Social Media

back

Handmade Gifts That You Can Make With Your Child

handmade gifts hero parties play
Parties & PlayPost Category - Parties & PlayParties & Play - Post Category - IndoorIndoor

Do something different for a special occasion.

For as long as my memory serves me, I have always loved putting together handmade gifts and hampers for milestone birthdays, anniversaries and more. When I was younger, I would make simple cards.  As I grew older, my handcrafted gifts became more complex. My creative bug has been passed to my daughter, who also has itchy fingers when she has a bit of free time and immediately starts making things with recycled stuff at home.

These are a few of the handmade gifts my daughter and I have made over the years. Some of them are quite simple to make, but they have a special place in the recipient’s heart. You can involve your children in all of these activities (in varying degrees, of course!) and make sure you drop enough hints about handmade gifts for Mother’s Day that’s coming up soon!

Read more: 10 Easy Art Activities At Home For Parents And Kids

Pebble Painting Frame

I am great at drawing (at the expense of sounding immodest) but I am terrible at painting. I have never had the confidence to make anything that involved paints. But after being holed up at home with the social distancing measures, I was finally bored enough to give it a shot. It’s far from perfect but I am satisfied with the outcome considering that it’s the first time I have held a paintbrush in years.

Directions:

  • First, get these items for your pebble painting. A shadow frame (IKEA has one that is economically priced), pebbles, thick paper and acrylic paints.
  • The number and size of pebbles needed will depend on what you decide to make for your pebble painting. The pebbles can represent your family, birds on a tree, animals, etc. That is if you want to use the pebbles for the body then you would need larger and longer pebbles as opposed to smaller pebbles if you intend to use it for the head. Use your artistic common sense while selecting the pebbles.
  • Acrylic paints work best on all surfaces including pebbles. On a piece of thick white paper, paint the background for your picture or leave it blank if your theme so requires.
  • Once you are done painting the pebbles, stick them with a glue gun on the paper and your personalised handmade pebble painting is ready!

Photo Bookmark

This was relatively an easy gift for family and friends and it was highly appreciated. My daughter is the youngest in the family and gets a lot of attention from everyone. I usually send her yearly class photographs to my parents, in-laws and other relatives but this time I decided to do something different for my family of voracious readers. It definitely will be a cherished keepsake!

Directions:

  • For this gift, you will need a cute model (my daughter has found her calling!) and tassels.
  • Get your little model to pose with her hands above her head and get the photographs printed (6X4 is ideal).
  • Get the pictures laminated so they last a lifetime.
  • Make the tassels with cross-stitch thread or buy them from a stationary store.
  • Make a small hole at the top of the bookmark to weave the thread through and you have yourself an adorable personalised bookmark.

Read more: Teacher Recommendations: Books For Reluctant Readers

Reasons Why We Love You

This one is a few years old, but it’s my favourite handmade gift that was a team effort by the entire family. My father was turning 60 years old and we wanted to give him 60 reasons why we all loved him. Everyone gave their inputs and as cartooning is something I thoroughly enjoy, I decided to bring them to life with my drawings. I also did this for my husbands 40th birthday recently too. But with working from home and due to the lack of time, I used readymade clipart rather than drawing it out. It worked equally well and you could try it if you aren’t confident about your artwork. It’s also a great way to get your tech-savvy kids involved. You’d be surprised how easily they get the hang of this!

Directions:

  • Depending on how much time you have to spend on this activity, you will need thick white paper, colour pencils or a computer for clipart ideas, a mason jar and ribbons/lamination machine (optional for the notecards once ready).
  • Ask everyone who’s contributing for this gift to send in their reasons about why they love the person in question. Based on the reason, find matching clipart and print them in small stamp sizes or draw them.
  • Once your cards are ready, either roll them and tie it with a ribbon or laminate each coupon.
  • Decorate the mason jar with ribbons and put a label outside with “60 reasons why we love you” on it and put all the coupons in the jar. It is the perfect gift for someone you love!

Cross-Stitch Card

handmade gifts cross stitch card parties play

I love sewing and my daughter was gifted a few cross-stitch kits by my parents. It’s a great way to combine two different mediums (cloth and paper) and gift something a bit out of the box.

Directions:

  • For the cross-stitch card, you will need thick white paper, colourful pens and a cross-stitch kit, which would include cloth, needle and threads of different colours.
  • Either follow the instruction on your cross-stitch kit or you can find plenty of amazing ideas on Pinterest for a cross-stitch design. You can also get the cloth from a stationary store.
  • Stick your cross-stitch design on top of your card and you’ve got yourself a unique card to give someone.

Read more: Gifts For Mum: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2020

Don’t forget to sign your name below/behind all these unique handmade gifts for the receiver to remember you always! Happy crafting!

Featured image courtesy of Getty Images, all other images courtesy of Tarana Desai Shah.

more sassy mama

What's New

We're social

We're social

What we're up to and what inspires us