scrapbookbuzz Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Good morning, all! Welcome to the Teachers Lounge! Today's theme is brought to you by the fact that I am working on Director/Thank You gifts for my daughter's production of "Hello, Dolly!" this week. Well, it's not her production. She's in the cast, not the director. Anywho . . . if I can figure out how to post a picture here, I'll post one of them when all is said and done. Here's a hint: I have mini paper sacks on which I've rolled the top down and handwritten "Vandergelders Hay & Feed." Then I'm going to stuff each with literal hay, and put in old fashioned candy sticks along with baggies filled with old-fashioned oats (labeled as "Feed: Oats") and popcorn (labeled as "Feed: Corn".) Plus a couple of other goodies I've picked up along the way. I have so much fun doing this! Any special occasions in your lives this week/month/summer? Here: besides above, we've had three relatives get married within the last 6-7 weeks. I still need to get gifts out to these folks! Plus, one of my nieces had a baby. When it rains, it pours! Who else has as much fun as I do picking out and/or creating gifts? Here: I do the thank you gifts for my kids' productions every semester; I just have so much fun with it! One semester someone beat me to the position of "Thank You Gift Coordinator" and I felt a bit discombobulated come Tech Week! So just a note: if you ever have trouble figuring out what kind of gift to give someone, feel free to PM me and I'll be glad to help. Seriously. What is one of your favorite or most special gifts you've ever received (besides your children)? Here: one year my dh surprised me by giving me something he'd made. It had wood "cut outs" (he'd carved them) of silhouttes (including one of our cat) that you could put a tealite candle behind and it would make the shadows "dance" on the wall. It was so very cool! I have no idea what happened to it . . . And for our wedding, one of my dear friends from high school gave us a fire extinguisher. You'd have to know the story behind all of that to understand why it was so special but that is a story for another day. Talk to me! :bigear: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 We have a family birthday this month. The gift is a quad copter. Otherwise I do not have much on my plate in that regard other than thank young notes that need to be sent out from the team to their sponsors. They wrote them, I just have to look up the addresses in our 4H database. I do need to contemplate getting a gift for niece's wedding next month. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Oh and my best gift in the past few years was a reactor bowl and some grams of pure sodium...evil chemist that I am! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWillSoar Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Hello everyone! Special event--Next month my oldest son graduates high school and we are having a bunch of out of town relatives in for a party. Then he starts college, but will still live at home. Second son will be getting his drivers permit. One of my best gifts from my husband is my book light. It's rechargeable and gets used almost nightly. I was a little bit put off when I saw how much it cost (because you can get a light at the Dollar Store) but this thing is great! And the New York trip that my mom took me on one year for my birthday. That was amazing! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Ds' last day of school was this week. I dropped off goodie bags to the school. Notes and candy. His main teacher got some stuff for her classroom along with the candy (books for the classroom library, cute sticky notes, container to hold something like paperclips/brads/pushpins). I really like picking out gifts/creating things but it's hard to do anything with a toddler. I try to be practical so I lean toward useful and/or consumable items these days. Went to a baby shower last weekend. That was super fun for me. I bought her a few things over the past few months and made a card with colors to match the gift wrap. One of the most special gifts for me was a loving family necklace. When we had dd I got a new necklace which showed a bigger family (but I can't find it :( ) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Not many special occasions this summer. We have two trips planned for dd's climbing competitions over the summer and a climbing trip to Kentucky. I don't know of anything beyond that. I might try to schedule a night away with dh for our anniversary. With the stress at home, we are really struggling to be a couple, not just a couple of firemen. I used to love to pick out gifts. I used to spend hours at the book store looking for the perfect book for my nieces and nephews. I used to comb through catalogs to find the perfect gift. Like a funny tee from Think Geek. Now, I hate shopping for gifts. I think all of my choices are lame. This past Christmas, I thought I had chosen the perfect gifts. Most went over like lead balloons. Now, I just do gift cards unless someone gives me a specific idea. (Except for dd ... I can always find something really cool that she would l like.) I did come up with this really fun thing for dd's climbing team as a team spirit thing before a major competition. The team had grown quite a bit as they had added several levels for newer climbers and we were looking for ways to make things fun and bring them into the fold. I made up temporary tattoos with climbing related motivational phrases on them. They put them on their hands to see as reminders while they were climbing. The older kids helped the younger ones put them on and it was a bonding experience. The older kids thought it was the coolest thing. I got the idea when I remembered that one of dd's teammates used to write special reminders on her hand (like Breathe! or "Yes, you can!") So, I had "Crush!", "Yes, You Can!" "Si, se puede!" and "Try Hard!" The older kids asked me if I can make them again. When dh and I were dating, he have me a bracelet for Easter. I had never received anything other than typical Easter candy so this was a total surprise. It was a really pretty delicate filigree chain. And when dh went out of his way to find me pajamas that didn't twist around every time I rolled over. He actually asked a salesperson for advice. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Special Occasions: June 5th we'll be married 19 years, June 19th Adrian will be 9, and July 11th Fritz will be 11. Fun with gifts: Creating, yes. Picking out, not so much. Favorite Gift: My in-laws once made a floss cabinet (cross stitch floss) for me. It's beautiful and took a lot of work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWillSoar Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 (edited) Oh, I got the nicest, most unexpected gift recently! A friend, who works as a preschool teacher, gave me a Chickfila gift card for Teacher Appreciation Day. It was a little thing but it made me feel so good that someone recognized the work I do as a homeschool mom. It really made my day!! Edited May 17, 2017 by HeWillSoar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 I know this has been asked before but I've never paid attention to the responses... What is an appropriate gift for a longtime music teacher? My dd has taken lessons from the same teacher for many, many years. Dd is graduating this year and stopping lessons; so, kind of a thank you and farewell gift in one. I'm also stumped on a high school graduation gift for dd (our first graduate). I have a couple of small ideas but nothing that stands out as special. She is going to college but not leaving home. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbookbuzz Posted May 18, 2017 Author Share Posted May 18, 2017 Samba, my first thought for the music teacher was a set of music-themed rubber stamps. You can get those through Stampin' Up! and a few other special order places, or look at Michael's. As for your dd, does she have her own room at home? If not, can you make it so she does and then perhaps paint that room in her new school colors, or at least decorate it with school memorabilia? If she already has her own room, maybe you can redecorate it like a college dorm? Smaller scale: give her a stack of gift cards to use when she's going back and forth from school, needing supplies and what not (Wal-Mart, Target, fast food or not so fast food places). Those are what first come to mind. If you'd like, feel free to PM me and we can chat further about it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 I know this has been asked before but I've never paid attention to the responses... What is an appropriate gift for a longtime music teacher? My dd has taken lessons from the same teacher for many, many years. Dd is graduating this year and stopping lessons; so, kind of a thank you and farewell gift in one. I'm also stumped on a high school graduation gift for dd (our first graduate). I have a couple of small ideas but nothing that stands out as special. She is going to college but not leaving home. Never been in that situation but I would hope that they dropped some hints over time as to places they like. Coffee drinker? Book reader? etc. Maybe a gift card geared toward a place you know they'll go and/or cash?? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 Good evening! I spent all day at the aquarium in Atlanta and had church tonight, so I'm just now getting to check in with everyone. Hope you all had a good day! Our anniversary is at the end of June, and we'll be married 26 years. My dad turns 80 this summer, so we hope to plan to do something special with him. The most fun I've ever had giving gifts was the year dh was laid off and I gave handmade gifts to everyone. I just find it hard to figure out things I can actually make and people will like. I'm not very crafty in terms of sewing, knitting, etc. One of the most special gifts I have ever been given was given to me by my dh at our wedding rehearsal. He saved pennies when he was a little boy to buy his future wife a wedding gift. He took the actual pennies and bought a small ruby. I had it put into a heart ring, which I had sized for my pinky finger next to my wedding rings. Unfortunately, on a day that I traveled to the beach 4.5 hours away, somewhere on the way, I lost the stone out of the setting. I was utterly devastated because it cannot be replaced and be the same. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 Not many special occasions this summer. We have two trips planned for dd's climbing competitions over the summer and a climbing trip to Kentucky. I don't know of anything beyond that. I might try to schedule a night away with dh for our anniversary. With the stress at home, we are really struggling to be a couple, not just a couple of firemen. I used to love to pick out gifts. I used to spend hours at the book store looking for the perfect book for my nieces and nephews. I used to comb through catalogs to find the perfect gift. Like a funny tee from Think Geek. Now, I hate shopping for gifts. I think all of my choices are lame. This past Christmas, I thought I had chosen the perfect gifts. Most went over like lead balloons. Now, I just do gift cards unless someone gives me a specific idea. (Except for dd ... I can always find something really cool that she would l like.) I did come up with this really fun thing for dd's climbing team as a team spirit thing before a major competition. The team had grown quite a bit as they had added several levels for newer climbers and we were looking for ways to make things fun and bring them into the fold. I made up temporary tattoos with climbing related motivational phrases on them. They put them on their hands to see as reminders while they were climbing. The older kids helped the younger ones put them on and it was a bonding experience. The older kids thought it was the coolest thing. I got the idea when I remembered that one of dd's teammates used to write special reminders on her hand (like Breathe! or "Yes, you can!") So, I had "Crush!", "Yes, You Can!" "Si, se puede!" and "Try Hard!" The older kids asked me if I can make them again. When dh and I were dating, he have me a bracelet for Easter. I had never received anything other than typical Easter candy so this was a total surprise. It was a really pretty delicate filigree chain. And when dh went out of his way to find me pajamas that didn't twist around every time I rolled over. He actually asked a salesperson for advice. I'm sorry :( But I don't think it means your choices are lame! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbookbuzz Posted May 18, 2017 Author Share Posted May 18, 2017 Good to hear from so many of you! Missing luuknam and a few others! The Liunge is now CLOSED for the day. Hope to see you all tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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