Caileigh Winslade 
It’s that time of the year again when an underappreciated holiday week makes its way to the U.S. It’s a time of community, of joy, and of giving thanks. It’s Teacher Appreciation Week!
This week, students across the country are expressing their gratitude for the teachers who’ve impacted them. Many give letters and gifts to their educators. But what if you can’t think of a gift for your teacher beyond the standard gift card? Don’t worry, I got you.
Here are five easy and affordable do-it-yourself gift ideas you can give to your teacher to share your appreciation.
DIY Ruler Vase
Making your own ruler vase is as easy as it is fun, and it’ll be impressive to your teachers to know you made it yourself.
Here’s what you’ll need: Five wooden rulers, hot glue, and a mason jar, vase, or any cylindrical glass you can find. If you want your vase to be smaller than 12 inches, try to find mini rulers, or you can use a saw to cut them shorter. Glue the rulers around the mason jar in a circle! It’s that easy. You can tie a ribbon around the vase for decoration. If you don’t want to use rulers, you can also use pencils, markers, or crayons.
“One smart cookie” Fresh Baked Cookies
This one is simple, and who doesn’t like a good treat to eat? Make a tray of your favorite homemade freshly baked cookies – sugar, chocolate chip, peanut butter. Be sure to check if your teacher has any allergies first, though!
You can add a message in frosting like “I ♡ U” or “Thank you!”. You can also write a letter and attach it to the tray with a ribbon. If your teacher likes puns (which they probably do, all teachers love puns), you can say, “You’re one smart cookie!”
Mini Poem Book
If you want a more personal gift, you can make a mini book of poems. They can either be poems you’ve chosen — poems that your teacher would like, or poems that reflect your thankfulness for them — or they can be your own poems that you’ve written!
Once you’ve collected all your poems, you can put them in a mini book using a sheet of paper folded up. (For an in depth yet easy tutorial on making a booklet, you can check out (Poetry Roundabout!) You can add your own drawings, doodles, or mini-notes in the margins or on the cover.
“You’re the bomb” Bath Bomb (image)
It’s important for everybody to have self-care, and that goes for teachers too (They’re not perfect, despite what it might look like!). Your teacher will appreciate the acknowledgement of them as a person outside of the classroom.
For this, all you need to do is buy an affordable bath bomb from any local store that sells personal care items. If you want, and know how to, you can also make one from scratch. Wrap the bath bomb in tissue paper, and tie it at the top with a ribbon so it has a “tail” sticking up. You can attach a note to the ribbon that says a personal message, or you can write, “You’re the bomb!”
Thank You Jar from Classmates (image)
If you want to get your classmates involved, this is an easy gift to include everyone in the love. Find a small mason jar, or even an old soup can. Inside the jar, you can put folded slips of paper from everyone in your class. The papers can have their names signed or messages of thanks. You can also put in flower petals or small trinkets for decoration. Once everyone puts their note in the jar, seal it up and write a big “Thank you” on the lid or on the outside of the glass. Your teacher will be sure to know your whole class appreciates them and be so grateful.
By Caileigh Winslade, Senior, ChiArts
Instagram: @fairytwist / Twitter: @silverrebi
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