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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Where did you get the caddy?
Hi Linda – I got it at Target in the kitchen section last year, but this year I saw it in the outdoor/picnic area.