Best Teacher Appreciation Gift Ever

After years of giving gifts to teachers, we finally stumbled upon the perfect Teacher Appreciation Gift! Each year the gift has been accepted with tears of joy. 

We have shown our teachers that we really love them by making a homemade t-shirt with THEIR NAME on it! 

If I had the money, I would buy shirts for the entire class to wear. But alas, I don't have the money. What I do have is time, and creativity, to work on a gift for my child to give. This idea came to me when a friend of mine was decorating the door to their child's classroom for a surprise to the teacher. They came up with a witty saying, and set to work taping on construction paper letters and pictures. I thought, why not turn that idea into a shirt for my kid to wear!?!

A few years ago, I won a silhouette machine. This machine comes in handy! I made my own stencil. But you can always buy stencils with letters and pictures on them.  I taped my stencil to the front of a t-shirt, put some cardboard inside to protect the shirt from leaking paint through to the back, and got out an artist paintbrush and some acrylic paint. I painted the picture on the shirt myself. 

Most people never know the shirt isn't machine printed. The paint fades a little bit after washing, but it still holds the image. I have made all kinds of shirts for my kids this way. You can personalize a shirt for a birthday party! Or if you have a favorite quote or Bible verse, this is an excellent way to share it with the world. I have even made a shirt for my husband with his favorite computer game quote! One year I tie-dyed a bunch of shirts and painted a logo for our church on the front. I gave the shirts to all the elementary girls I took to a kid's camp. They loved that we were all matching!

All it takes is a little patience, time, and non-washable paint. I don't even use fabric paint. I use the cheap 50 cents a bottle kind from Wal-Mart. The ideas are endless and so inexpensive! You simply need a shirt, and paint. You probably already have some of this paint lying around your house... if you are a craft person. It's so neat how a little bit of time can result in a heart being touched.

Posted on Facebook by Mrs. Beauford

Posted by Ms. Jeffrey on Class Dojo

My son gets so excited for Teacher Appreciation Day! He can't wait to wear his shirt proudly into the classroom. This year he got a little sneaky and made sure to wear a light jacket. He gave the teacher a card which told her to look at his shirt for her gift. She LOVED it.

It's a very sweet surprise for a teacher and can be personalized in any way. Ms. Jeffrey is also a photographer and has used this talent to bless us parents with lots of photos of our kiddos this year. The camera saying was perfect for her!

There's all kinds of cute sayings for teacher appreciation day! Make up your own, or use one of these!

• From my calculations, Mrs. Teacher is the best - draw a calculator
• You're picture perfect, Mrs. Teacher - draw a camera or draw a Polaroid border around it.
• Mrs. Teacher you've made a mark that can never be erased - draw an eraser or pencil
• Thanks for helping me grow, Mrs. Teacher - draw a flower with it
• I donut know what I would have done without you, Mrs. Teacher - draw a donut
• Mrs. Teacher made me one smart cookie - draw a cookie
• Mrs. Teacher brightened my year - draw a sun
• You're the apple of my eye, Mrs. Teacher - draw an apple
• You're the pineapple of my eye, Mrs. Teacher - draw a pineapple
• I love you to the moon and back, Mrs. Teacher - draw a moon
• I'm nuts about Mrs. Teacher - draw an acorn
• Mrs. Teacher is one in a melon - draw a watermelon
• You've stolen a pizza my heart, Mrs. Teacher - draw a slice of pizza