Teach Christmas Tote Bag Snowman Gingerbread Sleigh Candy Cane Embroidered Style

TEACH Spelled Out in Plaid, Cable Knit, and Polka Dots

The word on this tote is built one letter at a time, and each letter wears its own fabric. The T is red gingham with a big bow on top, the E is cream with holly sprigs, the A looks like cable knit, the C is red with white polka dots and a wreath, and the H is a brown houndstooth. Underneath them, a snowman in a knit hat stands beside a little tree, a sleigh heaped with presents, a gingerbread man, and a candy cane, all sitting on a bank of stitched snow.

Our Teach Christmas tote bag is made for the teacher who carries the whole season in her arms by December: the class gift bags, the stack of holiday cards, the grading she swears she will finish over break. The embroidered style gives the design a patchwork look, as if someone had cut each letter from a different holiday quilt and sewn it down by hand.

A Snowman, a Sleigh, and a Gingerbread Man Along the Bottom Edge

The scene along the bottom is where the design gets playful. The gingerbread man has a tiny red bow tie and icing smile. The sleigh is parked mid-snowdrift with its gifts still stacked up, and the candy cane leans against the H as if it wandered over from the last day before winter break. A kindergarten teacher might spot her own classroom in it. So might a fourth-grade teacher whose students hand her a mug every year.

The black background lets the reds and creams stand out, and the stitched outlines make each piece look raised. It suits a teacher who likes her holiday style warm and a little old-fashioned. A paraprofessional, a school librarian, or a teaching assistant would carry it just as well.

We think of this tote as a December companion. It goes to the last staff gathering of the term, rides along to the school concert, and holds the leftover cookies on the drive home. Teachers carry a lot of holiday cheer for other people, and this one carries a bit for them.

Who Else Would Carry a Teach Tote Bag With a Gingerbread Man?

Anyone who works in a classroom or loves someone who does. A homeschool parent, a tutor, a student teacher finishing a placement, and a retired teacher who still keeps a box of holiday books all fit the word on the bag. The Christmas details also work for a teacher swap gift, a classroom parent’s thank-you, or a December present from a grown-up student who never forgot her.

Wherever the school year takes her next, the gingerbread man will be tucked in beside the sleigh, ready for the next first snow.