With holiday break just next week and no gifts for my daughter’s teachers, we made a fun DIY gift Thursday night to deliver the last day of school before break. Pregnant, working, and running around like a crazy person with errands during the holiday season didn’t permit time to make any of the creative ideas I had been pinning all year. My daughter has two kindergarten teachers, one in her English classroom and another in her Mandarin classroom. This is the first year in several years I haven’t had a classroom of my own; I have had my share of interesting holiday gifts from students but each one was always so thoughtful and special. I wanted to make sure we gave my daughter’s teachers something unique they would truly appreciate. My daughter customized mugs and together we made DIY peppermint chocolate spoons. We paired the creative gifts with hot chocolate, peppermint marshmallows, and a personalized initial necklace for each teacher. My daughter decorated the mugs Thursday evening and we made the spoons Friday morning before school. She brought the gifts to school with her that day. We’ll be making a few more mugs this week for a perfect easy holiday gift for family and neighbors!
Hot chocolate mug & DIY spoons
Supplies:
- plastic spoons
- white chocolate chips or melting chocolate
- hard peppermint candies
- white mug
- painters pens for glassDIY spoons tutorial
DIY spoons tutorial
1) Unwrap peppermint candies and place in big Ziploc bag. Seal bag and lightly use kitchen mallot to crush candies.
2) Melt chocolate chips or chocolate melting chips in microwave (stirring at 30 second intervals until completely melted).
3) Dip spoons in melted chocolate then crushed peppermint candies.
4) Lay spoons on wax paper to dry.
5) Place desired number of spoons in plastic bag. Our bags, purchased at Joann’s, had ribbon attached making it incredibly easy to wrap the spoons.
DIY mug tutorial
1) Clean and dry mug.
2) Use painters pens suitable for glass to decorate mug.
3) Allow to fully dry before gifting.
We used the same plastic bags used for the spoons to add marshmallows to our gift. You can make your own or, if you’re running short on time like me, use festive store bought marshmallows. We used Kraft peppermint marshmallows.
Add a few packages of your favorite hot cocoa and your gift is complete. My daughter’s teacher gifts included a sparkly initial necklace that I could have easily made myself had I not waited until the last minute!
What are you gifting to teachers and neighbors this year?