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Give your credit card some down-time this season and encourage kid-made gifts


Every time I go back to Montreal to visit my Mom, no matter the season, no matter the reason, one thing is guaranteed to greet me in her front entrance - a framed piece of felt art that I made in grade one.  There's the crudely cut out grass, the jagged yellow sun, a pink-petaled flower, all glued to a burlap backing and framed tenderly behind glass.  It's not attractive and a lesser person would have relegated it to the confines of a basement storage box (or worse, garbage) years ago.  But for my Mom, it may well have been a Monet back in 1983 when I presented it to her as a gift...and it's still just as valuable to her today.  Let's face it, the old saying is true, sometimes the best things in life are free. How many of you can still remember that home-made clay ashtray, decked out with little child-sized finger-pressed cigarette holders along the sides?  I'll bet a relative still cherishes it...whether they smoked or not!

The mission this season: surprise and charm the family with easy, kid-made gifts!

I'll tell you, in this world of jiffy-fast card-swiping consumerism, it sure takes a lot more effort to get kids to create gifts rather than shell out $10 on a cheap pre-fab gizmo.  So I set aside a couple of Saturdays and got the kids talking about what ideas they might have for relatives they would normally buy for. After some web surfing for ideas, much debate, much more cajoling, some elbow grease and inspired visits to Dollarama and Target, we unloaded endless possibilities onto the craft table and got busy. 

Spoiler alert: If you are a relative of mine, avert your eyes and close this window...or else you'll have to fake the look of surprise on the 25th.

Here are just some of the kid-made ideas we came up with:

  • Framed kiddie art: How many art projects get sent home each school year?  Grab some of your faves and frame them up (Target has a great variety that are super affordable). 
  • Canvas kiddie art: A $2 canvas from Dollarama and lots of imagination will yield some incredibly inspiring works from young artists.
  • Kid-made soaps: Craft shops sell Goat's Milk soap blocks that you can melt down in a double-boiler, add essential oils to, some natural colour and voila - custom soaps from even the dirtiest little ones make for a unique gift. 
  • Kid-made coupons: Here we found old Xmas cards, cut the covers off, printed a little tag using construction paper and assembled, letting the kids fill in the blanks.  "Shovelling Grandpa's driveway" or "Making my parent's bed" are way better than a pair of socks.
  • Kid-baked treats:  Get out the KitchenAid standmixer and let the flour fly.  Not only will kids learn some great kitchen skills, but having them make Great-Grandma's famous shortbread cookies to give to family will make all the adults misty-eyed.
  • Kid-decorated keepsake ornaments: Grab some unadorned Xmas balls and let the kids add their own personal touch.  No tree is complete without a kid's personal touch - to be remembered year after year.
  • Kid-made pottery (no ashtrays, I promise!):  Most towns have a local make-your-own pottery place.  So many fun clay or ceramic pieces waiting to come alive with paint.  Kids will have a blast and Dad will love sipping out of a crudely fashioned mug!
  • Kid-made photo memory book: Most five-year olds are more technically savvy than adults.  Sad but true.  I set up my 11-year old on a photo keepsake site and he uploaded and typed out an entire album from a family vacation in about an hour.  Who wouldn't love a kid-authored coffee-table book?  Hilarious!!
I went on CTV's Canada AM to present the ideas and below you will find some pics.

Click here for my Canada AM Segment





So in the end, the biggest value in all of this was the time spent working with my kiddos on these projects.  Rather than traipsing all over town, in and out of stores, we huddled up, listened to some tunes, shared ideas, supported those who felt artistically challenged, discussed favourite memories, laughed, cried (not me) and overall, enjoyed what this season is truly all about - family, love, sharing and caring.  I give all of these ideas two big, glue and paint covered thumbs up!  Let me know what your favourite kid-made gifts have been....  And Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to all!

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