Inexpensive Teachers Infinity Scarf Gift

Teachers are such an important part of our children’s lives and saying thank you to them is so important!  As the end of the school year approaches I have been thinking hard about a way to show them how much my kids have enjoyed having them as a teacher, and for me how much I appreciate them loving, teaching, and sharing in my children’s lives.  There are so many teachers appreciation gift ideas out there, but here is my take on a simple and inexpensive gift that my kids will be giving to their teachers this year to say Thank You to infinity for all that they do!  A simple DIY infinity scarf can cost just a couple dollars and take just minutes to make, but it is sure to show your child’s teacher that they are appreciated for years to come.

First of all, let me start by saying if you are looking for a teacher appreciation gift for your child’s teacher that is a man, this probably isn’t going to work out!  My kids both have female teachers this year, and these gift ideas are defiantly more appropriate for female teachers.

This year as my kids finish up their first year of preschool and kindergarten, I am left feeling so very appreciative to the female teachers in their lives that have made their first school years such a marvelous experience for them.  They were blessed with three fantastic teachers who have really paved a great road to success that I hope that they carry through the rest of their school years.  They have learned so much about so many things from their teachers this year and there aren’t enough words to thank them for caring for my children during the school day the way I would myself.  Leaving your babies in the hands of others is no easy task, but with teachers like the ones my children have been lucky enough to get, it has been a great experience for all of us.  Thanking them in person by giving them a hug and telling them that they have done a great job and that you appreciate them is definitely a must in my opinion, but at the end of the year a little gift is a great way to say thank you for all of their hard work.

We have just about a week of school left and I have just finished making gifts for the kid’s teachers that I think they will love.  I combed through all of the ideas online for simple and inexpensive teachers gifts, but nothing really sparked my interest.  With three teachers to make gifts for, summer care packages would get pricey, and I’m not a gift card type of a gal so I had to come up with something else.  Throughout the school year I noticed that my children’s teachers all seemed to have a great sense style.  All three teachers are darling, sweet, vibrant, and seemed to be up on the current trends.  I thought long and hard about something that I could give them that they would really use and something that wouldn’t cost too much, I landed on the idea to make them infinity scarves.

I have an array of them myself, and as I dropped the kids off at school, the teachers would often comment on how much they liked them.  Remember back when I shared with you how to make your own infinity scarf in just minutes?  Those are the scarves that I usually wear, and that the teachers were commenting on, so why not make some for them?  They were the perfect solution!  It is something I know they would like, something they could wear for years to come, and something that the kids could help me pick out for their teachers!  Not only that, but in Lou of spending tons of money, I could make them a great gift in a short amount of time with very little money!

So, the kids and I headed to the fabric store and hit up the clearance isle at JoAnn Fabrics armed with a coupon, of course.  The kids each picked out a fabric that they thought their teachers would like so that I  could make a scarf for them.  The plan was to buy jersey material to make my simple jersey infinity scarves, but while perusing the clearance section we found some beautiful scarf fabric that the kids liked more than any of the jersey fabric.  The fabrics we found were also only between $2.00 and $4.00 per yard so I figured the few extra minutes it would take to sew  them up was well worth it!  The scarves ended up costing between $1.50 and $4.00 at the most to make depending on the fabric that the kids chose!  You couldn’t even pick up a container to make a care package in for that!

We brought the fabrics home, and in about 10 minutes I had three infinity scarves all made for the kid’s teachers made with fabric chosen especially for them by my kids!  You can check out my tutorial on how to make a simple infinity scarf here for instructions!

These scarves had a couple extra steps, but were still pretty easy!  I used one yard of each to create a scarf, but you can use 1/2 as well for a scarf that is a little less full.  Here are some simple instructions:

Lay your fabric out and fold in half the long way so that the patterned sides are facing each other.

Sew the long way all the way up the scarf to create a tube.

Now turn the tube right side out so the pretty pattern is now showing.

Now sew the raw edges together to hide all of the edges.  Not sure exactly how to explain this part but you need to sew the ends together to close the scarf.  I connect the two ends by matching the seams that you have from sewing the long side together.  Then I sew (again with patterned fabric facing each other)  most of the way around the ends.  Then to close it completely you have to use a hidden stitch.

I made some simple little tags tat read “This Year Has Been To Infinity and Beyond Fun Because of You!” and had a little Thank You for being my teacher graphic which I found at The Educators’ Spin On It.  I printed it out on card stock and tied it onto the scarves with a little piece of raffia.

Then the kids wrote a thank you card for each teacher that included their favorite things about their teachers and another message that read:

”  Thank you to infinity for such a great school year.  Every time you wear this scarf I hope that you think of it as a big hug from me for all that you have taught me this year!”

Then the kids each drew pictures of them and their teachers and signed their names all by themselves.

The kids are super excited to give their teacher’s their gifts on the last day of school, and I sure hope that their teachers love and appreciate their scarves!

 As the end of the year approaches, don’t forget to say thank you to the teachers, who nurture, love, and teach your children!  Even if you don’t have time to put together a gift or a card take the time to thank them in person, and make sure your child does too!  Here comes summer!