Getting Crafty with the Grand Kids: Fun Ideas for Homemade Christmas Gifts

Now that I’m a Grandma I have been thinking about what homemade Christmas Gifts I can make with Harrison to give to his Mom and Dad for Christmas.

He’s only 11 months old so what he can help me with is limited. That being said, I wanted to create some memorable gifts for Mom and Dad to have as keepsakes for years to come.

On my blog Living Large in A Small House, I may sometimes use affiliate links, which means a small commission is earned if you purchase via the link. The price will be the same whether you use the affiliate link or go directly to the vendor’s website using a non-affiliate link. You can find my full Disclosure Policy HERE

At the end of my post, you have some bonus content from my friends Wendy @wmdesignhouse, Diane @southhousedesigns and Cindy @reinventeddelaware. They have also created some great projects for those special littles in your life.

DIY Christmas Gifts for Mom and Dad

I think handmade gifts are so thoughtful and cherished presents. When Emma was fresh out of college money was tight. She made shadow boxes for both Keith and me. We have them on bookshelves in our bedroom. They are so fun to look at every day.

I had 5 different gift ideas to do with Harrison. Two I only need to get him alone for a footprint, and the others I created for Mom and Dad. 

As he gets older, I will look forward to him being more hands-on with these homemade gifts. I also can’t wait for the bonding time I’ll get to share with him. 

Foot Print Ornament

A really easy and fun project was making a footprint ornament with him. I bought a kit from Amazon and it was easy to use. We did have to do it a few times to get it right but the dough was easy to reuse.  Once we had the dough rolled out, I held Harrison and Grandpa had to push his foot into the mold. 

Foot Print Art

Since he was barefoot and having fun playing with us, we took him outside for a painting project. Using a downloadable template that I purchased from ETSY, we put paint on his foot and made a stamp of sorts with it. This project also took a few tries and definitely needed both grandparents to wrangle our little toddler. 

Custom Photo Calendar

My niece always makes a photo calendar of her kids for her Mom (Grandma) and the kid’s Great-Grandma every year. I just love the idea and what great keepsakes.

Using Canva (my favorite graphic design tool) I chose a calendar template and picked pictures of Harrison for each month. Grandpa and I liked it so much that we ordered one for ourselves too!

Outgrown Clothes Quilt

This one was a tough one for me to make as a surprise as I live 1000 miles from Harrison. My plan is to give Annie a certificate for a quilt and she can choose the clothes she is willing to part with for me to use. 

I started to make one for my girls when they were young and I never finished. I had great intentions but I was busy being a Mom. Now is the time for me to get these started for my kids!

If you don’t sew you can get one custom-made from Emily @LittleStitchShoppe on ETSY.

Night Out With Babysitting

One of the Christmas presents we will give Annie and Tommy is a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant and they can go when we are in town. They might want to even spend the night away so they can both get a good nights sleep. We will enjoy having a night of babysitting with our little guy. 

Other DIY Ideas

If you have older kids in your life that you want to make memories with them, I have some other ideas.

• Baking Cookies
• Snow Flake Ornaments
• Homemade Candles
• Popsicle Stick Christmas Trees
• Ginger Bread House
• Memory Book (Vacations, Visits to Grandma’s House, Christmas, School Events)

If you can’t be physically with your grand or those special kiddos in your life, technology is amazing. We FaceTime with our little guy almost every day and he knows who his Grandma and Grandpa are.

To be able to do my projects with him, took some forethought. When we babysat him in September while Mom went to a Bachelorette Weekend, we did all of our footprint projects. If being in person just isn’t something that’s going to work, send a DIY kit to their homes and work on it over FaceTime. That might be your solution. You’ll have a fun time creating something and making memories thanks to technology.

Peace and Love,

Other Creative Grandmas

Some of my best blogging buddies also share their Christmas with the Grands Idea.

A great way to save this idea is to add it to one of your Pinterest boards. You can find the pin button in the center of the photo when you click on it. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest