Christmas gifts?

[3callmemama]

Money is TIGHT this year, I'm thinking of making homemade Christmas gifts....got any ideas? I already do the candy/sweets thing for the adults, but what about kids?

[corantab]

oh man that is hard.  not very craft myself.  do you knit? 

maybe pillows or something like that for a girls room

[Crystallynn]

 one year for the kids, we took little mason jars and did hot cocoa mix in them and gave them to the kids......

[curlycupcake]

I think the mason jars filled with cookies, or cookie mix is a good treat.  you can dress the jars up with ribbon & stickers.  i am making all the gifts this year.  we are broke & besides, christmas is not about all that commercial crap they try to convince you it's about!!

[picturemamamia]

I don't know if you are into Scrapbooking, but last year I made a 12x12 page for a family member and had it framed..I bought the frames on sale at Jo-Ann Fabrics..that is something you could make..

oops I didn't read you post all the way..sorry kids Ideas..I am not sure..but will try to get back to you.. sorry

[TheDream]

I had seen some great soap kits at Michaels....I know you can even put a little plastic toy in the center sometimes to make it more fun...along with choosing the sent and so on:) That's what I was thinking of doing this year with the help of my two girls....hope it helps

[Mandipants]

Well its traditional AND economical. I just made Sock Monkeys for my BF. She wanted a Sock Monkey themed nursery and put me in charge :) Among other things, I made two actual sock monkeys and gave one to the new baby and one to his big sister who is 8. Big Sis LOVED the sock monkey! They were cheap and easy to make--I just got a pattern online and you can find some that don't require a sewing machine if you don't have one...

[3callmemama]

I need to find that, I really want to make one for my son, but it would be great for other kids in our family too!

Quoting Mandipants:

Well its traditional AND economical. I just made Sock Monkeys for my BF. She wanted a Sock Monkey themed nursery and put me in charge :) Among other things, I made two actual sock monkeys and gave one to the new baby and one to his big sister who is 8. Big Sis LOVED the sock monkey! They were cheap and easy to make--I just got a pattern online and you can find some that don't require a sewing machine if you don't have one...

[rkay1974]

You said you do the sweets, have you ever made chocolate suckers?  I made them for my kids classroom (4grade) and they all loved them!   Also maybe xmas ziplock bags of snack mix, chocolate prezels, nuts, mini marshmellows (snowman poop) LOL.  You can go to the $1 store and get some little puzzles or silly putty to throw into the bags also.  There are tons of cheap things you can buy in bulk and make up each child their own little bag of goodies!   The site orientaltrading.com has some great ideas if you have alot to buy, but if only a few the $1 store is your best bet.    Have fun with it and remember the little things you played with when you were their age.   = )

[Goof-Emom]

I love to sew and always have extra fabric around the house.

I don't know if you sew or not but if you do, you can make crayon carriers/pencil carriers.  I usually use a fun pattern flannel fabric and then a solid color flannel piece. If you're interested and I'll send you a picture of one that I have made so you can get an idea.

Another thing that my mom use to do is to make tooth pillows. I still have mine from when I was little. You just make a pillow in any shape and put a little pocket on the front of it for the tooth to sit in (big enough to place some quarters into too). She would embroider the person's name on it so that the tooth fairy wouldn't get confused.

[Mandipants]

Here is a source (not that you can't look it up yourself--but I got inspired to make a few more this year :) http://www.sockmonkey.net/How_To_Make_Vintage_Sock_Monkey.html

My biggest problem was finding the red heel socks (I needed the traditional monkey) and I had to order them online--but I've seen some really cute sock monkeys in a lot of different patterns!