The Perfect DIY Teacher Gift For Children To Make

The end of the school year is drawing near and you want the PERFECT gift for your child’s teacher. Sure, you could get them a gift card, a candle, bake them some treats, etc… but instead, you want to allow your child the opportunity to pour their gratitude and love for their special teacher into a DIY teacher gift.

So, you think to yourself… what exactly constitutes the “perfect” gift? In truth, the idea of the “perfect “gift is rather subjective, but you end up determining that perfect to you means something that 1) your child can partake in easily and 2) that your child’s teacher will truly enjoy.
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Our Version of the “Perfect” DIY Teacher Gift

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t scour Pinterest for a perfect idea. While 50% of them were far too extravagant, another 49% just didn’t fit the “perfect” definition, as I had defined it in my head. Then, in that 1% I spotted the idea of a plant and was INSTANTLY hooked! Who doesn’t love a plant? Furthermore, I loved the idea of the gift being able to live on and on.

So, a quick trip to Home Depot later (of course bringing my daughter along for the journey so she could take great pride in the adventure)… we spotted a terra-cotta pot for $2.00 and a succulent plant for $5.00. We then came home and got to work…

DIY Teacher Gift Tutorial

The entire process took a total of about 20 minutes… a factor that successfully made the gift BEYOND perfect in my mind ;).

1. First, I let my daughter get to work with picking out her desired paint colors and creating her masterpiece. We found these paints to work the best and the price was SUPER reasonable! (Don’t like the mess? Check out my FAVORITE way to paint WITHOUT the mess!)
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2. Next, we let the paint dry. I was rather shocked to find out that the paint was basically dry by the time she finished her work. (The mixture of terra-cotta and acrylic paint really sped up the process!).
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3. Then, I wrote a special message on the front using a paint pen/marker (the exact one I used here). While any phrase works great… I chose: “Thank you for helping me grow!”
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4. Once all the paint appeared dry (again, this went surprisingly fast!), I finished off the project by sealing the paint. I chose a water base sealer like this Mod Podge.
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5. We then dug out the dirt and succulent plant and got to work with planting. My daughter LOVED this part just as much as she did the painting.
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That’s it! Couldn’t be easier and my daughter couldn’t have been more excited to deliver her special DIY teacher gifts when the school year ended! Here was our final product…
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All set to gift on that last day of school… don’t forget to print your FREE “Last Day of School” signs to accompany this big day!

Alternative Uses

Weeks after creating, my daughter continued talking about how much she LOVED this project. I couldn’t blame her… I think I loved it just as much! As a result, we decided to take the DIY succulent pot one step further. Perfect gift idea for Mother’s/Father’s Day (think offices!), thank you gifts, house warming gifts, etc. The fun gifting ideas are endless!

What other fun uses can you think for a DIY succulent gift? I’d love to hear in the comments below!