Homemade Gifts for Teachers
- At Christmas, every parent wonders what to give their child’s teacher as a Christmas gift. The next question- what is a cheap gift idea for a teacher? Most of our little ones not only have one teacher, but three or four. Children have homeroom teachers, classroom teachers, music teachers, art teachers, and we can’t forget the principal.
Money is tight for most families right now, and Christmas time will make money even tighter. The teacher gift idea below will not only be cheaper to make than purchasing several different gifts, but it can be made in bulk to give to friends, co-workers and relatives.
Teachers’ Christmas Gift Idea
This idea can be used time-and-time again for any number of people on your Christmas list. It can also be used as a house warming gift, a gift for your boss or just as a special treat for the family.
Begin by gathering all the necessary ingredients and items needed to make this homemade Christmas gift for teachers.
Items needed:
- small bowl
- measuring spoons
- measuring cup
- 2 plastic zip-lock sandwich baggies
- large spoon
- 1-pint wide-mouth canning jar with lid
- small bottle of white paint (usually less than $2.00 at craft stores)
- 1 bag of red or green raffia
Ingredients needed:
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Hershey’s)
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 15 to 20 white chocolate chips
- 25 to 30 mini marshmallows (gingerbread or snowman marshmallows can also be used)
The first thing you’ll need to do is paint the outside of the canning jar. Pour a small amount of white paint into a paper plate. Using a wadded up paper towel, dip one side of the paper towel into the paint and begin blotting it onto the canning jar. There is really no way to mess this up. You are trying to give the jar a ‘snowy’ look. A few ideas would be to just make ‘snow’ around the bottom of the jar to make snow mountains or cover most of the jar by blotting the paint randomly to give a ‘snowy window’ effect.
Making the Teachers’ Gifts
Now that you have gathered all the supplies and have painted the jars, you’ll need to begin layering the ingredients into the jar. Let the kids join in and teach them how to measure the ingredients to be added.
Directions:
- Pour 1/4 cup of sugar into the canning jar.
- Add cocoa powder.
- Pack down in jar.
- Add 1/4 cup of sugar.
- Add cinnamon and cloves.
- Pack down in jar.
- Mix together 1/4 cup of sugar, salt, and flour.
- Pour into jar and pack down.
- Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar.
- Place white chocolate chips into plastic baggie and place on top of sugar.
- Place the lid on the jar.
Place the mini marshmallows in a plastic baggie. Get as much of the air out of the baggie as you can before sealing. Next, wrap a generous amount of raffia around the top of the jar. Before tying the raffia, attach the plastic baggie to the jar by tying the raffia around the baggie first. Finish by tying a nice knot or bow in the front of the jar with the raffia.
Finishing the Teachers’ Christmas Gifts
You will have to add some directions to the jar so the teachers will know how to prepare the cocoa. Type or hand print the directions below to add to the homemade teachers gift.
- Remove white chocolate chips from jar and set aside.
- Set aside marshmallow bag, too.
- Pour the remaining contents of jar into a medium bowl and stir.
- In a medium saucepan, bring 1/3 cup of water to a boil.
- With water boiling, stir in contents of jar and white chocolate chips.
- Continue stirring for 1 and 1/2 minutes or until cocoa is warm and smooth.
- Add 4 cups of milk to pan.
- Stir and reheat.
- Pour into 4 mugs and add marshmallows.
- Sit back and relax. Merry Christmas!
Use this same recipe over-and-over again to make several teachers’ gifts. You can also add milk chocolate chips instead of white. Vanilla can be added to the saucepan when heating, as well. Another idea is to skip the cinnamon and cloves and add crushed candy canes. Use your imagination and mix up some great teachers’ Christmas gifts to please even the toughest teachers.
