Friday Favorites: Back To School Teacher Happies

I'm a little sad about school starting.  This is Alise's last year in elementary school and my last year to rack my brain to come up with a little happy for her new teacher. Not a single year has gone by that Alise hasn't carried her teacher a little something to put a smile on her face - even in the pre-Pinterest years! But like I said, it's the last year for such hoopla because it would be oh-so embarrassing for a sweet middle school girl to carry something to her teacher on the first day of school {insert grin and eye roll}!

So today for my Friday Favorites post, I thought I'd share some of the little happies Alise has blessed her teachers with over the past few years! And if you're in to such things, maybe it will spark an idea and your creativity, too!

In Pre-K4, we gave Ms. L this cute sticky note pad that I got off Etsy {that's when Etsy was all the rage!}. I loved it because of the acrylic backboard and the sticky notes could always be replaced.

For Kindergarten, I decided to get my craft mojo on and I made these simple sleeves to go over a standard Hershey's candy bar.  I found all the cherry bling on the dollar aisle of Michael's.  I've actually made candy bar sleeves several times for her teachers as little happies through out the year.

Ok.  First grade?  I went all out!  Now remember, this was still before Pinterest, but it never hurts to google "back to school teacher gifts" for ideas.  And that's what I did!  This was a "project"!

In second grade, I sorta had a inside "connection," and I knew just what kind of cookies her teacher liked!  That year, Alise's classroom was decorated in a jungle/monkey theme and so I put some mini no-bake oatmeal chocolate cookies in a jar and decorated with school colors.

This was the only picture I could find for third grade, but our little happy that year was similar to first grade except I decided to make a vase using colored pencils for fresh flowers.  Mrs. R loved it!

For fourth grade, I didn't take a picture of our happy, but this was the theme we used.  I bought one of the big cookies from McAllister's and stuck a similar card with it.  You have to be careful with food items, though, because that's the day that I found out Ms. O was a diabetic!  Ugh! #teacherfail But she assured me she could eat it.

So do you do happies for your teachers for the new school year?  It's more common with younger children, I think, but it's a tradition that I want to keep doing for at least one more year.  I haven't decided what I'm giving for fifth grade yet, but I've asked my friend Leigh to help.  She has one of those fancy-shmancy machines that does monograms and cutouts.  Of course, I'll let you know what I decide.

Enjoy the weekend!