December is fast approaching which means that makers are trying to get their ducks in a row for holiday crafting.

Today I’m going to give you ideas for two scrap-busting gift ideas to give to your kids’ teachers, but I wanted to talk about teacher gifts in general for a quick moment first.

I’ve been teaching for about ten years and mostly in schools with families who are comfortable financially. As a result, I have gotten sooooooo many gifts and can tell you that teachers don’t need a gift. Honestly. I very legitimately would prefer a handwritten note or craft from your kid. I have a special file folder at home where I keep these and they last a lot longer than chocolate or knickknacks. But if you do want to get your child’s teacher a gift, here are some of the things that are pretty universally loved:

• Gift cards to book stores, office supply stores and amazon.
• Gift cards to Starbucks, Tim’s, and other food places. (Teachers will sometimes trade if they’re frequent fliers at places they get cards to)
• Office supplies like post it’s, cool pens, fun note pads
• Donations in our name, especially if it relates to something we’ve discussed at school.

If you want to make something for your kid’s teacher, I highly recommend involving your child in the process. Depending on the ability of your child, they can choose fabric, work the pedals, cut out the fabric, or even do the whole project independently (I’ve got videos to help!) Here are two easy projects that will be guaranteed hits.

Felt bookmark

If you want to get fancy, you could forego the felt and sew a little rectangle of fabric. My students have gotten really creative with this project and use felt scraps and buttons to make little animal faces. One kid, a few years ago, made a bookmark for my colleague in his likeness. As a mermaid. It was honestly the coolest thing I’ve seen.

If you want to add more to this gift, throw in a gift card to a book store and you’re done!

Zippered pencil pouch

I move from class to class, so a pencil case has come in quite handy. I designed this one to be made out of two fat quarters and a really cheap zipper. It’s a fast project and a good one for a beginner if you want to get your kid to make it.

If you want to add more to this gift, I recommend filling it with these pens which are my favourite for marking.