Looking for kids Chirstmas crafts to give as thank you gifts

[ajrsmom]

Since my son has been old enough to understand the giving and receiving of gifts at Christmas, we have always made gifts for him to give to everyone as Thank You gifts.

One year we made gingerbread ornaments, one year hot chocolate mix in a jar......

Im looking for ideas for this year. He is 5 so I would like him to be involved in the process but Im willing to help to make too.

Any ideas?

[nagymom]

I have a very long list of homemade gift ideas from pot pourri balls placed in a pretty dish (my granddaughtrs did this last year for their teachers, to home made flavored popcorns and lots of things in between. Most are extremely frugal and easy to make. PM me your e-mail (did you already do that? I'm nuts lately and can't recall if you did when we talked about our dads) and I'll send you some ideas.

Jayne

[bbkimberly]

A bookmark (with a picture perhaps) with a drawing and a pretty ribbon?

[jls]

Dont know if you have seen this site, but the crafts are all for christmas and very cute. Its been a long time since my children were 5-year olds but I believe some of these should be fun and easy, for kids his age to make...Hope this helps in your hunt......... www.tallmouse.com/projects/xmas

[Robin whittington]

I'm excited... a topic I can contribute to!
I am NOT creative or artistic in the least. Most people have more talent in their pinky nails than I so when it comes to fun crafts for the kids I was at a loss. Thanks to a wonderful place called The Enchanted Cottage in Lewisville, NC I am now able to create a few ideas.
My kids are 9, 7, and 4. Our two most popular crafts are stamping and hole punching. You can do some of the prettiest gift tags, wrapping paper, greeting cards, envelopes, bookmarks, etc from thses two ideas.
We made treat bags for the kids in our church childrens afterschool program. Everyone loved them. We used the hole punches. (pumpkins, leaves, acorns, etc.) We used textured printed paper and a little tool that helps "curl" up the punched design. It made great effects.
We made a demo with a bunch of place cards/gift tags using
holly leave punch and a small flower punch instead of a plain hole
and we curled it up and added some very small beads white or
gold in the middle. We used the Christmas tree punch to make a holly look too and it made a beautiful wreath and we added small red beads to it.
We used Christmas stamps and made some just flat and plain and the kids used colored pencils to fill in designs, some I used sparkles and we heated them to give a 3D effect.
The ideas go on and on. These are simple, pretty and can be kept
to a minimum cost.
I hope this helps. Robin in NC

[peanut92973]

what about picture frame. theres the foam shapes you can decorate them with or buttons.

[bbkimberly]

Or pasta! My son made one once with puzzle pieces that were painted green. They were in the shape of a circle so it looked like a wreath.

[Lifestar]

A pinecone hot-glued onto a wood-block base (your job) is then glitter-glued, and decorated with small beads and pearls from a craft store. A ribbon is attached to the tip of the finnished product, and ... Voila!... You have a Christmas-tree-ornament. He can sign his name on the base of the block, and date with the year.

You can even place those small square beads around the base to look like presents.

My daughters did this whan they were younger, and our family all have a "tree" hanging on their Christmas trees still. The girls are very proud to see their ornaments when they visit their Aunts and Grandparents.

[nagymom]

Oh Val I LIKE that idea! I just bought a bunch of (really cheap) plaster ornaments and acrylic paints (again cheap) at Wal Mart and will be putting the granddaughters to work painting them while they're out for 5 days (with weekend) over Thanksgiving. This little project would be great too. DH is a woodworker so he no boubt has wood scraps and we have a yard full of pinecones.
I can't wait to get the beads now. I haven't said a word about the other ornaments since they'd drive me nuts if they knew so will keep this project secret too. Thank you for sharing this simple but cute idea!
Jayne

[sandieluvsbears]

HI all, Another cute idea I did with my 2 GD's is you paint some liquid polyurethane onto dog biscuits(I did that part before they even came over) then you get some inexpensive unfinished wood frames(about $1.49) in Ben Franklins or craft stores and glue the biscuits onto the frame, in Walmart you can get a box of cheap biscuits for $1 and they are pink, green, and bone colored.If the person has a dog this is a cute gift.You can add your own decorations to it, we added tiny bows(the dog was a girl) and Xmas decorations on others, just let them use their imagination.
Also can do it with dry cat food but its easier to glue it on first and then paint it with the sealer because the pieces are smaller.

Sandie

We all need a little tenderluvin BEAR!!!