Cute Christmas Ornament for Preschoolers (Gifts Kids Can Make)

Every year at Christmastime I try to help my children look outside of themselves by encouraging them to make gifts that they can give to family and friends. (For more ideas be sure to check out my gift guide HERE.) While homeschooling my daughters co-op preschool last year we spent a month talking about serving and helping others. We talked about how when we serve our family it's like giving them a little gift. Giving a hug, helping mom or dad, or telling a story to a sibling are all little gifts we can give. When we do these things it's like we're a present! One week at preschool I wrapped each of the kids up in wrapping paper, put a big bow on their heads and took their picture. They though that was so much fun! This was in preparation to make a gift they could give their parents for Christmas and as a reminder that they can help and serve others.

The kids each got to paint a little frame for their picture to go in.

I printed off the pictures and placed them in the frame, strung a ribbon through the top, and placed some lyrics that I remember from my childhood--about how we are like a present when we serve others--on the back.

 

A previous year I did a similar thing with my son's preschool group. I wasn't up for a painting project that year so I let the kids color their wood frames with red and green crayons to keep it simple and not have to worry about drying time.

The kids were SO excited to see their little ornaments all put together the next time we met. They each got to put their ornament in a box and wrap it up to put under the tree when they got home and give to their moms and dads on Christmas morning. It was so much fun to see the excitement in their eyes as they prepared these gifts to give away. I think they turned out adorably cute!

To see more ideas of gifts that kids give check out my gift guide HERE.

Snow Globe Ornament (Gifts Kids Can Make)

I ran into these laminated snow globe ornaments on Crafty Morning last year and thought they were so cute and clever. My kids helped me to make some to send to their grandparents for Christmas and I think they turned out great! I'm always looking for ways my kids can think outside of themselves at Christmastime and have opportunities to give to others. Be sure to check out my gift guide of gifts that kids can make and give for more ideas!

To make the snow globe ornaments I started out with a picture that I had taken earlier in the year of my kids. I copied it into a Word document and shrunk in down to be approximately three inches long. I then printed it onto card stock using a high quality print setting.

Then came the tricky part of cutting out around all the fine details.

I then opened a laminating pouch and on the inside drew a 3 1/2 inch circle using a pen. My kids helped me paint the lower half of the circle using craft paint and then we sprinkled on some fine glitter. We placed the picture in the center of the circle and after giving the paint a few minutes to dry closed the pouch and ran it through the laminating machine. Once cool we cut out the circles and cut the bases from blue card stock, two for each ornament.

Using double sided tape we overlapped the blue base slightly over the laminated snow globe making sure the edges were even. We then turned it over and applied a second base to the backside to give it a more finished look and a little more stability.

The final touch was punching a hole near the top, stringing through some bakers twine, and tying a knot. The kids were excited to then wrap them up and send them off the Grandma and Grandpa. I think they did a fabulous job! They turned out so cute!

And because we wanted to have some more fun with this snow globe idea a few of my kids made one of their own. It was fun to see what they chose to pick to go inside their snow globe, although I can't say I'm surprised--they picked some of their favorite things!

We had a fun afternoon crafting together!

To find more ideas of gifts kids can make, check out my gift guide HERE.

Magnetic Bookmark Gift Set (Gifts Kids Can Make)

This magnetic bookmark gift set makes the sweetest little gift for anyone. It's perfect for parents, grandparents, siblings, and teachers. They're extremely budget friendly and easy to put together.

This year I helped my four year old make some of these bookmarks to give to her older sister and brothers for Christmas. I've probably said it 100 times, but I'll say it again. When children have opportunities to give they learn to love giving. Christmastime is the perfect time to give kids this opportunity. I especially love the value creating a homemade give adds to the experience. I've seen how the time, thought, and effort my children put into their gifts makes them especially excited about giving them. They become so focused on the gifts they're creating that they don't have much time to think about all the things they want. Be sure to check out more ideas on gifts that kids can make and give HERE.

Didn't these turn out so cute?

This is the perfect project to use up small scraps of scrapbook paper, or digital designs can easily be printed and used. I cut out strips of paper that were five inches long and 3/4 inch wide. The corners were then rounded, which was the perfect task for my four year old to help with.

We then folded the bookmarks in half and applied magnetic tape to the inside. I LOVE this ultra thin magnetic tape. I always have some on hand. It comes in handy for so many things and works perfectly for these bookmarks so they don't end up too bulky. You can see the bottom portion of the magnetic tape is slightly off center. This is so the magnets will line up evenly when closed. Experiment with the magnets you use so that they will be sure to close correctly.

To gift the bookmarks we packaged them together on a card with a quote at the bottom.

For my daughter we stuck with a Paris/music theme. For the boys we did Harry Potter and Star Wars.

I love the subtle Harry Potter hint these digital papers give. I probably could have easily come up with some wise words from Dumbledore or a found a great quote from JK Rowling to add to the bottom of the packaging but instead picked a quote that I thought my kids would love the most. Even though the quote doesn't really fit with the theme I knew my 10 year old would get a kick out of this one. Sticking with the Harry Potter theme though I used a free font called Harry P found on dafont.com.

This last one is for my Star Wars obsessed seven year old. Again, the quote isn't Star Wars related but he'll love it. I used the font called Star Jedi found on dafont.com.

My four year old especially loved clipping each bookmark onto the cards. She helped me wrap them up, complete with lots of pretty Christmas bows and put them under the tree. Her book obsessed siblings are going to love these bookmarks. I have a feeling they'll get a lot of use.

Find more gift ideas that kids can make HERE.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Our youngest sister lives up in Alaska with her little family.  Their winters are long and cold so for Christmas I sent them a "Baby, It's Cold Outside!" package to help them survive the winter.  

I included things like a movie (so they could cuddle up together at home) and some hot chocolate (to warm them up).  My favorite addition to the package was a snowman kit!

I scoured our local thrift shop and found this fun, colorful crocheted scarf.  Another option would be to make a simple scarf out of fleece.  I found a carrot nose at Hobby Lobby in the floral section.  The hat was constructed of stiff felt, a ribbon, and hot glue.

For my snowman's buttons I found some brightly colored ones (to go along with the scarf) and glued golf tees to the back.  This allows them to be pushed in to the snow and (hopefully) stay put!

I did the same thing to some small stones (for his smile) and larger stones (for his eyes).  You could also attach a tee to the bottom of your top hat so that it will stay put!

I had a great time putting together this little snowman kit--and hopefully they've had just as much fun building snowmen with it!

Gifts Kids Can Make: Nativity Wood Slice Ornament

For those of you that have been following Serving Pink Lemonade for a while you know that Jeanine and I love having our kids make DIY gifts for Christmas. We've found that when our children have opportunities to give they learn to love giving! It's so rewarding to see my kids focusing more on what gifts they're going to give for Christmas than on what they're going to get. You can find our Gift Guide to Gifts Kids Can Make HERE!

In our backyard we have a huge pile of logs that we use for campfires. Last year I had my husband cut up several of the smaller logs into thin wood slices. I thought the kids would have fun using the wood slices to create a little fairy home or village in the backyard. As Christmas rolled around and my kids and I were brainstorming what they could give their grandparents for Christmas we decided that we could use some of the wood slices to make ornaments. 

I let each child pick out what they thought would be the perfect piece and then they used a pencil to design an image of their choosing on the surface. When they were all done we used a wood burner to etch their picture into the wood.

Adding an eyelet to the top and some red and white bakers twine completed the gift.

 My kids were so excited to send their thoughtful creations off to grandma and grandpa to hang on their trees. We were so happy with how they turned out!

Want more ideas of what your kids can make and give as gifts? Check out our gift guide HERE!

Deluxe Fort Kit

My kids love building forts.  Like every. single. day.  They never get tired of it.  I even had to put a ban on fort building a little while back because their forts were getting massive and out of hand and messy.  I know I'm such a party-pooper mom!

Several years ago for Christmas Jeanine gifted our family some fort kits that she put together with sheets, clothes pins, and glow sticks.  These kits have been the best!  I mean really awesome.  With the rate that my kids build forts these kits have been a life saver.  It's so nice to have a bunch of large sheets that the kids can do whatever they want with and then when they're done they can just fold them up and put them back it the fort bag--and I don't have to worry about having to wash the sheets because they're going to go on someones bed the next day.

Not too long ago I was chatting with some moms and fort building came up.  The fact that building forts creates a mess of blankets and sheets is never fun for a mom.  I shared with them about our fort kits and they all loved the idea.




A few months ago I spied these cute sheets at Target for an incredible price and thought, "Those look like really cute fort building sheets." I grabbed a couple sets and made some fort kits for my sister-in-law and her family for Christmas this last year.  I love that the sheets come in their own little bag--it's perfect for packing and storing all the fort kit supplies.

I sewed some ribbon onto the sheets at each corner and then also at the center points of each edge.  This way the sheets can be tied to chairs, bed posts, railings--whatever's convenient for making your fort.  I used a lit match to seal the ends of each of the ribbons so they won't fray.

Sheets complete with ribbons for tying, clothes pins for connecting blankets/sheets together (sometimes my kids like to clip them to the inside "roof" of their fort and pretend they're bats) and glow sticks for lighting up a dark fort = the perfect combination.

I also created some little tags to attach to the fort kit bags to give the kit a finished look.

Do you have fort builders at your house?

I love to hear about the messiest fort your kids have made!

Feel free to copy and print my fort kit tags below.