… are often home-made, especially for Grandparents and aunts.
When kids make gifts, they come from the heart. Like these scented sachets being made at home.
It started partly to be cheaper but it isn’t always the case.
What’s more important is that the kids put their time and love into it so it means so much more than some $5 soap or chocolate we could buy.
It also teaches them the real value and pleasure in gift giving. Aside from the giving bits, making gifts also entertains them in a positive way, teaches them crafty skills and IS FUN!
I’m looking for some new ideas for this Christmas, although we’re thinking of pots of herbs that the kids grow from seeds and maybe decorate the pots.
My children have already made…
- stepping stones
- dyed tea towels
- photo frames (thanks for that idea on a Love Santa letter!)
- painted pots of citronella candles
Has anybody got some other ideas they could share please?
What talents do your kids have? My son is great at drawing so we’ve done some beautiful framed drawings for grandparents, while my daughter writes them stories as that is her skill. This year, she’s writing a longer story and her brother is illustrating it to make lovely books.
But recordings of them playing an instrument or reciting a poem would be nice ideas, too.
An adorable Christmas handmade gift idea that I saw on a website, is to take 3 baby food jars. Fill the bottom jar with wrapped peppermints. Fill the middle jar with hot cocoa mix. Fill the top jar with mini marshmallows. Stack them like a snowman and use a hot glue gun to glue them together. Then glue on little black pieces of felt for the snowman face and buttons and make a hat and scarf out of paper or scrap fabric. It’s a hot cocoa kit that looks like a snowman. Cute, easy and cheap.
I love that idea, ACSAPA – thanks for sharing it!
Has anyone ever come across white chococlate drinking poweder? That way you could have an all white snowman 🙂
What a cute snowman idea ACSAPA.
My girls all have different talents so I have a stockpile of handmade gifts of love. These little trinkets from children mean more to me more than anything I could ever get purchased for me. Although they are grown I’m still amazed at what they come up with as adults.
I think your kids come up with so many creative ideas as adults, pocs, because they didn’t get stiffled as kids – too many people inadvertantly squash kids’ creativity so as adults many of us don’t think we can be creative or create for the pelasure of it unless we belivee it was be done well. I refuse to even ask my little kids what their drawing ‘is’ and concentrate on their efforts, the colours and their pleasure in creating it.
Kids give gifts from their hearts, this is so ture, they put all their love and time into maybe a drawing or maybe a poem, whatever it may be, they do it with so much love and care, that to me,its the best part of christmas a gift from a child! These gifts are priceless!!
It doesn’t matter what the end result is, kids do put so much into their efforts, don’t they?
Last year my son sang and danced to his favorite Christmas song..Feliz Navidad. He practiced this for about 2 weeks. On Christmas Eve we had my entire family sit down so he could present them his present. He was dressed up as Santa himself and wiggled and sang. It was a gift that they asked for again this year.
Beautiful gift – and story, Lisa.
Just proves it is not a big price tag that makes a great present, especially when it is from kids.
You’ve had some good ideas there, Sam. We’re decorating candles this year. I bought some white pillar candles and some puffy paint the kids cna use to decorate the candles with.
Makes a semi-practical gift plus the grandparents can use it and not have to store it long term, lol!
Hi SamJ,
Those are all great ideas, I have done them all too, so a few more suggestions that people have given me, are below.
One idea is making some small jars of jam or lemon curd or even potpourri.
I remember one year my mum sat my siblings and I down at the kitchen bench and told us that we would be making apricot balls and rum balls (without the rum) for my Great Grandmother on a nice, new platter- which she loved! ((and so did everyone else))
There are plenty of other things that you can do with your children, a few more last examples are:
– Painting a nice border around a mirror with a nice message in the corner for an aunt or grandmother
– Decorating a nice pot plant and planting the plant yourselves
– a Christmas “candy” jar with their favourite lollies and a nice personalised letter
– You could make place mats, or decorate bowls and plates ect.
– make a windmill
– Chocolate dipped peppermint sticks (Candy canes dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with nuts or sprinkles)
– “Hand printed” oven mits
– a canvas that you have painted with the children
– or even new aprons out of old men’s shirts
Hope this helps’ you and any one else looking for craft ideas :))
Thanks for sharing those ideas, Emily. There are lots of clever people and ideas out there and I love it when we can share the ideas so we can all be creative, have fun and still give nice gifts.
Speaking of aprons made from old shirts, I actually images yesterday of people making dresses from men’s old shirts, too! That is recycling!