School Supplies "Cake"

I first saw this awesome idea on Pinterest when school was starting in the fall.  I pinned it, but never got around to actually making one in September.  When it came time to think of a Christmas gift idea for my kids' teachers, I remembered this school supplies cake idea and decided it would be perfect.  It fit my budget and it would be something the teachers could actually use (instead of yet another coffee mug or bottle of shower gel).  Plus, this is the time of year when all those classroom supplies brought in months ago have been used up or have disappeared (sharpened pencils with working erasers seem to meet the same fate in the classroom as socks do in the laundry room)

It didn't take me long at all to put together and the cakes were a HUGE hit when I brought them in to the teachers on the last day before Winter Break.

This collection of needed supplies would be a great teacher gift for Back-to-School, Christmas, Teacher Appreciation Day, Valentine's Day or "Just Because".  Plus, you could easily adapt them to include all kinds of supplies.

Here's some of the things I included in mine:

Then, all I had to do was put it all together.  I attached everything with the clear, wide packaging tape and regular scotch tape.

First, I sharpened all the pencils, attached them to the plastic storage bin I got from the Dollar Tree, and added a bit of decorative border (also in the teacher section of the Dollar Tree).

 Next, I formed a base with four square boxes of tissues taped together.  ( Later, I also added a fifth box of tissues to form the base of the top tier of the cake.)

 Then, I just started adding the various other supplies around the tiers of the cake, adding more pieces of the decorative border as I went.

Since it was still looking a little plain, I added a few bows to jazz it up a bit.

That's it! So cute, and so easy!

Now, if I was a little smarter, I would have stocked up on all the supplies for the cake during the Back-to-School sales in August.  Instead, I had use a few things from my school supplies stash (Post-it notes, crayons, etc) and purchase the rest of it new.  However, since much of it came from the dollar store, the whole "teacher tower" costs me less than $20 out of pocket.  Not bad for such a cute gift.

Sharing our cake at:

Gluesticks
Somewhat Simple 
The Frugal Girls 
Sassy Sites 
Tatertots and Jello 
Design Dazzle 
Skip to my Lou 
Today's Creative Blog 
I heart Nap Time