Teacher Appreciation Gift – Kickin’ Back Caddy

My son’s last day of school is tomorrow, so there’s nothing like waiting until the last minute to finish putting together a Teacher Appreciation gift!

We’ve been so lucky to have had a great 2nd grade teacher for my son this year; she really went above and beyond!  I wanted to give her something she could hopefully get some use out of, so I headed to Target in search of inspiration.  Luckily, I found this cute metal utensil caddy, which sparked the idea to make a “Kickin’ Back Caddy” for summer that included an assortment of items for her.

I decided to include a little summer reading, some refreshing drinks, black & white paper straws (extras from my daughter’s Vintage Barbie Birthday party), a Starbucks gift card, some Ghirardelli chocolates, and a small photo album (because she’s a brand new grandma!).  Of course, you could also fill the caddy with themed items, like a beach theme, a summer survival kit or even candy station.  It just depends on what you think is a good fit for your teacher!

I had recently purchased some gift tags (also from Target) and so labeled the photo album “Grandma’s Brag Book”.  Every grandma needs a brag book, right?

I attached a metal rimmed tag (leftover from the Memory Jar project) to the side of the caddy as a label.  She can use it as a summer caddy, a fall desk organizer, or of course, use it for its intended purpose, a utensil caddy!

I added another gift tag to the handle of the utensil caddy and on one side, put a small picture of my son and his teacher that was taken at Open House.  One the other side, my son wrote a short note to his teacher, thanking her for a great year.

Then I was ready to turn this everyday utensil caddy into a Kickin’ Back Caddy!

To put it all together, I added a little bit of shredded paper filler at the bottom, then arranged all of the items inside. I also added a chalkboard label to the front of the caddy.  For the flowers, I used an empty Starbucks bottle as a vase.  In this photo, the flowers are artificial because I want to wait to purchase flowers at the last minute.  When I give this to her, it will have either fresh roses or peonies.

My younger one still has a couple more weeks of preschool left, so I still have a few more gifts to make.  Regardless, I am officially ready for summer to begin!

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