Apple for teacher

I don't have kids and I've been out of school for quite some time now, but I do have a mom who is a teacher, so I've seen a bad teacher gift or two (or 20) in my day. With schools ending for the summer in a few weeks here, I know a lot of ladies in town have been looking for good and unique (not another smelly candle!) teacher gifts (this is what you get when you hang out at Paper Source a lot).

I will tell you that my mom always loves Starbucks or Barnes & Noble gift cards, but if you're looking to make something handmade, here are two amazing ideas made by some creative chicks (not me) that will put you safely in the good-gift category.

Numero uno - the cutest customized hand soaps ever:

With all the random strains of cold/flues/diseases floating around kids and classrooms, teachers are always washing their hands (at least I hope they are!), so Jill Means of Legacy Digital Design capitalized on a practical idea and made something super-pretty out of it.

Basically, she took boring (and not cute) Softsoap - which she actually got on sale at Target for 1 dollar a bottle - took off the label, and added in a custom one with her kids' silhouettes (mwaahahaha, I snuck them in again!) and a thank you. Click here for the full instructions and a free downloadable template if you want to do this yourself.

Originally spotted on Design Mom.

Numero dos - a fun soda and snack pack:

Simply Seleta took on a similar idea - finding something a teacher will actually use and making it really pretty - and came up with these great "goody packs" (as she called them) in varying colors based on the kids and/or teacher.

These packs included color-coordinated vintage-y soda, straws, sugar-free gum, chocolates, microwave popcorn (great quick teacher snack), and of course the pretty label. If you're interested in doing this yourself, here's the full how-to and downloadable template for the label.

Originally spotted on Party Perfect.

I hope these two great ideas by two cool ladies sparked your inspiration and hopefully spared you from giving another picture frame/smelly candle teacher-gift combo. :)