A ‘thank you’ gift for Teacher Appreciation Week that is a fun project for kids too!

by Liz Mangelsdorf

This decorative DIY chalkboard container is perfect to hold  special little gifts. I put together these gifts for my kids’ teachers. I had so much fun putting these together and my daughter and son both had fun helping pick out the contents and deciding which colors went to which teachers.

The great thing about this gift (besides being a bit crafty) is that you can put anything you want in the bucket.

Here are the basic supplies I used and where I found the items:

• Tin buckets (Hobby Lobby)
• Chalkboard paint and a small foam paint brush (Hobby Lobby)
• Brown paper bags (Dollar Tree)
• Plastic Flowers (Dollar Tree)
• The other items were based on a ‘Thanks for helping me GROW’ theme:  Trowel, Gardening Gloves, Packets of Seeds, Pinwheel, Notepad and pen, Post-it Notes (got all these items at Target) and a brown sugar scrub I made and put in jars that I found at Hobby Lobby.

Instructions

Chalkboard paint is so much fun to use.  Simply follow the directions on the paint bottle. Apply to the bucket using the foam brush in vertical and then horizontal strokes. It took two coats. Cover the bucket as much as you want and whatever pattern you like. I snipped off the flowers from the stems and used a hot glue gun to attach them to the top of the bucket. Put all the items inside the bucket and add a special note.

Put all the items inside the bucket and include a special note.

Here’s what I did to create this cute note out of a brown paper bag

• Create the note in MS Word
• Cut open the paper bag so that it fits into the printer
• Print out the note on the paper bag.
• Crinkle it up and flatten it back out…love the look!
• Get your kids involved and have fun putting this special gift together !

Other “theme” suggestions:

Enjoy your Summer:  sunscreen, flip-flops, bucket hat, People magazine, paperback book, drinks, gift card to a restaurant

Movie Night: videos/DVD’s, candy, microwave popcorn, drinks, fun straws, gift card

Pamper yourself: nail polish, sugar scrub, lotions, (anything from Bath and Body Works), In Style magazine, gift card