Chocolate-Lovin' Teachers

If you have a chocolate loving teacher on your shopping list, here are some great ideas that can be shipped fast in time for next week, Teacher Appreciation Week.


Mrs. Beasley's Pearl Basket, Filled with cookies with Ghiradelli chocolate, brownies and truffles.


Chocolate Lover's Gift Basket, Filled with chocolate chip cookies, chocolate espresso beans, chocolate-covered sandwich cookies, a chocolate-covered graham dunk, English toffee, Ghirardelli cocoa and an assortment of Ghirardelli chocolates.





Double Chocolate Layered Towel Cake, Relax and eat chocolate...does it get better?


Give Chocolate and Make a Difference!


Set Includes:*Women's Bean Project's assorted Jelly Beans *Dark chocolate covered espresso beans *Cindy's Sinfully Chocolate Brownies.
The Story Behind the Art: Women's Bean Project is a Worldstock partner and a nonprofit organization that teaches job readiness and life skills for entry-level jobs through employment in our gourmet food production business.


Quick and easy? King Size Hershey's Bar with a handwritten appreciation note. Cost, priceless.

What not to buy? I Love Chocolate t-shirt, Make Mine Hot Cocoa mug, etc. Go with the real thing and a note. There's nothing more fun than receiving a delivery at work. Stop by the local flower shop and order a bouquet to be sent to the school and give them the teacher's favorite candy bar to stick inside the bouquet.

All right, all of you chocolate lovers...what would you like if you were the recipient?

Gift-Basket Ideas That Won't Break the Bank!

Here are just a few ideas to add to a nice teacher gift bag or basket. Remember we want to put things in here that are consumable--the teacher will USE them versus dusting them or regifting them. What other ideas do you have?

#1 Thank you note: Handwritten by child, parent or both.
This note can be a plain piece of paper that your child folds in half and draws a picture on the front of. It can also be a homemade card you made or something from the local card store. Which one is cheapest? The plain piece of paper folded in half. Which one does the teacher want? The plain piece of paper folded in half with a drawing by your child and an appreciative note from you. Practically free!

#2 Teacher's favorite candy or lotion.
Notice, I did not say your favorite candy or the newest scented lotion you love to give out on this special occasion. It is so wonderful that you'd like to do that for the teacher, but instead take one extra minute and print this out. Hand it to your child's teacher or send it in their folder/backpack (whatever your communication system is with school) with a note that says, "Please fill this out and return it back to me. I'd love to know more about you!" Or "I'm working on a little surprise for you. Please return.) You'll enjoy knowing you spent your hard-earned money on what they like and they will too.

I say this with love, because I personally know people that are allergic to nuts, chocolate, milk and whatever they use to make card candies that are sugar-free. If I smell any type of lotion or hand soap that is scented with anything remotely floral, I will be sneezing nonstop for the rest of the day and will probably get a headache. I know you would feel awful if that happened.

#4 Hand sanitizer
There is never enough of this to go around...and look at this cute guy! The kids can't help but see this cute little guy sitting next to the tissue box!
PURELL® 9600-PL1 Pal









#5 A very small or very large gift card. If you are buying a gift card just from your family, do what you can afford. No teacher wants a family to spend outside of their limits. Now if you're pulling up to school every morning in your fully-paid-for Escalade, by all means spend what you'd like. Another great option is to get together with a few other parents in the classroom and each put a few dollars together to get a nice gift card.

I was at OfficeMax this weekend buying some extra Pentel pens and there was a rack near the checkout filled with every gift card you could possibly want. The Visa gift card I turned over--thinking that would be nice and versatile--said "$3.95 fee will be added at the checkout." Crazy!

All of these gift cards below have free shipping, no fee and no expiration date. I don't have to drive anywhere to get it and no ridiculous fee. Saved gas money + saved time= Happy parent and happy teacher!

Best Buy GC $5 Gift Card
Borders Gift Card $25
Kitchen Collection and Gadgets and More Gift Card

Group Gifts for Classroom Teachers

I'm turning on the broken record for one quick moment and then we'll be back to our regularly scheduled program...one of the most appreciated things you can do for your teachers is a heartfelt, specific thank you note. That being said, here are a few group gift ideas for the special teacher in your life.

A book with a special surprise inside...Kristin at Everything Pink does this wonderful classroom gift for her children's teacher each year. She sends home a note to the families in her child's class and collects quotes about their teacher and a small cash donation. What do a few quotes and a few small donations equal? A gift to bring a teacher to tears, that's for sure! You have to visit her site to see just how easy this is. She has a step-by step tutorial, plus a great gallery of photos showing each step.

Are you thinking about collecting a small donation from families to buy your teacher a gift card? Dawn at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts has a great homemade gift card holder. She takes you through each step with her very own YouTube video, making this a fast and easy way to make a gift card a little more special. Your note of appreciation inside the card will be icing on the cake!


A homemade meal for the teacher at the end of a long day teaching, grading, counseling, etc is a wonderful idea for all of the classes families to participate in. Some parents can make the main dish, a few some side dishes, a few some bread, and a few could make some baked goods for desert. Some parents won't have the time, but might be able to donate a couple of dollars towards purchasing the food. What are some of your families favorite dishes? Make enough for leftovers and make your teacher happy for two nights!

What group ideas have you given your teachers in the past? What do you plan to do this year with a group to appreciate a teacher?