If you want low(no) cost decorating for a luncheon I have one:

Another lady and I brought in our collection of fine linens(tablecloths, napkins)along with items to do centerpieces that coordinated with the linens, and did all the tables in the teacher's lounge. The teachers absolutely loved it! It really dressed the place up.

The teachers at our school have asked to not receive the gifts, but would rather see the library reeive money so their students will have new books to choose from. We honored this request last year and it was very appreciated!

Our group has a bulletin board up in the lounge that says "What can PTO do for you?" and then slips of paper so that they can write what they need. We go through every couple of days and take care of whatever.

We also try to watch times like ITBS and writing tests and then make a point of seeing what those teachers need.

We usually go in on Fridays and grade for a particular grade. today was 3rd grade and we graded all the tests they gave today. i have all sorts of stamps and stamp pads and stickers, and we ended up having fun with all of them. they were sooooo happy--every little bit really adds up.

Hey Worm 23,
Our school did not have great financial support to give our teachers and staff, so we did a big surprise for our teachers and staff at the end of the year.

Our PTO Board members went into their staff lounge after hours and cleaned their breakroom. It was amazing how dull and dirty that place was.(Not that they don't clean after themselves, the place just gets used and overlooked).

It was a small idea that made our teachers smile from ear to ear.

Some of the things I did were mostly free, except for supplies, and involved the students. The teachers really seem to love things from their kids. Here are a few that worked great:

Poster Board Thank You Card: The week before I sent a 3x5 index card home with each student (the neon ones, for color!) with a letter asking them to write some words and/or draw a picture for their teacher. They should write their name and teacher's name on the card too then return it to school in a plain white envelope marked PTO. Then my team taped the cards to the poster boards and hung them on each classroom door so the teachers saw them when they got to school that day.

Snaps Jar: Again a week before, I sent a letter home with kids and asked them to complete the sentence at the bottom of the page:
My teacher is GREAT because ___________________.
They write their name and teachers name on the top of the letter and return it to school in the plain envelope. I collected them, cut the sentences out in strips and put them in little decorated gift bags for the teachers. They loved seeing all of the comments and trying to guess which students said what.

Flower Bouquet: (I didn't do this but a friend did.) She sent a note home asking each student to bring one flower of any kind to their teacher and put it in the vase on his/her desk. She got to school early and put a plain vase (cheap when bought in bulk) with some water in it on each desk. As the students came in for the day they each went up to the desk and put their flower in it. By the time the first bell rings, each teacher has a beautiful bouguet of flowers!

I should note that these three projects work best for classroom teachers only. It takes more effort to include resource teachers (PE, Library, Music) but worth it to make them feel appreciated too. For example, for the snaps jar, I had a stack of the letters and went around the playground at recess time and asked students to jot down something about one of their teachers, letting them pick which one. It took time but over a three day period, I had lost of strips to fill bags for the librarian, both gym teachers, the computer teacher, etc.)

crewchief- Thank you for all your help!! The places I got to help I do go to and I am a member of a couple of them. I understand they all can't help as much as I would like them to. The fact that they do helpout other people is really good but the ones htat don't help out at all really makes me mad!! Teachers are very improtant! Right now I am having alot of fun!! Since your around here now, I was also woundering what other themes there are that wouldn't cost as much. I really want to to the hawaiian one but I also wanted to do do good ones with the monthly lunches the we do that wouldnt cost alot we have a small amount of money!