Tag: Gifts

Stone Paperweight

Leave a comment

Stone Paperweight (6)

If you’re looking for a gift your toddler can make for a relative this holiday season, the paperweight is it.

The best part about this gift is that it starts with a nature walk! It can be a harder to motivate kids for these once the cold sets in, so I loved motivating Veronika by telling her we were on a treasure hunt for the perfect rock.

Stone Paperweight (7)

We came home with two that were the perfect size and shape, including one that almost looked like a heart.

Stone Paperweight (2)

Now it was time to paint. Not only did we use sparkly paint…

Stone Paperweight (3)

…but she wanted to dump glitter on, too. We used the recipient’s favorite color combo of orange and blue.

Stone Paperweight (4)

Let dry, then spray with shellac for a shinier finish. (Note: that’s a grown-up only step).

Stone Paperweight (5)

Wrap up and gift to someone special!

Threading Pipe Cleaners for Christmas

Leave a comment

Threading Christmas Pipe Cleaners (3)

I had intended this project as a fine motor activity with a holiday twist for Veronika, but big brother Travis immediately wanted in on the action, too, so it makes a great project for the whole family on a winter afternoon.

First up, I filled a tray with the following: sparkly red, silver, and green chenille stems; red and green beads; and an assortment of colored jingle bells.

Threading Christmas Pipe Cleaners (6)

I showed Veronika how to thread a bead onto one of the pipe cleaners.

Threading Christmas Pipe Cleaners (8)

She took a few tries, but then was much more interested in the jingle bells. She actually was quite skilled at inserting a pipe cleaner into the narrow loop on each bell!

Threading Christmas Pipe Cleaners (9)

I helped a little and she produced this little bracelet.

Threading Christmas Pipe Cleaners (12)

Travis jumped in on the action and wanted to make holiday gifts for friends, a unexpected bonus of the activity.

Threading Christmas Pipe Cleaners (2)

I was so proud that he even made patterns, counting out the same number and color of beads on each side of his jingle bells.

Threading Christmas Pipe Cleaners (4)

Meanwhile, Veronika was honing those fine motor skills or just busy digging through the materials as if this were a sensory tray. Between the sparkly chenille stems and the jingling bells, there was lots to love!

Threading Christmas Pipe Cleaners (11)

Bookmark

Leave a comment

Bookmark (4)

I love crafts that capture the size of my children’s hands or feet at regular intervals, a beautiful way to freeze time, given how fast they grow! I was due for a new craft like this with Veronika, and today I decided to make it a bookmark version!

It was admittedly hard to get Veronika to hold still while I traced her hand and forearm on a sheet of poster board. She giggled when the pencil tickled her, or just seemed surprised at the feeling, but I managed to get a fair approximation.

Bookmark (1)

Cut out the shape you’ve traced and let your toddler decorate. I thought Veronika might want to use markers, but she was far more into the glitter bottle I pulled out. Knowing she was likely to dump the whole bottle, I put down wiggly lines of glue on her hand shape and then placed it over a second sheet of poster board to catch the mess. Phew, this mostly contained the glitter dump!

Bookmark (3)

Once decorated, cover your child’s artwork with contact paper, and trim the contact paper to the same shape as the bookmark.

Bookmark (5)

Don’t forget to write the name and date on the back! This is going to make a beautiful memento when I read. I think we’ll even make one or two more to give to grandparents as gifts!

Peppermint Candy Box

Leave a comment

Peppermint Candy Box (5).JPG

It was all about holiday gifts in our home over the weekend. When we spotted these decorated cookie tins in Travis’s Highlights magazine, we knew we’d found the perfect gift for his kindergarten teachers!

Wrap a store-bought cookie tin in white felt.

Peppermint Candy Box (1)

Use hot glue or tacky glue to adhere securely. We wrapped only the lids, since the bottom of our tins were already printed in holiday pictures, but you can wrap the whole box if desired. Cut out red pieces of felt to mimic the red swirls of a peppermint candy and glue these to the lid.

Peppermint Candy Box (2)

Fill the tin with your favorite holiday cookies or other treats, of course!

Peppermint Candy Box (3)

To finish the presentation, wrap in plastic wrap (or clear cellophane) and secure with green ribbon on each side so it looks like a peppermint candy waiting to be twisted open.

Peppermint Candy Box (4)

Hands of Love

Leave a comment

Hands of Love (6)

With only a few days left before her first birthday, it was time for another set of hand prints with Veronika. I haven’t done this since she was nine months old and those little hands have grown.

Anyone who follow this blog knows that handprints with Veronika are a risky endeavor. I had plates of paint ready, along with a thick soft paintbrush, and wet wipes right next to me.

Hands of Love (1)

Gently brush paint over your baby’s palm. She seemed to like the soft sensation!

Hands of Love (2)

I pressed her hand firmly down on a small canvas tote bag. The idea was to make gifts for upcoming holidays! Other fabric like t-shirts or hand towels would be fun, too, if you use acrylic paint.

Hands of Love (3)

You can also just press the prints onto thick paper for pretty commemorative artwork. Add a border with marker, and don’t forget to add the date!

Hands of Love (7)

Now compare these prints to your older sets and marvel at how much your baby has grown.

Hands of Love alt.JPG

 

Bow-Tie Card for Dad

Leave a comment

Dad Bow Tie (7).JPG

This cute Father’s Day card idea from Highlights magazine was the perfect craft for Travis to make this year… because daddy can really rock a bow tie!

To start, we measured out a long rectangle that was 11 inches long x 2 inches wide. Travis proudly followed along the line to cut this out, needing no help from me.

Dad Bow Tie (1)

We cut a second rectangle that was 5 inches x 1 inch.

Fold the large triangle in half, and open back up. Now fold the ends of that rectangle in to the center crease and secure with tape.

Dad Bow Tie (2)

Cut each side into a trapezoid shape; now it looks like a bow tie!

Dad Bow Tie (3)

Wrap the small rectangle around the center and tape down.

Dad Bow Tie (4)

Kids can now decorate the tie with markers. Because Daddy loves orange, Travis proudly added orange marker atop orange paper.

Dad Bow Tie (6)

Your kids may want to add polka dots, stripes, or other common bow-tie designs.

I cut a final piece of cardstock into the shape of a gift tag and added a happy father’s day message. Loop through the bow tie with a piece of string.

Dad Bow Tie (8)

When Father’s Day is over, this card does double-duty as a bookmark! Need more ideas this Father’s Day? Check out a few photo gift options here.

Dad Bow Tie (5)

 

Cinnamon Ornaments

Leave a comment

Cinnamon Ornaments (10)

Did you know you could make dough just from cinnamon and applesauce? Nor I, but here’s the perfect dough to craft holiday ornaments, thanks to Travis’s Ranger Rick Jr.. Once the cinnamon is in the oven, your whole house will smell like Christmas!

Travis loved concocting the dough. Simply dump in 1 (2-ounce) jar of cinnamon into a bowl. Careful to pour slowly so you don’t get cinnamon in your face!

CInnamon Ornaments (2)

Add 4 ounces applesauce, stirring until very well combined.

Cinnamon Ornaments (3)

Turn the dough out onto a cutting board and use a rolling pin to flatten to about 1/4-inch thick.

CInnamon Ornaments (5)

Travis was so excited we got to use our holiday-shaped cookie cutters for the first time since last Christmas.

Cinnamon Ornaments (6)

He loved selecting which shape to use each time we rolled the dough.

Cinnamon Ornaments (7)

Carefully transfer to a baking sheet.

Cinnamon Ornaments (8)

Use a toothpick to poke a hole in each ornament, then bake at 200 degrees F for 20 minutes.

The instructions says to thread pretty ribbon through the holes, but the toothpick holes were much too small for this. Next time I would punch out holes with a straw. Thinking quickly, we threaded the ornaments onto pipe cleaners, instead.

Cinnamon Ornaments (9)

Thread several onto one pipe cleaner (or ribbon) for a pretty garland, or make singles to hang as ornaments. Either way, these would also be wonderful to give away as gifts!

Pouch Present

Leave a comment

Poudh Present (8)

We’ve loved the edible gift suggestions from High Five magazine in the past – perfect for teachers this time of year! The craft in Travis’s latest December issue was a bit different – the wrapping for the gift, instead of the gift itself. Put the pouch together now, and fill it with a little token of appreciation for teachers this holiday season.

There is a bit of adult prep-work for this one. Cut a circle from a 9×12-inch piece of felt. Green felt seasonably appropriate.

Pouch Present (1)

Punch about 12 holes around the edges of the felt. This is definitly a grown-up step, since felt is much tougher to hole punch than paper.

Pouch Present (2)

Finally, cut a piece of yarn that is 36 inches long, and tie to a paper clip; this will be your child’s “needle.”

Pouch Present (7)

Now it’s the kid’s turn! Encourage him or her to decorate the bottom of the felt with markers. Travis made scribbles, but your kids might prefer to draw something seasonable, like Christmas trees or ornaments.

Pouch Present (6)

Travis was so proud lacing all the way around the felt pieces with his needle and thread. He insisted he could do it all by himself, including knowing when to sew up and when to sew down.

Pouch Present (4)

Once you’ve gone all the way around, leave the two ends of yarn dangling. Pull the felt slightly, and it will cinch closed.

Pouch Present (5)

What will you gift your child’s teachers this year? Do share in the comments!

Stamped Garden Gloves

Leave a comment

Stamped Gloves (6)

As camp season comes to a close, we’re thinking about gifts to thank Travis’s counselors for a wonderful few weeks in the sun. In keeping with all that outdoor time they’ve spent with your children for the summer, consider these kid-painted garden gloves as a parting gift!

To make the project extra fun, we bought puffy fabric paints in pretty pastels, and instead of using paintbrushes, we turned pencil erasers into our tool of choice.

Stamped Gloves (1)

Squeeze out the paints onto a paper plate.

Stamped Gloves (2)

Dip a pencil eraser in a color, and stamp onto the gloves.

Stamped Gloves (3)

Travis made a set decorated with multi-colored dots.

Stamped Gloves (5)

Meanwhile I showed him a slightly more deliberate method of painting: purple dots in bunches of three to be purple grapes. A little brush of green paint for the leaves completes the look. Older kids will love making this version.

Stamped Gloves (4)

To present as a gift, simply wrap up the gloves with a seed packet of herbs and some twine. They would make a wonderful hostess gift for any summer friends you visit, as well.

Stamped Gloves (8)

Salt Dough Snowflakes

Leave a comment

Salt Snowflake (13)

Here’s a beautiful snow-themed project, perfect for Christmas tree ornaments or for hanging around the house as wintery decoration even once the holidays are over. We loved the idea of the craft, but had no snowflake cookie cutter at home. Read on for our improvised version!

To prepare the salt dough, mix together 1/2 cup salt…

Salt Snowflake (1)

1/2 cup water…

Salt Snowflake (2)

and 1 cup flour. Travis was a very happy mixer. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour.

Roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thick, then cut out snowflake shapes with a cookie cutter.

Salt Snowflake (5)

As mentioned, we didn’t have the right cookie cutter… but I did have a snowflake-shaped pendant, that I thought we could press into the dough.

Salt Snowflake (4)

After some trial and error…

Salt Snowflake (6)

…we found it worked best to cut out squares of dough first and place them on a baking sheet, then to imprint the snowflake.

Salt Snowflake (7)

Poke a small hole in one corner of each snowflake using a straw, then bake at 275 degrees F for 90 minutes, or until hard.

Salt Snowflake (8)

They looked so pretty when they came out of the oven!

Salt Snowflake (9)

As the final touch, your child can decorate with paints or markers. I had fun coloring in a few with Christmas-y colors. Travis was equally delighted to paint several of them, and although perhaps not as “pretty”, I loved his creativity as he worked.

Salt Snowflake (10)

Thread a string through the hole in each one,. As mentioned, they make great ornaments (we’ll have to save ours for next year’s tree!) or even work as gift tags if you use a marker to write the name of the recipient on the reverse.

Salt Snowflake (12)