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!

Gifts Kids Can Make: Magnets

This is a super easy gift idea that even your smaller kids can make: Magnets!  My boys have some magnet boards in their rooms so I had my youngest boy make some magnets that they could use to hang their artwork.  We ran to Hobby Lobby and I let him pick out some of the pre-painted wood pieces.  He really put a lot of thought into each one.  We also decided to get a bag of the polished stones.  (Buttons would also be a really fun option!)  

We later hot glued some strong magnets to each item.  Like I said, super simple but something my son was really proud of and excited to give!

Gifts Kids Can Make: Dad T-shirt

Finding something for my boys to make for their brothers is one thing . . . but making something for adults is another thing entirely.  

My husband is always needing t-shirts.  He especially loves the ones that our boys help design.  So for Christmas I enlisted the aide of my boys in making a new t-shirt for Dad.  First we made a freezer paper stencil (see Amy's tutorial here) for our design on the front.  After I ironed it on each of the boys helped paint.  After peeling the paper off it looked like this:

As much as I loved the front of the shirt the back ended up being my favorite part!  Each of the boys used my fabric markers to draw themselves and write their name.  It is a fun little keepsake of both their handwriting and artistic abilities!

Christmas Time Service

Last Christmas I was trying to think of ways my 3 year old could give service and see the immediate results from it.  I tried to convince Jeanine and Amy to put together a post sharing ideas of how young children can give service and help others but they turned around and convinced me to do it instead! I've been brainstorming some ideas and its been a great experience.  Here are a few of the thoughts I've collected.  Some of these ideas I can do with my kids now while they're young and others will be perfect for when they get a little older.

Service at Home

I really believe that our home is one of the best places we can teach our young children to serve.

Do you think it's a coincidence that my son received a talk assignment in church last Sunday with the topic "When I serve my family I serve God"? We had a great conversation together about what service is, ways we can serve, and how serving others is how we show Heavenly Father we love him. We talked about how serving and showing love is the most important thing about Christmas. I've been trying to point out those simple ways he can serve and already does serve!

As I was thinking about serving in our home I remembered a Christmas service star that I had made at church as a teenager.  It's a pay it forward type of idea.  You make/find a star and when you have completed an act of service for someone in your family you leave the star there and then that person has 24 hours to complete some service for someone else, and so on.

After a quick search on the internet I found this better explanation of it.  I think it's definitely something young children will enjoy participating in and an act of service where they can see the results.

I also saw a similar idea in the book "Christ Centered Christmas" by Emily Freeman.  She suggest keeping a bell in your pocket and when you hear it jingle it will remind you to be aware of ways you can serve.  This might be a fun thing for smaller kids to do but you'll have to decide if your sanity can handle constant jingles before you start handing out bells!

Here are a few ideas of ways children can serve in the home:

Make someone's bed

Clean up your toys without being asked

Do dishes or make dinner

Make a card for someone

Give a hug

Complete someone else's chore for them

Share a toy

Hold the door open for someone

Share a treat

Wipe down the counters

Sweep the floor

Play a game with a younger sibling

Give a back rub

Say something nice to someone

Make a bookmark with a nice quote on it for someone

Listen to someone that is having a hard day

Give your mom or sister a manicure

Service in Your Community

I always enjoyed serving others as a family growing up. Some of the things we did as kids were:

• Caroling and bringing treats to neighbors at Christmas-time.  This is what I looked forward to most growing up and can't wait to continue the tradition with my own kids.
• Sing at a retirement home. Growing up we always went to the Life Care Center. There are several around the country but I'm sure with a quick search you can find any type of retirement home near you.  My sister-in-law did this one year and also brought around tissues to those she sang to.
• Write letters to missionaries. It's hard being away from friends and family during the holidays and a little note can make a big difference for someone. In our church congregation growing up big sheets of paper were set out at Christmas-time giving everyone an opportunity to write a message to those missionaries that were far from home. You can do this as a family as well.
• You can also write those that serve in the military. If you don't personally know someone in the military this is just one place you can go to contact those in the military to express your gratitude.
• Often during the month of December we would drop off a big box of food and presents to someone we know needed it. What was most fun about this activity was leaving the gifts on their doorstep, ringing the doorbell, and then running away before they could answer. It added a fun element of mystery and exhilaration.
• A few years ago we did a 12 days of Christmas for a neighbor.  I've seen it done a lot of ways through the years. There's some ideas here and here and here.
• I randomly come across this subscription site called Crafting It Forward and fell in love with it.  The basic idea is you subscribe, they send you a craft, your child makes it, enjoys it, and then mails it in a pre-addressed envelope to someone whose day it will brighten (a child in a hospital, a retirement home etc.) The only down side to this is that young children don't get to see where their gift ends up--but I still love the idea.

There are so many other ways we can serve those around us.  I love these ideas at the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.

There are even more service ideas here.

12 Months of Christmas

Last year when I was contemplating my service ideas I came across this idea from my great friend Angela.  She is a single mom with young children (ages 1-7 years old).

Angela had a rough year and was so touched by the love and outpouring of support that was given to her she was inspired to give back. She started a new tradition with her children where they came up with a simple act of service at the beginning of each month. Once they completed the service they would each write (or draw depending on their age) about their experience and how they felt. They then place their experiences in a wrapped box. These acts of service are their gifts to the Savior. On Christmas Eve they get to open the box and reflect on their gifts. You can read more about her experience here.

I love how she placed the box in an open area where they have a physical reminder every day of the service they had given and a chance to reflect on the Savior. I love how this tradition focuses on the Savior and giving all year and I can't wait to start this in January with my family.

We're excited to have a month and year of service and hope you do too!

-Elise

Gifts Kids Can Make: Samples of Why We Love You!

The Christmas season is long gone but I wanted to share one more gift idea that kids can make.  It's so much fun to see the joy on my children's faces as they make gifts and get so excited to give them away.  When someone asked my six year old what he was most excited about for Christmas last month I'm sure you can imagine how trilled I was when I heard him say, "Giving gifts!"  Yeah!  My kids are getting it!

My children worked together to make this fun little book for their grandparents (inspired by this post) but it could make a great gift for just about anyone.  These would be perfect for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparents Day (celebrated on the the first Sunday after Labor Day annually), to cheer up a friend, or just for no reason at all.

First we gathered up some old paint samples.  I thought these ones were really fun with the little square cut-out at the bottom.

We made a cover for our book by printing "Just a few samples of why we love our Grandma and Grandpa!" and then cut it out to match the size of our paint samples.  We also cut out a little square at the bottom like in the paint samples.  The back page was blank except for a heart sticker that we placed where the square cut-out would be.

Stacked all together it looked like this.  I love how the little heart pops through all the pages.

We then punched a hole in the upper corner of each page and tied it together with some ribbon.  My kids had fun filling out a page or two about why they love their grandparents.  We made sure to use my Slick Writers so their words and pictures wouldn't smear.  Everyone had so much fun working on it together.  I think it made a sweet gift.

Teacher Card

Looking for a creative card for you kids to tack along with a teacher gift?

My son liked the card that he made last year for his teacher so much that he decided to do the same thing again for his teacher this year.  We changed it up a little this time though.

See the original post here.  Find the free printable tag here.

Gifts Kids Can Make: Super Hero Magnets

Like many little boys, my boys love super heroes!  Batman has been especially popular at our house since the Lego Movie came out.  My son even had a super hero themed birthday party a few years ago. When I saw these free printable super hero stickers at Great Kids Birthday Parties I immediately pinned them.  I knew they would come in handy for something fun sometime . . . I just didn't know what yet.

As I was helping my kids come up with ideas for gifts they could make their siblings this year for Christmas I remembered these super hero stickers and realized they would be perfect for making some fun homemade magnets.

To make the magnets we printed off the stickers we wanted (I had to shrink them down a bit to fit our stones) and cut them out.  We then used a thin layer of modge podge to glue the super hero images to the glass stones (like I did here).  I've stocked up on glass stones from SSC Supplies.  I love the size and uniformity of their stones.  They come in handy for so many things that I like to always have a few around.  Last year I used them to make these pendant necklaces.

We then added a magnet to the back of the stones using some hot glue and they were ready to wrap and put under the tree.  I love how they turned out!  I'm kind of tempted to make a few more . . . 

Service Manger

Note: This post was originally published back in 2010.  I've had several requests for a template to the manger.  I have created a template and decided to re-post this idea to allow more of our readers access to it.

This simple idea makes an inexpensive and meaningful gift to give to children in a Sunday school class or church setting.  It would also be a fun project to make and work together on as a family.  We have used this little homemade manger for years and really enjoyed the spirit of service that it created in our home.  This year we decided to finally upgrade to a nicer (sturdier) version that I came across on etsy.  You can find it here.

Be sure to check out this fun little story called Straw for the Manger to go along with your service manger too.  Find it HERE.

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Are you looking for ways to help your children remember the true meaning of Christmas this time of year?

This service manger is a fun and easy way to do just that!

This little manger started out empty, but each time someone in our family does a good deed or act of service they get to add a straw to the manger to make it soft in time for the baby Jesus to arrive for Christmas.

Want to make your own?  These simple mangers can be put together in minutes!

First I found some sturdy card stock (or thin cardboard will do also) and drew these images on it.

I then cut them out and pieced them together. See. Easy project. I didn't even use glue. Just fold your rectangle piece in half, cut the slits and insert the legs of the manger.

Find some straw (or raffia, or even paper shreds) and let your kids add them to the manger good deed by good deed.

Now for the baby Jesus.
I picked up these wooden pieces at Hobby Lobby for under $2 the other day. Perfect for our baby.

I then found some white scraps of flannel for a blanket and a sharpie to draw on the face.

Here's the baby all wrapped up and cozy.

I can't tell you how much my children have loved filling this manger with straw. It's been fun to see them being so helpful and offering to do all kinds of wonderful things around the house.


Just perfect for helping to remember the true meaning of Christmas.






(To print template: Click on picture below to enlarge, then right click and copy.  Open a word document, reduce your margins to zero and paste.  Expand to 100% and print.)





Merry Christmas!

Gifts Kids Can Make: Peg People

A few years back my husband and I made some peg people for Mr. J's Christmas gift.  Last year, he decided that he would make some peg people for his brothers.  It was fun to watch him decide what kind each of his brothers would like the most.  He made 3 sets of peg people: 4 little ninjas, 4 Minecraft characters, and 4 super heroes. 

This is such a fun gift for kids to make!  All you need is a bag of peg people (we picked ours up at Hobby Lobby), paint, and some paint brushes.  Then let your imaginations run wild!

Gifts Kids Can Make: Sunshine Notes

Throughout the year, but especially at Christmas time, one thing we like to share here at Serving Pink Lemonade are gift ideas that children can make.  I think when children make gifts for family and friends during the holiday season they learn to love to give.  I have loved seeing the transformation that has taken place in my kids over the last few years as they've thoughtfully created gifts for their family members.  They've gone from having mile long wish lists to hardly giving a thought to what they want at all.  Instead they look forward to the presents they get to create each Christmas.  They love to give!

Today I want to share with you a gift idea that children can give at Christmas time or any time of the year.  These little bundles of sunshine notes make the perfect gift to send off to grandparents, make for a friend or family member going through a hard time, a loved one sick in the hospital, or for parents for a mother's or father's day gift.  The options are endless!

To make our bundle of sunshine notes we gathered together some envelopes, paper to draw on, a sunny introduction card (see free printable below to get your own), and some bakers twine.

My kids had fun writing notes and drawing picture to their grandparents.  It was fun to see how thoughtful they were with each card, giving thought to what each grandparent likes.

We then placed each card into an envelope . . .

And piled them all together, adding the introduction card to the front.

We tied around a little bakers twine and our bundles were complete.

My kids were super excited to send their notes off to grandma and grandpa for Christmas.

Want to make your own bundle of sunshine notes?  Feel free to use the free printables below.

(To download printables:  Click on image to enlarge.  Then right click and save.  Paste into a word document and adjust the size to fit your envelopes.)

Gifts Kids Can Make: Fun Crayons

Our big quiet book giveaway ends tonight.  Be sure to enter here if you haven't had a chance yet.

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My 4-year-old and I had a great time making these crayons as a gift for his 6-year-old brother.  I read somewhere that it's best to use crayons that are not washable.  I also saw that cheap crayons do not work well.  So we went to the store and bought some new non-washable Crayola crayons for this project.  Little Mr. A was a great crayon-wrapper-peeler.

After getting all the paper off we broke the crayons into pieces that would fit into our silicone Lego mini-figure mold.  It was a little tricky to get enough crayon into each one but we got it to work.

We then set the silicone mold on a cookie sheet.  If you don't then when you grab them out of the oven the liquid crayon will spill!  We placed them in the oven (set at 225 degrees) for about 13 minutes.

Once the crayon was melted we let them cool.  After letting them sit for a few minutes I put them in the freezer to speed up the process! We popped them out of their mold and then placed them in an old stationary box.

Mr. A was so excited to give these as a gift to his older brother. His brother loves them!