Budget Friendly Back to School Teacher Gift

This Budget Friendly Back to School Teacher Gift and its shop have been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. 

#doingthe99 #99yourschoolyear #CollectiveBias

Y'all...we're on the downhill until school starts. I actually miss my kids terribly once they're back in school...and immediately start counting the days until winter break! But, I am facing reality and getting prepared. I had fun making this Budget Friendly Back to School Teacher Gift with super inexpensive supplies and plants from my favorite store! 99 Cents Only Stores have all of your favorite name brands at a price that can't be beat. I also have the free printable tags for these available below, too.

And if you're not feeling crafty, I have a cute alternative gift idea, too!  Check out all of the fun below. 

Back to School Teacher Gift

Again, if you don't want to pull out the glue gun, the above idea is a quick shortcut (although the ruler planter totally...RULES!). Grab inexpensive planters at the dollar store and you're good to go!

DIY Ruler Vase

Supplies

• circular empty plastic or paper container (I used an empty one from rice, but a shorter oatmeal one would work, too)
• wooden rulers
• The number depends on the size of your container...since these rulers are one inch in width, use a sewing measuring tape around your container to determine how many you'll need--I was able to cut mine in half, so one ruler counts twice. I used eight rulers
• Make sure to look for ones withOUT the metal part, as that makes them impossible to cut.
• hand saw (a miter box is optional, but not required)
• hot glue/glue gun
• small plant
• twine

Directions

• I started this by determining how long to saw my rulers. 
• I didn't even plan this, but cutting these rulers directly in half worked perfectly for this project, with the container I used. 

• I used a my old hand saw and miter box for steadiness to cut these in half. 
• You can give them a light sanding, if you prefer. 

• Plug in the glue gun and have at it (or use the mounting squares if you're not of the hot glue persuasion). 
• I chose this jar since it wasn't at a slant...I wanted my rulers to stand up straight. 
• I hot glued each ruler half in two spots...where the jar protruded a bit. 

• Just work your way around the entire jar. 
• This project doesn't have to be perfect...but if you want to sand your edges evenly, feel free. 
• I purposely went for an uneven look and even turned the rulers every time to make sure none of the numbers lined up or were similar to the ruler next to it.

Free Printable Tags

• I used gardening twine to attach my tags. 
• I wanted a play on the word GROW with both the plant AND ruler aspects of the gift.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THESE GROW TAGS.

• After the hot glue was cool and hardened, I tied the twine a few times around the planter to give it some interest and extra pop of color. 
• Then I used the ends of the twine to attach the gift tag.

• Again, if you prefer not to make the actual vase, a planter works fine, too (as pictured above). I thought it would be fun to use the ruler as a plant pick to attach the tag.
• And then it brings in the whole ruler aspect to play off the tag's wording.

Aren't the tags fun? I designed them to look like school paper.

If you make the ruler planter, your teacher can use it as a caddy, too!
It's super versatile.

More DIY Teacher Gifts

• My Apple Hoop Art is one of my favorite projects to date. It's super simple, but always very appreciated.
• If you're short on time, my DIY Teacher Clipboards are a quick project with lots of impact. Attach a printable as a simple gift.
• And these EOS Lip Balm gifts for teachers are so easy, but super appreciated by teachers and faculty.
• These painted Apple Teacher Mason Jars from Simply Kierste are seriously the cutest!
• These "Tea-Riffic" Teacher Appreciation Gifts from Leap of Faith Crafting are fantastic for a teacher who loves tea.