Pinterest Love

Dear Pinterest,

I have a love-hate relationship with you.  I love you for all the wonderful, creative, genius ideas you provide me at any time.  I hate you because you make me feel inadequate as a mother, as a wife, as a person in general.  I love when you make me laugh.  I hate when annoy me.  I love you because you are a place to easily store these neat ideas I find and can easily reference later.  I hate you because you are horrible when I am searching for something in particular (like crafts to do with babies, I know they are out there, I just can’t find them!).  Either way, I can waste countless hours browsing your unlimited database of “stuff.” 

Today, I love you for providing me with an inexpensive teacher gift idea! 

When we put our kids in daycare, I never thought about having to give gifts to the teachers.  But as the holidays approached, I realized I really needed to do something.  With 3 primary teachers and numerous “floater” teachers that help in the girls room, plus 2 directors of the facility, the cost of gifts can add up quickly!  But I wanted to get them something that they would hopefully get some use out of, and wouldn't just sit on their shelf or get re-gifted at a White Elephant party! :-)

But then, I found this pin on your awesome/horrible site:



Click on picture to see original blog with this craft



 This seemed inexpensive enough that I could use it for all the “floater” teachers that are in and out of the room during the day.  Most people like chocolate, right?  Plus, it’s not just your average candy bar, it took a little time and effort, therefore, it makes it a cute, little gift, right?  I hope you are nodding your head…! :-)

Well for my reindeer bars, I ended up using orange pipe cleaners for the antlers because I couldn’t find brown at Meijer, and Chaz was at home with the girls so I didn’t want to go to a bunch of different stores for supplies.  (There are actually 2 reindeer that have yellow antlers because I ran out of orange… but you get the gist of what it is supposed to be, right???)  I used red pipe cleaner rolled into a circle for the nose.  The googly eyes were on sale for 50% off at Meijer, and I still have A LOT left for future projects needing googly eyes… We’d bought the candy bars on sale as well at a previous shopping trip.  Lastly, I used brown shopping bags to make the reindeer skin.   So, I made a total of 17 reindeer bars, at an average cost of about 55cents each.  I think that will be enough to cover all the random teachers that I want to give thanks to for taking such good care of my kids!  :-)

My completed Reindeer Bars!

But I still felt that the primary teachers and directors deserved something a little better than just chocolate… That is what made me decide on this pin to create this “little something more” gift!

Click on picture to see original blog with this craft



I was able to make 6 of these adorable, little gifts for an average of about $2.61 each!  Call it cheap, but I call it being a smart consumer! J 

The cellophane bags I had leftover from the girls birthday party goody bags, which I had bought a package of 30 bags on clearance from Meijer for 75cents .  I printed out the tags from the link on Pinterest on paper we already had, so I didn’t factor that into the cost.  We also had curling ribbon on hand, and glue for my hot glue gun, so I count that as free.  J  Then, I bought a 2-pair pack of cute socks from the dollar store, and since each gift bag contains only one pair of socks, that portion was only 50cents.  I found the little pedicure set and a quantity of 4 bell ornaments at the dollar store as well.  I found a few clearance nail polishes at Meijer for 70cents, and I also bought a few that were 94cents.  Thrifty, thrifty, thrifty!!!  :-)

My completed Cozy Toes gifts!

A view of one side of the gift bag...

A view from another side of the gift bag...

6 Cute Gifts!!!

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty proud of how this gift turned out.  I know that I would love to get a fun little gift like this, so I’m hoping the girls’ teachers like them too! (I again hope that you are nodding your head in agreement that the girls' teachers will in fact love these gifts...!)  :-)

My completed gifts for the girls' teachers!

Thanks again, Pinterest.  Today I feel worthy of your site.

UPDATE!  I dropped off the gifts to the teachers this morning, and as I was setting them on the counter, I saw one of these gifts (see image below)...  Other people love (and I bet hate) Pinterest too!  It made me feel better because it was comparable to my gift, so my gift wasn't completely inadequate.  Plus, I had thought about doing this exact gift, so now I'm glad I chose something else! :-)

Click on picture to see original blog with this craft

UPDATE 3/25/14: Since having my 3rd child, my days have become more than just "life with twins."  So, I decided to move on over to a new blog!

Come check me out at www.MePlus3Today.blogspot.com!

My new blog deals with kids crafts and activities, mommy ups & downs, and what it's like to suddenly find myself as a 30-year-old widow with 3 kids under the age of 2.

So again, please stop by my new blog, and tell your friends too!

Thanks so much!
~Sarah