Teacher Gift Idea from Family Musings- Christmas Mailboxes

Last winter, I bought several small mailboxes from the Target Dollar Spot. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with all of them, but they were just $1 and I knew I could come up with some clever ideas given enough time. Finally now, it’s December, and I came up with one.

I embellished these mailboxes with Christmas scrapbook paper and filled them with candy. The stockings were cut out using the Ellison machine at my local library and serve as the cards so our teachers knew who the gifts were from. The entire process was very simple and didn’t require any special skills or materials.

First, I measured the sides of the mailbox and cut a 12×12 piece of scrapbook paper the same width. That was adhered to the metal mailbox with double sided tape. I did have to trim around the flag, but that was easy. A little tape on the back of the paper around the flag made sure the paper didn’t get bunched up when the flag was moved.

Then, I traced the front and the back shapes and cut them to fit onto the “doors” of the mailbox. (These opened at both ends). For a quick finishing touch, I also cut a small rectangle of coordinating paper to go on the flag itself.

It took me about 15 minutes to make all 4. If I’d actually had more time, I would have also added coordinating ribbon to the edge of the doors.

This gift cost $1 each for the mailboxes, less than $2 for all of the paper and double sided tape, plus the cost of candy (which I purchased last month BOGO at Publix). It was inexpensive, yet still a nice way to say thank you.

Are you making teacher gifts for Christmas? If so, what are you doing?