Gifts on the Cheap

I'm a mom of 4. My husband is in the Army. We just bought a house. Did I mention we have 4 kids? What I'm trying to say is, we're broke. Not the kind of broke that we can't pay our bills, or go out to eat once a week, (because I've already disclosed our love of Thursday night BBQ). But the kind of broke where I just can't afford to buy all of our children's teachers huge Christmas gifts. I would love to be able to give them all gift cards to their favorite restaurant or store, but we just can't afford it.

So the other day I began making the list of recipients, I checked it twice (and whittled it down), and began making some gifts to give to prospective recipients. 

Here are some other ideas (besides the bag of bean-bags and doorstops):

~Hand made stationary: have your child draw a simple drawing at the top of simple printer paper, print the teacher's name at the top, cut into fourths and wrap with ribbon

~Pencil bunch: head over to the dollar store, buy a couple packs of pencils (either seasonal colors or just plain yellow), bunch them together, tie with a ribbon and write a note of thanks for being such a sharp teacher

~Pen bunch: same thing-head to dollar store, buy a couple packs of pens, tie together with a ribbon and write a note of thanks for making a permanent impact on your child's life

~Same with permanent marker--buy a Sharpie, and attach the same note with a ribbon

From the kitchen: mix together the dry ingredients for:

~pancakes

~beer bread

~muffins

~cookies

place in a bag, tie off with a ribbon and the recipe--highlighting what still needs to be added--

These are just some ideas, as more come to mind, I'll add them!

The good news is, we can show our appreciation to all these people, without tons of cash...we just have to get creative!

:)

Audrey