Have you ever wandered around the store trying to find the perfect gift for your child and thought: he/she doesn't need any of this junk! I love making my boys something special for the holidays that can't be found in a store. Something that I know I wont throw away the following month. I also love being able to reuse and upcycle whenever possible. Here are some great DIY gifts that you could make for that special little one at home.
Lego Table
Last year I made this Lego table for the kids for under $30! I bought the table at the thrift store for $10, sanded it, painted it white and glued on 4 green 16x16 plates.
The kids LOVE it! It's a great way to keep all the Lego's in one place.
You can also use an old coffee table and let the kids sit on the floor to build. I bought the four Lego plates here: http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme
Album Picture Frame
My 12 year old son is REALLY into music. Last year I wanted to make him something special to hang in his room and I came up with this. My husband printed out his favorite album covers and I made a collage for him to hang above his drum set.
Crocheted Animals
Do you or someone you know crochet? My mom made these cuties for my boys and we will be keeping them forever! If you need a pattern, check the library for crochet books. You can also get patterns on Etsy for around $5 or less. So unique and fun!
Music Chair
I found this stool at a yard sale for a few dollars and covered it with guitar fabric for my son. Just lay your fabric over the top, cut out a circle about 3 inches bigger than the seat, and sew in some elastic! Cheap, easy and very useful!
Barbie sized Doll house
We got the plans off of Ana White and customized it with matching wall paper using scrapbook paper. We made all the accessories and furniture to match as well (**will go into further detail in future post). It really is a dream house ;) and took us about 6 hours to build and paint. About an hour to cut paper and glue on wall paper. But the hours of play have been endless!
Re-Purpose an Old Piece of Furniture
Using scrapbooking paper that I had left over from the dollhouse, mod podge, some acrylic paint and a pre-stenciled letter is all I needed to re-purpose a table for my daughter. She loves to sit and play tea time and kitchen with her little fancy monogrammed table. I love that it now matches her room!
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Costumes/Dress Up
My kids love to dress up, may it be fancy rolls, superheros or just being goofy. Last year I bought my daughter princess dresses for Christmas that were actually Halloween costumes. I waited until after the holiday and got them half off! This year I recruited my sewing beast mom to make my 'lil princess a unique Rapunzel dress. I took the Tangled Barbie doll to our fabric store and matched fabric as closely and sparkly as we could. The pattern was only 99 cents and could be used for almost any princess you would like with the right fabric.
...And for boys, why not a cape!!!
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| Ck the how to out at All for Boys |
Every Girl needs a TUTU
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| Briarlyn~cute peacock strutting her feathers ;) |
My daughter loves to wear her tutu skirts everyday!! People are always asking her if she is on her way to dance. I started making them becuase they are just sooo easy and there are so many different colored tulle and ways of making them.
This is the one I made my daughter for Halloween, I plan on making her a red and green one with sparkly tulle for XMAS!
Lego Storage Box
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| photo from site |
This is what we are going to make our sons this year to store all those LEGOS!! Boy do they love their Legos!!! We found it on the same site as the dollhouse. Ana White has some great DIY plans to build your own furniture and such.
Lego Tray
Another great way to keep Legos in one place and be able to transfer what your working on. Find out how to make it on That's My Letter blog.
Lego Toolbox
We store all our Lego's in a big bucket, which makes it hard to find the pieces you are looking for. I think we need to start storing them in a toolbox like the mom of this blog did!: http://pinterest.com/pin/229050331019755242/
Great way to keep them organized and sorted by color!
Hands on Play
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| photo from site |
Why not make the kids a box of different kinds of hands on play!!! The Frugal Village has recipes for playdough, moon sand, flubber, sidewalk and window paint, shaving cream paint, tub paint, finger paint and bubbles. They would love going through and playing with all the different textures and paints
Cardboard playhouse
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| photo from site |
Ok, lets get real. The kids LOVE, LOVE cardboard boxes! This is a cheap way to entertain your kids and you could make it cute to put up next to the tree. Cover it with xmas, scrapbooking or wrapping paper to make it look like Santa's workshop. We found it on She Knows Parenting and think the kids would have a great time playing and coloring on it.
Dolls Need Diapers!
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| photo from site
My daughter loves playing with her dolls, dressing them and changing their diapers. But the diaper tabs wear out quick and who wants to keep buying diapers for a doll. Not this mama! I found these DIY diapers for dolls on Bee In My Bonnet that I am going to make for my daughter, which I know she will LOVE!
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Pimp my Ride
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| Girl Car from Instructables |
How cute/cool to paint and turn that ugly colored Cozy Coupe into a stylish BATMOBILE! Or, turn it pink with fun stickers or details into a stylish ride! On Sweet C's Designs she shows you how to do the Batmobile for your 'lil tike.
BEANBAG CHAIR!!!
Who doesn't love a bean bag chair!!! Especially when you can pick your own fabric to match a space!
You can find a tutorial here and save yourself some $ and be able to customize your chair. You can also use our personalization method from a past post to put child's name or initial on it. A great idea would be to use old t-shirts as fabric. I'm thinking about doing it with all those old Soccer shirts that we have. They are so bright in color and soft. It is a great way to upcycle those shirts and be a keepsake for your children.
Magnetic Alphabet Letters
Are these not the cutest things ever?! Great to put in stockings! You can personalize them special for your kids using different paper and stickers. Look here for the tutorial:
http://www.our-everyday-art.com/2010/12/alphabet-magnets.html
Quilt
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| Pic found online of a first year onesies quilt - no reference page |
Tool Bench
Make your 'lil tike a tool bench to get creative on. Foun this tutorial on Hidden Sisters.
If you don't have time to make your own gifts this year, go on to Etsy and find some really cute handmade items. Lets help support creative individuals instead of always buying from big companies!
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