Finding the right gift for your kid’s teacher shouldn’t be difficult, but rather express how much all of their hard work and dedication means to you and your little one. Most importantly, it should be fun! Ditch the gift cards for one of these quick and easy crafts that the kids—and their teachers—will love.

 

1

/ CANDY CONE

Materials:

• 1 large pinecone
• Gold acrylic paint or gold spray paint
• Ribbon
• Christmas-colored pens
• Blank gift tags
• Scotch tape
• 1 box of See’s Candies Little Pops

1. With parental help, paint the pinecone gold and let dry for 15-20 minutes.
2. Have your little one write a nice message on the gift tag for their teacher.
3. Attach the tag to a pretty ribbon and bow tie it to the stem.
4. Put loops of tape on the ends of the candies and stick them inside the pinecone’s holes.
5. Once filled, hold it up to the light and watch it shine!

 

2 / HAND “SANTA”-TIZER

(AGES 7-8)
Materials:

• 1 mini bottle of hand sanitizer
• White, red and black construction paper
• Red and metallic gold Sharpie permanent pens/paint pens
• Ruler
• Scotch tape
• Glue stick
• Colorful Christmas ribbon (skinny)

1. Measure the length of the hand sanitizer bottle and cut the red construction paper into a strip to cover the whole label. Tape it, making sure the tape is at the back-center.
2. Cut a strip of white paper into a 1 X 2-1/2 inch strip and the black into a 1/4 X 5 inch strip. Glue the white strip down the center of the front of the bottle, and the black strip around the middle (Santa’s belt).
3. Draw a gold square (Santa’s belt buckle) around the middle of the black strip of paper.
4. Cut a rectangular piece of white paper. Write “Hand Santa-tizer,” decorate it, and tape it to the back of the bottle.
5. Cut out a piece of ribbon and tie it into a bow at the bottom of the cap.

3 / CHRISTMAS PEN MUG

 

(AGES 9-10)
Materials:

• 1 solid-colored mug (any Christmas color, but white works best)
• Rubbing alcohol
• Metallic, Christmas-colored Sharpie permanent pens/paint pens
• Stencil cutouts or Christmas-shaped templates
• Scotch tape
• Q-tips

1.  Wipe the outside of the mug with rubbing alcohol to clean it, and stick the stencils or templates to the mug, pressing down firmly.
2. Cover the outside with whatever designs and patterns you want, making it look festive.
3. Peel off the stencils or templates and fix any mistakes with a Q-tip and some rubbing alcohol.
4. Bake your mug in the oven on a middle rack at 425-degrees (let the oven preheat with the mug inside to avoid cracking) for 30 minutes.

by Adrianna Valencia