Quick and Useful Homemade Christmas Gifts for Grandparents

My daughter made custom notepads for her grandparents when she was a preschooler. They started out as nothing more than a simple drawing on white paper. I took it to the copy shop and they shrunk the image and fit it along the bottom edge of plain notepads. I think we purchased fifty pads for a very nominal fee.

My mom loved that gift so much that every so often, on special occasions, she will use a single sheet. This past Thanksgiving, she wrote the holiday menu on one such paper and hung for all to see. It was a treat to see my high school senior blush when she realized how much her grandma treasured her little gift even to this day.

This just illustrates how important handmade gifts can be. If we would have purchased a bottle of lotion and had my little girl give it to grandma, the sentiment would have been the same, but the effect would have been eventually lost. I realize every grandparent is different, but for those of you with sappy sentimental grannies in their lives, the following homemade gifts are ideal. These also make great gifts for the loving aunt, nice neighbor and even the child's teacher.

Quick, inexpensive homemade gifts from the kids

Hand Coasters
More useful than those plaster hands, these custom coasters make great gifts for grandparents. Not only are they adorable, these handy coasters protect tables and are not breakable like their plaster alternative!

For hand coasters you will need:

• Card stock
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Fabric, 2 pieces of cotton in any pattern
• Double-sided stiff fusible interfacing
• Iron

1. Trace your child's hand on the card stock.
2. Cut it out and then use it as a template to trace on one of the fabric pieces as many times as desired.
3. Place the interfacing between the two pieces of fabric.
4. Use an iron to fuse the two fabrics
5. Cut out the finished coasters. Stack and tie with a ribbon.

Art Cards and Notepads
Give a masterpiece that has more uses than just taking up space on the refridgerator. Your local copy shop can print notepads as explained above, or you can take a few of your child's best work from the year and make a pack of art cards. Not just for preschoolers or grade schoolers, tweens and teens can share their school art projects this way too.

To make art cards you will need;

• Artwork
• Color copier
• Card stock, or blank notecards
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Glue stick
• Scissors

1. Cut card stock into 12 3/4-by-6-inch rectangles to create 4 1/4 by 6-inch cards, or simply purchase blank notecards!
2. Scan and copy artwork, resizing as necessary. Cut out and glue on the front of the cards.

Refrigerator magnet masterpieces
Decorate grandma's refrigerator, with this practical gift. Great for budding photographers and artists alike. My son used extra family photos to give his grandma a nifty gift. Packaged in an old CD jewel case, the presentation is just as impressive as the product.

To make custom refrigerator magnets you will need:

• Decorative paper
• Adhesive magnetic sheet
• Drawings, photos
• Scissors

1. Choose the images. Place on the adhesive magnetic sheet, using all available space.
2. Press down and carefully cut out.
3. Package finished magnets in a CD jewel case.
4. Cut a piece of decorative paper to slip in the front of the case.