Home Made Christmas Gifts

I had my two boys paint ornaments. You can get porcelin ornaments for about $1.00 each and the paint was not expensive at all. We made 20 ornaments (10 each) for about $30.

We go to the craft store every year and pick out stuff the kids can paint. For the 2 year old you can tape off areas of a wooden ornament that you don't want painted and then move the take to a new area when you want to apply a new color. When my daughter was 18 months we bought some balsa wood boxes that she painted. They also have great wooden mail sorter and trays. You can also order inexpensive kits from Oriental Trading company. We love it as it creates a longer holiday season and really makes my kids enjoy giving as much (well, almost as much) as recieving.

It has been mh experience that grandmothers and moms like anything that is hand made by the children. and guys like homemade cookies, which the kids could help you make. AF

What about home made ornaments?

Baker's Clay for making
Christmas Tree Ornaments
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup water
food coloring -- optional. Add to water, or keep plain and paint after baking
beaten egg -- optional for use with dough made without food coloring
shellac
wire hooks, bent wire, ribbons, etc., for hanging

Add food coloring to water if desired. Mix flour, salt and water together and knead until smooth. Roll out and cut with cookie cutters, shape by cutting out freehand, or cut using cardboard templates. "Glue" two pieces together by scratching the surface of one piece, brushing the area to be attached with water, and pressing the second piece onto it. Smooth over cracks with moist dough or water.

Make a hole in each piece through and thread through a hook or bent wire. These can be left in as the pieces are baking.

Bake at 300 degrees until set (1/2 hr to 1 hr). If you want a golden color to the pieces that aren't made from colored dough, brush with beaten egg when they are almost done baking and are dry (a golden color would be good for golden skin tones. For a darker golden color, repeat this process a few times).

If desired, paint totally cooled pieces with acrylic paint.

Seal all types of ornaments in shellac on both sides and let dry thoroughly.

Store ornaments in an airtight tin; keep very dry. They should last for years.

How about snowglobes with their pictures in them. You can get them for a couple dollars at Michael's.

How about Gifts in a Jar? You could purchase some canning jars and put a lot of different things in there and layer them so they look pretty. Then, just "fancy up the lid of the jar...The kids can help pour the ingredients into the jar. You can do bath stuff, cookies, soups, brownies, hot chocolate, pancakes, etc. Here's a link to a website with several suggestions:
http://organizedchristmas.com/index-gifts-in-a-jar

You can also google "Gifts in a Jar" for lots more websites! Good luck!

Hi S.,
With just being laid off on Friday, I as well am on a tight budget this year. I have decided to make photo albumns for the parents and grandparents. I have asked aunts and uncles and my sister to gather as many different photos as they can find. I am uploading and ordering my pics off Snapfish because they are only 9 cents a piece. I am going to use a coupon for a local craft store (AC Moore) to buy paper to make each page special. I am also thinking about making the albums with the fabric on them. Again, with the help of coupons. I am sure that families will love the thought of a homemade gift more then any gift you can buy.

Well, I’m sorry to say, I’ve not logged onto MamaSource in quite a while so my response is much too late for Christmas ideas but maybe it will come in handy for other upcoming Holidays, like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I own the Ceramic Zone in Willards. It’s a Paint Your Own Pottery Studio. You could make a plate with your children’s handprints for $12 each. You could even decide a different theme each year and make this your standard gift. Before too long, your relatives would have a set of dishes as well as a visual image of how fast your children are growing from year to year by looking at their hand sizes. The homemade cookies idea could be combined with the plates, too, since all of my ceramics are glazed and fired making them food safe. Just a thought….

Hello,

How about making homemade christmas ornaments, my kids made these one year and they made great gifts for the grandparents etc... The kids love to paint and color them and technically it is artwork.
K.

You can go online and search for Mason Jar recipes. You put all of the ingredients of the recipes in a jar and attach the directions. Jar decoration is optional. Is an easy enough do with young kids too.

Hi there, I have been thinking about this very thing. I haven't read your responses so I am not sure what everyone else said but I have some great ideas for this year and years to come. First of all I went to Shutterfly this year and spent $111.00 for 8 people and got mugs, mousepads, notebooks, and flip books. That was with shipping. I looked on line for promo codes and got like $50 off my order. I also read an article on this subj. and I liked the idea of a coupon or coupon book. It was for kids but grandmas and grandpas would love it. Stuff like 1 free hug or a date with grandma. One coupon was a day in charge of mommy. I have also made ornaments with pictures on them. I printed them on paper so the fitted to the ornament and decorated with stickers and things then put a varnish on the top. I have also made fariy doors and gnome homes. If you collect twigs and bark and pine cones you can fashion little houses and doors with hot glue and then string them on ribbon for a tree ornament. The kids will love to go searching for things too. That article was about how to spend more time with your family for the holidays. It had great gift ideas. It was really good I still have it if you would like to know more about it then send a messg and I will give you more info.

When my son was about 4, he picked out flat wooden shapes at the craft store (AC Moore, Joann's Michael's). We also bought glitter, self stick magnets and some inexpensive brushes and we let him go to town. It is a little messy - but nothing that can't be cleaned up. We squirted some white glue in a dish and let him brush the glue on the wooden shape and then he got to choose what color glitter to put on each shape. The only things that I did was to explain the process, help him set up and put the magnet on the back. Everyone who received one of these was thrilled and my mom still has hers on her fridge. (Yes, she did have to reglue the magnet - but what to expect after all these years. lol) (My son is now 21.)

I used to take family (or just the kids) pictures early enough to get back in time for Christmas and that is what we would give as a family gift...you could get a plain photo mat and have the kids decorate it and then place it in an inexpensive frame. I know our parents and grandparents LOVED getting new pictures every year! Another easy and inexpensive idea would be to get a holiday ornament craft kit and let the children make it to hang on the grandparents & great-grandparents tree. They can be used year after year and the kids love to see their "work" displayed.

Gifts from a jar. These are gifts of recipes that the kids can help measure out the sugar, flour etc. You can make recipes for cookies, muffins and even soups. Just go to google and put in gifts from a jar and many recipes will come up. Easy and affordable. I like getting them myself.

T.

One year my girls and I took baby food jars and covered them with colored tissue paper. We gave these to the grandparents and others. They use them today and just this week one grandmother said those were the best presents ever bc you made them.

Use an elmers glue and water mixture and paint that on torn pieces of tissue paper. Then overlap them as you wrap the glass. You could use other glass bottles too. I still use mine for my makeup holder. My mother-in-law uses hers for pencils.

Homemade ornaments are always a great thing for Christmas time. We usually sit down as a family every year and make some new ones. We have a ton of Perler Beads (those ones you iron), pegboards, and just have fun! We have even used these to make small ornament picture frames, and hot glued a picture of the family in it. It looks pretty! I know this may sound generic, but how about Christmas cookies? Kids love helping out in the kitchen...not to mention they love cookies! Get the ingredients (in our stores here, they sell Betty Crocker cookie mixes, for only a dollar or two, and each packet makes about 2 dozen cookies!). Also, to add to your homemade idea, we made our Christmas cards one year, using just an ink pad, and the girls' thumbprints! After making lots of thumbprints on the card, we turned each one into reindeers. If you search online, there is a ton of ideas for thumbprint art projects. Good luck, and have fun!
K.

Don't know if any of them have fireplaces, but one year when I was little, we collected pinecones, lined muffin tins with the paper, filled them halfway with melted wax (buy the cheap clear and melt crayola crayons in it to color it, and place a wick in it. then we nestled a pinecone in it. they look really pretty in an inexpensive basket, and are to be placed next to the fireplace abd used as firestarters.

If you mske the jares of mix, you can also make honey butter or herbed butter by softening butter and beating in honey, etc. can be placed in jars as well.

Thanks for asking this question. I LOVE the ideas. It seems Christmas is more about the amount these days then it is about the thought. I think it is refreshing that you want to do something meaningful instead of just spend a lot of money. Here's a few additional hints...

I bought 2 plates beautifully decorated square plates at JC Pennys on sale for $5.60 each. You can find beautiful, vibrant painted plates/bowls in many department stores, or discount stores (Steinmart, Marshalls, Tuesday Morning, etc). You can make some yummy desserts, cookies, pumpkin, banana or cranberry bread and give it on the plates. You can also sometimes find pretty glass dishes or baskets at the Salvation Army or other thrift store. We gave a beautiful painted plate to a grandmother last year, knowing that the colors in the plate were very similar to her decorating colors and she displays it on a counter year round. I feel a little guilty that it was only about $8 but it looks like it was $30.

Another idea... in recent years, I have found simple little calendars for sale ($1 at Michael's Craft store) that you glue in a picture for each month. Then you can give a special calendar that they can enjoy all year round and it costs you less than $5. You can also let the kids help you pick out a few of the pictures if you like.

Another idea... make blank note cards. If you go to the library, you should be able to check out a book on thumbprint art. We made some with the kids' thumbprints and put their name and year at the bottom. (Ed Emberley is the author we have and he shows step by step instructions of how to do it). I also like the other response about the colored hand prints. The kids can draw pictures on them and use water color too (don't let them get too wet or they'll curl). We're doing this for grandmothers this year. I found some cute little tins at a craft sale that we're going to put them in. I draw the details on the cards (turning the thumbprints into animals or people doing certain activities), but it's all the kids' prints and color choices. They love to see the finished product and pick out the images they want to make. I've used these for thank you cards too.

Also, check out warehouse stores (Costco, etc) if you have a membership (or know someone who does) or Snapfish online and see about their little photo books. You can create a coffee table book of your children's pictures, very easily. They also have mugs, bags (like a purse) or a mini photo book which I think was about $5 for a 2X3 book of over 20 pictures.

Terrysvillage.com has some photo tote bags. I haven't received it yet, but we're getting this for my mother's birthday. It has a 3 line personalized embroidery options and 8 windows for 4X6 pictures of the kids. We have 8 grandchildren in the family so this is perfect. It is only $13 but the shipping costs $6 if you don't have to express ship it. Better move fast to keep shipping down.

Good luck.
Liz

We love our Crayola Cutter. We make frames for pictures and drawings with it for almost every occasion. It's safe and easy enough for the kids to use and a trip to the dollar store should supply you with little extra stickers and foam accents to decorate the craft.
Merry Christmas!

Hello!

I also am on a budget this year, and I do have a few ideas for you!!
first, I went shopping at wal-mart a few days ago and saw these really nice picture frames with different sayings such as Love, Faith, Family, or Friends they were only $3.00!! You could always get them that with a picture of your little ones and maybe a nice pair of gloves or scarf or even house shoes!! anything to stay warm =)
also, another great gift- buy the popsicle sticks and make a Christmas ornament just glue the sticks in a square decorate them or have your kids decorate them place a picture of one or both the kids and make sure to place a small hole on the top of the picture to run a string through to hang (put the string in before you glue on the back) and then make another square to glue on the back! and there ya have it! im sure they would love it, its something from the heart! and also the kids will have fun!!
another great idea is to make their favorite type of cookies or maybe rice cripy treats or all kinds of sweets to put in a gift basket and wrap with that clear paper and tie w/ a ribbon.... lets see also, I found a scarf and matching gloves at wal-mart for $8.
oh yes, you can also buy some fabric maybe green and red to show the christmas spirit and make a little throw blanket... place the 2 diff. colored fabrics together cut the corners a little in a square about 3 inchs length and widgth then cut slits in the blanket maybe 2-3 inchs apart and about 3 inchs long all the way around the blanket and then tie each slit in a knott and there ya go a nice blanket!! OR if you know how to sew you could sew on a little santa or something!! just be creative!! maybe get some non-toxic paint and have them put their hand prints on the blanket and go to Michaels or if yall have a Hobby Lobby go there and get some fabric glue or paint (the ones that you use to write) they have all different colors and some with glitter too and underneat you can write their names under the hand prints and maybe try to have the 4 yr old write i love you merry christmas or something! I hope I was of some help... if you decide to do the blanket idea and the details are confusing just PM me and i can send you my number to explain better!! let me know what you decide to go with!!

Home made snacks and goodies are always nice. Or if you sew, an apron or pot holders. How about a warm blanket to snuggle w/ while watching tv.
Since we arent going out of town this year we will be sending the family a gift card to go out to eat with. But they have to ALL go as a family. They dont want us to send anything, but you know how you always feel obligated when they get you something.
The next time we go visit family for Christmas I am going to suggest drawing names, because it really does get expensive. WE have to buy for 2 sisters, a brother and now his new wife, 2 grandmas, a grandpa. 7 people. Its way out of hand. So I say draw names.
Breaking the bank and going into debt for Christmas, kills that holiday spirit.
One other thought is to save throughout the year, or shop throughout the year so you dont feel the crunch too bad.
Merry Christmas

OKay so this has nothing to do with your question but I just had to give you kudos about loving Pit Bulls and educating people about them. I get so frustrated when I watch these court shows and they bash them. It sends the wrong image of them. Okay that's it. oh if it's within your budget get pictures taken of them, and have the kids paint the frames. The kids will have fun and its a personal gift. Good luck!

Not sure if this is age appropriate... my cousin made me those homemade loom potholders when she was little. Aside from them being sentimental... they are my favorite potholders because they are not too big and bulky. Too difficult for your 2 year old to make... but maybe the 4 year old?

My son always makes something out of polymer clay for his aunts and uncles and grandparents. You can buy it at AC Moore or Michaels. It comes in colors. You bake it in your oven. When he was three, he made snowmen. We cut three chunks of white clay in the appropriate sizes and taught him how to roll the balls. He stuck them together and we made a hat (and pre-cooked it with a toothpick in it, so he could just put the hat on and the toothpick would secure all three balls of clay together. We also prebaked eyes and a nose which he affixed. We prepared a scarf out of clay and let him wrap the scarf around it. We went outside and found little branches (tiny ones) to make for the arms. I think we used a pin to make the holes for the branches. Then he slid them in. Last year he rolled the clay flat (with help) and used cookie cutters to make Rudolph ornaments. Again, we prebaked the red nose and eyes and he pressed them in. We tied it with gold thread and put his initials on it and the year. (we did that with the snowmen as well). He's also made beads for bracelets and strung them himself as gifts for teachers. You can use the cookie cutter idea to do magnets for the fridge as well. He chooses the color or mixes two clays to get a new color. We've even used the clay to make a picture frame which he decorated with sea shells from our vacation. We used a corrugated cardboard backing to give it stiffness. Good luck! By the way, I'm so glad to hear that you have pits! I have one, and she is amazingly loving!

Homemade ornaments are always good. There are loads of sites online with suggestions for Christmas crafts. I found a couple of homemade Christmas ornaments that worked really well for a group of Cub Scouts, and it was pretty inexpensive (I think we made about 30 ornaments for about a total of $25-$30). We personalized the ornaments a bit by adding a tag with a date and a 'from so-and-so' to the hanging ribbon. The particular ones we did are probably a bit much for your kids, but there are so many to choose from. You could even do cinnamon ornaments (I saw the recipe online). So, I would just google 'homemade ornaments' or 'homemade gifts' and see what you come up with. Good luck!

You can get unfinished wooden frames really cheap at Michael's or AC Moore. Have your kids pick out pretty seasonal stickers or other embellishments (glitter, rhinestones, whatever's on sale!) and decorate the frames. If you like, you can write their names on the frames with paint. If you have pictures of your kids, you can put those in, or leave them empty for the recipients to fill with their own pics. Or have your kids draw pictures for them.

I did this once for Easter and they were a big hit! I think the total cost was a couple bucks per frame.

My idea would be handmade notecards. You can buy a pack of 10 or 25 blank notecards with envelopes at Michael's or AC Moore for $5 (or less if you catch a sale). Then have the kids decorate them - you could help them do finger paint handprints on each one, and switch up the colors. If you have nice handwriting, you could write the words "Thank You" on some, or "Thinking of You", or "Happy Birthday", or "Get Well". If you don't like your handwriting, you could print out those phrases on colored paper, get a pair of scissors that have a fancy edge on them ($1-2 at a craft store), cut them out and glue them on the front of the cards. Or they could just be 'all occasion' cards with no writing. Give a pack of 10 to each set of grandparents.

My second suggestion would be photo coasters. Look around at Walmart, Target, Dollar Store, etc, to find clear plastic/glass coasters that you can insert a picture into. Take some fun pictures of your kids and place them inside. The neat thing is that these can be changed every year!

Good luck!

Pictures of your kids are great gifts! I know all our "grandmas" love to get new ones every year. JC Penney's has a great photo club. I think it's about $30 to join and it's good for 2 years. My sister in law and I have gotten pictures taken of our 6 kids for grandma each Christmas. We pay about $10 (total!!) and get enough prints for everyone to have some! Make sure you clip the coupons, because it keeps the cost down!!

We've done wooden cut out ornaments most years with my kids. They sell them at craft stores, then the kids paint and glitter them, and insert their photo inside. Cheap, and everyone loves them. We always make a few extra for our own tree so they'll have an ornament from each year when they grow up.

Well, with times being what they are everyone is tightening those belts. I am actually making Christmas cards this year with my children. We're taking our family photo and inserting them into the cards as well. It's cheap but, has tons of sentimental value. It's your own personal touch and they'll appreciate the fact that you took the time to actually make them something and not had given them a store bought card. It comes from the heart not your wallet!

P.S. I too have my pit bull back in TX and I totally agree with you about educating people about the breed. Happy Holidays!!

Ornaments are good! Michael's used to have porcelain ones, if you are good w/paint, just seal them w/craft spray when you are done...Plaid makes one, or you can get just plain clear sealer in the paint dept. at walmart. Or they have wooded ones to paint, too. Those might be good for handprints and the date. To write the date/name, you might want to get a paint pen too. To make them look nicer and last longer, you definitely want the sealer though. Or see if you can find the plastic balls and put their picture in and on the other side, red/green/blue paper and the name/date. Those are just my ornament ideas. I don't have much else! Or make cookies and put them in a tin w/your children's picture on it! I also like the snowglobe idea!

scarves are a good gift. My mom got some wool from the store and had us fringe the ends. Now we were a little older than your kids but if you got some fabric and had them decorate it that would work. Also, cards and paintings are cool too. Grandparents and anyone loves to get gifts from the heart from children. ANy craft that will work for your kids age group I think will be fine and beautiful.
A.