Teacher Gifts for the Holiday Season

Teachers are overworked and underpaid. They are given the responsibility of teaching our youth and turning them into productive members of society. Many teachers only have a small budget to buy things for their classroom and must spend their own money to buy many supplies for the classroom. This season, get your child's teacher something that's beautiful and functional.

Teachers use clipboards to keep paper organized and provide a workspace for squeezing in a few moments of work no matter where they are. An altered clipboard is both useful and just plain fun! You can make one yourself or choose from a selection from this seller on Etsy. Altered clipboards can even be personalized with the teacher's name or favorite animal, colors, flowers, or whatever you like. Altered clipboards start at $15 each.

Altered binder clips are also functional and cute. They can be used a regular binder clip and also to hold notes, cards, or photos. Again, these can be customized with school colors or a design of your choosing. With so much paperwork, it's hard to keep organized. These large binder clips will allow a teacher to keep like papers clipped together. Altered binder clips are $4-5 for a set of 3.

Magnetic altered clothespins are so simple yet so helpful in the classroom. Covered with beautiful papers and inked for definition, these clothespins will hold several pieces of paper on a magnet board or filing cabinet. Starting at just $3, these are very affordable and will fit nearly any budget. These can be used to clip papers together and then stored on a metal surface. They don't have to be used just as magnets!

Another way to keep any teacher organized is an altered tin. They can be used to organize index cards or to just hold small things that don't really have a home on the teachers desk, Again, these can be customized with a teacher's name or school colors. Prices start at $10 without tabbed dividers and $15 with tabbed dividers.

Teachers use a lot of sticky notes in their classroom. Another very affordable gifts is an altered post it holder. At just over $3 each, altered sticky note holders will fit nearly any budget and provide some beauty for any teacher's desk. Again, these can be completely customized.

Just because it's functional doesn't mean it has to be plain or unattractive. These are very unique gifts that your child's teacher can use and will enjoy looking at every day.