Student Gift Idea

This time last year, I already knew I would be back in the 3rd grade teaching. While we were down at the Mediterranean Sea, the girls and I picked up beautiful smooth stones and brought them back home with a student Christmas gift idea in mind. (The beach is not sandy, it's completely smooth rocks.) My first grade teacher gave me a smooth rock with my name painted on it. I even remember her asking us each what our favorite color was. I said red. This past week, Firstborn helped me paint a base coat on each rock and helped me with some designs.

 I made each child a different rock. I really like how they turned out. I painted a glaze over them so the paint will last longer. The kids loved them, especially because they were all different!

I got an adorable gift from some sweet fellow teachers who are roommates. They spotted these chubby garden stakes at a hardware store and thought they looked just like pencils. They simply must put them on Pinterest! And I simply must hand this giant pencil to my students when they ask me (hourly) to borrow my pencils!

What homemade gift ideas do you have this year? For teachers? Students? Friends?