Simple? Nothing simple about it...

Last year I was looking for something cute and simple to give to the kids' teachers.  There were three of them, and let's face it - that can get pricey if you let yourself get carried away.

This isn't my original idea, you can find that here.  But I did alter it up to make it my own variation.

And so, I present to you:

Simply the best teacher gift!  

First off, here's an easy way to make a cute tag for the lemonade:

You need:

Some cute, plain cards with holes along the edge (or white card stock and a hole punch)

fun scrapbook paper

markers to match

double sided tape

twine

scissors

1. Cut your card apart along the fold.

2. Use the side that has the holes.  Cut it down a bit so it isn't so long.

3. Cut a piece of scrapbook paper so it's about half the length of the card.  Don't worry about the width.

4. Put double sided tape on the back of the paper.

5. Place the card on the top half of the back of the paper.

6. Fold the paper up, sandwiching the card in between.

7. Cut the sides of the paper off so it's the same width as the card.

8. Write your message. (in this case, "you are simply the best!" to go with the simply lemonade, which really IS the best lemonade in my opinion.)

9. Cut your twine and feed it through a hole toward the middle of the card.

10. Weave your twine in and out of the holes across the middle.

11. Wrap the twine around the top of the lemonade and tie it in a knot.

12. And it looks so cute!

Of course you can use your computer if you don't like hand writing your tags.  I like the hand made sentiment, so I just wrote it out myself.  You could also take all these steps away, and print out the ones I made.  Then just punch holes across the top and weave your twine and tie it on.  Bam. Done.

 For the gift basket, you need:
a bin
simply lemonade
a cute lemonade jar or cup
reusable ice cubes
printable tags
tissue paper
thank you cards, scissors and twine

1. Layer your bin with tissue paper.
2. Place your lemonade.
3. Put your cute cup next to it.
4. Sprinkle in your ice cubes that don't melt (which is what Zoe calls them)

I had the kids create their own thank you cards:

 Then just cut your twine and tie it on to the handle.

Now, let's talk about the contents a bit.
I got the thank you cards at Target in the dollar section.  I could not resist the yellow stripes and have had them for quite a while.  They were perfect for this.
I got the adorable lemonade jar at Shopko.  They were on sale, so that helped.  It isn't glass, it's plastic which I liked.  It has the look of glass but won't break.  Plus it's yellow and the front says "country time" - I mean, come on.  Perfect.  I had checked at the dollar store, Walmart and Target and didn't find anything nearly as cute or affordable.  
Those stupid reusable ice cubes were stinking hard to find.  They were all over like two years ago, and NOWHERE this year.  I figured I'd be able to find some cute bright colors and fun shapes and didn't worry much about it, and then of course, when I COULDN'T find them, they became so intrinsically woven into the fabric of this present that I simply couldn't give up the idea of including them.  It became an obsession.
I found them at Shopko, but unfortunately didn't have the luxury of picking fun colors or shapes since there was only ONE bunch of them left.  I divided the bunch between the three gifts and luckily they matched the green on the lemonade and in the tissue paper or I think my brain may have exploded.

FREE PRINTABLE TAGS!

 Later on, in the summer, I found those darn ice cubed in bright colors at Walmart.  So apparently their availability depends on the time of year and probably where you live as well.  Good luck.

 Teachers loved them.  I suppose the extra effort was worth it?  

*Be sure to check below for all the fun parties I link to!*