Clearly Christmas: Se7en Gift Crafting Tips…

In my Clearly Christmas Month of Posts I thought I would look at gifts kids can make.

I have to say that we make most of our gifts, because I think its fun and because it is one way to get kids involved in giving and to give from their hearts.

Before I give you list of gifts we make I have to say se7en things about gifting in general what to avoid and what to aim for:

• Avoid precarious artworks: I can’t bear inane gifts from kids – I want real gifts that aren’t hideous – you know smeary glitter ornaments are really not my thing – can you imagine a poor granny receiving Se7en of these. A fridge can only be burdened with so much!
• Gifts need to be useful or consumable: In this world where almost everyone is burdened with stuff and clutter it is just nasty to wrap up se7en paint dripping useless clay projects – they can’t throw them out and well where to put them?
• Do to others as you would have them do to you: Never give a gift you wouldn’t want to receive. Trust me if you don’t want twenty kilograms of lavender bath salts don’t give them. If you can’t bare the thought of a flimsy toy with a bazillion pieces just don’t give them.
• Plan your victims: You need a list of folk you are giving gifts to – there is no point in making ten tie-dye t-shirts for uncles when your kids have only got two uncles… planning folks, it is all about planning. Don’t make twenty gifts for men and twenty gifts for women and try and fit them to your friends and family… it is costly and you will end up with a lot of leftovers. Rather customize your gifts to your list.
• Do what you can way in advance: Remember any gift that requires a third party – like firing painted clay products or laminating coasters – you need to do these in advance, these businesses get really busy closer to Christmas – November is really not too soon to get these done. In fact November is not too soon to get any gifting done – so that if you come up with a project disaster you still have a bit of time to remedy yourself.
• Make gifts that you love to make: If they are fun to make and don’t get too tedious making them. Novelty crafts like candle dipping or tie-dying are brilliant… we don’t do these often enough for these to get dull! Otherwise you will be making a lot of crafts yourself! If you are making calendars and so on, make sure they are printable – no kid wants to draw there way through a bazillion gifts – trust me you cannot produce authentic art on behalf of your kids.
• Photographic items: Photographs are a great gift, in a frame, on a calendar and so on. Avoid them on products – only you enjoy your kids that much, I know that is hard to believe, but trust me. I know I don’t want to wear a t-shirt with my kids faces on it. And I am their mother. I sure don’t want a mug with them on – do I need se7en mugs? Would I want to serve guests with mugs that had mug shots on them – I don’t think so. These products are great for artworks… and if they can put a photo onto a product then they sure can put artwork onto it. I sure would wear a t-shirt with artwork or serve coffee in arty mugs.

There you go I just had to get all that out!

Upcoming Gift Giving Posts:

• Se7en Gifts Kids Can Make For Adults.
• Se7en Gifts Kids Can Make From The Kitchen.
• Se7en Gifts Kids Can Make For Kids.
• Se7en Gifts Kids Can Make For Siblings.

Works for me Wednesday has heaps of gifting tips.