Most teachers I know have closets and shelves full of sweet gifts from students. Coffee mugs, earrings, ABC pins, perfume, more coffee mugs, etc. Personally, I loved the handwritten notes. They were easy to save, and I still enjoy reading them years later. Once, I received a bottle of perfume that was half empty and stamped "tester". Another unique present was a handmade, giant candy kiss covered with tinfoil. It was made of clay and had an opening for little candy kisses. The girl that gave me this knew that I loved chocolate.
One year the parents had each of my students write me a letter and made a scrapbook with the letters and pictures they had taken throughout the year. The scrapbook was a complete surprise and such a thoughtful gift.
If you are looking for some meaningful ideas for special teacher gifts, Joanne Meier over at Reading Rockets has a post you should read.
Two of Joanne's suggestions would have made my day when I was teaching, so I am sharing them here.
Donate a copy of your favorite read aloud to the class. Teachers are always looking for tried and true read alouds. If a book worked for you, it might work for the class too!
Gather a few kids from the class. Have them look through old magazines and newspapers for words and pictures that remind them of their teacher. Cut and paste to make a gorgeous collage.
Since teachers always need more books for their shelves, parents donating books for that age level could make it into a class project. Perhaps parents and their children could also write short book reviews for their donated books inside the books to be read by other students throughout the years. Imagine the excitement if students saw a familiar name (brother, sister, friend) with a review in a book they had chosen to read.