quick and easy teacher gift

Hi, it’s Brooke Reynolds from inchmark, happy to be sharing one of my
favorite teacher gifts. Though I’m sure teachers appreciate a nice gift
card, I think the best gifts are ones that remind them of the children
they taught that year. During the school year, I make sure I have my
camera whenever I’m dropping by the school (when I volunteer in class,
or during jog-a-thon, at class parties, etc.) I make 4×6 prints of my
favorites and put together a little album.
Here’s how to dress up a cheap plastic album (available at craft stores
and photo stores for about $2). Ridiculously easy.

You will need a plastic album that holds 4×6 photos (I think this one fit 24 prints). Two different pages of thick pretty paper (mine are from the Martha Stewart line). And a sharp x-acto knife and cutting mat.

The covers on these albums are usually pretty ugly, and they are sealed into the plastic so they can’t be removed. Open your album and using your x-acto knife, cut carefully along the edge of the plastic that is holding the cover in place. You just want to cut through one of the layers of plastic if you can (it looks a little neater than if you cut through both the front and the back). Start at the top edge of the book (where it is bound) and cut neatly down to the bottom. Then you should be able to slide the ugly cover out of the book and replace it with something pretty.

One you’ve pulled your cover out, you can use it as a template to cut your paper. Lay it down on your pretty paper and cut two covers for the front and back (if you like you can also cut two more out of a complimentary paper for the inside front and back cover).

Carefully slide your new pretty covers into the album, taking care not to bend the corners. (I used the blue paper with white dots for the cover, and the white paper with blue dots for the inside covers.) Insert your photos into the album.

Dress things up by adding a cute label to the front (these are also from the Martha Stewart collection). And you’re done.

I keep a stack of these albums on hand for all sorts of things. They make great gifts for grandparents (filled with pictures of their grandchildren, of course.) Or newlyweds (filled with photos from the wedding, and sent to the bride and groom as a surprise on their first anniversary). The next time you are at a baby shower or birthday party, and the hostess is running around too busy to take photos, grab your camera and get to work! When you hand her your album a few weeks later, she will be thrilled.

Don’t miss all these wonderful teacher appreciation ideas.



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Comments

  1. I love this simple idea and I always love gifts that have to do with photos! Great idea!! I love the inchmark blog too. 🙂

  2. I have this exact album, only in a 5×7. Going to use it to store my cards right now, and eventually use it like a “portfolio” for when I am brave enough to do a sales presentation.

  3. Lovely idea! Another thing I like to do at parties is ask to borrow the host/ess’ personal camera. Then I take photos for them. It’s so much easier for me because I don’t have to follow up by editing and sending them photos, I just snap away and, since I am a photographer, they love having nicely produced photos from a different viewpoint. Also, I get a chance to play with other brands/styles of cameras. 😀

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