Teacher holiday gifts

It's that time of year again - when crafters everywhere try to figure out a way to make something beautiful and memorable to give to their kids' teachers. I love to give bookstore gift cards, as I've never met a teacher who doesn't love books. But I'm always looking for a clever way to package them. I also love to bake, so this year I decided to combine a home-baked treat with a gift card holder. Here's the outside:



And here's what's inside:


The flat part of the staples are covered on the front by the strip of red paper, but the bent ends are exposed on the back. I left them showing on the back so that the teachers could open them with a staple remover and not destroy the topper if they so desired. The gift card is held in very simply by a couple of punches with my slit punch. Two little half moons of the gift card also show on the back of the topper, which will hopefully give the recipients a clue that they should go ahead and open the package! Rather than use up precious buttons for the gingerbread boys, I used a little circle stamp instead. The cookies are gingersnaps.

Details: stamps  Holiday Button Bits, Polka Dot Basics; paper - Vintage Cream, Bitty Box Basics; ink - Pure Poppy, Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!); accessories - Top Note die (Sizzix for SU!), slit punch (SU!)