Heartfelt Tote
Why did Emma Cummings-Krueger love her first-grade teacher, Ms. Jansen, so much? "Valora Jansen really has such a caring heart," says Emma's mom, Megan. "Emma just blossomed under her care, so Emma wanted to give her something from her heart." The result was this beautiful bag.

The Minneapolis first grader began by placing newspaper inside the canvas tote so no paint would bleed through. Her mom helped her cover her palms in fabric paint, and then Emma pressed her hands, overlapping, onto the bag to form a heart shape. Try not to wiggle, Emma and Megan advise, though you can always fill in blank spots with a paintbrush. Next, Mom and daughter wrote "Thanks for the warm hugs and warm heart," and Emma signed her name with fabric paint (puffy paint also works). Emma's favorite part? "Racing to the sink with my mom to wash the paint off my hands!" she says, then adds, also seeing Ms. Jansen walking down the school halls carrying the tote.

Apple Cookies
Forget just one apple for the teacher. Third grader Trey Ferguson of Wilmington, North Carolina, sweetened things up and presented his teacher, Ann Abernathy, with a whole jar of apple-shaped cookies. "I wish I could say it was a hand-me-down recipe from a great-great whomever," jokes Trey's mom, Kelli Tetterton, "but I have the Dough Boy to thank for those roll-and-bake cookies."

Trey cut out a few dozen with an apple-shaped cookie cutter. After he and his mom baked, frosted, and decorated the cookies, they loaded them into a jar that they wrapped with cellophane and ribbon. Trey then traced the cookie cutter onto paper for an apple-shaped gift tag, on which he wrote "You are the apple of my eye." Trey's distinctive finishing touch? A bag of gummy worms!