Back to School Teacher's Luncheon and Gifts

So before I started working at the Country Club, I was a teacher at a small, private school here in town. It was basically a startup school, and as with any private school (I feel like) you wear a lot of hats. I love the people that I worked with there, but in the end it came down to the fact that our summers are crazy and my family needed down time all together. I felt like Cliff and I were always in a state of 'ramping-up.' For example, as soon as summer was over we were ramping up for the school year and as the school year was winding down we had to ramp up for summer traveling with the youth group. It's exhausting, all around, and now with Macy in the picture it was time to make some changes. Even though I'm not teaching anymore, I wanted to let those teachers know that I still care deeply for them and appreciate everything they do all year long. So, I offered to host the teachers and staff for lunch one day during their training week at the Country Club. I am so glad that I was able to host them, and still be able to feel connected to such a good cause, with such wonderful people.

Here are some pictures from the luncheon... 

I reused (for the second time, here's the first) some of the decor pieces from Macy's Birthday After-After-Party. 

Then I pulled books from my personal library that have either been or are currently on the literature list at the school. Also, I pulled different quotes off the internet about teaching from respected educational and historical figures, and printed them on card stock. I cut them and then used glue spots to adhere them to 'Thank You' tents, AKA colored card stock with my thank you stamp and gold ink. I was pretty happy with the results, especially since I found out I was hosting the 15-person party less than 24 hours before.

I love a pretty beverage dispenser. Little touches, like utilizing a dispenser rather than a pitcher when you can, make parties for me.

For lunch, the group had the ACC Signature Salad, which consists of baby spinach, Craisins, walnuts, Granny Smith apples and a raspberry vinaigrette, as well as the Par 5 Sandwich, turkey BLT with avocado. Everything looked wonderful and was quite tasty!

Dessert is a must in my book, which is why it's so hard for me to be a diet, HAHA! I need something sweet to conclude the whole experience. For the luncheon we had a beautiful fruit tray with sweet cream cheese fruit dip, and chocolate chip cookies. I had a really hard time abstaining from just spreading the fruit dip on the chocolate chip cookie. That dip was to die for!

Again, I felt so blessed to be able to host this group. I know they work hard all year long so I couldn't stop there. I knew I wanted to make them something gifty, but was having a hard time deciding on what I wanted to do. Luckily, I stumbled upon The Crafting Chicks blog post Back to School Brainstorm. They offer several different ideas for back to school gifts, as well as any printables you would need to go with them. I decided on this sweet gift, but I added my own spin on it.

The Inspiration

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What I Used

Ball Half Pint, wide mouth, Mason jars: 4/$8.99 

I had a coupon for 40% off of 2 packages of them and 25% off the whole purchase!

Avery 2'' labels: 60/$7.97

 I only used 12, so I will have some more for other projects!

Individually wrapped Smarties: $2.16/bag 

I ended up needing about two and a half bags to fill 12 jars

So I ended up using Mason jars: a. because I love them, and b. because I had a coupon to Joann's Fabric Store and they didn't have the treat jars, but I'm more than ok with it. Then I filled them with Smarties (*FYI: If I did it all over again, I may have chosen something with a little less of a defined shape, but I loved the play on words*) and then at the last minute I added some ribbon. Luckily, I cleaned out and organized all of our gift wrapping today, and remember that we had some leftover ribbon from Macy's birthday party that would match perfectly. On top of that, it was precut perfectly to tie nicely around the wide-mouthed jars. I just love when a plan comes together! 

My Finished Project

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the gifts. I wish I had been able to wait a little bit longer before needing to take them up to the school because I just ordered the BEST THING EVER!! I have been researching cutting machines for what seems like months now, and had narrowed it down to the Cricut or Sizzix Eclips. A dear friend, and avid crafter, who has both machines, adamantly recommended the Sizzix over the Cricut, and then proceeded to tell me all the website I should be stalking for the best sale. So Cliff was out of town when I came across the best sale I'd seen on the Eclips. I found it on Oh My Craft, and it is the Eclips Start Up Kit with the option of the eCal software (which I also got at the recommendation of my friend). Just a note, if you find/found the Eclips at a better price, do not tell me. I was pretty happy with myself. Don't burst my bubble...

It was basically 50% off, then also offered free shipping and then 25% off the whole order. Needless to say, I jumped all over that sale, but it's still being shipped. Otherwise, these teacher gifts would have been even more crazy awesome!!! 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post and that you have taken time to thank the teachers in your life for all their hard work and dedication to your kids and community. 

Happy School Year!