May 17
2008Five Home-made Gifts Perfect for Grandma
Filed Under (Project Ideas & Articles, Kids Crafting, General Crafts) by Loretta on 17-05-2008
Grandmas adore handmade gifts from their grandchildren, even if they don’t have a use for the gift. They know just how to fawn over present given in love. The following are five ideas that children may like to make for Grandma this year. (Mom, be prepared to help, just in case.)
1. What woman doesn’t love jewelry? Make Grandma a perler bead necklace. Perler beads are short pieces of plastic that are specially made to fuse together when heated with an ordinary household iron. You can buy kits at any craft store; the kits come in a variety of colors and sizes to make multiple patterns. After you have fused the beads together in whatever shape you desire (a heart would be great), why not hot glue some ribbon, sequins, or plastic gems on to make each a one-of-a-kind gift.
2. Potpourri pies are popular in gift stores. Here’s how your little one can create a similar experience. Create this pie with a disposable pie shell. Make a bottom pie crust out of flour/salt dough. Add a potpourri that smells like your grandmother’s favorite scent, and then create a lattice pattern out of the dough. Cover the potpourri and allow the dough to harden overnight. To enjoy the potpourri, “bake” the pie in a warm oven.
3. Help your child make Grandma a great pillow without having to sew. Purchase a floral polar fleece large enough to make a pillow from and some fiberfill to stuff it. Cut this out into two pieces in the shape of a heart, about two and a half inches larger than the finished project should be. Mom, carefully cut a fringe about an inch apart all around the fabric. Line up the fabric wrong sides together and then double knot each fringe, leaving a few pieces untied so you can fill the pillow. Fill the pillow and then finish filling it up, making it as fluffy as you would like. You can leave the pillow as is or decorate with paint markers, or any way your child would like to decorate it.
4. This is another gift that Mom will have to help make, but it could be a lot of fun for both of you. Buy at least 8 ounces of clear glycerin (you should be able to find this at a major craft store), a soap mold, and a very small bottle of lemon essential oil (or Grandma’s favorite scent). You will also need yellow food coloring, 6 tablespoons of corn meal, and 2 teaspoons of poppy seeds. Melt the glycerin according to directions, then add 2 drops of food coloring and 2 drops of lemon oil. Add the corn meal and poppy seeds and stir very well. Pour the mixture into the mold and allow it to sit until firm. Remove it from the mold and place into a small basket.
5. If you really want to tug on Grandma’s heart strings, find photos with your children and Grandma in them. Create a small memory book with the pictures in it. Have the children write the descriptions for each one, explaining what they remember about that particular time. Pre-made scrapbooks would be great for this, and your child could decorate it they like, as well.
Mother’s Day is a time to let mothers and grandmothers know that we love them. Each of the above five gifts made by your children will make Grandma’s day. Not only will she know that your child loves her, but she’ll treasure each gift that was made especially for her.
Making home-made gifts is always much better than giving something to a mom / grandmother thats from a store. You put time and effort into home-made gifts!
Thanks for the great ideas! When my daughter was small we did a simple, inexpensive yet memorable craft that her grandmother still cherishes. I bought a plain t-shirt and roller paint onto my daughters hands. She pressed her painted hands onto the t-shirt with her thumbs touching. This made the imprint of a butterfly. My mother still has the t-shirt and each time we visit it is now a tradition that she compares her hands at present to when she made the t-shirt. she made the shirt when she was 5 and she is now 16, yet the tradition continues.
Wow. Those are great ideas for Mothers/Grandmothers Day. The best part is she’ll love that it was made by you! Thanks for the post!
I am so glad to hear that there are still people out there in this world that still love doing crafts and at best crafts for family members. So it is really nice to hear that you are doing crafts and teaching other people how to do them as well. I know my wife loves anything to do with crafting and she loves to do them with her grandma and when they are done with them they either give them away or put them up in one of the family members houses. Also they like to make a whole bunch of crafts and take them to these crafts fairs and sell their crafts to other people that can enjoy them too. So again it is really nice to hear that you are dedicated to showing others about how fun crafting can be and making something nice for a family member. So keep up the Good posts and I will keep coming back for more and hope you continue to make people happy through making crafts. So best of luck to you in all that you do and with your web site here. Congrats….
Thanks,
Ryan
Grandmothers deserve something special , making handmade gifts is quite a great deal, thanks for the tips, i usually make beads for my mum, so i shall add other tips here for both grandma and mum.
Crafting for mom or grandma is always fun but how about keeping in mind a craft they can actually use? For example my daughter and I knitted a cellphone holder for grandma. Who says knitting has to be old fashioned??
Love the memory book ideas. Grandmas love photo gifts.
More wonderful ideas! Mother’s Day has passed (I just discovered your blog today), but we are celebrating my stepfather’s b-day this weekend. I think the memory book is a great gift for my son to make for his PePop!