When it comes to buying Christmas gifts, I’m not one to go overboard and try to find the perfect gift for everyone I know.  I usually just stick to family members, however, there are certain people that I feel do deserve a Christmas gift and that is my child’s teacher.  After being a teacher myself, I know how much we appreciate the thought.  There is nothing cuter than seeing your students all proud to give you something that they picked out or helped wrap up.  This year is the first year that I get to go to teacher shopping for Jack’s daycare teachers.  I know they work so hard and take such good care of my little guy while I’m at work, I want to give them something so that they know that I appreciate them. 

I decided to put together a list of some of my favorite teacher gifts that I’ve come across this year. Best of all they are all under $20!

 One| Cable Knit Mittens $12.97
Winter outerwear always makes for a great teacher gift.  Preschool and elementary teachers do spend a decent amount of time outside on the playground, so mittens like these ones from Nordstrom Rack are the perfect gift with the perfect price!

Two| Plaid Blanket Wrap  $16.97
I love getting accessories as gifts.  Plaid is everywhere this season, so I love this Steve Madden Plaid scarf from Nordstrom Rack.  Us teachers love our scarves, especially if we have a chilly classroom.

Three| “I Teach there for I drink” Wine Glass $14.94
This teacher wine glass from Walmart makes a great gift!  Trust me, most people who spend all day working with children, like to come home and relax with a glass of wine.  If you want, I’d even throw in a bottle of wine to go with the glass, I’m just saying 😉

Four| Kate Spade thermal mug $18.00
Teachers always end up with tons of Christmas coffee mugs.  What about trading out the traditional snowman mug with this adorable Kate Spade thermal mug?  Teachers are on the go and it’s so much easier to fill your thermal mug on the way to work, rather than a regular coffee mug.

Five| Knee High Boot Socks $5
Socks always make a great gift, because if you’re like me, you don’t like to buy socks for yourself.  Any kind of cute socks will do.  Personally, I love these knee high socks from Target.  They are perfect to wear with your boots or just around the house.

Six| Antica Farmacista Pomegranate Candle $16.97
If you want to play it safe, you can never go wrong with a candle as a teacher gift.  I love these Antics Farmacista soy blend candles at Nordstrom Rack.  They smell great, and burn nicely.  Any teacher would appreciate a gift like this.

Seven| OPI Breakfast at Tiffany’s Nail Mini Set $14.50
I always love all the gift sets out there this time of the year!  Sometimes giving a teacher a little something to pamper herself at home can be just what they may need.  For me,  I personally love this OPI gift set at Macy’s!  It has a good mix of colors that anyone can appreciate.

Eight| Alex and Ani Apple of Abundance Bracelet $20
Sometimes you want to give something a little more sentimental.  Jewelry is always the perfect gift when you want to show that you really care and appreciate all the hard work your child’s teacher puts into their job.  This charm bracelet at Nordstrom says just that, without an expensive price tag. (The price has been fluctuating with sales over the past week, but its original price is $28.)

Those are my teacher gift ideas.  If your still at a loss for a teacher gift, I will say that you can never go wrong with a gift card.  My two favorite teacher gift cards are always Starbucks and Target.  What will you be giving your child’s teacher this year? 

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With the holiday season quickly approaching, I’ve been thinking a lot about getting ready to do some Christmas shopping. To me, Christmas is so much more than just gifts.  It’s a time to count my blessings and try to give back in some way or another.  That’s why this year, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about purchasing gifts that give back. 

Here is a list of some of my favorite companies and gifts that give back. 

 Two | Hand in Hand Soap
Hand in Hand Soap is a company that I came across in my search for charitable companies and I was drawn to them because of their products and their affordability.  For every bar of soap that you buy from Hand in Hand, they donate a bar of soap and a month of clean water to a child in need.  They sell bar soap, bath salts, candles, lotion and all kinds of fun bath products.  It’s a great place to find gifts and I love that they sell their products at Target!  It’s perfect because you don’t have to go anywhere fancy to find their soaps.  I am eager to try out their Coral Sugar Scrub and the Juniper Berry Bar Soap.   These also make great teacher gifts! 

Three | Cuddle + Kind
This is my first Christmas as a mom, so I decided to look into baby and kid companies.  I ended up finding Cuddle and Kind, which is a really great company that gives back to children.  For every dollar you spend, they provide 10 nutritious meals for children around the world.  I love their adorable hand-knit dolls.  I thought that this doll, Aspen the Penguin would be such a cute gift for a little one in your life.  I also love the wall art.  It is the perfect gift for an expecting parent this holiday season.  I know that I would have loved one of these adorable gifts for Jack while I was pregnant last year. 

Four | Better Life Bags
I was so excited when I came across this company, Better Life Bags, because not only do they sell handbags, which what girl doesn’t love handbags?  But their business is set up to help support local women from low-income households in Detroit, MI.  With me being from the Detroit area, this company’s mission is really close to my heart.  They sell custom made handbags, made by women living in Hamtramck, Michigan, which is a very culturally mixed area of Detroit.  I love that you can pick out your own material for your bag and design it however you want or you can pick from their collections.  I really love this black and white striped crossover purse, also these cute little nesting pouches are perfect for organizing your purse or closet.  I definitely encourage you to check them out and learn more about their mission.

Five | AUrate New York  
If you are in the market to splurge on something special for someone, or maybe you are making a wishlist for your significant other, AUrate New York is a company that sells beautiful gold jewelry.  From white gold, to yellow gold and rose gold, they have it all in beautiful modern styles.  I‘m really in love with their collection of necklaces, especially this absolutely gorgeous gold bar necklace.  What I love most about this company is that with every purchase that you make, the company donates a book to an underprivileged child.  Being a preschool teacher of low-income children, I realize how important this mission is.  So many of the children that I work with do not have books in their homes, so it’s my job to encourage them on how to find books and teach them the importance of early literacy.  That is why I love that this company is giving back through reading!  I would definitely recommend checking out their site and browsing their beautiful jewelry collection.

That’s my list, I hope these companies will inspire you the same way they did for me.  What are some charitable companies that you will be shopping with this year?  I’d love to hear them!