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Are your kids making Christmas presents?  

post #1 of 14
8/22/08 at 1:39pm
Thread Starter 
I'm trying to come up with some options for my daughter to choose from to make presents for our family.In the past I've just come up with an idea and set it up for her to do.This year she'll be 4 and I would like her to be able to be more involved in choosing things to make.

So,what are your kids making?

So far I'm thinking paper bowls,embroidery hoops(with her embroidery work in them),framed fabric art(she likes to sew),or maybe I could make a bag out of her fabric art,homemade paper stationary sets...
post #2 of 14
8/23/08 at 2:54pm
what about tie dye?

it would be fun for her to make the christmas cards that you send out this year also!
post #3 of 14
8/23/08 at 5:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by utopia760 View Post
what about tie dye?

it would be fun for her to make the christmas cards that you send out this year also!
Ooo yeah,tie dye is always fun.

And I like the card idea.She makes her own birthday party invites so I bet she would like to do Christmas cards too.

Thanks!
post #4 of 14
8/23/08 at 10:36pm
ah no problem!
post #5 of 14
8/24/08 at 4:57pm
Last year my dd painted some cloth placemats to give to her grandparents. The year before I got some foamy shapes that were meant to be strung up and she made garlands.

Still not sure what she is going to do this year. We've pressed some leaves and flowers, but don't really know what to make with them. I got 2 kids crafts books from the library last week and neither of them have things that she would like to make or that would be practical to give.
post #6 of 14
8/26/08 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by utopia760 View Post
it would be fun for her to make the christmas cards that you send out this year also!
DS made his birthday cards too. He loves to color and put stickers on paper. So we might make our own Christmas cards this year. Ds is only just two, so what he can make is pretty limited.

I was thinking of having ds make faux fossils for grandpa (he is a fossil hound) out of a flour/coffee dough. Ds could press some of his toy dinos into the dough and I could put a ribbon on it so it could hang on the Christmas tree.

For the grandmas, I am going to use an idea that someone gave me here at MDC several months back, when I asked for craft ideas with scrap yarn. Using white glue & water, we'll soak yard scrap in glue and then place them over a bowl, sort of like paper mache. When the yarn dries, we'll have a yarn-bowl shape. I though the grandma's might like it for the coffee table or something.

I'm looking forward other peoples ideas.
post #7 of 14
8/26/08 at 11:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2 in August View Post
Last year my dd painted some cloth placemats to give to her grandparents. The year before I got some foamy shapes that were meant to be strung up and she made garlands.

Still not sure what she is going to do this year. We've pressed some leaves and flowers, but don't really know what to make with them. I got 2 kids crafts books from the library last week and neither of them have things that she would like to make or that would be practical to give.
You could make window art or bookmarks with your pressed leaves and flowers by sandwiching them between two sheets of clear contact paper. My sis and I did this all the time!
post #8 of 14
8/27/08 at 8:20am
DD was recently given a set of paint for painting candles so I expect we will be giving a few of those this year.

I would imagine pressed flower would be nice glued round the bottom of a candle.

We will probably do some salt dough tree ornaments too. We made some last year for our tree, star shapes with glitter paint and they turned out well.
post #9 of 14
8/27/08 at 10:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by slsurface View Post

For the grandmas, I am going to use an idea that someone gave me here at MDC several months back, when I asked for craft ideas with scrap yarn. Using white glue & water, we'll soak yard scrap in glue and then place them over a bowl, sort of like paper mache. When the yarn dries, we'll have a yarn-bowl shape. I though the grandma's might like it for the coffee table or something.
My daughter and I tried this and had more trouble than I thought we would.The glue kept sticking the string to her fingers.We used a similar technique to make paper bowls though.We covered a bowl with plastic wrap and used watered down glue applied with a paintbrush to stick little pieces of paper all over the bowl.It takes a couple of layers with drying in between.

I was thinking of trying the string ones with starch but haven't done it yet.
post #10 of 14
8/31/08 at 11:05pm
We made these popsicle magnets last year and they were really fun:

http://www.diykids.org/index.php?id=19

A great multi-age project, since they can be simple or very intricate.
post #11 of 14
8/31/08 at 11:23pm
We do homemade teacher presents a lot of years. My kids love the melt and pour glycerin soaps that you can add your own herbs and such to. They also made very nice bath salts one year that we put in jars.
post #12 of 14
8/31/08 at 11:36pm
My friend's 3-yr-old son gave me a Mason jar with a cookie mix in it. They were great! He and his mom do a different cookie every year.
post #13 of 14
8/31/08 at 11:59pm
One year DS measured pancake in a jar stuff. I think he was 3 so it was perfect for that age. When he was 4 he poured paint into glass balls and coated the inside. He also made snowflake ornaments with 6 popsicle sticks glued together and then he covered both sides with white buttons. When he was 5 we made candles in tea cups.
post #14 of 14
9/1/08 at 10:37am
Thread Starter 
Great ideas!Thanks for sharing!
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