store-brought sweet mix and easy yet fun to make custom gift. Also it’s uncooked so it might be more suitable for them. We have very tight budget so it’s as best as I can give. Hopefully they will like it. Thank you for all of the teachers out there!
I actually did a whole post on best & worst teacher gifts for the holidays! You can find more ideas here:
https://survivingateacherssalary.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-and-worst-teacher-gifts.html
I think you said it perfectly! 🙂
if someone spent $20 on a mug, yes, maybe a gift card would have been more usable. but, maybe they picked it up for nothing and are just trying to say thanks. i find it hard to come up with $5 each for twenty people now that my kids are interacting with many people i would like to thank (teacher, aid, bus driver, counselor, principal, speech therapist, etc.).
I buy plastic drinking straw dispensers, fill with pencils and attach a gift card to the dispenser (usually Starbucks). That way, the teacher will have pencils for those students who forget and as little something for themselves. It is always encouraging to go back into the teachers rooms years later and find they are still using the dispensers.
Love this!
Another teacher giving this idea a thumbs up! Thanks for being so thoughtful…of my 29 students, I received 5 gifts and was thrilled…sharing chocalates with my students today!
One of the most favorite our school received was a $5 gift card to Books a Million. A good way to pick up a book over the holidays to read. We actually received this from PTO in May before summer break.
Another-a $5 gift card to an ice cream place tied to an ice cream scoop
Gonna make a cute gift basket and fill it with recent freebies from Riteaid….like the revlon nail file, ecotools bath care, wet n wild nail polish and so on. Plus, I got extra up rewards off of this!! Everyone wins!!
i do an idea posted here like a yr ago i think. the whole 2 litter coke bottle filled with a bunch of my freebies like from bath and body works. my daughters fav part is telling them how to open the bottle to get the gifts out lol.
how do u put them in? lol
https://www.centsableshoppin.com/2010/10/dont-throw-those-2-liter-soda-bottles.html
I love this idea!! What a cool way save and still give something nice! Thanks!!
I used the $5 Hallmark coupon and purchased a box of chocolates and inexpensive candle, which came to $4.95, so I had to buy a piece of $.45 Lindor chocolate and eat it (oh darn!). I also added in a $5 Starbucks GC, and a card that my son used his BEST handwriting to write a note inside. Total OOP: $5!
Mine is certainly not budget conscious but I feel like teachers are so under appreciated and under paid, I decided to splurge and got a $20 Starbucks gift card for my son’s kindergarten teacher (she loves coffee), and I got a Harry and David treat tower for the rest of the assistants and teachers that come and go his class.
What an awesome idea!!! Thanks for sharing! As a teacher this would be a terrific gift ~ and worth so much more than you paid.
For a family who is flat broke with more than one child, this idea is just not do-able. 🙁 I like the idea though for those who can afford it.
Even a $5 gift card or movie adds up when you have multiple teachers to buy for. I would love to see frugal homemade ideas for those of us with lots of teachers and no $$ to spend on teacher gifts.
tape to candy canes together to make the shape of a heart. Have your child write the teacher a note about why they like them etc.
Thanks for cute idea! I’ll make some for my daughter’s Sunday School friends!! 🙂