With 5 kiddos and LOTS of wonderful teachers to thank at the end of the year, I am always trying to think of gifts that all of them would love, and that won’t break my bank! So… Here is what I came up with!
So fun! I love that this can be reused too… They can always lose the plants and fill it with pens and pencils or other goodies!
We have FREE plans and a FREE printable for this project… Woohoo!
You can download the free plans HERE or by clicking the button below! We are so happy to team up with Jay of Jay”s Custom Creations. He puts all of Shanty 2 Chic’s original ideas into printable plans for our readers. You should check his site out! He has some great plans himself! I will also share some tips and tricks below…
This is a super simple build! My favorite part? It only uses one 4 foot board. You can also do an 8′ furring strip which makes the cost of wood under $1 per box! They can also be assembled in about 5 minutes.
I started by making all my cuts. I actually used cedar board for this box, but any 1×4 board will do I made 3 long cuts and 2 short cuts.
Next, attach all of your long boards. I used Elmer’s Wood Glue Maxf or this part, and my Ryobi AirStrike Nailer.
At this point, your box should look like this!
Next, just add a bit of glue and attach the side pieces.
Box is done! See… 5 minutes.
I stained mine with Varathane stain in Carrington.
While it was drying, I finished the rest. I chose to use succulents for this project. I found mine at Home Depot. I used a bit of quick draining potting mix and added some white gravel to the top of each jar. I love the look!
Now for the tag! I made these as printables for you guys! I made a page with 4 tags if you need multiple tags like me! You can click HERE to open and print that!
I also created a page with only 1 tag on it. This will save ink for those of you that only need to make 1! You can click HERE to open and print it!
I just printed mine, cut it out and attached it to some twine with a mini clothespin. I love the results!
I also used my Ryobi Corner Cat sander to distress my wood a bunch… I LOVE the look of the wood like this!
What do you think? I hope they love them… It really is a very small thank you to them for loving my kids all year, but I am hoping they will love the thought and time behind it!
Thanks so much for stopping by guys! I would LOVE for you to share and PIN this gift with all your friends!
~Whitney
Anyone know what size brad nails are best?
The one I made is far from perfect (no air strike nailer) and I used some old leftover deck boards, which is why it is bigger, same length..just bulkier. Mine also took longer to dry with the stain I used. Used pint jars and spanish moss around jars. Tried to post a pic, but it says my file is too large.:-( Hope teacher likes it.
Got it to work. Here is mine.
I would love to know if you made holes in the bottom of the jars for drainage? I was thinking of doing that but then didn’t know what to put inside the box to catch the drainage. Love love love your idea!
used these regular mouth 16oz Ball perfection jars
Just finished ours last night! Thank you so much for the inspiration!
Looks awesome!!
I have the same question about size of jar but no one has answered yet. I even went to Walmart to look for it . They had half a pint size ball mason jar that would seemed to work for 4 inch boards but that store had only one piece. I am planning to go to a different store and check. I will let you know and upload pics if I end up making it today
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they are just the average size ones, regular mouth 16oz
Finally made it , yay !! yes I used 16 oz jar and 1/4 wood from home depot cut according to instruction listed
Can anyone tell me what size mason jars to use? And you just buy small cacti plants, and add them (with dirt n stones ) to the jars?
they are just the average size ones, regular mouth 16oz and i bought the small 2.5″ succulents from home depot and the pebbles from the dollar store! =)
Hi I’m sorry to bother you, how wide is the board, is it 4 inches? And what is the depth? I live somewhere where I have to give very specific instructions, thanks in advance!
it’s a 1×3.5 board =)
Love this! Your idea inspired me! Thank you! My daughter and I made ours a little different though
See it: http://teacherbytrade-motherbynature.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/advent-calendar-day-9-teacher-gift-idea.html
OH my GOODNESS that is adorable! I love it, and I am such a sucker for succulents. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
here is the pic – it didn’t add in my previous comment….
Love these!! Made for daycare teachers at the end of summer. They came out very ‘shanty’ as my wood had warped but they still loved them!
Hi! Can anyone tell me what size (ounces) the mason jars are for this project? I was at the store and there were 8oz, 16oz, mini jars, etc. available. Thanks!
We built this today as an end of year thank you gift for my son’s teacher. We’re so thrilled with how well it turned out and can’t wait to give it to her tomorrow!
You can probably tell, I made a few minor adjustments and made it larger.
I loved this so much, I showed my 6 yr old son. He loved it too! We done away with our original plan and did this instead! Not only was it easy, it was a great project to introduce him to woodworking!! He was fully supervised every step of the way but he got the sense of pride for completing a project with him own hands! Thank you for sharing! I love following you two!!!
What a cute gift! We’re re-pinning on the Home Depot Garden Club Pinterest board to help share 🙂
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Such a super cute idea for teachers! It’s hard to believe the year is almost over…
Love this project and your site! Thank you for posting such great ideas. Although we homeschool, I am always looking for thank you gifts for swim instructors, music teachers and 4-H leaders. I just received a bunch of tools for Mother’s Day so cannot wait to try making this with them. Thanks a bunch!
So sweet. What size jars did you use?
That is awesome! I would plant the seed the first day of school and have my child take care of it throughtout the year, then give it to the teacher on the last day of school. Hopefully it would be taken care of for that long. LOL