8.12.2011

Cookies for Coaches {Free Printable}

Alternate Title: CD Cookie Sleeve Gift

Kate had her last week of "swim team"
It was at our neighborhood swimming pool and it was the pre-swim team program for kids ages 3 to 5. They had 30 minute "practice" 3 times a week (where they learned to swim).
Each kid had 1 on 1 swimming instruction from high school & college aged kids.
It was basically swimming lessons, but they called it "swim team"
It was a great experience and Kate's swimming has improved SO much this summer.
She can actually swim!
I can't wait for both girls to do it next summer!
I was so appreciative of the coaches and I wanted to give them a little something as a thank you. These high school kids (coaches) are members of the actual swim team & they volunteer to coach the little swim team.
There were 12 coaches that helped with the pre-swim team, so I knew I needed to do something that wasn't too costly. Originally, I wanted to get them all either $5 Jamba Juice cards or a $5 iTunes card, but with 12 coaches, that was going to add up quickly.

Since Kate & I both love to bake (and high school kids love to eat) I decided to make them chocolate chip cookies and put them individually in a CD sleeve with a thank you sticker that I designed.

Here is what I used - CD sleeves, 2 inch scallop punch & then I printed out the design that I made (in Photoshop) onto sticker paper.
(I had all these supplies already. Perfect for Procrastinators like me!)
\\Close up of the design. Blue & Red are the swim team colors.
Punched out with the 2 inch scallop:
Then, I stuck the stickers to the front of the CD sleeve:
I made my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.
But, I made the cookies bigger and baked them in my muffin top pans because I wanted big cookies!
Once the cookies were cooled, I one in a CD sleeve to see how it looked.
Almost immediately, I noticed the (butter) grease from the cookies was leaking trough the sleeves.
My solution?
I put each cookie in a clear sandwich bag and then put it in the CD sleeve.
Worked like a charm!
We loaded up our cookies into a basket & then headed off to swim team.
{Originally, I was going to wrap each CD sleeve with baker's twine to make them look cuter & more finished looking, but then I realized that these are high school kids (mostly boy coaches) and they could CARE LESS what the packaging looked like. All they care about it the cookie. So, I stopped myself from wrapping them up, even though the OCD in me was dying.}
These were the perfect little appreciation gift and I will definitely be making them again for a teacher gift, coaches gift, dance teacher gift, or even a shower/party favor.

So, if you need a last minute quick & easy gift, these are perfect!

The coaches loved them & Kate was so excited to give them out to her awesome swim coaches.

I am planning on making these during Christmas and handing them out to neighbors, Sunday School teachers, our mail man & their gymnastics coaches!

******UPDATED with FREE PRINTABLE!!************
I made 3 versions for you.
One for swim coaches:
{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}


One for Teachers:
{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}

One that is blank & just says "Thank You"

{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}

I printed them on sticker paper & then punched out the labels with a 2.5 inch scalloped punch.
{You could also print on normal paper & attach to the CD sleeve with double stick tape or washi tape}

24 comments:

  1. yes we do love to eat.
    im sure the coaches loooved them !

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  2. Great idea! I love it! I might use this for Teacher appreciation week for the whole school staff, so great!

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  3. Such a good idea. Never would have thought to use the CD sleeves

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  4. These are so very cute! I am currently looking for a photo editing software and would love to know what you use.

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  5. love this, mel!!
    and i am officially under a rock, i have never seen those pans.
    must get big cookies now!!

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  6. CD sleeves? That's awesome!!! I may have to do that for ladies at church!

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  7. I hope you don't mind, but I simply must steal this idea!

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  8. Great idea! I think I'll make these for my grade level teachers as a welcome back to school. Thanks!

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  9. Where did u get your CD sleeves?
    Thanks!
    Lori

    gobblegang@yahoo.com

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  10. Mel, those are so cute and delicious looking. I bet the coaches were super happy to get them!

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  11. Love it! Will be bookmarking this idea for sure. This was the summer of swimming for us too! Lacey is a fish now - it is amazing what a couple of months will do. Good luck with the start of school and enjoy the time you have left! I keep thinking about next year this time when kindergarten will be upon us. Time flies!!

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  12. My daughter and I made these cookies yesterday- it's unanimous, they're our new favorite! thanks for sharing!

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  13. This is such a good idea! :) You can never go wrong with chocolate chip cookies!

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  14. great idea, thanks for sharing. Pinned it!!

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  15. I love the cookies you made for the swim instructors. Where did you get the CD sleeves? Can you just buy the sleeves somewhere? I may have to look into this gift for the future school year!

    Thanks - Stacey
    csfish@roadrunner.com

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  16. I got the CD sleeves at Office Depot. They also have them at Target or Staples!

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