Christmas Gift Ideas for the Family

I just ordered personalized note pads for some friends and neighbors through VistaPrint.com. You can add personalized cartoon like faces to the paper and write then names of each person or pet underneath. You can also order matching envelopes, address labels and a t-shirt. The notepads were like $5.50 a piece and the shirts were $8. It was something fun to put together and also different.

See how much it would cost to put the baby's photo on a T-shirt???? Then personalize each one for grandma, aunt, etc.

I buy an ornament for each one of my grandkids each year. I started it with my kids, then when they go out on their own I give them all but the first year's. Then they have ornaments for their first Christmas. Walmart has ones for just a couple of dollars that they will engrave. They are flat enough that I can mail them with their Christmas cards.

You could decoupage just about anything with cute photos.

We did this a couple years ago with an inexpensive battery-operated clock kit and used a wooden plaque as the base (I even managed to drill the holes myself, although husband did have to show me how to change the drill bits, lol). I put a 5 x 7 pic of the kids on the face of the clock and covered it with Modge Podge, let it dry, then put the clock kit together. Wasn't hard, although a little time-consuming because you have to be a bit of a perfectionist about placing the numbers. :-)

We've also done "block photo puzzles," like this one: http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2008/02/diy-block-puzzle.html

The only difference was that I used photos of the kids instead of illustrations from books. It may work better to scan and then print the photos onto cardstock rather than using glossy photos. I just used the photos, but it does take quite a while to dry between sides!

We've also framed a child's handprint along with a picture of them, and usually a calligraphed quote about children or something related to the picture and/or recipient (if your handwriting or calligraphy isn't good enough, you could always just print it out on the computer instead). For example, last year, we had a recent picture from a family birthday party of our youngest child sitting inside a big gift-wrapped box with a ribbon on his head, so we printed out "Children are a Gift from God" on parchment paper, mounted the picture onto the paper, and framed the whole thing. His grandmother LOVED it!

Wooden serving trays, small wooden crates, or clay plant pots are some other options--again, you could decoupage photos onto them, and/or let your son "help" paint them. All you really need to do is be sure the paint is appropriate for the item being painted (for instance, if you paint clay pots, you might want weather-resistant paint for outdoors, not just any acrylic "craft" paint). :-)

Of course, if you just mean inexpensive gifts to make, not necessarily using photos nor involving your son in the process... there are a TON of ideas on the internet! I'm sorting through several now. ;-)

HTH! Good luck!
--A.

On the Kodak Gallery web site (www.kodakgallery.com) you can upload photos and make return address or mailing labels with your recipient's photo on them. They are only $3.99. I did this for a holiday luncheon my aunt holds each year. They were a big hit.

I put all of my pictures on www.snapfish.com
They have many cute gift ideas that you can put the pictures on that are relatively inexpensive. My mom is really into golfing, so I got her a golf towel with my daughters picture on it. It turned out really cute!

My daughter did a really neat picture frame by taking a fairly wide, plain frame of the color you like and choosing a variety of buttons of 2-3 shades of a color that would accent the picture you were framing. She glued the buttons all around in random shape and order and is a beautiful accent to the room it's in. Use craft glue found at any dept. store.

I love www.kodakgallery.com. I am going to make one of their little scrapbooks for my mother-in-law for Christmas. It fits in the purse.

It will take you a while to upload your pics but once they are there, they are stored as long as you buy something every 12 months. I make a hardbound book for my kids each year. They are super easy and way easier than traditional scrapbooking.

For her first mother's day I put the twins foot prints in her card. She took them out and framed the foot prints with their picture. It is beautiful!

Hi D.. Each year, I try to do one "special" hand-made from my kids to the grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. One year I bought inexpensive potholders and painted their handprint on them and in paint-pen, wrote "A Helping Hand for Grandma". Another year, I made this inexpensive dough and shaped it like a circle and you have the child bear down and make a handprint. Then, I used a skewer to write the childs name and year and used the skewer to make a hole at top and once dried, tied a pretty ribbon on it. This year we bought clear ornaments from Michaels and filling them with a little fake snow and printing a picture. You print the picture small and then glue onto a red thicker piece of paper. My friend gave me the idea and the trickiest part is getting the picture into the bulb but she said she would show me how. If any of these are of interest to you, let me know and I can send you further details. Good luck.

Good Morning D.
I try to make something for my Daughter In-Laws every year for Christmas.
This year I made Tissue box covers out of plastic canvas and yarn they turned out really pretty and I also made picture frames as well that are just awesome looking.. (yes you can put 5x7 pictures in them)
I got the patterns off of www.freepatterns.com
I wanted to make the tissue box covers and frames in there favorite colors then I made one for a Birthday gift as well the Heart one that is on this site was a little bigger then I wanted it to be but the other ones turned out great.
It isn’t all that expensive to make you get 6 plastic canvas sheets for under 2.00 and then the yarn isn’t all that much either.
Right now I am working on a little box that I just made up myself for my Hubby to put his meds in .
You can fallow the colors on the site or do what colors you want.
This is the first time I did the plastic canvas.
I have made Candles before but that is a little more expensive to make. and time consuming.
And I have done cross stitch as well.
There are a lot of neat ideas on this site.
Really this is very easy to do and really nice.
Good luck
K.

If you go to the USPS website you can make photo-stamps with any photo. You could use the photos of your child with certain family members or just a single shot of your son...either way is cute and fun! Stamps are really necessary for most people and why not spice it up a little! The calendar idea is also really cute. My cousins do that every year and we love getting one!

He may be a little young for this, but last year I made handprint santas and laminated them for tree ornaments. I wrote the name and date on the back and punched a hole to put string through. They came out really cute and now we have a record of their little hands. I also made reindeer out of their hands and feet. I dipped their feet in paint and made a footprint for the face with the heel as the nose. Then their hands in paint were the antlers. I also wrote names and dates on these and put on google eyes and a red pom pom nose. Then I laminated them and put magnetic tape on the backs. Actually, laminate then eyes and nose. They came out really cute. You could either trace the hand and footprints or paint their hands and foot and use them as a stamp.

One year for Christmas we "made" picture frames for everyone. We just bought a frame that we thought each person would like and they personalized it by etching their name or something on the glass. This really isn't as hard as you might think. All you need is the etching cream, a stencil, and a small paint brush. You basically just secure your stencil on the glass (scotch tape works great), paint the etching cream on (thick works better), let it sit for a few minutes and then wash it off and put the glass back in the frame. Go to www.signsbysarah.com for some other ideas that you can do with vinyl lettering as stencils. Just remember though, you will be setting a standard with this Christmas for everyone so keep it simple and limited so you don't feel obligated to do gifts for everyone in the future.

If you want a crafty idea this decoration can be made with felt or paper for a special keepsake. It makes a reindeer/moose head using outline of your baby's feet and hands. Outline the foot for the head of the reindeer. Just go round the toes. That is the top of the head, heel is the chin. Draw around the hands for right and left antlers. Attach the palms with fingers angling up for reindeer, out or down for moose. I use glue but you can stitch it if that it your style. Draw or glue craft eyes and draw a mouth and chin at bottom.Reindeer have a small mouth and nose and the moose has a big grin. This is one of those crafts that can be used more than once as the figures will grow as your little one does. We made these for my mom when our kids were little. All the cousins were included so we would string them together for a special garland. We added to it each year and kept track of those growing feet. My son now wears a size 15 shoe so he definitely is a moose head and no longer a cute little reindeer. It is also an easy craft to make using paper if your kids in childcare want to make a gift for their Mom and Dad.

I watched Oprah and they were giving away a free photo book. You have to pay for the shipping but the book costs $29.99. If you go to Oprah.com and go to the Free photo book on snapfish.com. When you do the photos and when your ready to buy it, it credits you with the amount for the photo book. Have fun!

I did this for our little girl Gracie who is 20 mos. old.
Stacey

If you are going to take pictures why not send it to the walmart or walgreens and have something made for them like a calendar of his first year, coffee mug, mouse pad etc..

We don't have alot of money for presents this ear either so we are making a calander with my daughters pictures on it a different pic for each month

This idea requires some thinking, but not much craft-ability. I just feel that the best gifts always remind us what a gift we are to each other.

Since you are working with photos, why not consider painting a picture with words, but a picture of the inner qualities you appreciate in each of these relatives that you see the potential of in the child. You can write in the child's voice and say things like, "Dear Granpa, everyone says I have your eyes. I hope I learn to have your eye for humor (or wisdom, art, puns, etc., whichever applies). Or something like, "I seem to have your hands. I hope you teach me to use them with the same loving care you do." You can go for humor, sincerity, or whatever mood you wish.

Once you have written a special message to each person, you can print the picture on a strip of card stock and print the message on the back, and then laminate it to use as a bookmark, if that person likes to read. You can punch a small hole at the bottom and tie a ribbon to it. You could also print them on separate sheets for a folding frame or matching refrigerator magnet frames. Of course, for Christmas, you can always make it into a tree ornament.

You can also take the picture and the message and paste them into a nice blank book and divide the book into sections asking for information about that person -- their favorite color, sport, quotes, memories, books, music, stories about their life, special dates in their life, and (my favorite) the things you wish you had known before you grew up. Then you can present this gift with a card that explains that: "For my first Christmas, I am giving you an unfinished gift that isn't yours to keep. I am hoping you will finish this gift and give it back to me as your gift to me for my second Christmas. This way I will always have the gift you are in my life... every Christmas."

There are many differnet ways to play with this sort of theme. If you like the idea, I'm sure you will find the way that fits your family culture.

I've made some calendars for the family with pictures on it. I got some blank calendars at Michael's in the dollar section, I also noticed they have some at Target in the dollar section. Then you could either print off pictures or color copy them at kinkos or a place like that to put on the calendars. A very cheap and well liked present in our family.

It is always cute to buy calendars with the babies photos in it for 12 months, or a 5x7 photo and babies hand prints or footprints around it

You could have him paint pottery. Even though he's 11 months I think he'd still have fun making a mess. :)

You can always do gifts with your childs pic on it. But one thing that I made for my mom 4 years ago, and she as told me never to get her anything different, but this. I made her a scrapbook calendar. I use all the kids pics and family pics, and then I take a very pretty pen and write in the family birthdays and anniversarys and such. I start with a blank calendar I order from 'Close to my Heart' scrapbooking company, it runs about 8 bucks plus s/h which was $7more. Then I get the scrapbboking paper from Micheals craft store and a few other accessories to add on like pretty stickers and such. I am proud of this gift and it brings back the feeling of "making something' for a gift and putting thought into it, rather than finding soemthing she will like.

D.,
I am not that crafty either. I have come up with a bunch of craft ideas from www.orientaltrading.com. Also you could make hand prints for the grandparents. My mom and momther in law both still have thiers from my daughter and I did it when she was 2. She is now 5. My mom is asking for another one. So that will be my Mother's Day projects with both of my kids. I can get you the reciepe that I used if you want it.
L.

When my four kids were young, I bought inexpensive chef's aprons and after dipping their hands in poster paint, put their handprints on the bottom of it. You can put yours and your husbands prints around your childs, be sure to write your names and ages (in fabric paint) so that years later you will know. On top, you can put something decorative or a message. Or, if your parents (the grandparents) are into pictures, have your child draw and/or color a picture of your family (or anything), trace his handprint, add a small picture in the corner and frame it. It will be cherished for years to come. Have fun!

The web site snapfish.com has a lot of great gift ideas. We did really cute little scrapbook like photo albums or our daughters first year for the grandparents.

I would recommend maybe making something out of plaster-of-paris (sp?) like hand or foot (or both) molds and then carve the name and date or possibly merry christmas next to them. This would be especially great for grandparents. Another thing I have made for gifts in the past are yarn angels...you wind yarn around a book that is whatever height you want your angel to be. When you think you got enough built up on it, cut the yarn, slide it off the book and then tie another small section of yarn through the top loops to make a 'hanger'. Next take 2 more pieces of yarn and tie perpendicular around the entire width of all yarns to form first the head and then the torso. Last, cut the bottom loops so the 'skirt' is formed. You can use different colors of yarn for the tie strings to change things up. Yarn with glitter is especially pretty.
Best Wishes,
L.

My boys call my mom, Nanna, so we are going to make her a T-shirt that says "Nanna's Little Helpers" with a pic of the boys on it (iron on transfer) and their handprints beside their side of the pic. (Doing hand prints with younger ones may be easier when they are asleep)

Also, You can make great collages at those Kodak machines in CVS Pharmacy, My Mother-in-law loves those for gifts, you can add text and fun backgrounds, you can also take a picture of your tree and /or presents and use that as the background to your collage.

Good luck!
S.

We have our first grandchild in our family...and for Mothers Day they made something that I just treasure..it could just as easily be for any other holiday. Basically she did hand prints of herself, her hubby and the baby...Hers on one side, hubbys on the other and the baby's in the middle...the trick was...she used colors that when you combined the colors of hers and her hubby's...it made the color of the babies!!! (Yellow and Red make...ORANGE.....Blue and Red make PURPLE....see what I mean??)She took pictures of our grandson while they were doing the handprints and included those in the collage...it is really a nice gift!!!
Anything that you do will be loved by the grandparents...and they will understand that you are having to make your dollars stretch...as long as it has a picture of that grandbaby it will be PERFECT!!!
Merry Christmas!!!

Let me preface this by saying, yes, I'm a Creative Memories Consultant, but I'm only writing as a mom. In the past, I have made photo calendars and mini photo albums ($15 and includes all of the paper and stickers and instructions!). All have been requested each following year. I did use CM product, but I'm sure any scrapbooking, craft store will work. I have found that pictures are the best gift! Good luck!

They sell a blanket kit you an make. No sewing, you tie some material onto the bottom trim. Michaels sells it.
Or a scrap book of his first year. Articles of events print off from the internet. Famous people, things like that.
Have fun.....

When my daughter was about that age, I took several pictures of her and put together a calendar for the grandparents. I just bought glossy paper and printed the calendar right on there and then secured it with miniature keychain rings. The grandparents loved it and both sets still have the calendars. Fun, yet functional gift.
Hope you get some good ideas that will help you. Good luck.

One christmas I took some small unique glass bottles,(got at craft store)and put dried flowers in them and then you add baby oil. Then seal with melted wax or hot glue gun.

The flowers float and it is a nice nick nack or paper weight or what ever you want to do with it.

Hope this helps some.
D.

Hi D.,
A few things we do for Christmas is to make a calendar yourself (powerpoint for pics and word for the calendar part..just make sure you put the paper in correctly, or buy a calendar that you can just insert pics and be done (they have these at LTD)...both are fairly cheap.

We have also used snapfish.com and blurb.com to make little photo books with the kids pictures. The one we did at blurb was softback and with a discount (for like 5 or 6 books) was about $10-12 each. The blurb ones were hardback and probably like $20ish. We like blurb.com better because you load their program onto their computer...put in the pics/customize it..then you upload. Snapfish we had to do it all online, so if you have a connection problem and haven't saved, you could have a problem.

Hope that helps,
R.

For my daughters first Christmas I bought these really pretty ornaments from Michael's that you can put a little picture in. They were really pretty and not cheap looking. I kept a couple for myself and love looking at them every year and having them on our tree. I plan to do it for our new baby this year too!