End-of-Year Gift

So the end of the school year kind of snuck up on me. I knew it was coming, but in the past I didn't lose my kids until they went to kindergarten (except for a few who didn't stick around for the summer) and this year they all leave at the end of the school year. I never had to start thinking about an end-of-year gift until August. And even then, I always gave out a CD of dance songs that were my kids' favorite from the year. But I decided not to do that this year. (It was a lot of work making and cutting the jackets for each CD, plus a lot of money was spent on the CDs and computer ink.) I didn't have another idea in mind, but I knew it wouldn't be a CD. Well, all of a sudden I realized my kids leave my classroom in a week! So I went to Target on Friday and was looking through the dollar bins. My husband was helping me and I told him to look for something with which I could use a pun. (You know, like kool-aid with "kool summer" or a beach ball with "have a ball this summer." They seem to be all over the internet these days.) On the very last dollar bin we found these gift bags with oranges on them. My husband said, "Orange you glad it's summer?" Perfect! Ok, a little dorky, but perfect!

There were 2 in each pack, so only 50 cents a bag. I grabbed six packs. Then I went to Michaels and found some things to put in the bags.

I wanted summer-like things. I found bubbles, splash balls, and bouncy balls for the boys and jelly bracelets for the girls. I also found a craft for each kid. They were only a dollar. It was a wooden frame that came with three little markers. So that was a bit of a splurge, but it made my gift complete. Then I made tags with the words "Orange you glad it's summer?" and I will write a little note on the back of each one.

I really like how they turned out and it's more original than what I've seen out there lately.

 Thanks to my hubby for helping me out!!