Easy, Affordable End Of School Year Gifts - DIY Craft

This year, we had 6 teachers and 20 students that we wanted to give gifts to, at the end of the school year. Because of the quantity, we couldn't afford to spend too much on each gift. We came up with an easy and affordable DIY gift idea that everyone loved… personalized tote bags!

Let's start with the kids. I got mini colourful tote bags at the dollar store. You can also pick them up on Amazon.

I then printed out the names of each of the kids in the class (longest name appx 3.5") and cut them out.

I then put each name in a bag and used a fabric marker to trace each name. You can also use a permanent marker… just not a washable one, because you wouldn't want it to smudge.

Once they were all written, we filled them with a few party favours that the kids could use during the summer (bubbles, whistles and bouncy balls).

We finished them off with a cute, funny tag tied with a ribbon.

Needless to say, the kids loved them, and are excited to use their "name bags" for other things!

We decided to use the same idea for the teachers, but this time with larger bags that they can use at school for transporting books/papers/supplies etc.

I found these really nice ones on Amazon, for a great price! Even by themselves they're great, but we took it a step further and wrote the teachers' names on the bags.

Again, I printed out each name (this time using a modern script font) and laid it out on an angle across the bag.

I used a light table to clearly see through the bag to trace the names. I first used a gold marker, but then it dried up (the only one I had at the time was a dollar store brand), so I used a black permanent Sharpie marker.

My son made homemade cards for each teacher that we wrapped with the bags.

They ended up being simple, classy gifts that all of the teachers appreciated and said they will definitely use.

A great gift doesn't have to cost much... just a little time and creativity! Happy crafting!