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It is almost time for Christmas shopping, so I thought I would start a thread about interesting, homemade-ish gifts for kids. I have a few suggestions and would be interested in anyone elses.
This year, we are giving our boys (6 and 2) dress-up clothes. I have been picking up Halloween leftovers: a doctor costume, a knight costume (we already have one, so now they can both be one), two sets of eye patches and clip-on hoop earring, a cowboy hat, a pirate hat, some Harry Potterish glasses. I plan on getting some colored hankies and making them each a cape and hopefully getting some eye masks. The young one loves to dress up and the older one loves to do pretend play/adventures. This will also let me buy things from garage sales/thrift stores easier.
Last year my mom put together a craft bag for my oldest and had a lot of fun doing it. My sister is thinking about putting together a science experiment box for him this year.
Do any of you have interesting ideas to pass along?
We bought wood, velvet, some dowels & closet rod hangers and made the kids a puppet theater last year (looks SOOOO much nicer than what you see out there).
One of their favorite "toys" is a giant whiteboard (6'X4' approx) that we picked up at a yard sale for $7.
Such great ideas. I am really looking forward to reading ideas...
I'm sorry to say that I'm completely blank. My kids only receive two to three special gifts from Santa and the rest of our "family gift money" is given to a less fortunate Military family.
I love the idea of the craft box! Last year, Santa brought our girls a couple of inexpensive ceramics, paint and paintbrushes in their stockings.
One of my favorite small gifts to give children is a pack of multi colored pipe cleaners. They can take them anywhere to make crazy fun things. They don't make any noise which makes them ideal for church, car, dinner table for big, long holiday dinners. Always a hit if I take a pack with me to a friend's house for their kids.
We bought wood, velvet, some dowels & closet rod hangers and made the kids a puppet theater last year (looks SOOOO much nicer than what you see out there).
I have been wanting to make one of these for a while, as well. Was it pretty easy?
This year, we are giving our boys (6 and 2) dress-up clothes. I have been picking up Halloween leftovers: a doctor costume, a knight costume (we already have one, so now they can both be one), two sets of eye patches and clip-on hoop earring, a cowboy hat, a pirate hat, some Harry Potterish glasses. I plan on getting some colored hankies and making them each a cape and hopefully getting some eye masks.
I have one little neighborhood boy who is always "dressed up". Sometimes it's batman, sometimes a power ranger, sometimes a suit (complete with a jacket and tie, even in summer). This passed summer we had a new family with lots of little boys, and ALL SUMMER there were superheros running around EVERYDAY!
My youngest saves his money and buys himself star wars action figures. We recently gave him a box (Uggs boot box that was rather large and sturdy, but also a bit flat) filled with sand and rocks and sticks. He sits and plays with his action figures in that box for hours! We are careful to put the lid on once he's done - we have cats and don't want to risk them mistaking it for another kind of box!
He also collects Webkinz. I am teaching him to sew - just basic needle and thread - and we are having fun making homemade webkinz clothes and costumes. Before we started this, he would make their clothes and costumes out of newspaper or construction paper. We are mostly using felt - I found a huge stack of felt for super cheap in a markdowns bin at the fabric store.
Other ideas: homemade scented rocks, homemade flower pencils or bobblehead pencils, hand-sewn comfy blankets, homemade fluffy giant fleece pillows to cuddle with (maybe in the shape of a sun or star or bear or something...), make them some easy-sew flannel pajama pants with a fun print, create a scavenger hunt for them to have fun doing on Christmas day, make them a lulu press memory book or personalized storybook, handmade cozy quilt from clothes they've outgrown, personalized stationary with prestamped enveloped (print, draw, or stamp them yourself), personalized christmas tree ornament (make it a tradition, do one each year), handmade stocking, "cookies in a jar" mix, a chocolate cocoa gift - include marshmallows and peppermint sticks a mug and hot cocoa... handsewn backpack or rucksack (certain styles are pretty trendy right now, might be good for a teenage girl especially)... blank journal with personalized cover (draw the personalization yourself or stamp it...)... maybe a handwritten book of quotes or starting a journal that you and the recipient of the gift pass back and forth answering ten questions about each other... homemade cookies or cakes or quickbreads... everything they need to build their own gingerbread house... homemade play dough (numerous recipes on web)... homemade face paints or lip gloss or pretend glitter makeup... homemade soaps (buy clear glycerin bar soaps, shave them, melt them down, pour them into fun molds, you can add fun things inside them as well like tiny toys or bouncy balls or plastic flowers, etc...)
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