Chalkboard Gifts for Teachers

I finally got THE call from my kid’s Pre-school teachers to set up their home visit to meet the boys. That means it is time for school to start back!  We are super excited about our teachers!

I know we are gearing up to home school, but we are not 100% certain we will continue into elementary school. We are sitting at about 90% in favor right now.  For now, the boys will be going to school 2 to 3 days a week, and we will home school on Mondays and/or Fridays when they are not at Pre-school.

When I was teaching, I loved getting goodies. I especially loved treats when I had been working to get ready for school to start back.  Teachers spend 3-4 weeks – sometimes all summer – before the kiddies even arrived – getting their classrooms and lessons ready. By the first day of school, teachers are tired exhausted and need a pick-me-up.

I was trying to think of goodies that would not break the bank.  We are now paying back a heapload of student loans, are a one income family, and the hubs lucked out and married an eternal shopper!  Yup – guilty!  I’ve had to pull in the reins and start acting like we earn one income and didn’t win the lottery.  So, I wanted to make something special for the teachers that still said, “We are excited about being in your class”, without buying them a NEW CAAARRRR.  YOU get a car, and YOU get a car!  I usually go over the top – WAY over the top – with planning, treats, etc.  It was time to refrain and I found just the right treat.  

Chocolate!  Who can resist it?  Am I right or am I right?  I pulled out the recipe book and found this beauty from an old friend:

chocolatepeppermintslices

Feel free to use the recipe.  The graphic from the card comes from Graphic Garden. She has lots of cute designs on her site. Back when I was sitting around waiting to get pregnant and had nothing to do, I put all my recipes onto these cards.  Then I made all the girls in the family a recipe book for Thanksgiving.  Now, I just tear them out of magazines at the doctor’s office, share them on Facebook, look them up on the computer, or pin them on Pinterest.

These things are easy, require ingredients that I usually keep on hand, the kids can help me make them, they look pretty – especially during the holidays, and are scrum-dilly-icious!

I made my bars (and of course didn’t take one picture of the process), and put them into cute little containers I had on hand.

chocolate peppermint slices

 

Now it was time to decorate with a cute little gift tag.  First I snagged my chalkboard background I keep on my computer’s desktop.  I honestly have no clue where I found it.  I downloaded a free chalkboard background from Pinterest ages ago, and didn’t pin it so I can’t give credit.  Sorry if this one belongs to you.  I’ve uploaded this one for you to use, or find one you like on Pinterest. I’ve even seen red, green, and blue ones.


Chalkboard-background

 

I opened up Gimp – a free program I use to manipulate pictures – and I began adding my texts with different fonts.  Here’s the outcome:

teacher mint chalkboard gift tag

I am not worried about the border because I’m going to cut it out to the shape of the lid.  It is a 3 x 5 rectangle.  After I got it just right, I printed it out, cut it to the right shape and taped it onto the lid.  DONE!

The fonts that I used for this project were:

Chalk Hand Letting Shaded

Return to Sender

Sketch Block

KG Flavor and Frames

Here’s a Pinterest friendly picture for you to pin.Chocolate Peppermint Slices recipe and tag for teacher gift

Have fun playing!  I love chalkboard art!  I don’t have the gift that some people have for making beautiful images, but I am getting better with practice.  Do you have favorite fonts you use for chalkboard art?  I would love to know what fonts you use.  The home school classroom is coming together.  I should have some pictures to share with you soon.

Have a great week!

Heather

Speak Your Mind

*