Easy DIY Teacher Appreciation Gifts: Sweet Pencil & Ruler Sugar Cookies for Back to School
As the new school year approaches or comes to a close, finding the perfect way to express gratitude to the dedicated educators in our lives can be both exciting and a little daunting. This year, skip the elaborate projects and whip up these effortlessly charming teacher treats! Our simple guide shows you how to transform classic sugar cookies into adorable pencil and ruler-themed gifts. The best part? No intricate decorating skills are required – just delicious cookies, practical clear treat bags, and our super cute, easy-to-use printables!
With the exciting buzz of back-to-school just around the corner, or as the academic year winds down, it’s the perfect time to show appreciation for the incredible teachers who shape our children’s futures. We know how incredibly hectic this time of year can be for busy parents, juggling school supply lists, uniform shopping, and countless other preparations. That’s why we’re thrilled to collaborate with our trusted partner, ClearBags – our go-to source for high-quality, food-safe packaging – to bring you an incredibly easy and thoughtful homemade teacher gift idea. These delightful sugar cookie treats are so simple, even the kiddos can lend a helping hand in their creation, making it a fun family activity!
Forget the stress of elaborate cookie decorating with multiple piping bags and complex techniques. Our approach simplifies everything: you’ll need some perfectly shaped cookie sticks, a single color of vibrant frosting, those essential clear treat bags from ClearBags, and our specially designed printables. These elements combine to create a visually appealing and utterly delicious gift that any teacher will cherish. It’s a wonderful way to say “thank you” without adding extra pressure to your already busy schedule. Let’s dive into making these memorable gifts that celebrate education and appreciation!
Essential Supplies for Your Sweet Teacher Treats
Creating these charming teacher appreciation cookies is surprisingly straightforward, and gathering your materials is the first step towards a fun and rewarding crafting session. Here’s a detailed look at everything you’ll need to bring these adorable pencil and ruler-themed sugar cookies to life:
- 2×8″ Crystal Clear Food-Safe Bags: These bags from ClearBags are absolutely crucial! Their crystal-clear clarity beautifully showcases your decorated cookies, and most importantly, they are certified food-safe, ensuring your homemade treats are protected and hygienic. The 2×8 inch size is perfect for our cookie sticks.
- White Cardstock: You’ll need a sturdy white cardstock to print out our special teacher-themed printables. This ensures the colors pop and the paper holds up well when attached to the bags.
- Printables (download below): These are the magic touch! Our free, downloadable printables include the pencil tips, eraser toppers, and optional gift tags that transform simple frosted cookies into iconic school supplies.
- Cookie Sticks: You can use your favorite sugar cookie dough recipe (one that doesn’t spread too much during baking is ideal). We recommend cutting them into rectangular stick shapes. For perfect uniformity, consider a dedicated cookie stick cutter like the one from Sweet Sugarbelle, but a sharp knife works just as well.
- Frosting: A simple buttercream or royal icing recipe will do the trick. You’ll need a batch that can be easily tinted yellow for pencils and optionally pink for erasers. We’ve included a fantastic, easy recipe in the card below!
- Strong Double-Sided Adhesive: Essential for securely attaching the printables to your treat bags. A roller adhesive runner or strong double-sided tape works best.
- Twine: A natural or colored twine adds a rustic and charming touch, perfect for tying off the clear treat bags and securing any additional gift tags.
Having these items ready will make the assembly process smooth and enjoyable, ensuring your teacher appreciation gifts look professional and feel heartfelt. Don’t forget to download the printables below to complete your creative toolkit!
How to Make Easy Pencil & Eraser Sugar Cookie Teacher Treats: A Step-by-Step Guide
Get ready to transform simple sugar cookies into delightful, personalized gifts that truly show you care. This process is designed to be simple, enjoyable, and can even be a fun activity to do with your children. Follow these steps for perfect results:
- Prepare and Cut Your Cookie Dough:
Begin with your favorite cut-out sugar cookie dough recipe (we’ve included a link to one that doesn’t spread in the recipe card below, which is crucial for maintaining the stick shape). Roll your dough to an even thickness, typically about 1/4 inch. Using a sharp knife or a dedicated cookie stick cutter, cut the dough into uniform 1.25 x 5-inch sticks. For the charming pink eraser cookies, simply cut some of these sticks in half, creating two smaller, perfectly sized rectangular cookies. Bake according to your recipe’s instructions until the edges are lightly golden, then allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. This is a great step for kids to help with, carefully using a blunt knife or a cookie cutter under supervision! - Frosting Your Cookie Sticks:
Once your cookie sticks are fully cooled, it’s time for the fun part: frosting! Prepare your buttercream or royal icing. For the classic pencil look, tint the majority of your frosting a bright yellow. For the adorable erasers, tint a smaller portion of frosting a soft pink. Using an offset spatula or a butter knife, apply a smooth, even layer of frosting to each cookie stick. Don’t worry about perfection; the printables will add the finishing details! For the best results and to prevent smudging during packaging, place your frosted cookies in the refrigerator for about 15-30 minutes, or until the frosting has set and is firm to the touch. This step ensures your cookies look pristine when gifted. - Cut Out Your Printables:
While your cookies are setting, print out our exclusive pencil tip, eraser, and optional gift tag printables onto white cardstock. Precision is key here! Carefully cut out each printable using either an X-Acto knife (for crisp, straight lines, especially for the pencil tips) or sharp scissors. If involving children, assign them the task of cutting the simpler shapes or let them help with sorting the cut-outs. These paper elements are what truly transform your frosted sticks into miniature works of art, capturing the essence of school supplies. - Assemble and Package Your Treats:
Now for the final assembly! Gently slip each frosted cookie stick into a 2×8″ Crystal Clear Food-Safe Bag from ClearBags. The clarity of these bags will beautifully display your creations. Once the cookie is securely inside, tie the bag closed with a piece of twine, leaving a small tail for attaching tags. Using a strong double-sided adhesive (a runner works wonderfully here), attach the pre-cut pencil tip and eraser printables to the outside of the bag, aligning them with the frosted cookie inside. This creates the illusion of a full pencil or eraser. For an extra personal touch, thread an optional teacher gift tag onto the twine before tying the bow.
That’s it! With these simple steps, you’ll have a collection of thoughtful, handmade teacher appreciation gifts ready to bring a smile to any educator’s face. This project is not just about the treats; it’s about the care and effort put into showing gratitude.
What truly sets these easy teacher cookies apart is their ingenious simplicity. You don’t need years of practice with royal icing or a rainbow of frosting colors to achieve an impressive look. The beauty lies in the clever use of just one or two frosting colors, combined with the magic of our printable designs. Just a smooth coat of frosting on your cookie stick, a gentle slide into a skinny food-safe clear bag from ClearBags, and then let the printables do all the heavy lifting! They bring the adorable pencil, eraser, or even ruler design vividly to life, making these treats both charming and incredibly easy to assemble for anyone.
Creative Twist: How to Make a Ruler Cookie!
Want to add another fun school-themed design to your collection? Creating a ruler cookie is just as simple! Tip: To make the ruler cookie, simply use a black permanent marker to draw lines and numbers on the *outside* of the clear treat bag once the frosted cookie is inside. This way, the marker never comes into contact with the food, keeping it perfectly safe while adding a unique, personalized touch to your cookie gift. It’s an extra layer of creativity that ties into the academic theme beautifully!
To truly complete your thoughtful gesture, top each cookie treat bag off with one of our lovely printable teacher gift tags. These tags add an extra layer of personalization and can include a heartfelt message. Once packaged and tagged, you can confidently send those kiddos off to school with a fun, unique, and entirely hassle-free teacher gift. It’s a wonderful way to kick off the school year or celebrate a successful one, showing teachers just how much their hard work and dedication are appreciated.
Easy Pencil & Eraser Sugar Cookies
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Ingredients
For the Sugar Cookies
- 1 Recipe Cut Out Sugar Cookies (It is essential to use a cookie recipe that doesn’t spread much during baking, ensuring your cookie sticks fit perfectly into the clear treat bags.)
For the Easy Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter (at room temperature for best whipping)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but adds a lovely depth of flavor)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (sifted for a smoother frosting)
- 1-2 Drops Yellow Food Coloring (for pencil cookies)
- Optional: Drops Red/Pink Food Coloring (for eraser cookies)
Before you begin! We hope you enjoy making these sweet teacher treats. If you love this recipe, please consider leaving a review and rating below to share your experience! Your feedback helps our small business grow and allows us to continue offering free recipes and quality content.
Instructions
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To Make Frosting: In a large mixing bowl, begin by whipping the room temperature unsalted butter on high speed for 3-4 minutes until it becomes wonderfully light, fluffy, and pale in color. Next, incorporate the vanilla extract, almond extract (if using), and salt, mixing until just combined. Reduce your mixer speed to medium/low and gradually begin adding the powdered sugar, approximately ½ cup at a time, allowing it to fully incorporate after each addition. Once all the powdered sugar is in, increase the speed to high and beat for another 2-3 minutes until you achieve a beautiful, creamy, and smooth frosting. Tint with yellow food coloring (and pink for a small portion, if making erasers). This recipe yields approximately 1 cup of frosting, enough for 16 cookie sticks.
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Prepare Cookie Sticks: Cut your sugar cookie dough into 1.25 x 5″ sticks with a knife or a cookie stick cutter. For pink eraser cookies, cut some sticks in half to get 2 smaller cookies. Bake and allow to cool completely.
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Frost Cookies: Once cooled, frost each cookie stick with the prepared yellow frosting (or pink for the erasers). After frosting, place them carefully in the refrigerator for about 15-30 minutes. This step is crucial to allow the frosting to harden and set, preventing any smudging when you handle them for packaging.
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Cut & Attach Printables: While cookies are chilling, cut out the pencil tip, eraser, and optional gift tag printables using an X-Acto knife or scissors. Once cookies are firm, gently slip each frosted cookie stick into a 2×8″ Crystal Clear Food-Safe Bag. Tie the bag closed with twine. Securely attach the pencil tip and/or eraser printables to the outside of the bag with strong double-sided tape. Finish with a teacher gift tag, if desired!
One Last Thought! We genuinely appreciate you trying our recipe! Please do us a huge favor and leave a review and rating once you’ve made these cookies. Your feedback is invaluable, helping our small business thrive and allowing us to continue creating free, high-quality recipes and printables for wonderful readers like you.
Notes
- The nutrition facts provided below are specifically for the frosting recipe only, as cookie recipes can vary greatly.
- For best results, ensure your sugar cookie dough does not spread much during baking to maintain the stick shape for packaging.
- Kids can help with frosting, cutting printables (with supervision), and tying the bags!
Nutrition (Frosting Only, Per Serving)
This comprehensive guide and delightful recipe were lovingly created in partnership with Clear Bags. They are our absolute favorite and highly recommended source for premium, food-safe treat packaging solutions, ensuring your homemade gifts are always presented beautifully and hygienically. Please note that all content, downloadable templates, and opinions expressed within this post are entirely our own. We extend our sincerest gratitude to our valued partners who make it possible for us to continue running this blog and provide you with wonderful free recipes and printables. Thank you for supporting us and for choosing to spread joy with handmade gifts!