Homemade Gifts

Folks, I never thought I'd be on my knees in the living room wrapping a two by four. And yet today that is what happened. We gave my mom (proud grandmother of 6 -- three girls and three boys) a Growth Chart made of a six foot high length of 2x4 measured in increments all the way up. This way she can record how high all my nephews are before they head off to Australia. She can also keep track of my girls as they grow.


Other gifts we wrapped today:

Homemade soaps (the melt-and-pour kind). Natalie added dried lavender buds to hers. Becca added blueberry seed. Leah added crushed apricot kernels.

Bookmarks. Simply cut out of cardstock and decorated with crayons and stickers.

Ornaments. Salt dough ornaments in animal shapes, painted and hung on each gift as an added decoration.


I had the girls paint ornaments first and set them to dry. Then they all began their bookmarks and I invited people one at a time to make soaps with me. After naps, I invited one child at a time to make a recipe with me. (Recipes follow).

Another nice homemade gift idea was the one I made for my mom. I found a template for a gift certificate online. You import it to Word and change the wording to be whatever you want. I made her a Luxurious Massage gift certificate. Instead of Price I changed it to Personal Message and then wrote "Merry Christmas!" You can do this for grandparents or friends: A Playdate to the Zoo, for example. They print up four to a page so you could make a whole coupon booklet.