November 21, 2016 by Sara Campbell 0 comments

Music Ornaments for Busy Teachers

Over the past 2 Christmas seasons I posted numerous DIY music ornaments — some were my own designs, and many were ideas from other teachers.

Today’s post is NOT about DIY ornaments!

While I love to “get my Pinterest on,” there’s just too much happening in my life right now to get crafty… still, I really love the tradition of giving handmade ornaments to my students every year.

But, life isn’t perfect. Sometimes traditions have to change. And this year will be one of those times.

Fellow teachers:

Don’t worry if you can’t live up to the “Pinterest-pectations.”

It doesn’t mean you’re a failure as a teacher, or that you aren’t creative, crafty, and awesome. After all:

Sometimes you’re just too busy to make something handmade.

Maybe scissors, glue, and glitter just aren’t your thing.

Or the thought of making 55 ornaments is just plain daunting.

And that’s ok.

(… anyone else love the phrase “Pinterest-pectations”?)

Per Student Budget

To make planning easy for you, I’ve listed a budget range for each set of items. In that budget, I priced both an ornament/gift and a Christmas card for each student.

I would suggest getting your cards in bulk at a discount store — Dollar General or your local equivalent — and you should be able to get boxes with 2 dozen cards for a really decent price. (Probably $2-5 a box!)

Shipping Details

Shipping can really add up, so I included all shipping info in the budgets below. Sometimes non-prime items have flat rates, and sometimes they don’t… so make sure you include that in your pricing!

Music Ornaments for Busy Teachers:

(Just click on the pictures for details!)

Reindeer Bell Ornaments

Per Student Budget: $1.00 – $1.50
Shipping: Amazon Prime

These ornaments don’t include notes, clefs or sheet music… but bells are musical, so I think these would be a hit with students! They’re sold in sets of 12, so this is SUPER budget friendly.

Tie a ribbon at the top to make them a bit fancier, and you’ve got a sweet little gift to hand out this year.

Details: These are small – only 2 1/2″ tall and 1 1/2″ wide.

Music Snowman Christmas Tree Ornament

Per Student Budget: $2-$2.50
Shipping: Amazon Prime

A friend of mine from Westminster College recommended these cute little ornaments! These snowmen come by the dozen, and they’re really budget friendly.

Details: 2″ by 4″

Several teachers on Piano Teacher Central mentioned that they personalized these by writing students names and years on them. I’d probably dress them up with a little red ribbon around the neck as a scarf! 🙂

Silver Mirror Musical Note Ornament

Per Student Budget: Between $3.50-$4
Shipping: Prime

These are cute ornaments. **Price doubled on 11/23 — sorry, dear readers! I’ve corrected the above budget.

Because I was curious, I chatted with the maker of the ornaments at Kurt S. Adleer — and the back side is the same as the front. They also said you could write on the mirrored surface to personalize.

Details: Ornaments are 4.5″ to 5″.

P.S. Don’t get ripped off! I found the same ornaments from different sellers for $24 a set.

Save

Gold Glitter Sheet Music Ornament

Per Student Budget: Approx. $4-5
Shipping: Amazon Prime

Now these are a bit more expensive than the last set of 3, but the reviews look like they’re worth the extra money. If you’re budgeting around $4-5 per student, this would be a nice ornament to consider.

Details: Approx. 4.5″ tall. I did a Google search for the same products from different sellers and they were quite a bit more expensive – between 50% to 150% than Amazon.

Shop Local: It might be worth checking this website to see if a local retailer carries them! I was surprised to find that they’re located in a store only 10 minutes from my house.

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Music Note Globe Ornaments

Per Student Budget: $4.50-$5.50
Shipping: $6 for 1st set, $1 each additional set

This would be a really cool gift to make, but I can’t imagine having the patience (or a steady enough hand) to draw music staves around 36 ornaments. You could easily personalize these by adding your students’ names and the year at the top.

Details: Add $5 to your overall budget and buy a set of silver permanent sharpie markers to personalize these.

I might actually get some of these for my own Christmas tree…

Annnnnnd if money is no object…

Save

24K Gold Plated Ornaments

Per Student Budget: Approx. $12-24
Shipping: Amazon Prime. You’ve spent enough already, after all.

Ok… these just cracked me up. Gold plated? Seriously? More proof that you can find just about anything on the internet.

The wide range in price is to include the optional gold plated Christmas card. Hey… go big, or go home. Haha!

24k-gold-plated-playing-cards-geometric-design-full-poker-font-b-deck-b-font-joy-gift

**Just kidding. I couldn’t find gold plated Christmas cards, but I did find gold plated playing cards. Internet, you are so weird.

**So remember: When it comes to giving, it’s the thought that really counts.**

No need to spend hours and hours crafting… or frustrate yourself searching through busy stores… just a couple clicks and you’ll get them delivered right to your door. Easy peasy.

And no one will judge you for not Pinterest-ing your ornaments.

(If they do, they’re just jealous of all the time and effort you saved :P)

For my Pinteresty types: You can find the links with instructions to the ornaments featured below by checking out my “Music Ornaments” tag.