Gift Ideas ... the GROWING LIST ...add your ideas/instructions here! - Page 5

[wende]

I've decided to make bubble bath this year. I found the instructions here

I'm also making the kids a dress up box, bean bags, and...I guess they'd be neck warmers? Take a sock (my kids prefer toe socks, but any sock will do...you could even kool-aid dye them) and fill it with flax seeds. You can add essential oils to make it smell pretty. Sew up the top of the sock. You can then stick the sock in the microwave for about a minute and it will stay warm for 30-40 minutes.

[monocyte]

Been reading this thread for a while now, and I actually sewed today for the first time!!
I made 4 lavender/flax seed eye pillows in under 2 hours - found a super soft satin material with moons and stars on it- so perfect!!

Thanks for all the great ideas mama's - you all have me sooooo motivated!

[ruthieroo]

I thought I'd share a very cheap idea that was the first birthday party tradition in my family growing up.

Based on the idea that little kids frequently get more enjoyment out of the box that the gift comes in than the gift itself we just cut to the chase and made the box the gift! Only we put more creativity into it than that.

We would go to an appliance store and have them save us a large refrigerator box, or a couple oven boxes, depending on what kind of grand structure we had planned. Then my mom and us older kids would set to work on creating a playhouse. I remember doing a couple cute cottages with egg carton shingles and windows with shutters that opened and shut. (When cutting things out of the cardboard make sure to check that the edges aren't sharp. We taped off the cut edges with masking tape and then painted over it, usually.) We also made a rather elaborate castle with turrets, a working drawbridge and a painted stoney pattern all over. We had SO much fun doing this and the littlies loved to play in it: crawling in and out, opening and shutting the windows, etc. Since the whole thing was made of cardboard the walls of their own little houses were also safe walls for the kids to draw and scribble on, as opposed to the real walls of our house.

When they grow tired of it (or destroy it ) you can at least rest in the fact that it was basically a free gift so no money wasted, as most of the decorating can be done with recyclables and things you already had around the house.

[swebster]

I can't wait until my little bea is old enough to appreciate a good refrigerator box!
I passed one on the sidewalk the other day and *almost* brought it home just to decorate for myself....

Anywhoo....I have a great resource for wholesale organic t-shirts (americanapparel.net) and am planning on decorating a bunch for x-mas gifts this year.

just last night I thought of the most perfect idea for my brother and his family.

two adult tees with a cartoon slice of bread.
one child tee with a cartoon jar of jam.
one child tee with a cartoon jar of peanut butter.
Voila! A hug sandwich!

my nephew has just turned 4 and my neice is 2....i think they'll especially *get* it and think it's a riot.

when we were growing up, whenever we had a family hug our parents would say "look a hug sandwich"... I was usually the pickle

[fraya]

Brilliant!

[numom499]

Originally Posted by wende

I've decided to make bubble bath this year. I found the instructions here

I'm also making the kids a dress up box, bean bags, and...I guess they'd be neck warmers? Take a sock (my kids prefer toe socks, but any sock will do...you could even kool-aid dye them) and fill it with flax seeds. You can add essential oils to make it smell pretty. Sew up the top of the sock. You can then stick the sock in the microwave for about a minute and it will stay warm for 30-40 minutes.

does anyone have a source for sheap flax seed? Also, essential oils?? TIA.

[monocyte]

Flax seed at my whole foods is only like $1.50/lb, and I dont skimp on EO's so I dont know of any cheap sources.

[numom499]

thanks

[HotMama]

Originally Posted by wende

I've decided to make bubble bath this year. I found the instructions here

Where do you find the castile soap? Can you buy liquid castile soap?

I can't wait to have a bathtub to try these for myself We're remodeling and I don't currently have a bathtub

[sarasprings]

Dr. Bronner's is castile. Around here, they have it at our grocery store, even. I know some places have their own store brand, as well.

[bu's mama]

I get castille soap at Trader Joe's. Don't know if you have one near you.

[pammysue]

I am going to make a tent for my nephew who is 2 1/2. I am going to use the directions here in a fun fabric. Somehow, I will attach a front and back to make it more tent like (still thinking on this, but it should be easy). They go camping during the summer, so I thought it would be fun for him to play camping all year round, plus it could be a fun place to play quietly or read. And when he is not using it they can easily roll it up and put it away!

I am excited. Going to Joanne's with my 50% off coupon now!

PS: They also have a pattern for cute & easy fleece slippers here

[tofumama]

OMG!!!!

[rainbowmoon]

I found this pattern recently while searching for a quilt pattern. they look like they would make great gifts! (too bad hardly anyone I know sews) but I may have to make one for myself!
http://www.loopylace.com/crazyquilts...needlebook.htm

[rainbowmoon]

what a great idea!

Originally Posted by pammysue

I am going to make a tent for my nephew who is 2 1/2. I am going to use the directions here in a fun fabric. Somehow, I will attach a front and back to make it more tent like (still thinking on this, but it should be easy). They go camping during the summer, so I thought it would be fun for him to play camping all year round, plus it could be a fun place to play quietly or read. And when he is not using it they can easily roll it up and put it away!

I am excited. Going to Joanne's with my 50% off coupon now!

PS: They also have a pattern for cute & easy fleece slippers here

[AprilDaisy]

Here's my idea this year... Little Prayer Boxes
I went to Michael's craft store a couple of months back and came across little boxes (remember the boxes we used to use for pencils as kids for school....the ones that looked like cigar boxes....these boxes were the same kind, yet at least half the size) for 99 cents each. I bought two to decorate with rub ons and scrapbook paper to try it out. They came out so cute! I'm really happy with them and want to try to make everyone one this year.

Last year I made Angel prayer letters. Most of the family each got an individual letter written with prayers, thoughts, encouragement specific to each person. This was really personal and the women (men don't talk about such things) really liked them!

I love all the fabulous ideas posted here and some of them were ones I wanted to try myself (herbal lotions and salves), yet they didn't turn out well...so...never made it to the actual production line, lol.

Be Blessed,
April
Intuitive Medium

[swampwitch]

We are expecting our first child this fall, so for grandparents and great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and great-aunts and great-uncles, we'll be putting together mini-albums.

Fold a piece of 4"x12" cardstock accordian style so you have 3 panels. Put handprints on the cover, along with ds name and "Christmas 2006," and footprints on the last panel. If the baby is wiggly or generally won't cooperate for long enough, you can do this once and run copies, mounting the copy on the first and last panel (we've got a lot of these to make). On the other panels, we'll mount pictures of the little guy. All of our family lives somewhere other than where we are, so I figure this will be a nice and inexpensive gift.

For the nieces, I will be making hemp coin purses in which I'll put either some handmade earrings or a gift certificate.

[three beads]

I'm am doing a lot more sewing now, but some inexpensive ideas that I've done when I had less time were to buy up some premade halloween costumes when they were marked down after halloween and put them together in a decorated box for dress-up clothes.

Also, for birthday party favors, I have gotten child size white t-shirts, the little boy undershirts that come 3 or 4 in a pack and scanned coloring book pictures into the computer, printed on iron-on transfer paper, ironed onto t-shirts and gave each child a t-shirt and some washable markers, they can decorate their shirt each time before they wear it and then wash it out again, for the party each child had a different animal and I was going to play a game where each child pretended to be their animal.

[MelanieMC]

subbing & : !

[Apryl Srissa]

Something I did for my mom that she still loves was pretty easy. I got one of those blank book like the art stores sell (here AC Moore has them for $6), they are good sized, with blank pages. I typed up some poetry that I knew she liked, then scoured the web. I printed poems, prayers, stories, whatever she'd like. My dh did some drawings in it (though printed art would be good too). We filled it about half way. She was in tears opening it. Every so often, for a holiday, I'll just give her a folder full of new goodies for it. She has also added to it herself. I think it was the best gift I've ever given, it took a lot of time, and ink, but really little actual money

Loving all the other ideas on here. . .