Snackle Boxes

I'm sure you've seen snackle box ideas floating around everywhere this year.  They are so much fun!  I'm going to show you just a few ways to do them as gifts and for parties.  We have received them as gifts and I have given them as gifts.  They are always well received.

Olive got THE CUTEST snackle box for Christmas from her cousin.  It was green, filled with crinkle paper and all her favorite things.  Beauty items, a gift card, her favorite candy and packed to the max with things she'd love.  It was one of her favorite Christmas gifts.  And now she can use the snackle box for snacks or to organize things in her room.  It's the gift that keeps on giving.

A student gave me a smaller snackle box.  I missed taking a picture when it was filled with tissue paper and looking so cute for Christmas, but you get the idea.  It was a smaller 4 section one that came with gift cards and fancy chocolates.  It was such a fun gift!  It looked adorable and it's the cutest size to pack for lunches or snacks.

We have used our snackle box at home many times for sleepovers and friend parties.  It's easy to clean and easy to fill.  I think any snack would look yummier when it was presented in a snackle box.

We even used ours on July 4th to make red, whtie and blue cookie flags.  The snackle box was easy to fill.  And it looked so cute for the holidays.

We have two white ones and a green one.  I'll link some below that would be so cute to gift to a friend, teacher or buy for yourself.  I can't wait to use our this Summer for picnics on the go, road trips and more.  They come in so many colors!  You could grab them in school colors for gifts or for sporting events.  Maybe even tailgaiting or game day snacks.  The options are endless!

My Amazon links:

4 section snackle box in white:

4 section box

One white snackle box

One white snackle box

A two pack of white snackle boxes for a great deal!

White 2 Pack Snackle Box 

A pink Snackle box would be so cute for a teen girl or a gift this spring!

2 Pack Pink Snackle Box

Let me know if you have any snackle box questions for me!

Gift Cards are a Blessing!

As a teacher and as a mom, I can tell you that it is really fun to give teachers gift cards!  

I love to receive them from my students.  They get so excited when they know it's a gift card to one of my favorite spots - TJ Maxx, Homegoods, local coffee shops, Target, Amazon, etc.  It is so much fun for me to go do special things with my family on the weekends with gift cards from my students.  We will grab cookies from Crumbl, swing through a drive thru to get coffees or let the kids pick out something fun at Target because I have a gift card.  Gift cards are a blessing!

Just this past weekend I went shopping at The Loft and TJ Maxx with gift cards from students.

*Leo loves to collect gift cards for his pretend coffee shop.

Ask your kids to pay attention to their teacher's favorite things or find out if your school office has a teacher favorite list and surprise them with a gift card to their favorite spots.  

My school has it digitally available for parents and previous schools have had a hard copy in the office for parents to snap a picture of.  My own kids pay attention to where their teachers mention going out to eat or where they like to shop.  And if all else fails, Amazon or Target or gift cards to popular local restaurants are always a good idea.

The amount doesn't matter at all.  It's fun to get a $10 gift card or a $50 gift card.  They all add up to fun spending money at your favorite spots outside of school.  If you have a lot of teachers to buy for, figure out an amount that works for your budget.  I promise, teachers will be so excited to get a gift card of any amount.

Olive had the idea to get all of her junior high teachers Amazon gift cards since junior high teachers don't get as many gifts.  She wanted a gift that would be easy for her to manage at school and easy to hand out.  I ordered a Christmas design, added a bow and she filled them out for each teacher.  Then she got to be Santa Olive and deliver them to each of her teachers.  She loved it and said the teachers were all so excited to get a gift.

Teacher Gift Ideas

My class showered me with the sweetest Christmas gifts this year.  The kids were so proud to bring in their gifts and get a big hug.  I got some really thoughtful, unique gifts so I wanted to share them with you.  They'd work great for Valentine's Day or even end of the year gifts.

Personalized cookies, gifts, favorite candies, gift cards to my favorite stores, holiday scents, new cups... an amazing combo of all of my favorite things!  So, so sweet!

I loved this Christmas snackle box.

December was bonkers.  Extra bonkers in kindergarten.  So this felt like an amazingly generous way to end the month.  I really do have the best families.

Another version of the snackle box.  Two gift cards to two of my favorite spots and fancy chocolates. I can't wait to use this container for snacks or my lunch going forward.

I love a good simmer pot mix.  This smells so good on my stove over the weekend.  And it's one of the prettiest ones I've ever received.

Then I got fun splurge items like these Geometry towels.  I've always wanted to try them.  They are so soft and really beautiful.  They feel so much nicer than my regular kitchen towels.

My favorite thing of all was the parents who took the time to write me a thoughtful note with my gift.  To tell me all the reasons why their child was loving kindergarten.  I absolutely made my day to hear that their kids love coming to school every day, that they appreciate our joyful classroom and that their kindergarten experience is exactly what they hoped it would be.  I'm lucky to teach at such a fun place.

I hope you got a few new ideas for teacher birthdays, holidays or end of the year gifts!

Inexpensive Teacher Gift Ideas

I have a fun round up of teacher gift ideas for you today!  I've been given some cute gifts lately and we have gifted the boy's teachers gifts.  I like to spend $15 or less on a gift because we have 4 elementary teachers to give gifts to and I try to send them in a gift each month.

1. I grabbed these pumpkin notepads at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago.  They were $3.99 each and made the cutest happy first day of fall gifts.  I made a little note on Canva, printed it in color and had the boys sign their names on them.  The teachers started using them right away.

2. Cookies from a local shop!  A student brought me a six pack of the yummiest Donut Bank cookies for a fun treat.

3. Fuzzy blankets from Sams.  They are around $15 and they come in several patterns this time of year.  Fletcher picked out one for each of his teachers, I added a handwritten thank you note and he was so excited to give them to his teachers.  It'll be the perfect gift now that the temps are cooling down.

4. Ask your teacher their favorite drink order and deliver it to them on a Friday.  This parent asked for my order and my assistant's order and then added in a cake pop.  She said you deserve a treat at the end of the week!

And my favorite, free teacher gift idea... write them an encouraging email or note.  Bonus point if you cc their principal on it so they get to hear great things about their teacher.

DIY Teacher Jean Jacket

I knew I wanted to do something special to celebrate the first year at my new school.  It felt like a big accomplishment to return to teaching after 11 years away.  I saw lots of ideas for dresses and aprons, but a jean jacket seemed like the best option for me.

I grabbed this jacket when Old Navy was having a big sale and bought all the paints/patches/supplies on Amazon to go with my school colors.  I tried to thrift a jean jacket, but they were all so stiff and not st stretchy.  Old Navy always comes through with soft, stretchy jean jackets.  Then one afternoon, I got my class list and worked my way through the list painting my student's little hands one at a time.

They thought it was so tickly and then I walked them right over to the sink to wash their colorful hand. 

Each student got to pick their paint color and hand print location.  I explained the project to the whole class and then we got busy stamping during brain break.  I let it dry on my back table.  Then I took it home to add the patches and the polka dots.

My students LOVED when I wore my teacher jacket.  I didn't add names or identifying details.  I just painted 2025 inside the jacket and will always remember my very first kindergarten class.  

It's the perfect jacket to wear on school spirit days or any teaching days, really.  I can't wait to wear it again this year and see my former students in the hall.

Another day, during brain break, I had my class make my assistant a personalized end of the year gift.  I found a big canvas bag on Amazon, used the same supplies from my jacket and helped them paint fingerprint hearts on one side of her bag.  She was a big crafter so she loved having a new craft bag from our class.

Teachers - you'll have to try to make something fun with your class this year!  I've seen dresses, head bands, aprons, skirts and jackets.  Find something that works for you and have your kids personalize it.

Back to School Favorties

Happy Friday!  We're ready for the weekend :)

I have some darling back to school favorites to share with you today.  Enjoy some teacher gift inspiration from my first two weeks back to school.

I never expect any gifts from my students so it's a big treat when they surprise me!  I was blown away by the creativity, cute tags and effort the parents put into their gifts.  The kids love to see me using/wearing/enjoying the gifts they give me.

This was my desk after back to school night!  It feels so sweet to be cared for so well.

Our team lead surprised our entire team with our own boxes of chocolates and treats to kick off the year with.  It was a yummy mix of teacher treats.

A sweet parent made us back to school cookies!

The cutest little girl brought me the sweetest tiny bouquet!  It stayed on my desk all week.

Another parent patined us personalized clipboards.  Isn't it darling!?

Going out to lunch with my team!  Chicken Salad Chick always sounds good to me.

Another cute student brought me this basket of apple cookies.

A teacher friend gave out fresh nail polish to start off the year.  Won't this color be pretty this fall?

I have this card hanging up by my desk.  I loved the message and sweet note inside.  Teacher gifts don't have to be expensive - a thoughtful note or email really goes a long way!

This family read my favorite list and surprised me with my favorite cookies.

This cookie on a stick was huge.  And so yummy!

We had lots of highlights this week, but it was fun to document all the teacher favorites :)  Have a great weekend!  See you back here next week!

Teacher Gift Ideas

Tis the season of teacher gifts!  Our school had their own teacher appreciation week.  Then it was national teacher appreciation week and the end of the year is quickly approaching.

I have gotten some really thoughtful gifts that I thought would make great teacher gifts for others.  And you could easily make them work for any budget.

1. A local bakery was offering personalized cookies sets.  So cute and so yummy!

2. A new cup that you know they'll love.  Maybe their favorite color or one ot match their classroom theme - smiley faces!  My kids get so excited when I drink out of the cups that they have given me.

3. Nothing Bundt Cake put together cute teacher cakes to gift.  My student grabbed my favorite flavor and added a gift card to a favorite local restaurant.  The mini bundts are such a yummy treat all by themselves and you can easily add on a gift card if it works for your budget.

4. This is especially true in elementary school, match your gift to the classroom theme.  Our team has four different themes - cactus, farm, woodland creatures and smiley faces.  I know we'd all enjoy getting gifts that match our vibes.  We have other class themes like Snoopy, jungle, a favorite team or a coffee shop.

5. An umbrella and local chocolates.  This gift came with a note that said Thank you for showering my child with love and learning this year.  The umbrella has smiley faces on it and the variety box of chocolates from a local chocolate shop is such a treat!  How clever and cute!

Look at this darling teacher assortment!  I love trying all the different flavors.

6. A plant!  Look at this pretty pot and pretty plant.  I'm excited to find the perfect spot for it at my house.

Each of these gifts came with the nicest notes and I think I appreciate those the most.  It just is so rewarding to hear about how you have impacted children and to hear about their favorite things about being in your class.  So no matter what your end of the year budget looks like, EVERYONE can send a thank you note or thank you email to your child's favorite teacher(s).  It will make their day!

Friday Faves

Happy Friday!  Our week was packed with lots of fun things.  We have 9 days of school left and a busy calendar for the rest of the month.  We were surprised to see a new Pope Leo since we have a Leo, hosted parties and enjoyed time at home this week.

Here are my favorite moments of the week:

1. We had big plans for an end of the year picnic with Kevin's department.  Then a huge storm rolled through.  There was lightning, flash flooding, cancelled plans, uncancelled plans, almost getting stuck on a flash flooded road (terrifying!!) and lots of pivoting.  We were bummed that it ended up being a challenging night, but shortly after we came home there was a giant neon rainbow in our backyard.  So even though the night didn't go as planned, we made the most of it.

A double rainbow!

2. Surprise strawberry party!  Olive learned that one of her good friends wasn't going to be able to have a birthday party this year because of some difficult life circumstances.  Her friend group got together and threw her a surprise party.  We are always happy to host.  It was fun to help her pull it all together.

Olive's cutest Canva invitation.  We texted it out to the girls and their moms and then just told the guest of honor that it was a regular sleepover.

Olive told me I've become famous for making candy salads for her friends.  Yay!  We had all kinds of yummy gummies to mix and spoon out into treat bags for all the girls.

Give me any excuse to use my vintage strawberry cookie jar!

The girls arrived early and planned a scavenger hunt for the birthday girl to find her gifts. I forgot how much excitement is involved when you plan a surprise party.

I rushed home from work to make some dessert.  Then we kept it super simple and ordered pizzas for dinner.

The hit of the night was the portable volleyball net.  The girls played for hours thanks to Kevin helping keep the games going.

I woke up early to make sure they had a yummy breakfast before they left.

3. I transplanted these cute flowers from Kevin's grandma's house last year and they have come back in full force this year!  I smile every time I see these sweet purple blooms.

4. I forgot it was stuffed animal day for Leo and was able to run a stuffed animal over to his school just in time for library.  I can't always fix things that I forget for the kids so when I do it feels great.  The kids had foam parties, pizza parties, fundraisers, signs ups and more.  It is so much to manage this time of year.

5. Olive has an amazing art teacher.  She brought home her 3D art projects this week.  They turned out so cute!

6. Fletch found me a giant 4 leaf clover in the backyard.

7. Kindergarten art is the cutest.

8. Leo + Penny is a close second.

9. I finally figured out why I'm finding dirt scattered all around the kitchen.  Bad Mr. Mittens!

10.  I got some of the sweetest teacher appreciation gifts this week!

11. It was a busy baking week making hundreds of cookies.  I love getting to bake for friends, Fletcher's class, events and baby showers.

12. Fletcher's water color art is on display at school right now!

13. Nothing Bundt Cake is always a good idea.  Especially lemon, with a gift card and a sweet note of appreciation.

14. The big kids say that they refresher drinks from Starbucks - strawberry & blackberry - are both delicious!

I hope you have a really wonderful Mother's Day weekend!  We have a packed weekend.  See you back here on Monday.  Linking up with Momfessionals