Homemade Holiday Gifts: #5

Hi, friends!  I hope you've enjoyed reading about some easy, affordable, and meaningful homemade gift ideas this week!  So far, we've talked about:

1. Handmade Ornaments

2. Personal Photos

3. Family Jewelry

4. Edible Goodies

and finally...Gifts Made by Little Crafters!

Many of the previous ideas can be made by or with the help of little hands too, but here are some more ideas that are great gifts for grandparents, great-grandparents, and other family members.

USEFUL ARTWORK!

It's always nice to combine personal artwork with something that's actually useful for the recipient.  We've found that going to the local paint-your-own pottery place is a ton of fun and makes for practical but personal gifts like coffee mugs, vases, plates, magnets, and pencil holders.  If you don't have a pottery shop, you can still make a pretty awesome pencil holder using the {cheeeap!} cardboard ones they sell at Michaels.  See here for specifics about how Little Crafter made the one in the photo!

PERSONAL KEYCHAINS

Another fun idea is to get the blank keychains from your local craft store and put some special artwork in.  They're clear on both sides, so you can put in two different things; we did a photo plus some thumbprint art for these Father's Day ones.

HOME DECOR

If you think they recipient would actually want to display it, let the kids paint furniture!  Wooden shelves, coat hangers, stools, and more are available pretty inexpensively at most craft stores.  Especially if you use your coupon!  We've gotten stools for $7 and wall hooks for $4!  Sticking with something monochromatic can help make it display-worthy, like this shelf Little Crafter made during his "blue period."

And, of course, you can also just give 'em a big old canvas and let them go at it!  These are just huge and fun and make for great conversation pieces!  The first one was a "no rules, just paint" experiment...it's fun to look at it and see what shapes you can imagine, just like in the clouds!  Do you see the rooster with boxing gloves in the center?  Or the angry crab on the right?  I'd love to know what else you see!

For this one, we just taped a random design with masking tape and he painted in the white spaces.  When we pulled off the tape, voila!  Art!  Full tutorial here.

There are a ton of different things little hands can make that are a big hit with the grown-ups who love them!

At least in our family, if Little Crafter made it, they love it.  Easy enough!

What are your favorite gifts made by little crafters?

Speaking of which, be sure to stop by on Monday for a tutorial on how we made our Salt Dough ornaments...they turned out soooo cute!  Just wait till you see them!

I hope you've enjoyed the Homemade Gift Ideas series!  Be sure to stop by our Shine On Fridays link party while you're here and share your latest and greatest projects with us.

Happy Crafting!