Christmas Gifts Kids Can Make

Christmas is a time of giving and receiving. Even kids would want to get into the picture. Giving gifts to their friends and loved ones.

Now what gifts can kids give that do not look tacky? I mean, kids generally do not have much income. It kind of breaks a mom's heart to see a kid break his or her piggy bank just to buy a gift for someone who might not really appreciate it.

A better alternative is to get kids to make something cute to give as gifts to those who matter to them.

One thing that comes to mind is a pet rock. Those cute little pebbles with faces, which one could get quite fond of. These are easy to make, and they are practical as well. Pet rocks make great paper weights. Add a secret message below and you have an adorable, personal gift a kid could make, without breaking the bank.

All the kid has to do is to collect some smooth pebbles, each around the size of his or her palm. Mom can supply the felt, glue, cardboard and pens. Kids just spend their free time making gifts they can give out on Christmas day. The glue must be able to stick the felt to the stone. To avoid disappointment, test first by sticking a small piece of felt to a stone that you do not want. Stick another small piece of felt on top of it. Let it dry. If the felt pieces stay stuck to each other and to the stone, you are all set to go.

How To Make Pebble Pets

1. Wash and clean the pebbles. Let these dry. Take 1 dry pebble to begin with.

2. You need white, black, brown, pink, and red felt, and a light colored felt to write the message.

3. Cut 2 ovals from the white felts to be the white of the pebble's eyes. Cut 2 smaller circles out of brown, blue or green felt to be the irises of the eye. Cut to even smaller circles out of the black felt to be the pupils of the eye.

4. Glue the 2 white ovals towards the end of the pebble, where the eyes should be. Remember to leave some room for the nose and mouth. Glue the irises to the white of the eyes and the pupils to the irises.

5. Cut out a small triangle out of pink or brown felt to be the nose. Glue it right at the center, beneath the eyes, where the nose should be.

6. Cut out a small crescent out of pink or red felt to be a happy smile. Glue it below the nose, where the mouth should be. Let the pebble pet dry.

7. Cut a piece of light colored felt slightly smaller than the pebble. Write a secret message on the felt. Glue the felt under the pebble with the message facing outwards. That way, whoever gets that pebble can turn it over and read the secret message beneath it. Kids love secret messages. This should appeal to them.

Once you and your kid have made the first pebble pet together, your kid should be able to make the rest of the pebble pets he or she can give away on Christmas day.

Here is another a tip about Christmas gifts. Every year, you and your kids would get gifts you do not like and spend money on gifts for your loved ones which they do not really like either. Everyone wastes money that way.

A smarter way is to be more upfront. Go to What Do You Want For Christmas and search for the things you and your kids really want. Then add what you want to your personal registry by clicking on the pink add to my giftlist button right below the gift. Get that registry to email your choices to those who give you gifts each Christmas and ask them to return the favor by adding what they like to their registry. Everyone gives and gets gifts that will really be appreciated. No money is wasted that way.

The writer is the webmaster of Christmas Giftshop which helps you with your Christmas preparations and with gift shopping.

---

I Didnt Know These Are Slowly Destroying My Scrapbooks!

Once you spend your precious time and energy creating a scrapbook, make sure it lasts! There are a few simple things you can easily do to ensure... Read More

Easy Crafts for Kids - Help with Learning

According to the research on child cognitive development, making use of basic easy crafts for kids can stimulate their mental growth and enhance the learning process. Since... Read More

Sewing Embroidery Designs in New Ways

How many of you are always looking for new ways to use your embroidery designs - always, or never? If never, you are overlooking wonderful opportunities! Do... Read More

Collectibles: Searching for those Hard-to-Find Diecast Models

For collectors of any kind, there are always those items that are much sought after, but nearly impossible to find. If they're lucky enough to finally locate... Read More

Scrapbooking Childrens Favorite Stories

Countless memories are built during the formative childhood days. If there's an excellent means to record them down in some ways, it'll be scrapbooking.True, we can't possibly... Read More

Genealogy / Family History

One huge advantage of knowing about family history is that sometimes it can help you to trace and pinpoint occurrences of illness.My father and two of my... Read More

Are Your Airbrush Products Selling? If So, Here Are 3 Ways To Further Skyrocket Sales!

One of the biggest challenges faced by airbrush artists are proof of what you say is true! The potential customer is going to find it hard to... Read More

How to Use Textured Paper and Book Jacket Backgrounds to Give Your Scrapbook Dimension

Textured paper can add extra dimension to your scrapbooking page. Textured paper can be used to highlight focus items on your scrapbook page. Textured paper can also... Read More

Are Your Collectibles Valuable? Heres How to Find Out

The first thing you will need to do is check out the condition of your item, be it a train, collectible Barbie doll, Disney collectible, or some... Read More

Gift Baskets - Create Simple Easy Gifts For the Person Who Has Everything!

Have you ever thought about giving a personalized Gift Basket?Is it just me or do you also get excited when you give a gift to your friends... Read More

Woodworking Tools: Right Selection And Care Will Save You Money, Part 3

Woodworking: Tools Of The Trade, Part 3 - Tools For Measuring & MarkingA civilization's maturity and intelligence is judged, in part, by the diversity and sophistication of... Read More

Capturing the Craft Show Market

Finding the right product to sell at a craft show is extremely important in finding success on the craft show circuit. You may already have an excellent... Read More

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

The song says it all, "Hot Fun in the Summertime." Our summer was certainly full of fun: outdoor barbeques, neighborhood cookouts, making ice cream, 4th of July... Read More

Where Antiques Originate and How You Can Find Them

It's important to understand where antiques originate. Many antique buyers make the mistake of mis-understanding the process by which antique items are found. Many collectors and dealers... Read More

Woodworking Beginners: Introduction To First Time Crafts

Woodworking: The Process Of Making Something Using WoodThe art of woodworking is one of the most ancient and widespread. From the earliest days when humans first experimented... Read More

Tips for Attending Gemstone Shows

If you've been to gem shows, you know how overwhelming and daunting they can be. Although it's difficult to narrow down all those tempting options, your jewelry... Read More

How to Invest in Antique, Vintage, or Modern Jewelry

As Antique Jewelry is 'Really' based on the 'Collectability' and Style of an item, it is hard for clients to appreciate the 'Craft' involved in Handmade work,... Read More

The Art of Cutting and Cropping for Your New Scrapbook

Often photographs aren't quite the right shape and size or the photographic image is improperly centered. Having oversized or off centered photographs creates an air of unprofessionalism.Carefully... Read More

Embroidery Sewing Quality of Machine Embroidery Designs

Many new to embroidery have experienced numerous problems because of the inferior quality of free embroidery design files that they downloaded over the internet. One of the... Read More

Green Thumb Not Required

Ah, the sweet smell of fresh flowers, herbs and fruit. But what if you don't have room for a flower garden or a fruit tree? What about... Read More

Essentials of Genealogy - Getting Started with Your FamilyTree

Since genealogy is my hobby, my profession, and my passion, many people ask me how to get started. What are the essentials to doing a family search?... Read More

Kona Cotton: The Quilters & Embroiderers Dream Fabric

What, Exactly, Is Kona Cotton? Kona(R) cotton is a premium, 100% cotton broadcloth from Robert Kaufman Fabrics in Los Angeles. The company introduced the fabric in the... Read More

Idle Hands Beget The Devils Work

As a southern girl, sewing was a rite of passage. You never questioned if you should learn, it was a matter of when. Though I possess the... Read More

Woodworking ? Creative, Relaxing and Timeless

The title reflects Woodworking as a hobby, not as a vocation. Vocational woodworking is pretty much the opposite of the adjectives in the title because of the... Read More

Ribbons and Lace, Embroidery Cotton, and Hemp to Spice Up Your Scrapbooks

Ribbon and lace are by far the most common, and most beautiful, border embellishment. The flowing nature of both materials encourages a touch of softness and elegance.... Read More

The Surprising Popularity of Cigar Smoking

The practice of cigar smoking has been on the rise in the U.S. since the early 90's. In part due to a reputation as a glamorous alternative... Read More