I know we have discussed making gifts from the kitchen,a nd second hand gifts, in other threads, but has anyone got any brilliant ideas for hom-made presents??
A girl on a parenting forum I post on is making her daughter a colouring book from free pictures she found online, felt play food, a magnetic fishing game from foam sheets and is knitting her doll a new outfit. Another mum is refurbishing her own dolls crib from when she was a girl, and a dad has painted a town onto a huge piece of hardboard for his son to "drive" toy cars round. All very thrifty I thought!!
So, any thoughts?? Not just kiddy stuff, anything else we could home make this year?? Am quite ashamed to admit I never thought of making Grace some presents but I might have a bash now.....
Waiting to welcome Sunny Clucker to Northern Ireland!
I have bought a cheap folder from Tesco and printed of loads of recipies from the internet and placed them inside the folder in the clear pockets and my daughter is giving this to her gran for Christmas, much cheaper than buying a cook book.
If you are handy with a sewing machine, run up some useful bags from scraps of material - things like shopping bags, a shower bag or cosmetic purse, a pouch for putting reading glasses in, a mobile phone holder, a pencil case, a peg bag, lavender bags .... or use plain material and decorate with sequins, felt, embroidery (if your sewing machine can do fancy stitiching and use different coloured thread etc)
How old is Grace?
We made home made jigsaws. Magazine pictures stuck onto bits of cardboard and cut into bits. And lotto games. Not very long lasting or professional looking, and probably more fun if the child helps in the making, or an older child makes for a younger one.
For Playgroup I made a Fasten Snake and a Feely game.
For the snake.
Sew several pairs of bags (any size - say 2"x6") from scraps of material, as different in colour and texture as possible. Turn in the right way and sew along a narrow end about 1" in. Stuff the bag with cut up rags or tights and stitch the end shut with a double row of stitching 1" apart. So you have a little cushion with a flap both ends. Take one matching pair. On one flap of each put a piece of velcro (soft on one, hard on the other) on the other flap put a fastener e.g. 1button and 1buttonhole, hook and eye, poppers, 2buttons and 2 buttonholes etc. Make a head and tail with velcro tabs (hard on one, soft on the other).
Make sure that the fastenings are a suitable size for the child's age, and are securely stitched on. And don't give it to a child who still puts thing in their mouth.
To put it together the child can join up the velcro in any order but then has to match the bits and fasten the buttons .
Feely game
Cut several squares from a cereal box. Cover these with different textures, scraps of fur fabric, corderoy, satin, sandpaper, wallpaper etc. etc. make two of each (or more pairs). Some will feel very different, some will be harder to tell apart. Make a bag big enough to hold them all.
To play. Child takes one piece from the bag, then feels for the matching piece. If it is the same they keep the pair if not they both go back. Pass the bag to next player. If child and adult playing together you could have a handicap e.g. younger player gets a second try.
This assumes you have a rag-bag and a button-box.
Grandma's buttonbox was a great toy itself. I doubt if clothes were ever thrown away, fastenings went in the button box, the rest in the ragbag.
Grace is 14 months, a difficult age as she still puts things in her mouth but is quite good at taking them out again when you tell her to! I think I will try to make her a snakey-y thing. She has learned two new noises this week - the scary monster goes "rarrrarararaaar" and the snake goes "tssssssst" (she sounds more like she has a puncture lol) I think I'll try to make a snake that has different colours and textures, we're trying to teach her colours, she gets them right about 75 % so far!! I have been felting some wool jumpers for making trousers that are an alternative to nappy covers, and have a really nice top left over so think I'll try to make her a pinafore-style dress from that.
Keep the suggestions coming - I'm always on the look-out for something to make for mum and dad and him indoors!!
Waiting to welcome Sunny Clucker to Northern Ireland!
Matching colours is easier than naming them.
What a lovely age. I've found your pictures now.
The snakey was more for 3-5s, to teach fastening as well as colour matching. You could make it with velcro and let her put it together in any order.
How about a colour matching game. Though she may be a bit young for any sort of competitve game.
Collect lots of pictures and mount on card from cereal boxes. More fun as a joint project than a present maybe. Pictures of a red car, yellow ball etc. Lots of different thing for each colour. Have a small bag with cards of each colour (on reverse, for 3/4/5 yr olds could write the name of the colour, using the appropriate colour ink).
Child pulls a card from bag and chooses a picture to match. If they match, keeps the picture. Older children also have to name the colour, adults choose a picture first and only keep it if they pull the same colour out. The one with the most pictures wins.
On second thougts, that would be for a 3 yr old too.
Preschool age (3-5) these sorts of games are good for teaching taking turns and observation. Useful pre-reading skills.
If you can get hold of a laminator, pictures last much longer if laminated. This might make them last longer if she is prone to putting things in her mouth.
You could also mount them on card the same colour as the picture, leaving a small border round the outside showing, to emphasie.
How about buttons sewn onto bits of material to help her count too? You can also use these for colour matching. She sounds bright!
Loved the photo of her in her halloween outfit.
Neutered pets are happy pets! Please spay or neuter your pets. There are thousands in rescue waiting for loving homes, and not enough people to take them on.
My dad made a dolls' house for my sister and I. It was made from plywood, a plain box split into compartments to make 6 "rooms". He painted it and stuck down carpet from offcuts and made furniture to fit. It was fantastic!
I usually make a slogan teeshirt for my OH - a plain white one with an iron-on transfer using a picture of one of the animals and a suitable caption. It doesn't last but makes him giggle.
but I might have a bash now.....
from the internet and placed them inside the folder in the clear pockets and my daughter is giving this to her gran for Christmas, much cheaper than buying a cook book. 
