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To start out , here is a very nice Advent calendar to print out and use by Jan Brett:
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KEEP COMING BACK AS MORE IS ADDED .
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* If you buy toys this year , or if someone gives you toys , you may want to check their safety .Here is a link from my friend Elaine of TSA , on Aidpages , to obtain a list ,and to keep updated by e-mail if you would like.
ANOTHER TREAT TO GET STARTED WITH ; HERE IS A FREE GIFT TAG DESIGNER . YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN GIFT TAGS , WITH A PERSONAL NOTE AND YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN GRAPHICS OR THE ONES PROVIDED.
Here is a project making a canning jar lamp . Using an older lampshade makes this especially warm and home-y looking . You don't have to use all your expensive thread spools to make this. Just buy some at the thrift store , rummage sales and dollar store and make a mix of different sizes and colors.
A note- holder is always a very useful gift . Here is a pretty way to hold notes ,and low cost to make too .
This is a really unique gift . On top of that , it is really creative ! There is a lot of room for personalization too. You could also use this as an ornament on the tree.
HOMEMADE PLASTER AIR FRESHENERS
Another 'smelly' gift. This is an easy project with instructions that include packaging ideas and labels to print out for each recipe.
A really fun gift for kids is an edible sand art kit. Include lots of powdered candy straws (such as pixie stixs) , a small jar -baby jar or other small container that is see-through , and maybe include some ideas about what kind of colors and layers to use . Make just like sand art , only you can eat this ! Kids could also make this for brothers or sisters or friends. Another sand art kit would include : vanilla frosting in a can , powdered candy and a box of graham crackers - instant sand art picture ! Spread with frosting and free-style 'paint' or use a cookie cutter as a guide . Either fill the space inside the cookie cutter , or make an imprint and trace it with your sand 'paint' sticks.
VERY CUTE NATIVITY WALL HANGING very little if any sewing !(pdf. format)
CUTE MANGER SCENE BEADED SAFETY PIN
Fire Starter Basket
Pinecones, long stick matches, starter blocks, candle scents/oils, ash shovel
This could be given to a grandparent , or parent. It is a precious idea . Now that there are so many new products to create craft items and to sew with , it is possible to make a quilt out of childrens' art projects !
Here is a treasure chest full of nice arts and crafts projects for children to make for each other , or for you to make for them !
DANIELLES PLACE CRAFTS LIST PAGE
A wall clock Craft stores sell the clock parts and they are very inexpensive. Just use your imagination to "decorate" the background. Use a theme with the individual in mind. You could copy a picture color off the internet then enlarge it at a copy center and use this as the background. You could have a digital/other photo enlarged for the background. You could even use a magazine picture if you found one that is especially nice (think used National Geographic from the thrift store) If you are artistic , make the background extra special and personal by using a watercolor or sketch that you created yourself.
Homemade puzzle Take the idea above and have the picture/print/art enlarged. Glue on sturdy card board and then cut shapes with an exacto knife.Cut on the side that does not have the picture on it.Paint each piece with shellac or other sealent , but not too thickly or the pieces won't fit together.
Homemade photo calendar with birthdays and holidays of family and friends written in. Don't forget to add meeting dates (for coffee or an activity together). Also , if you have a good memory , write in little things like "On this day in ---- you lost your first tooth" or "Do you remember that we left for our trip to ----- today in 1989 ?"
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28-page CHRISTMAS CAROL BOOKLET to print and share (pdf.)
COOKIE BAKING COUPONS TO PRINT OUT (pdf.)
Make your own Water Colors
Materials;
1 tbs. white vinegar
1 tbs. baking soda
Food coloring - liquid works, but paste food color makes even bolder colors
1/4 cup corn starch
1 tbs. light corn syrup
well washe and dried foam egg carton
Stir together the first two ingredients in a small deep bowl. Then, add the color and remaining ingredients. Pour into one egg carton section. Allow to harden. Repeat for each color that you would like.
DESSERT OF THE MONTH COUPONS TO PRINT OUT(pdf.)
MIX OF THE MONTH COUPON(pdf.)
MISC. COUPONS -5 ARE BLANK TO FILL IN YOURSELF(pdf.)
17 MISC . COUPONS PLUS 1 BLANK COUPON
12 CHORE COUPONS TO GIVE TO MOM/DAD/SPOUSE/GRANDPARENT/SHUT-IN FRIEND
Home Made Orange-Honey Bath Oil-
Mix together a cup of baby oil with ½ a cup of honey,7 drops of orange oil( you can actually squeeze oil from orange skins if they are not sprayed ,or if you wash them very well with warm soap and water , then rinse very well). , 1/2 a cup of liquid soap and 1 teas. of vanilla oil or extract. Mix well and pour into a nice bottle , maybe a smally bottle that you saved from a condiment and washed , or into a travel bottle that you bought at the dollar store. Label with a pretty label and list the ingredients.
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21 GIVE TO YOUR SWEETIE COUPONS
LOTS OF COMPUTER CRAFT PROJECTS (PRINT AND PUT TOGETHER OR MAKE)
MY FAIR LADY PAPER DOLLS AND OUTFITS
Cocoa for a malted milk ball lover
1-1/4 cup dry milk 3/4 cup powdered coffee creamer 1/2 cup unsweetened european ( like Hershey's special dark) cocoa powder 3/4 cup sugar ( or a non caloric sweetener such as Splenda brand -put an equal amount -3/4 cup) , 2/3 cup malted milk powder , *optional - 1Tab. vanilla sugar , or if you use a blender to mix , 1 teas. vanilla.
If you have a blender or food processor , powdering this mix will make it blend together better. add 1/3 cup of mix to 6 oz. hot water
*If you don't like the taste of dark chocolate , use regular cocoa powder.
SHOEBOX GIFT IDEAS - great gift !
GOOD GOOP RECIPE ! for a gift or stocking stuffer
Mint Candy Scented Bath Salts
5 cups of epsom salts
2 cups of sea salt , or regular salt with no iodine added
1 teaspoon of peppermint extract or 5 drops peppermint oil
3 drops of red food color
1 teaspoon spearmint extract or 5 drops spearmint oil
3 drops green food color
Mix epsom salts and sea salt . Divide into 3 equal parts . Add red food color and peppermint extract to one. Add green color and spearmint to the next . Leave the third uncolored . Layer with alternate colors in a tall strait decorative jar. Or , put into smaller jars and combine with other items . Use 1/4-1/3 cup , and add under the running water as you make your bath (instructions to add with a ribbon tied around the bottle.)
TONS of great ideas for homemade gifts that are low cost
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COLORFUL TRAVEL BINGO GAMES with bonus stationary to print out
LOT'S OF MINI BOOKS TO MAKE with very good directions
MAKE A SWEATER BAG Use sweaters that you have found at the thrift store or garage sale. Felt the woolen sweaters if you can.
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The
DLTK site has tons and tons of great projects to download/print out and you can customize most of them.
Custom Printable Greeting Cards
birthday cards, congratulations, greetings, party invitations, seasonal cards,
sympathy cards,
thank-you cards
and generic greeting cards.
These cards allow you to select a theme and type a custom message before you print. Available in color and black and white
HERE is a template for making envelopes for your cards
DLTK's Standard Printable Greeting Cards
Include birthday cards, thank-you cards, birthday invitations and a wide variety of other types of cards you can print in either color or B&W. Over 1000 cards in over 100 different themes are available. You cannot type your own messages on-line on these .
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DOLL CLOTHES
FREE FASHION DOLL CLOTHES PATTERNS TO PRINT OUT
FREE DROP WAIST DRESS PATTERN FOR AN 18" DOLL
SHRINKY DINK FUN STUFF
This is a fun project to make for a teen or put the shrinky dink sheet and other materials needed into a container for the teen to make their own
SHRINKY DINK TEEN PROJECT/GIFT
CHRISTMAS SHRINKY DINK KEY CHAIN PATTERNS AND INSTRUCTIONS
Some interesting information about shrinking plastic materials and what you can use that I read on a blog while searching for Shrinky Dink information:
One blogger said she hadn’t heard of Shrinky Dinks, but she had made things out of fast food foam containers when she was little. Here is the reply. Please note * I don’t know if these kinds of plastics are toxic when heated. It may be that if the polystyrene is recyclable, it is OK, but please proceed with caution.
“Rahrah, that kind of Styrofoam usually is #6 recyclable polystyrene, so, yeah it is the same thing. Instead of shrinkydink blanks, some people use overhead projector blanks which may or may not work depending on the plastic, and take out food containers like salads and what not. But foam fast food and egg containers work, too. You just sand up one side. IME, sharpies make the best markers for shrinkydinks. They don't feather all that much and they come in a variety of indelible colors. Other markers or pencils may need to be sealed(with clear fingernail polish) after shrinking, but not sharpies.”
WINE GLASS CHARMS ( OR FRUIT JUICE OR SPARKLING WATER - FILL IN THE BLANK)
Another tip : apparently , you can get Shrinky Dink plastic , or SD-like plastic sheets that are computer printable ! TONS of possibitities here.
Check out your local toy store , department store , craft store , or office staples and supplies store to see what they have.
Instuctions for baking with Shrinky Dinks :
Materials:< xml="true" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" prefix="o" namespace="">
Sheets of Shrinky Dink_ One sheet makes about 6 shrinky dinks ( keychain , necklace , pendent size).
paper
different colors of sharpie brand markers , or any other permanent marker
scissors
hole punch - the hole will be the right size when it shrinks-of course , this is for something you want a hole in : )
oven
cookie sheet or tinfoil pie plate
Instructions:
preheat oven to 325 degrees F
print the template on PAPER( or use an image that you want to copy)
position the shrinky dink blank overtop of the printout (whichever image you want). The shrinky dink material should be positioned smooth side down/rough side up
Hint : if you want to see how your Shrinky Dink will look , trace lightly with a pencil first.Then you can erase and change the lines if you want. This is probably not something you could do for a whole page , though. Just for little changes.
trace the image with a permanent maker(you should be writing on the rough side of the material) -- you can trace with an ordinary pencil, but I find it smudges easier than the pencil crayon does.
color the image in with markers.
cut out the shrinky dink -- I always leave a border of uncolored material around the image. In other words I cut it out roughly (without sharp corners) as I find the sharper edges break off easier.
place the shrinky dink on a cookie sheet or tinfoil pie plate with the rough side up and the smooth side down
put it in the oven (have the oven light on) and WATCH IT SHRINK. It goes really quick (under a minute). It will curl up and then flatten out. Let the piece flatten and then wait 30 seconds. Remove from the oven
let cool 10 minutes Using permanent markers means that your finished product doesn't need a coating to protect it. However , some people like to use something like clear nail polish to make the item shinier.
WEE WONDERFULS
Hard to explain , but precious , here are some free WEE WONDERFULS patterns for making assorted gifts.
Trinket box
Trinket boxes can be tiny or large . Treasures are for putting into trinket boxes . Treasures of everyday things like pretty leaves or pressed flowers. Treasures can be from special occasions like tickets from a play or movie. Here are some trinket box instructions :
Of course , The Toymaker has wonderful trinket boxes to make , as well as her other great and beautiful free toys to print out and make. She is one of my favorite craft/art/make your own toy/artists on the net.
Poker chips
to be used as TV time tokens, video game tokens , or special time with mom or dad tokens etc. , would be a great gift if presented in a special fabric bag or trinket box ! The child gets the bag starting out with 5 free tokens each. You keep the rest and make a chart that explains how to earn more tokens !
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Some of the jar gift links aren't working. I will be going through them and fixing any bad links -sl - 12/08/07
JAR GIFTS ARE ALWAYS FUN TO MAKE AND TO RECIEVE . THEY ARE USUALLY ECONOMICAL TOO. There are several sources listed here. You should be able to find a jar gift that will work for just about anybody on your list ! Following are links to sites that have food AND non-food in a jar gift ideas.Mix and match to make a gift pack with smaller jars.
The following site is great because most of the recipes also come with labels. There are food gifts , beverage gifts , beauty gifts , pet gifts and more - all in jars !
FREE GIFT IN A JAR RECIPES FOR EVERYONE
For a non-food jar gift , try typing up quotes , or Bible verses on paper (or download from quote and Bible sites) and then cut into separate verse sections . Put as many of these that you can fit into a small jar for a "quote or Bible verse of the day " gift. You can paint the jar with fabric paints and paint the lid a solid color or cut a square of fabic and glue to the jar lid.
Here are some places to get quotes and verses to use in your jar :
more jar gift ideas All can be adapted to different size jars or bottles. Some would be great in baby food size bottles and made into a gift pack of 3 or 4 items.Some would be good in a shaker (use bottles that had shaker tops)
Old Fashioned Remedy for Chest Colds
Finger Paint-use baby food or other small jars
In a large saucepan mix( *see intructions below) :
1/2 cup cornstarch
4 cups cold water
Add to each jar :
food coloring-liquid are good , for really bold colors use paste food coloring if you have it.
optional : a drop of scent added to each paint jar(mix in after the cooled cornstarch mixture is added to the color in the jar)
*Mix ingredients in saucepan. Put the cornstarch in and then add the water in a thin stream while stirring .Boil until mixture thickens(continue stirring and watch closely). Cool, pour into containers. To make several colors, double the recipe but omit food coloring. Fill the jars and then add coloring to each jar.
Keep matches dry for camping
for camping put several matches that you have dipped in paraffin wax ( and let dry) into a small jar for a camping friend Decorate the outside of the jar with camping themed pictures that you cover with clear fingernail polish and let dry.
Chia's Luxury Almond Salt Scrub
Detox with a Relaxing and Sedative Bath
A great gift for a toddler or preschooler -discovery set
To make you will need
6 clean and dry baby food jars
3 cups of rice
6 little objects , such as cars , theme erasers , dice , game pieces , etc.