Christmas gifts for teachers

I always try to make sure I get the kids' teachers a little something to say Merry Christmas each year. It's  also a good time to say a big 'Thank You' for all the work and time they put into teaching.  We've been blessed to have great teachers who do so much to make sure the kids realized their full potential.  I'm not going to lie, though.  It can get expensive! 4 kids in school and 6 teachers.  Ack!  (can you hear the cha-ching?)

Here is what we are doing this year.

Antibacterial soaps from Bath&Body Works (purchased during a 7 for $20 sale), chocolates and $10 gift cards to Starbucks.  Even if you left out the Starbucks card this is still a great little gift for anyone.

Let's put it all together to make it pretty, as well as useful.

I decided to use a hole punch so the gift cards will be secured to the gift.  I know my kids, and the potential for a card going missing on the way to school is greater than 50/50.  This will take some muscle!  It does help if you wiggle the card side to side as you are trying to punch.

The chocolate goes in to a Christmas-y bag.  (I ended up buying a second bag of chocolates to help fill the Christmas bags rather than just the one bag shown a few pictures earlier.) 

Punch a hole through the bag to be able to secure it with ribbon to the soap pump in a little bit.

I used some red curling ribbon to loop through the gift card.  You could also use an elastic pony tail holder or a rubber band.  The ribbon just seemed to be a better hold for me.

String the ends of your ribbon through the holes in your bag and then secure them around the neck of the soap bottle.  I worked the ribbon up under the cap to make sure it stayed on the bottle all the way to school.  Add a few more strings of ribbon and then use your scissors to curl the ends.

Keep in mind a more neutral sent will be liked by more people.  Let's face it, not everyone wants to smell like a Christmas tree or peppermint all day long.  It's a pretty safe bet, if you stay with a lighter fragrance, the teacher (or anyone else) will like it.

A pretty, useful and yummy present!  I have no worries about these gifts not be used.  Even better, each gift cost about $4.50 (minus the Starbucks card)!

And, yes, the Bath & Body Works bag from the previous facelift post, is what all these hand soaps came home in.  I knew you were wondering.

retail bags with a Christmas facelift

Are you like me?  You save all those paper bags from retail stores thinking surly they can be used for something.
You know, bags like these.

gone crunchy

Sort of....

We've been making some changes in our lives - mainly in our eating habits and exercise.  Now, don't misunderstand me.  I have yet to banish chocolate, sweets and carbs from our pantry.  I would have an all out mutiny on my hands if I did that.  There are so many alternatives out there these days, though,  we decided, 'Why not choose better food and living for our family?'.  And, take baby steps to get it done.  Main meals aren't really hard for me to prepare.  {I'll share more on that as time goes on.}  It's the snacks and cravings that really trip me up.  Who doesn't like a few (dozen) Oreo cookies and a tall glass of milk?!  Unfortunately, a paleo diet doesn't include this favorite snack of mine.

time's a tickin'

Are you starting to panic?  Only 22 days left!