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Despite having the best of intentions, I always end up doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. To me, Christmas is about the kids most of all, and they are always at the top of my list. Then there are gifts for my husband, parents, sister and in-laws (in no particular order - ha ha). Sadly, it’s often not until the night before the last day of school that something clicks in my head and I realize I have yet to buy gifts for teachers.
Teacher gifts aren't the easiest gifts to buy, because generally you don't know that much about your children's teachers. (I think that's why I put off shopping for them and then end up grabbing gift cards at the last minute.) But teachers deserve special treats at Christmas. After all, they provide education, care and attention to our children throughout the year. And what's more important than that?
This year, I headed to Target to look for teacher gifts. I chose Target because I pretty much go there every week anyway to look at boots and buy Archer Farms dark chocolate-covered almonds (yum!). When I'm in the store, I always admire the decorative items for home and kitchen. I feel like you can't go wrong by gifting a pretty dish, blanket or candle to a female teacher. Basically I look for things that I'd really like to buy for myself!
I like to keep an eye out for sale tags, so I can get a better-value gift within my established price range. For teacher gifts, I aim to spend about $15 to $20. But you can find something lovely for less than that too. On this particular visit, there were lots of sale tags in the Vases & Arrangements aisle. And I just happen to love vases!
For my teacher gift, I decided on a simple, wide-mouthed glass vase. For one thing, I don't know anything about the teacher's decor. Glass works for everybody. And, for another thing, I wanted the focus to be on the filler. That way the vase can be changed each season. A wide-mouth vase allows for all sorts of different fillers.
I admired the faux lemons and limes. They would be lovely to fill a bowl or a very tall vase.
To make it more of a Christmas-type gift, though, I decided on red gems for a filler.
Next it was on to the candle aisle where I browsed Target's abundance of candles. I love the red bird candle, but not for this particular purpose. I chose a simple tri-coloured red, orange and cream pillar candle instead. Specifically, it's a Bourbon Vanilla Pumpkin Spice Apple Cinnamon pillar candle by Threshold. It smells incredible, but Target has unscented candles for those who have issues with scents too.
Back at home, I arranged the vase, gems and candle on a tabletop.
Then it was simply a matter of gently pouring the red gems into the vase and popping the candle in the middle.
Overall, I think it's a pretty and festive gift for a female teacher, and it passes the "I'd like to have it myself" test. With both the vase and the gem fillers on sale, it fell into my under-$20 price range too.
What do you think? Would you be happy to get this gift? Do you have any last-minute gifts to buy? Who is left on your list?
We are giving our teachers candles.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike! ;)
DeleteThis is something I NEVER thought of. Which reminds me... maybe I should get something for my daughter's preschool teacher! She's been awesome this year... so thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteGlad I could help with a little reminder Bonnie. ;) Good luck with your shopping!
DeleteThat is such a great and affordable idea! This year we just opted for a box of chocolates since my son has three teachers and a bus driver that we bought for but I'll definitely remember this for next year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Amanda. Chocolates are a hit with most people. Yum. :) I remember when my kids were in daycare and there were so many teachers I didn't know quite what to do. :)
DeleteOooh, that's so pretty, I bet the teacher will love it! :) I'm entirely addicted to Target's Threshold line and LOVE that so much is on sale right now, lol.
ReplyDeleteAll the "main" gifts are bought for everyone except our mailman - gotta pick something up for him (usually a coffee card) and stocking stuffers are still a thing.
Thanks! I'm glad you like it. :) I love a good sale at Target too! How great that you include the mailman. I hadn't thought of that because we have the community boxes. I have stocking stuffers, but need gifts. I would rather the reverse. ;)
DeleteWhat a great gift. She's going to love it. I also love Target and their home decor section. It's amazing what great products they have at such an affordable price.
ReplyDeleteThanks Maya. Oh, that home decor section...so many temptations! :)
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