Today – May 8th, 2018 is National Teacher Appreciation Day! Thank you to all the teachers that have help mold our minds and lives throughout the years.  As a class nerd, I have to admit, I still remember all my teachers.  They opened my eyes to a world outside of just my immediate neighborhood in the inner city and introduced me to the world of the arts and my personal favorite BOOKS! Needless to say, our teachers are definitely underappreciated and the work they do is priceless.  There’s no telling how often a teacher, a mentor, has influenced and changed the life of so many people.

So how do we demonstrate our appreciation to our teacher?

This year I was asked to be Class Parent again and I wanted to do something for our teacher that would include every student in the class.  I came across this lovely post on Pinterest from SoFestive.  I loved the framed word art idea, with all the students name.   I decided this would be a great, thoughtful gesture.  This is also the first year that our teacher has taught at our school, so I felt it was an extra special year for her.  I followed  the instructions on how to utilize the tagxedo website by following Theboyandme.co.uk blog.  I felt her instructions were very helpful and helped me navigate the site.  I printed the word art in card stock paper and bought a beautiful white frame at Michael’s, which happened to be 60%.. SCORE!

On a gift bag run to Marshall’s (favorite store EVER!) I came across the perfect card and a wonderful journal to also gift our teacher.  Marshall’s and I are so aligned… it knows exactly what I need ❤  In addition, I wanted to add another personal touch from each student.  I came across this cute printable from Kate & Macy, that was perfect for our class.  I printed the cards in card stock paper and distributed them to the class.  I instructed them to return the cards to me before May 8th so I could include it in our gift bag.  Once returned I tied a ribbon around them to keep them together (I have to work on my bow skills).

All together I must say I think the end product was quite thoughtful.  I find homemade, or at least, hand crafted gifts to be the best.  They are always unique and the thought process that goes into putting together the perfect gift, is the gift itself.  That someone has taken the time to think about you, to wonder what is most important to you and to package it all up in a manner that is meaningful and true to you.  The cost for putting this together was not much at all, but it was the time that was the most fun.  Going to different stores, working with different people to put it all together for our teacher.  After all, its the time that our teachers give that help us determine our futures.  Those few hours, across 3 days was well worth it.  And it took all of us, big and small hands, to put together.  I hope our teacher feels appreciated today.  We appreciate her every day but with the hustle and bustle of our lives, sometimes we forget to tell people how much they truly are appreciated.