I have often joined in with other mums in class to do a collection for our teachers. I have often given boxes of chocolates to people to thank them for teaching my daughter in swimming, Brownies or football. End of term gifts are important (we feel).

End of term gifts are that tradition that is getting a bit out of hand. It has just passed and with it came the acknowledgments for everyone who made H’s last term a good one. So that’s one teacher, two teaching assistants, two Brownie leaders, five young leaders, one swimming teacher and one football coach.

It can get expensive…

So this year we invested in two things – a glass cutting tool which is remarkably cheap via ebay – and a wood burning tool.

We did a trip to Ikea for a pack of six glasses and some wooden spoons, ready to create.

The glass cutting tool is the easiest of the two once you get the hang of it. H wrote a message on a small piece of paper which was stuck inside the glass to trace. I outlined it on the glass, and H filled in the area a bit more.

Remove the paper from behind and you will have a clear idea which bits need extra cutting.

One thing to bear in mind is there will be glass shavings on your table, so cover it up accordingly and clean up well afterwards. This isn’t recommended for outside crafts, especially if windy.

The wood burning tool was slightly trickier. The heat involved can burn you – fortunately I had blistered fingers though learnt my lesson the hard way. I always have tweezers handy to change the nibs on the tool. Ours has six different nibs you can use, including several which can just be stamped.

For obvious reasons I don’t have any photos – it was extremely hot to hold.

H wasn’t so keen on the writing side, but loved stamping designs so as a compromise she wrote her messages on her spoon in pencil and I wrote over them using the wood burning tool.

It isn’t easy, but gets easier with practice. You have to hold the tool quite far back – so not like a pencil. Slowly and patiently are the way forward.

We had some Tiger Stores clear wrap and gingham ribbon which made the end of term gifts easy to decorate. Wash the glasses carefully and fill with sweets. Wrap the clear wrap around them, tape at the bottom and gather at the top with an elastic band. Get a piece of gingham ribbon and tie a label for the person it’s for around it.

I think the end of term gifts look pretty good! The best thing is they’re something practical too, though I have heard horror stories about teachers having cupboards full of mugs…