This past school year was absolutely awesome. I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher for my son. Since I was a room parent, I wanted to present the teacher a gift from that class that was meaningful and that she could treasure for years to come. After scouring the internet for just the right teacher appreciation gift, I found it over at Everything Pink. The Teacher Appreciation Money Book was exactly what I was looking for.
Here are the supplies I used:
- Student Questionnaire
- 100 – $1.00 bills (new, crisp)
- Pastel Colored Card Stock Paper
- Fiskars Paper Trimmer
- Chipboard
- Clear Vellum Paper
- 1 Piece of Scrapbook paper (design of your choosing)
- Padding Compound
- Small Paint Brush
- Decorative Ribbon
To get started, I sent a letter home to each and every student in the class. I included a blank envelope with my name on it so that when they returned it to the school, it would be given to me and not seen by the teacher. The letter explained that this was a secret end of the year gift from the entire class. I asked that every parent donate $5 (or whatever they could afford) and have each child answer the questionnaire. The goal was to raise $100 to include in the quote book.
Below are some questions that I included in the questionnaire:
- What I love most about (Insert Teacher’s Name) is….
- What I will miss most about being in (Insert Teacher’s Name) class is….
- What is (Insert Teacher’s Name) favorite food to eat?
- (Insert Teacher’s Name) loves me because…
- Where does (Insert Teacher’s Name) live?
- When (Insert Teacher’s Name) is not as school, she likes to…
- This year, (Insert Teacher’s Name) taught me….
Once I received everyone’s response, I choose the top 5 answers from each child’s list. Let me tell you, some are absolutely hilarious! I printed out each child’s response on pastel colored stock paper and cut them all down to the size of a one dollar bill.
Your next step is to take 100 $1.00 bills and alternate between the money and the quote. To make this work, you will need to get 100 new, crisp dollar bills. Your bank should be able to help you out. After alternating each paper, I placed the chipboard on the back of the stack for support. I printed out my title page on the clear vellum paper and placed the decorative scrapbook paper behind it.
Next, you need to make sure that everything is aligned and clamp the book together so that you can bind it using the padding compound. I didn’t have any clamps, so I actually just put several very heavy books on top of it and it worked perfectly. In all, I painted three different layers on, allowing each layer to dry an hour. You will know when it is fully dry because it paints on white and drys clear.
After the three coats dried completely, our book was complete. The padding compound is just like the kind that is used on notepads. This allows the teacher to tear out the dollar bills, leaving behind the book of quotes from her students.
I tied a decorative ribbon around the outside and the gift was complete. It was a HUGE hit with my son’s teacher and even brought tears to her eyes as she read the quotes from her students.
Thanks to Everything Pink for the idea and inspiration!
or 
beside it.
