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What Christmas crafts are your kids making as gifts?


Monica_in_Switzerland
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We made some bath bombs on Friday following a recipe/instructions from You Tube. We had a little trouble getting them to dry in a plastic Christmas tree ornament as shown, but the ones we made in muffin tins or molds (just to shape them--remove to dry) worked out well. We had to buy citric acid and essential oil for scent but had the other things around.

 

For kids who sew (or parents who help), one we've done in the past is a microwaveable heated roll for neck pain, back pain, or just snuggling with in a cold bed. Cut about a 10"x20" rectangle from sturdy fabric, fold in half on short end to make long tube, fill with millet (bird seed) or rice, sew closed. Can make a little washable pillow case too. To use, heat in microwave for ~2 minutes.

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My boys are learning a few hand sewing stitches for school.  We are making gingerbread man coffee cozies that look like this one (not crochet...).  I felted an old wool overcoat from the thrift store as the base fabric.  They have learned how to sew the buttons, straight stitch for the mouth and blanket stitch along the edges.  Some of the faces are really funny.  My 9 yo sewed one of his faces and laughed, "This is what the Gingerbread Man looks like right before he gets eaten by the fox."  Maybe I will put up a picture once we have one completely finished.

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Here's my pinterest board of ideas.  We made the tp snowmen last year and they were great.  https://www.pinterest.com/insidethepuppet/2015-xmas-gift-ideas/

 

Just so you think you're not on the wrong board, yeah, I have spice mixes on there.  Guess we like food in our family, because at the time spice mixes seemed like a fun idea.  Kids like measuring and pouring.   :)

 

I think we tried the melting pony beads.  It worked, but the thing we left in for the hole to hang the ornament got stuck.  Then my super rigid ASD ds was having a meltdown.  So I guess do better than I did on that, lol.  But yeah, some of the projects are cool.

 

The pony bead barrettes and paper clips would be cool as presents for your kids to give to each other.  :)

Edited by OhElizabeth
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I think we tried the melting pony beads.  It worked, but the thing we left in for the hole to hang the ornament got stuck.  Then my super rigid ASD ds was having a meltdown.  So I guess do better than I did on that, lol.  But yeah, some of the projects are cool.

 

 

I've done pony bead crafts in the past, and they look great (we did sun-catchers).  My question, though: I always get really sharp edges.  For the barrettes, I'd think this be a problem.  Same with the bowls.  For the ornaments, did you end up sanding or filing down and edges, or were my results different from yours?

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I haven't settled on crafts for grandparents yet. I'm thinking decorated mugs, enough for a matching 4 or 6 piece set (each kid decorates one or two, maybe either by theme or just let them go at it).  

 

I've wondered if maybe we let them go too far.  We threw away the thing we made, sigh.  But yeah, that's what happened.  But if we tried it again (outside, it smells!), I wondered if we could maybe not take it as far.  That's what I thought when I was looking at the barrettes.

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Two years ago we made a gift I loved. We took 2" wooden cubes/blocks and modge-podged photos on 2 sides, painted fingerprint snowmen/winter scene on 2 sides, wrote the year on one side, and a hook with a ribbon on the final side. (The hook twisted right in.) Cutest ornaments ever.

 

Like these:

http://thecraftingchicks.com/homemade-block-ornaments/

Edited by alisoncooks
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Two years ago we made a gift I loved. We took 2" wooden cubes/blocks and modge-podged photos on 2 sides, painted fingerprint snowmen/winter scene on 2 sides, wrote the year on one side, and a hook with a ribbon on the final side. (The hook twisted right in.) Cutest ornaments ever.

 

Like these:

http://thecraftingchicks.com/homemade-block-ornaments/

 

Those are super cute! 

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My son wants to make "hurricane balls" for his cousins this year. Google it if you've never heard of them. Very cool!!

 

Jodie

 

That is SO cool!  I sent a link to my dad and he's already put a few together (he works in a machine shop).  They're the hit of the shop and he'll have a bunch for when we visit in January.  :-)

 

 

 

Two years ago we made a gift I loved. We took 2" wooden cubes/blocks and modge-podged photos on 2 sides, painted fingerprint snowmen/winter scene on 2 sides, wrote the year on one side, and a hook with a ribbon on the final side. (The hook twisted right in.) Cutest ornaments ever.

 

Like these:

http://thecraftingchicks.com/homemade-block-ornaments/

 

 

 

Ding ding ding!  You win!  We're going with the ornament cubes!  I also found some cool printables to make wooden block dolls, so we'll do those as well for the cousins.  

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Ding ding ding! You win! We're going with the ornament cubes! I also found some cool printables to make wooden block dolls, so we'll do those as well for the cousins.

Haha, awesome! They are super cute.

This year, we're doing Surprise Balls for all the little cousins. Their parents will probably hate me for it but oh well... :p

http://honestlywtf.com/diy/diy-surprise-balls/

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  • 3 weeks later...

My boys are learning a few hand sewing stitches for school.  We are making gingerbread man coffee cozies that look like this one (not crochet...).  I felted an old wool overcoat from the thrift store as the base fabric.  They have learned how to sew the buttons, straight stitch for the mouth and blanket stitch along the edges.  Some of the faces are really funny.  My 9 yo sewed one of his faces and laughed, "This is what the Gingerbread Man looks like right before he gets eaten by the fox."  Maybe I will put up a picture once we have one completely finished.

 

The cozies are finished and ready for mailing :001_smile: The boys made a dozen altogether. Second picture of the ones getting eaten by the fox...

 

Anyone else have their craft done?

post-97977-0-67762300-1481584476_thumb.jpg

post-97977-0-54306800-1481584477_thumb.jpg

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My all-time favourite is just to go out to Michael's and buy some plain glass Christmas ball ornaments. Then I let the kids decorate them as they will. They open them up and spread glue around and dump glitter in. Or fill it with cotton and add glitter. Or paint the outsides. Or wrap a ribbon around the outside and paint one half one colour and the other another colour. We tie a ribbon around the top for hanging on the tree and get some small gift bags from the dollar store to wrap them in. They're personal and beautiful and can be kept forever.  

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