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- Written by Kimberly Blaker Kimberly Blaker
As the holidays approach, are your grandkids scrounging to buy gifts they can’t afford?
If so, here are some fun craft ideas you can work on together next time they visit that are great gifts your grandkids can make and give.
Tell a story with photos. Create a memory page to add to a friend or relative’s scrapbook. Buy a package of blank scrapbook pages. Then choose a theme such as “my best friend,” “sports car shows,” or “when I was little.”
Design each page using stickers, markers, colored pencils, construction paper, photos, magazine pictures, and fun sayings or descriptions that fit their theme.
Present service coupons. Offer a free evening of babysitting, a week of taking out the trash, making their sister’s bed, pet sitting, lawn mowing, ironing, or another task they can do.
Shape decorative soaps. Grate bars of inexpensive white soap. Then mix approximately a half cup of warm water with a cup of shredded soap. Add food coloring to the water to create colored soap. Knead the mixture. Add additional warm water as necessary until it forms like dough.
Next, fill cookie cutters with the mixture or flatten it on a sheet of waxed paper and trim into shapes. Let the soap dry slightly. Then press with small leaves or other designs. Allow the decorative soaps to dry for 24 hours, flipping them occasionally.
Design their own pens and pencils. Purchase sheets of large white labels and cut them into 1.5-inch strips. Design the pieces with colored markers. Then wrap the design around the length of the pens or pencils.
Personalize them by adding a smaller label to the center of the pencil with “World’s Greatest Grandma” or another catchy phrase. To protect the pencil design, wrap it with transparent scotch tape.
Make a placemat. Choose a subject of interest to your gift recipient, such as model cars or Barbie dolls. Clip pictures from magazines and catalogs. Then glue them to an 11x17-inch sheet of paper. Overlap the images to create a collage, or spread them apart and share details about each.
When they’re done, laminate the design with self-adhesive laminating sheets or have it laminated at an office supply store.
Create bookmarks. Cut colored paper into 2x7-inch strips and then design the pieces with colored pencils and markers. Or clip fancy borders from magazines.
Find out the gift recipient’s favorite author, artist, or historical figure. Then look the person up in a book of quotations. Select a quote, type or write it out, and add it to the bookmark. Then laminate it for protection.
Give magnetic photos. Cut a piece of cardboard from a cereal box to match the size of a photo. Then glue it to the back of the photo for support. Last, glue a small magnet to the cardboard. Now it’s a photo magnet.
Fashion a holiday pin. Buy a package of large safety pins and a small bag of multicolored beads. Open one safety pin. Then dangle several safety pins onto it through the eye at the bottom of those pins. Close the open pin. Then thread colored beads onto the dangling safety pins.
The kids can design a Christmas tree, heart, flag, or whatever their imaginations desire.
Construct a puzzle photo frame. Cut a piece of firm cardboard to your desired size of the frame. An adult should then trim out the center with a razor knife, leaving a 1- to 2-inch-thick frame.
Next, trace the outside edge of the frame onto another piece of thin cardboard, and cut it out. Place a sheet of colored paper between the two pieces of cardboard. Glue the paper and two pieces of cardboard together.
Glue jigsaw puzzle pieces around the frame, overlapping each other to cover the entire thickness of the frame. Let the frame dry. Then brush a layer of glue over the puzzle pieces to prevent them from falling off. Stick the photo in the opening of the frame with double-sided tape.
Compose a memory book. Buy a composition book from the office supply store. Cover it with construction paper, then design and decorate the cover. Inside, have the kids write their memories of special times they’ve had with the person to whom they’ll present it.
Kimberly Blaker is a freelance writer. She also owns an online bookshop, Sage Rare & Collectible Books, specializing in out-of-print, scarce, signed, and first editions; fine bindings; ephemera; and more at sagerarebooks.com.