Any holiday gift ideas made by kids?

[baileygirl]

I like to give the grandparents a gift made by ds (who will have just turned 3). Last year I got a wooden Christmas tree from Michaels and had him paint it green. Any ideas for something fairly easy that would be made by him (not me)?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Last year my boys made hand towels and table cloths for family by stamping their hand or foot prints on them. For the table cloth we also painted some things on it. We made a Christmas tree out of our family's handprints. Family Fun had a ton of cute handprint ideas that we used. The projects turned out really well. :)

Beth

[sunriseiz]

I like to give the grandparents a gift made by ds (who will have just turned 3). Last year I got a wooden Christmas tree from Michaels and had him paint it green. Any ideas for something fairly easy that would be made by him (not me)?

We have done Christmas ornaments like you did the tree. Actually, we've done this a bunch now :) I probably need to find something new!!!

[ourbabygirl]

You could also have the kid(s) do handprints on a ceramic plate or platter at one of those paint-your-plate places, then bake Christmas cookies together (take photos to document :)) and present them on the plate, wrapped up in decorative plastic wrap and ribbons.
The handprints on an apron would be cute, too, for a grandparent who likes to grill, cook, or bake.

[Fairy]

I do alot of those wooden boxes at Michaels, and then let him color or paint them and glue on the "treasures" for them, which are the little wooden apples or schoolbuses, etc. Then I let him put a treasure inside the box -- those little gems also work.

You can do suncatchers from Michaels and have DS paint them.

For Xmas every year I do a flip calendar with a picture of DS in each month and put all the family holidays and bdays in there (www.vistaprint.com). It's not hand-made by DS, but it is very DS'y. The GP's love them.

[brittone2]

DS was 4 last Christmas and he made candles out of rolled beeswax sheets (purchased in a kit locally w/ wicks included). They turned out really nice actually, but that's probably pretty tough for a 3 year old.

He also decorated some pillar candles for other relatives using the modeling beeswax from Stockmar. You can use little cookie cutters on it, you can form it into shapes, etc. and apply to a candle. That still might be a bit challenging for a 3 year old though...it takes a lot of working with the wax to get it warm and more flexible before it becomes moldable.

[kristac]

We got clear glass ornaments and poured (watered down) glue inside. Shake. Then add sparkles. Shake. Leave upside down to drain. We tried adding stickers to the outside but they did not hold well. Next time maybe we will try glass rub on transfers if we are feeling brave.

[Fairy]

We got clear glass ornaments and poured (watered down) glue inside. Shake. Then add sparkles. Shake. Leave upside down to drain. We tried adding stickers to the outside but they did not hold well. Next time maybe we will try glass rub on transfers if we are feeling brave.

Oooh! Ooh, I like this.

[Gena]

For Xmas every year I do a flip calendar with a picture of DS in each month and put all the family holidays and bdays in there (www.vistaprint.com (http://www.vistaprint.com)). It's not hand-made by DS, but it is very DS'y. The GP's love them.

I did this last year, but I used www.snapfish.com (http://www.snapfish.com) to create my calendars because I can pick them up at my local Meijer store. The calendars were a huge hit with the grandparents!

[Piglet]

We bought white cotton aprons and shopping bags at the hobby store and some Crayola fabric markers and the kids coloured them for the grandparents last year - they all LOVED them! MIL carries the bags with her all the time and my dad wears the apron anytime he cooks.

[MamaKath]

We bought white cotton aprons and shopping bags at the hobby store and some Crayola fabric markers and the kids coloured them for the grandparents last year - they all LOVED them! MIL carries the bags with her all the time and my dad wears the apron anytime he cooks.
We decorated canvas sacks for the Grandmas' to take grocery shopping. We made 2 each and then 1 each for the aunts/godmothers. We included something similar to this (http://www.spacesavers.com/carryall.html) to help them carry the bags when filled.

Other ideas are painted plates (the dollar store often has plain white plates you can use) or plain tiles that you paint. Decorating towels, pillow cases, table cloths is fun. Lots of ideas for things to make can be found at about (http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/giftstomake/a/071702a.htm) and also at many of the frugal/thrifty sites.

An activity I am trying with my kids at school is bread ornaments. You cut out white bread with a cookie cutter and make a hole with a straw. Let them dry about 24 hours until they are hard. Paint with white paint (seals them) and let dry. Then let the kids decorate by painting.

I am looking forward to making more things this year, I think many people are also more open to handmade gifts this year because of the economy.

[ciw]

To those of you who have done children's handprints on canvas (tablecloths, tote bags), what brand and type of ink or paint did you use? How has it held up in the wash?

[ciw]

Oh, and also, where did you find the tablecloths?

[jgenie]

Last year my boys made hand towels and table cloths for family by stamping their hand or foot prints on them. For the table cloth we also painted some things on it. We made a Christmas tree out of our family's handprints. Family Fun had a ton of cute handprint ideas that we used. The projects turned out really well. :)

Beth

What type of material did you use for the tablecloth?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I bought a 100% cotton, white table cloth. It was "hotel" one from Target.



I just bought fabric paint at Jo Ann. Whatever they called fabric paint was what we used.

BEth

[jgenie]

I bought a 100% cotton, white table cloth. It was "hotel" one from Target.



I just bought fabric paint at Jo Ann. Whatever they called fabric paint was what we used.

BEth

How has it washed? I wanted to make one for my mom for her bday, but it didn't happen. I want to put DS' hand and footprints on it and then mail it to my SIL w/ the paints so she can add her kids too. I thought we could add prints every year and it would be neat to see how they grow. Maybe if I start now I can have it in time for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year. :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

I washed it before we painted it. The big problem was that I was never able to make it as nice and pristine again. I tried to iron it but I have bad ironing skills plus it's huge so even more tedious to do. It looked fine, it was certainly passable. It just could have been better. I haven't checked to see how it washed up after that though. We just gave it to MIL last Christmas and I don't know if she has had an occasion to wash it. Sorry!

Beth

[Piglet]

We used Crayola fabric markers and traced the kids handprints. For painted stamped handprints, it would have to be something pretty non-toxic while also pretty permanent... not sure what fits the bill!?