2012 Teacher Gifts--Hand Print Jugs w/ Summer Goodies

Fortunately this year my daughter and son have the same teachers.  I only had to come up with two gifts as opposed to four.  What I came up with turned out better than what I thought.  I got the idea from Rachel Berry {The Blog}.  I changed it just a bit.

I got these really inexpensive gallon jugs from Walmart.  I like to have things personalized, so I painted my kids' hands and then they placed their prints all over the jugs.

They always love to get their hands painted.  After the paint dried, I did a Mod Podge coat.  I also used a Sharpie to write the kids' names and the year on the bottom.  I Mod Podged over that too.  

I then stuffed them with...

1. A magazine--found a coupon for it in the store
2. A beach towel--Walmart
3. Chap stick--on clearance at Stop and Shop
4. Tic Tacs--impulse buy
5. Gift cards to Wawa--love their coffee way more than Dunkin' Donuts
6. Variety of candy--M&M's, Starbursts, etc...

I also added in 2 packets of Kool-Aid with 2 drink recipes.  For my daughter's class, we are giving her classmates 3 packets of Kool-Aid with a list of 10 things to do with Kool-Aid besides drink it.  More on that to come.  Anyway, I mentioned it because of the connection to the teachers' gifts.  

I added in packets of cherry and lemonade Kool-Aid and I typed up recipe cards for "Howellabama Cherry Lemonade" (alcoholic) and "Super Kool Cherry Lemonade" (non-alcoholic). If you are wondering, "Howellabama" is simply a silly name for the area we live in. 

RECIPES...

Howellabama Cherry Lemonade

*1 Cherry Kool-Aid packet
*1 Lemonade Kool-Aid packet
*3 quarts water
*1 C sugar
*1 can Sprite
*1-2 C vodka (combination of cherry and lemon vodkas is best)
*1/4-1/2 C sour mix
~Option—a combined 1/2 gallon of cherry & lemon sherbert or Italian ices

Mix Kool-Aid packets, water and sugar until dissolved. If using the sherbert/ices, add these along with a lot of ice into the container you will be using to serve the punch. Pour in the Kool-Aid, vodkas and sour mix. Stir. Top off with the Sprite. Can add lemon slices and cherries to pitcher. Serve.

Super 'Kool' Cherry Lemonade (non-alcoholic)

*1 Cherry Kool-Aid packet
*1 Lemonade Kool-Aid packet
*3 quarts water
*1 C sugar
*1 can Sprite
*1 C orange juice
*1 lemon sliced
*1 jar maraschino cherries
*1/2 gallon of cherry & lemon sherbert or Italian ices

Mix Kool-Aid packets, water and sugar until dissolved. Add sherbert/Italian ices along with ice into the container you will be using to serve the punch. Pour in the Kool-Aid and orange juice. Stir. Top off with the Sprite. Add lemon slices and cherries with juice to pitcher. Serve. Adjust sugar to sweetness desired.

I stuffed all of the above into the jugs and tied on some ribbon. 

The magazine was too tall to attach the lid, so I did have to do some finagling with rubber bands and ribbon to get the lid to stay on.  

Once all was said and done, I created little cards on Avery.com and did the curl-the-ribbon-with-scissors thing and ta da dat ta da....

They came out really cute...I wrote on the cards the teachers' names and 

"Thank you for being my teacher this year.  Here are some gifts to enjoy poolside or on the beach. I hope these gifts help to keep you "kool" this summer."

My daughter's classmate gifts are next in line...