Grandmothers appreciate the imagination and effort their grandchildren put into creating personalized and DIY gifts for grandma. Often the most treasured gifts cost very little money—maybe something homemade or an offering of time and service that makes life a little bit easier or more enjoyable.
These themes for DIY gift giving can help you guide your family’s youngest generation in choosing the perfect Christmas gift for their grandma or great-grandma.
Crafted Keepsakes
From toddlers’ crayon portraits on the refrigerator door to the fine works of the family’s art prodigy, grandmas love to own and display their grandchildren’s arts and crafts; handmade gifts for grandma can be practical as well as pretty. A beautiful fabric remnant can be stitched into a cover for a smartphone or tablet. Recycled wood can become the material for a picture frame or food tray. The kids can create their own designs or choose from a host of patterns, stamps and stencils available online and in craft stores.
Edible Treats
If the grandchildren have been craving their grandmother’s famous holiday candy since she gave up cooking, why not have them whip up the recipe themselves to share as a thoughtful Christmas gift for grandma? Or maybe they can go grocery shopping to assemble a gift basket of ingredients for easy-to-prepare meals. Help them stock the basket with soups, packs of hot cereal and fresh fruit.
Picture This
Digital photos and scanned prints can be used to make all sorts of customized picture gifts for grandma, from coffee mugs and mousepads to calendars, collages, posters, canvas art, blankets and throw pillows. A Photoshop program on a home computer is a great tool for this kind of project, along with supplies like photo transfer sheets and decoupage glue. But if the kids don’t have the equipment to do the whole project from scratch, retail photo services offer plenty of gift selections perfect for grandma.
At Your Service
For something truly unique, the kids can hand out their own gift coupons, redeemable for a week of household chores, a style makeover or reorganizing the closets and cupboards. Cooking a meal, being a walking companion and decorating the home for the holidays also make thoughtful Christmas grandma gifts of service for a cherished grandmother.
Tech Tutoring
Got any young tech whizzes in the family? Suggest they provide lessons to their grandma on how to use a computer, tablet or smartphone. Maybe they can design a Social Media 101 course to introduce grandma to social channels such as Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram and write up a handy glossary of social media terms. Or they can conduct a fun class in how to play video games. Tech tutoring will make the perfect Christmas present for grandma!
Cozy Comfort
Concocting DIY gifts for grandma designed for pampering and relaxation might be a fun project for the grandchildren. They can mix up potions for foot soaks and scrubs, hand creams, lip balms and bath bombs. They can make microwavable handwarmers by filling palm-sized cloth pockets with rice or barley. You’ll find lots of recipes, patterns and kits for these soothing creations online.
Let the young ones playing Santa choose their Christmas gift for grandma and run the holiday workshop. You can assist by helping them brainstorm more ideas, sharing supplies and supervising the littlest elves in their present-making projects. If you’re looking for a gift to accompany your child’s DIY creations, check out GreatCall’s selection of gifts for seniors.