Okay, so this post is not Speech and Language related but I’m a Mommy first and foremost and I wear that hat proudly! What I know for sure is, good teachers are among the hardest working people on the planet! I strongly feel they should be celebrated all year long. As a Mommy to three, I love gifting personalized gifts to my boys’ teachers. 

I’m the product of some pretty incredible teachers, both in my family and the ones that I’ve been blessed to have throughout my educational career. Every year for Teacher Appreciation week we do little things every day to ensure that my kiddos’ teachers feel special for the amazing job that they do. This year I took to Pinterest for a bit of inspiration and was very pleased with how nice these candy/gumball machines turned out.

My boys were so excited to share them with their teachers. These were surprisingly easy to make and very reasonable. Crafting is my happy place and anytime I get to break out my glue gun it brings me JOY!

Everything you need to make these candy machines is pictured above. I’m the queen of one-stop shopping and picked up everything from Michael’s (with the exception of the spray paint, I had paint on hand from a previous project). You will need terracotta pots, terracotta bases, glass globes, wooden knobs, paint, decorative ribbon (optional), and teacher’s initial lettering (optional).

Once you have all of your supplies you are ready to make these fun, cute personalized gifts. Start by spray painting your terracotta pots and bases. An added bonus would be to find out the teacher’s favorite color, classroom theme, and favorite candy. While waiting for the pots to dry, you can paint the wooden knobs. I chose to paint them gold because I was going for a more elegant look.

With your pots and knobs painted and dry it’s time to add your decorative accents. This step is optional but I wanted to personalize them, so I added decorative ribbon around the perimeter of the pots and the teacher’s initial. Be creative with this and customize them to fit your personal taste. I wanted an elegant looking gift, so I selected golds, pearls, and rhinestones.

With accents applied you can now hot glue the glass globes to the pots. Turn the pot upside down and carefully apply hot glue to both the bottom of your pot and the bottom of the glass globes. Be generous with the glue to ensure that everything stays intact. Hot glue your wooden knobs to the terracotta base directly in the center and voila, your pots are ready!

The final step is to fill them with candy of your choice. My kiddos’ teachers love Peanut M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, and Hershey’s Kisses. These were fun to make and even more rewarding to see how excited my boys were to share them with their teachers. Happy crafting and stay tuned for more fun crafting ideas!