Homemade Gift #3: Candy Cane Playdough

Today's mission was to make the Candy cane playdough found on The Artful Parent (here is the link to the playdough post). I loved the idea and thought that would be a perfect addition to the little gifts I'm giving my day care kids. They turned out super cute. I used a playdough recipe that I've had for awhile and have never tried. It turned out a little too oily so I'm not going to post it (I have a few more I want to try so I'll post one when I find the perfect one). I used peppermint extract for the scent and I love it. Then added a little glitter for fun, twisted it up and stuck it in a jar. How fun!!!

I started off twisting them all cute like this...

...then got lazy and finished them off like this.

Homemade Gift #2: Child-made Books

My kids are so lucky to have 2 sets of wonderful grandparents who they spend lots of time with. With my husband being gone as often as he is (this last time it was 2 1/2 week straight!), I don't know what I would do without the help! For Christmas, my kids make all of their gifts for their grandparents. One of the gifts to my parents is a book about all the fun things they do when they spend the night there. It turned out cuter than I imagined it would and I can't wait for my mom to open it. I wrote what my son told me and then they colored the pages. I laminated it and then had it bound into a book at the office supply store. Here's a few pictures of what it looks like.

"Hand"-made card

I again, found this on Pinterest and knew that I just had to make them sometime. I figured Christmas was perfect since we are trying to do as many hand-made gifts as possible. And what's more hand-made than a "hand"-made card. :)

Homemade Gift #1: Scrub

So I've seen ideas all over pinterest about homemade stuff to give as gifts. I found a bunch of body scrub ones and after researching a bit, I've discovered it is super easy to make. We don't really go all out exchanging gifts with the other adults in my family so I thought this was something that would be simple and inexpensive to make for all the special woman in my life. This literally cost me under $5 each. I picked up the cute little jars at the local craft store (Michael's) for $3.99 and had most of the other ingredients.

I used 2 1/2 cups of sugar (plain white sugar), 3/4 cup of olive oil and a few drops of essential oil. I decorated the jars with paper, mod podge and some ribbon. :)

My son and I tried it out before he went to bed and we both could not believe the results. My hands are beyond smooth and 3 hours later, they still smell amazing!!

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Paper Bag Books

It's my mom's birthday today. We don't give gifts, I just usually have the kids make her something. Yesterday, I told my son it was her birthday and he said "We need to give her something, what does she like?". I quickly replied (before he got some big idea of a gift he wanted me to go broke buying her- knowing him it would be a new car or a house... Oh to be a kid again), "Well, she likes you! How about we wrap you up for her?". He loved the idea. We made these huge plans to decorate a box and put him in it with a bow on top. He did inform me that I can't mail him so I would have to deliver him to her doorstep (oh yea, good call kid). So, that is on our evening agenda. Delivering my son to my mom for her birthday. (I'll update with how it went)

For now, I decided to try out this paper bag book idea that one of my instructors showed me. I made the book and then let my kids go to town decorating it with notes and pictures. I'm sure their grandma will love it.

Materials:
2 paper bags (I used white)
Paper (I used scraps)
Ribbon
Glue or tape
Hole punch
Scissors or paper cutter

 How to:
1) Fold paper bags in half and hole punch (make sure they line up). I suggest making sure the front is the bottom of one of the bags and have that little flap face in so the front is smooth (easier to understand as you do this).

2) Tie ribbon

3)  Cut paper small enough to fit in the pages of the bag that opens. Put a small piece of ribbon in it for a pull tab. You will have 2 of these.

4) Decorate the rest of the bag with paper. The pages that have a little flap from the bottom, I use those as little secret spots.

And there you have it. Paper bag books. It turned out even cuter than I thought it would. :)
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