Coffee Sleeve Thank You Note - Gift Card Holder!

I used to teach swimming lessons for 15 or so years, and getting a little something special at the end of a session of classes was the best little surprise ever. My favorites were handmade pictures from the kids, a home made treat, and Wawa (only the best convenience store ever), Starbucks, or Dunkin Donuts gift cards. One of my girlfriends is Lilly's swim instructor, and of course I've got to reward her amazing skills with a coveted Starbucks gift card. 

But no generic holder would do, obviously. And I didn't want to go with the predictable swedish fish or goldfish cracker baggie and a "thanks for teaching me to swim like a fish," because almost 3-year-old Lilly doesn't actually swim like a fish (she does back float, go under, blow bubbles and tread water for a few seconds like a champ though) and I know a coffee card would be more appreciated, though I'm not discriminating against free food. Lifeguards love that too.

If you're going to search for a super cute thank you gift for a swim instructor with a cute note, you'll find printables relating to swedish fish and goldfish crackers, but nothing a little less fishy. If you're going to search for a thank you card with a coffee theme, you'll find a trillion that use these sleeves for the hot cups, and a coffee themed phrase. So I put them together, and made 3 versions, they all say "thanks a latte" and have a different intro:

• Swim Instructor "You're a fin-tastic swim teacher!" (TwoTenDesigns_SwimTYCard.pdf)
• Teacher: "You're a fan-tastic teacher!" (TwoTenDesigns_TeacherTYCard.pdf)
• Thank You only: "thanks a latte" (TwoTenDesigns_LatteTYCard.pdf)

Wanna make one? Let's do it!
Supplies include:

• printable
• coffee cup sleeve
• a gift card
• ribbon/twine
• cake bag (or an envelope... just something to hold the larger card)
• hot glue and glue gun (or if you have time to let it dry, you can use regular glue)
• scissors

Begin by printing your chosen card (files hosted at MediaFire):

• Swim Instructor: TwoTenDesigns_SwimTYCard.pdf
• Teacher: TwoTenDesigns_TeacherTYCard.pdf
• Thank You only: TwoTenDesigns_LatteTYCard.pdf

Close the bottom of the coffee cup sleeve, by running a narrow bead of glue along the bottom edge of the sleeve. Seal shut.

Then, you're going to attach the sleeve to the printed card. Add glue on the back, and place it down in the empty space on the card.

Test drive and admire. 

I wanted a cute top to my cake bag, so I cut the top with Lilly's pinking shears.

Put all the goodies inside the cake bag. Lilly drew her a cute picture of a whale, fish and flower, and I left a handwritten note. If you're adding treats, now is the time!

Adorn with cute ribbon. I got this twine from Target on clearance. Score!

Then you're all set to gift! So cute, right? I love how it came out, and you can customize the card for whatever coffee shop you go to, whether it's a local place or a huge chain. 

Who wouldn't love to get this?!

Here's a little disclaimer for these printables... 

The original artwork I made for Lilly's teacher (in all these pictures) used graphics from the PuglyPixel blog. These clip art images aren't for distribution in any way, so if you'd like the exact printable I have, you're going to have to make it using the following links: kraft bag, washi tape, medallions. 

The credits for the files you're able to download: washi tape via Sweetly Scrapped, lined paper via ll. stock, and the 3 files I gave you are for personal use only, so no selling and such. If you're linking these up, please link from the main article, not the PDF downloads.