12 Days 2011

It's here!!  I almost forgot today was the day to start, but I remembered as soon as my alarm went off this morning!!  Thanks goodness I shop all fall for this:)  If you are new to my blog or don't know what the 12 Days is then you can click here to read about it.  You can also click on the 12 Days link on the right side of my blog to see last year's 12 Days items.  Basically I send one small gift in every day for the 12 school days leading up to the Holiday break.  The kids are insane and the teachers REALLY do look forward to a treat each day.  People have taken this concept and made many versions.  I have one friend, Michele, who has a whole peppermint theme for her 12 days.  My friend Troye over at For the Joy of Food always sends amazing snacks each day.   And another friend is sending 12 Hershey kisses for Day 12 and 11 gumdrops for Day 11, etc.  I shop for deals on my favorite gifts to give and that's what I send each day.

DAY TWELVE - A gift card/money tree that the entire class contributed to.  I decided this year to do something different than the usual burlap tree.  The teachers have to carry so much home and so I wanted something that would be easy for me and them to transport.  I bought this cardboard tree centerpiece from Walmart for $2 and attached the money/gift cards.  It stands up on it's own or can collapse and go in a gallon ziploc bag.Below you see the front and back.

DAY ELEVEN - A holiday utility tote I bought on clearance for a STEAL from my SIL here.

DAY TEN - An insulated straw tumbler from Walmart.  I love this because you can remove the red strip with the snowflake after the holidays:)

DAY NINE - Because we embroider everything in the south...including toilet paper...and it's pretty thanks to my friend over at  For the Joy of Food!

DAY EIGHT - A 31Gifts Insulated Lunch Tote - I bought this at a clearance sale from here.  They have great sales!!

DAY SEVEN - "All Things Kitchen" - I bought the dish towels from the $2.50 section at Target, the red "scrapper" and the mini whisk from World Plus. 

DAY SIX - "All Things Peppermint" - A notepad from Target's Dollar section, tissues from Hobby Lobby (50% off) and Hand Sanitizer from Bath & Body Works.

Day FIVE - I forgot to take a picture so these are my gloves...but I gave them Performance Fleece gloves from Old Navy for the playground:)

 DAY FOUR - Slipper Socks from Target's Dollar section and their favorite candy

















DAY THREE  - A Kirkland's Present Knock Knack.


DAY TWO IS THROUGH!
Day Two is a decorative glass spray bottle.  I love mine.  I keep counter cleaner (like 409, Fantastic, etc.) in it and I keep it out on the counter by the paper towels.  It looks like it belongs there.  It keeps the cleaner handy without making the counter cluttered.  I bought a bunch of these on clearance this summer.  The large ones like this were $2.99 and the small ones were $1.49.

 

DAY ONE IS DONE!

Today was super cold, so I sent a monogrammed  insulated mug I purchased from Kirkland's for $2.99.

Day Twelve of 12 Days

The last day of 12 days I usually do an "All Things Paper" theme.  This year I gave thank you notes, embroidered toilet paper (because I think it is hysterical - special thanks to Troye:) and a money tree (money being the extra paper).  Our teacher loved it!  I hope you had fun with 12 Days!!  How did you choose to end yours?

Day Eleven of 12 Days

There are 2 days left until the holiday break!!  Today is "all things kitchen".  Yet another gift I LOVE to give is "hostess gloves".  These gloves save your hands when cleaning dishes or around the house - plus they put you in the mood to get organized.  Slip them on and you can channel a little June Cleaver or Martha Stewart;)  I paired this with my favorite little glass measuring cup.  It measures teaspoons, tablespoons, ounces and milliliters ALL on one cup!!  I hope my teachers love these gifts as much as I do!!

Day Ten of 12 Days

There are 3 days left until the holiday break and apparently I haven't given enough beverage items this year because I have yet another one!!  I LOVE these insulated straw cups!!  I have one from Starbucks that I use everyday.  This particular one is from Hobby Lobby.  It is regularly $9.99 and they are on sale anywhere from 50%-75% off right now!!  The straw even has a stopper so you can't pull it out when the lid is screwed on.  Hobby Lobby has polka dot and striped cups.

Day Nine of 12 Days

There are 4 days left until the holiday break and our teachers are dressed to the nines - or at least their shoes can be when they are traveling;)  This is one of my favorite gifts to give - a shoe bag.  These suckers retail for $25 at Neiman Marcus or you can sometimes find them at TJ Maxx or Marshalls for anywhere from $5-$10.  They are embroidered linen shoe bags and they are something you may never purchase for yourself - but they are so WONDERFUL to have when you pack!!  Your shoes stay protected and they never get your clothes dirty!!

Day Eight of 12 Days

There are 5 days left until the holiday...and we are freezing our behinds off here!!  SO, today I sent in Vanilla Scented Shea Butter Infused Slipper Socks from Bath & Body Works.  These were on sale for $3 two weeks ago and now I'm kicking myself for not buying myself some.  They feel amazing!! 

Day Seven of 12 Days

Only 6 days left until the holiday break!  It's Friday!!  Day seven of 12 Days is an ornament.  It's simple, it's holiday, it was under $3 at Kirklands and it's FRIDAY!!

Day Six of 12 Days

Only 7 days left until holiday break!  Are you starting to feel frantic?  Lots to do, lots of lists, coupons, receipts, rebates...Oh MY!!  Day six of 12 days is an organizer that hopefully our teachers can use to organize receipts, coupons, gift cards, envelopes of money if they like Dave Ramsey or anything else they can think of;)  Plus I threw in a holiday notepad with a pen for them to make any last minute notes - and it fits in the organizer.  I bought the organizer at Big Lots for under $2.  They used to sell this line at Target and I loved it!

Day Five of 12 Days

Happy Hump Day!  There's only 8 days left until the holiday break!  Because there is still a long week ahead (of eating lunch in the classroom no less) day five of 12 days is a koozie & each teacher's favorite candy.  I figure it's a good pick me up to get them through the day:)

Day Four of 12 Days

Only 9 days left until the holiday break!!  Day four of 12 days is peppermint antibacterial lotion!  It's from Bath & Body works, on sale for $2.50 (plus you can use a coupon right now:) and it smells AMAZING!!  This is VERY practical gift because sickness is running rampant this week!!  The bag is from Walmart and costs 25 cents.

Day Three of 12 Days

Happy Monday everyone!  Only one more Monday after today!!  Day 3 of 12 Days is a "peppermint stripe" travel cup.  They have these sometimes at the dollar store, right now at Hobby Lobby and at Kirklands.  I got these at Kirklands for $1.99 on a SUPER sale because they are regularly $7.99!!  I love these type cups because they keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks warm.  What's your Day 3?

Day Two of 12 Days

Day two of 12 Days is a monogramed eyeglass or sunglass case from... you guessed it Kirklands. (When you have an active 21 month old you are chasing around it limits the amount of stores you can do your 12 days shopping at:).  It's less than $5 regular price - with last week's sale and the coupon I got it cheaper:). They are having a HUGE sale starting today and it goes through Sunday! The gift bag costs 25 cents each at Walmart. What's your day 2?

Small Savvy Gift Ideas

I know everyone's budget is tight right now.  The whole concept of 12 Days is that you can send in a small thoughtful item that makes a HUGE impact in a teacher's day.  Take my friend, Troye, over at For the Joy of Food - she is doing the 12 Days this year and today she sent in a whisk filled with Hershey Kisses and a note that said "We wish you a Merry Kissmass".  How CUTE is that?  There are several websites that seem to have the same list of these savvy snack & small gift ideas that are really clever and thoughtful.  Tip Junkie (you can click here to see her site ) lists 24 of these ideas along with the coordinating poem and picture - check her out!!  Below I listed a few from the sites I visted today to give you an idea of what I am talking about.  Several blogs out there also have cute FREE printable tags too - if you like a certain poem or tag line just google it to see if you can find a free printable for it!!  Post a comment if you have some that you love!!  Happy Holidays!

1. Wire Wisk - (Filled with Chocolate kisses) "We WHISK you a Merry KISSmas!!"
2. Loaf of Bread - For being there when you were "Kneaded", for "Rising" to the occasion, large or small. For never "Loafing" on the job, for helping others to "Heel" with TLC. No matter how you "Slice it", you do a terrific job loving Others. Merry Christmas!!
3. Jolly Ranchers - Have a Holly"Jolly" Christmas!!
4. Chex Party Mix - Remember Santa "Chex" his list twice to see who's been naughty or nice...so be good for goodness sake!! Merry Christmas!!

Day One of 12 Days

This is day one of 12 Days... a holiday door hanger from Kirklands.  It's less than $3 regular price.  And they are having some GREAT sales with coupons right now along with the fact if you give them your contact information they take $10 off your purchase!  I also picked up 12 of these gift bags (in this pattern and one more pattern) for 25 cents each at Walmart.  What's your day 1?

If you couldn't pull this off by today don't panic - just start on Monday with 10 days.  Your teacher will still love it - I promise;)  If you need some places to shop...

• Kirklands & Hobby Lobby have TONS of cute items, cute cups, koozies, hostess gloves, ornaments, holiday planners, holiday decor (most of it on sale:). 
• Old Navy usually marks down their gloves & scarves over the next few weeks - and those are nice gifts for the playground. 
• Today Bath & Body Works had some super cute vanilla infused with shea butter slipper socks marked down to $3 and holiday scented antibacterial lotion for $2.50.
• Target & Michaels usually has some cute items in their Dollar sections at this time of year.  Items like holiday signs, festive stationary, a dish towel or some type of lotion or soap.
• World Plus Market also has a cute Dollar section and some very useful in expensive items in the kitchen section (like mini collapsible funnels, mini whisks, measuring spoons, microplanes, etc.).

12 Days of Christmas Story

Six years ago my daughter was at a new school. I wasn't room mom, I had a new baby and so I found it hard to get to know my daughter's teachers. I wanted to do something during December that made an impact because I know in classes of 3-5 year olds December is an INSANE time to deal with the little "ones". And so I started the 12 days of Christmas. I send in one small item each day for the 12 days leading up to the holiday break - for my children's school this year the 12 days starts THIS THURSDAY. It's nothing spectacular but the teachers LOVED it and said it gave them something to look forward to each day, a reason to come to work (or at least a reason to want to come to work:). The first year I did the 12 days it took the teachers a few days to catch on. I try to shop all year round but with all the great sales right now it's easy to pick up GREAT gifts marked down. Below are the gifts I sent in last year along with the poem I wrote and send in each day (I just change the number of days to reflect the school days left until the holiday break). I will post the items from this year in a future post.
It's important to note however that this is something I do for the teacher from me. I do not collect money for this. In fact, when I do collect money for a class gift I always save that as the gift on the 12th day or last day before the break. You can always coordinate this with other parents in the classroom by each taking certain days - you just need to be sure that they are going to follow through and I'm too much of a control freak to trust (I know you are super shocked about that).  Anyway I would love to hear your ideas!

12 Days Poem

There are 12 days left until the holiday,

And some of our actions may make you want to run away.

We're all a little hyper and we've lost our listening skills,

But it's only because this season gives us such a thrill.

So here's a little gift for this very reason,

Please know how much you're appreciated during this very hectic season!

 This was day 1 of 2009.

It was just a holiday dish towel.  I posted a picture of the packaging I use.  I try to send the same type bag in each day - something that can fit in my daughter's bag and I attach the poem with ribbon.



 This was day 2 of 2009. 

 It was a monogrammed ornament.

This was day 3 of 2009.

A holiday hanger, some tissues and a notebook.

This was day 4 of 2009. 

Some Bath &Body Works soap & lotion.

 This was day 5 of 2009.

A monogrammed koozie and her favorite soda.

 This was day 6 of 2009.

Slipper socks and her favorite candy.

 This was day 7 of 2009.

Monogram dishes. 

 This was day 8 of 2009. 

It was a sign and some room spray to make her family den "warm".

 This was day 9 of 2009. 

It was "all things kitchen".  A pair of hostess gloves for washing dishes, a mini funnel that collapses and a little "scraper" to get those tough spots off the bottom of pans.

 This was day 10 of 2009. 

Our teacher travels a lot so we bought her a packing list and these bags to pack her shoes and delicates in case the airport security decides to rummage!!

 This was day 11 of 2009. 

It was a magazine subscription to Southern Living with a Southern Living vase.

This was day 12 (the last day) of 2009. 

It was "all things paper" and I gave her the class gift we collected of $100 - and since she had everything else monogrammed I figured her toilet paper should be too!  Our teacher used that money to buy gas so she and her family could visit their family in an out of town state.  I can NOT say enough about how wonderful cash gifts are...they are not impersonal to a teacher - they can make all the difference!!