Crafting our way into holiday gift giving with kids, made simple…
Each holiday season I pick a kid-friendly craft to create with my boys, and to give as gifts during Christmas. The goal is learning the art of gift giving… and while we’re at it, may as well experiment with a new medium. This year, it’s Perler beads!
Isn’t that more stressful?
Contrary to what I would have predicted, this making has been a stress reducing endeavor.
One reason for this is that we make a season of it… we start after Halloween and aim to get the bulk of it done before Thanksgiving. As a rule, there is no rushing allowed for this project. Rushing with littles and crafts is counterproductive anyway. If I want them to do the bulk of the work, then I need to give them space and time.
Another reason for the reduction in stress, is that it solves and simplifies a large chunk of our list all at once. It saves me the mental and physical energy of gathering a variety of gifts, since each person is getting a version of our handmade one. But, the silver lining is that by nature of a craft, each gift is still unique.
We’ve done this since our eldest’s first Christmas. When we started, it was handprint art made by mommy…. As they got a bit older (i.e. not ALL in toddlerhood) it’s become a really fun process. My boys weigh in with opinions, we divvy up the work, get to learn a new material/process and have major family crafting sessions. I love it.
The result is that this annual project has become a tradition, a beloved and anticipated routine. The making is both therapeutic and exciting. My boys are always thrilled to present their gifts, and because they poured their creativity and energy into them, it truly comes from them. Not from my bank account. Not from Target. I’m not slamming bought gifts (we def do those too!), but this whole creative process really drives home the lesson of what it is to give (for them, their time and energy) for my boys. So we love it.
Who are the gifts for?
We have a wide range of ages for our cousins, and sometimes we include aunties, uncles and grandparents in there… so we try and hit a nice middle ground of useful, valuable, but kid makeable crafts.
Last year we covered journals with sharpie tie-die. The previous year the boys wanted to create framed paintings. Before that there were homemade snow globes, hand painted Christmas cards stuffed with family pictures. When they were itty-bitty, we stuck to ornaments made of salt dough and pine cones, while I painted mugs and sewed pillows.
This year, I am the most excited to create, because we have landed on a project that not just the majority, but EVERY ONE of my boys is thrilled about… Perler beads! And because we are getting older, we are going to try some of the more complicated versions of this craft. Ya’ll, I have some serious nostalgia from my childhood days attached to this medium… its about to get all pixel arty up in this house.
We definitely plan produce the perfunctory magnets and charms, but we’re also going to try complicating things with some hot glue, possibly mold some shapes and work in puzzling separates to create 3D masterpieces.
Give me some examples….
Here are the major projects we are thinking of. When we complete what we’ve set out to compete, I will post an update with a picture so you can see our “nailed it” versions of perler bead crafts.
Here’s our plan:
1.
We love our Rubik’s cubes in this house, so a functional Rubik’s cube box!? That’s a win for sure.
2.
There are a few young jewelry wearers on our list, but they’re getting more into the pre-teen stage. So rather than the popular unicorn pendant necklace, we’re going to try these molded bracelets.
3.
For game lovers… who doesn’t love a colorful, themed game of tic tac toe!? Customizable to everyone’s favorite book, movie, game, etc.
4.
You can’t do fuse beads without making fridge magnets… but this Tetris set is fun way to mix it up and make it more interactive! I also saw a Super Mario set… love me some throwback video games…
5.
Likely I will make a few snowflakes as tree ornaments, either to keep or to gift. They’d be great for gift tags too!
6.
We absolutely HAVE to make some wine glass charms…. got plenty of folks on our list who would enjoy some whimsical labeling. It’d also make a great hostess gift during the holiday season.
7.
And perhaps the one I am MOST excited about.. because it is ENITRELY new to me… a Perler bead earbud organizer. Fun, funky and totally useful across the age groups. Follow this link for an easy-to-follow tutorial.
There are literally HUNDEREDS of other great ideas, just a google away. But these are our top choices for our crew. If I’m forced too, it’s going to be hard narrowing all this down… wish us luck!
Do you Christmas craft? Do you do it solo or with your people? What are your favorite projects? Comment below; I would LOVE to hear!