First off the winner of the Cutting Edge Stencils giveaway is sawstrunk! Congrats! Shoot me an e-mail, and I’ll get you all hooked up to receive your prize.
So, I’m sure that you have probably received a number of chain e-mails urging you to shop locally this holiday season. Or maybe my inbox is the only one that has been jammed up with numerous forwards (I can hardly stand forwards) regarding this topic. At any rate I’m a big believer in supporting local business, not just during the holidays, but throughout the year. One of the things I love most about living in Lexington is the fact that there are so many unique local retailers and restaurants. They give the city such wonderful character.
Thinking about supporting local business gave me the perfect idea for a simple and inexpensive teacher gift. One of my personal favorite places is Coffee Times, which is on Regency Road if you’re a local. Their coffee can’t be beat and my tea loving friends tell me the same is true for their tea. I picked up a $5 gift card for each of the teachers.
A $5 card at Coffee Times will definitely cover a nice large cup or two depending on what you like. My personal favorite drink is the Mexi-Cappuccino!
The gift cards came in those nice brown bags, but I wanted to make them a bit more personal. I was hoping to find some mason jars at Goodwill but as luck would have it I couldn’t find a single one. So, Walmart came to my rescue. I know they are the epitome of a big box store, but it’s the gift card that counts not the gift jar it came in. 😉
This box of 12 jars by Better Homes and Gardens was $7.
I only needed 5 jars, so I have some left over to use for something else. I cut the brown paper bags down to size and wrapped the gift cards with bakers twine.
I put them in jars then filled with candy. So easy and so simple!
I’m protecting the names of the innocent.
A local gift in a jar!
I’ll bet that there are some great local businesses in your city too. It feels good to give a gift that helps to support your local economy, especially when it keeps the good folks at Coffee Times in the brewing business!
Do you have any great teacher gift ideas? Is anyone else trying to shop locally as much as they can this year? Seriously, did you all get like a million forwards on this subject or was it just me?
*I was not paid for this post, but if Coffee Times wanted to offer me a free cup of coffee you bet your bottom dollar I’d take them up on that offer! Just keepin’ it real people!
I saw a great peppermint hot chocolate mix recipe that would be great in the extra jars. Then you have a last minute gift for a hostess or a friend who drops by unexpectedly.