At my school the parents usually join together to give the teacher a gift voucher or something similar. My yr 5/6 from 4 yrs ago gave me a westfield card and I put it towards a massage thing which goes on a chair, I still think of them when I use it!
Last year my class gave me a pandora bead of a little boy and a little girl, a bottle of champagne and a voucher for a deluxe pedicure from a local beauty salon AWESOME!!!

I love getting a Christmas decoration or one of those personalised "teacher" ornaments/books.

I would steer clear of handcream, coffee mugs and soap!!