Gift Ideas ... the GROWING LIST ...add your ideas/instructions here! - Page 2

[SquirelNutkin]

Thanks all for the ideas!

We went to someones birthday where the beach balls were the take home gift. It was great. The room was so festive looking, the kids loved throwing them around at the party, and thrilled to take one home.

The rice pillow- we made these last year for gifts, along with bath salts. They are so simple.
We sewed rectangles which were about 10 inches long, 5 inches wide- to go across the face- of breathable silk. Filled with flax seeds (they tend feel colder than the rice, but rice is cheaper) and rosemary and lavender. This was a great measuring chore for my 4 year old! Then sewed up ends, and made cards that suggested either freezing or putting in the microwave for hot. We got SO many complements, and my daughter truly helped. She was proud to give them out.

Kid gift- Pizza box. I took a pizza box, and lined with nuetral color felt all inside. Then cut out a round dough shape, and the sauce out of red felt (in triangles), than a bunch toppings. And the childs name. Easy, cheap, and ids from ages 2-7 have loved this game. You can include more items to encorage counting- like index cards asking how many mushrooms there are, or if you put 2 mushrooms on each peice, how many mushrooms do you need- if you are inclined.

thanks all, loving these ideas!

brenda

[MomOfCyan]

kids b-day gifts

I went to a friends dd's 1st b-day party and she gave out two rectangular magnets and a wooden top for each kid. The magents were made to be kids toys so they had colorful plastic around them and ALL the kids loved them. My daughter still plays with them and it's been a year and a half. You can take the magnets and place them above and below a thin table and make the magent magically move, they LOVE it.

[chalupamom]

I'm making doll stools for all my nieces and nephews this year.

Take one of those pre-fab wooden stools from craft store (I buy them through the year using Michael's 40% off coupons). Sand then paint whatever color. After the paint is dry I decopage an appropriate design - usually cut from a kids' book that I've bought at a yard sale.

My one niece is getting one with Tinkerbell and another with the "Princesses". My oldest nephew is getting one with airplanes all over it (cut from a childs' book about the Wright brothers).

I figure that each stool costs about $5.00 when it's all said and done.

[Bellaluna]

Originally Posted by indiana ima

I got a massage the other evening (ahh...) and the massage therapist had a hot rice bag that she put on my hips or lower back or wherever she wasn't massaging. She mentioned that they are easy to make, and I wondered if anyone has found instructions for sewing them on the web somewhere?

How about putting the rice in a long, cute sock and simply tying the end of the sock in a knot? (My doula did this for me). You can also put some dried herbs in with the rice like lavender and it will smell yummy. FYI - I tried putting lavender OIL in my rice sock - that's a no no...must used DRIED herbs.

[ian'smommaya]

i made these last year for holidays.
take two piecexs of nice cloth silk or cotton or hemp. about 8" x 5" each. sew them inside out together leaving about 2 " at the small end for fillinf. fill with rice, and herbs like chamomile, lavender etc. it should be about 2" thick when done., make sure you can more it easily and isnt so full. that you cant move or bend it easily. have fun
maya

[indiana ima]

well, a sock would be easier but i already have a stash of fabric i'm not doing anything with. so that part is basically free. socks aren't cheap - especially cute ones!

frugality is the name of the game for me on this. husband keeps telling me we have to spend a lot less, but he feels this big obligation to get everyone presents for christmas. even though we are jewish, for heaven's sake. (he converted and his whole family still celebrates xmas.)

anyway, i looked around on the web and it looks like something called "field corn" is the best choice for filling the bags, but i don't know where to buy it. any ideas?

[ian'smommaya]

feild corn you can get from farmers co-ops or a store like fleet farm. big bags it comes in. and is very cheap.
good luck
maya

[bluenail]

One quick note about sewing rice bags - I like to sew channels into mine. They help to keep the filler distributed evenly throughout the bag...and leave about an inch and a half of empty space at the end of the channel before you sew it up. That keeps the whole thing flexible.

[darsmama]

Hope that these ideas I found on the net (I am making them for Christmas for my family) are helpful!

Lavender Dream Salt Glow
1 Cup finely ground mineral sea salt
3 tbsp lavender flowers
1 Cup Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Jojoba Oil
10-15 drops Lavender essential oil

Mix all ingredients together until you have a smooth paste. Store in a glass Jar. Because of the salt content, this scrub has a LONG shelf life.

To use; Mix salt glow well prior to using, you will need about 1/4 - 1/2 a cup for one treatment.

Sit in a dry tub. Massage salt into skin in a circular motion, beginning with the feet and working in toward the heart. Pay extra attention to dry areas such as feet, ankles, knees and elbows. If you have problems with cellulite (Who doesn't), pay extra attention to those areas as well.

After you are finished, run the tub full of warm water, rinse the salt off of your skin, but allow the oils to remain. Soak and relax!

Your skin will feel soft and smooth, and you will feel relaxed and ready for bed!


I am going to buy some mason type jars, hot glue fake flowers, ribbons etc to the jar (decorate it) and give the above to my female family members for Christmas.

I'm also making mama cloth pads http://www.geocities.com/mytafadhali/mommypads.htm
for the women in my family. I'm going to include the following in a gift pack for my female friends and family members:

Lavender dream salt glow scrub
12 mama cloth pads
A tincture of chamomile
Rice pillow
I also figured I'd include a 'scroll' on parchment paper tied with a ribbon. On the scroll I want to list all the reasons why I them and things I admire about them.

I'd be jacked if someone made this stuff for me!


Loving the ideas!!! Please type more

[FireWithin]

stationary for Grandma

We plan on making cards for the grandmas, both of them are big letter writers. We will need to buy cheap blank cards.
The cover of the card will be a handprint of DS's hand in a colorful paint.
I will date and label the hand.
The back of the card will say: orginal work by ds, date.


I was also thinking of making wrapping paper gift, doing the same thing: lots of hand prints on a big sheets of paper. One the paper is dried, I will wind it up on an empty wrapping paper roll.

If only I can keep my toddler still while doing this!!!

[bu's mama]

Thanks for the great ideas ladies!!

Two other things I've done (I didn't see these on the list already)...

make a family book
I took pictures of people in the family (printed out from digital pix on the computer) glued them on unlined index cards & 'laminated' them between two pieces of clear contact paper. I punched a hole in the corner & put them all on a key ring. It's great for kids about a year, especially for a family like ours that's so spread out & not everyone is familiar. You can do 2 sets & set this up like a matching game (like memory - is that the name of the game?)
I've also done this just with pictures of babies from magazines (those American Baby magazines were good for something) when dd was totally into looking at babies.

stepping stones
The sell kits of these at craft stores, but you can also just buy refills of the cement mix & then put lots of stuff in them. I made one for my mother from dd for her birthday & she loved it. DD was 2 & she had lots of fun putting beads and stones and such in the wet cement. I'll probably do one for the in-laws for Christmas.

[rainbowmoon]

personalized calender!

here is something I want to do for xmas for the family modifying these directions a bit. this would be a great activity for the kids to do as is and they could include artwork and little messages, whatever!!!

i am hoping to make it a bit more fancy and make the calender on the computer though, and I have a laminating machine too for scrapbooking so I think that will work perfect for this!

directions>>>>A personalized calendar is a very simple but effective Christmas gift to make. All you need is a wall calendar (which are often handed out to customers by banks or insurance companies) and 12 pictures of friends and family, one for each month of the year. It would be ideal to select pictures that represent an event in the month, for example choose one of Halloween in October or a Christmas picture for December. Use rubber cement to stick the pictures to the calendar making sure that you cover the original illustration. If you cannot find any appropriate photos, try drawing your own pictures and illustrations. This will give the calendar a strong personal touch; a great home-made gift for Grandparents.

[happy2bmommy]

Something Really cute that my SIL made for us last year:

Painted Salt and Pepper shakers!
She bought the mini square kind, plain old glass, but you can get the kind that resturants use really cheap at Sams.
She painted a gingerbread man on the salt, and a snowman on the pepper. It was Tres cute!

[happy2bmommy]

Another idea from SIL

She had a birthday party this weekend, and frogs were the theme. She painted a little frog with fabric paint on washcloths for each child, and packaged them with a little frog shaped soap that she had made. This could be done with nearly any theme, and it was SO cute!

[stretchmark]

I had a few ideas, didn't have time to refresh my memory as to what has already been posted but here goes:

personalized dish towels- either painted or stamped or what ever
painted coat holders (like those stars with hooks on the end and you paint the wooden star part)
pot holders, wither sewn by you or buy white/plain ones and decorate
buy a wooden unfinished morror and decorate
photo frames too

For my DD, I just found some 'kid sized' clothes pins at Wal-mart (i know it's the only store in town) and I am going to make a little drying rack with clothesline in between (simmilar to the one in this months mag) so she can have her own mini-version of mamas. I may paint the clothespins or something. Then I am going to find her a washing tub and laundry basket to go with it. Maybe a washing board if I can find one. This whole thing should be pretty cheap, and since I have a carpenter husband, easy too.

Can't think of much else today.

[Scout]

These ideas have really inspired me!! Thanks to all!

I just wanted to share a great web site I found, in case any of you don't know about it.

www.snowdriftfarm.com

It has great recipes for bath bombs, soaps, lip gloss, etc., and they sell all the supplies.

Just thought I'd share....

~Scout

[ian'smommaya]

thanks for the link it looks great.
maya

[stretchmark]

I think I am going to also make a storybook for my kids with pictures of them and the story of their life.

[laurabfig]

OK, I haven't read every post here, so sorry if this is a repeat but I had to share this AWESOME and CHEAP holiday gift idea!

This is an easy project to make those cute little wine glass markers that you can put on the bottom of a glass of wine at a party so that you don't lose your own glass.

Get some thin gauge wire (maybe jewelry-type wire) and some cute beads. Cut the wire about 8-10" long. Fold one end of the wire in a teeny-tiny loop so that the beads won't fall off when you string them. String beads onto the entire length of wire in any pattern you like. Fold the final end of the wire over to hold the beads on. Roll the wire with beads into a little spiral. Make 8-10 different ones for a set.

I am doing this for everyone I know who likes to entertain. Hope someone else enjoys this idea too!

[be11ydancer]

I'm going to make Kassidy a crayon case and colored pencil case:
http://www.waldorfresources.org/gall...pencilcase.php

Maybe if she has something nice to organize her crayons and pencils in, she'll be more likely to take care of them.