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lovemykidstoo 06:03 AM 11-08-2017
I would love to get started early this year. I say early, it's already the first week in November. What are you guys having the kids make for parent gifts this year? I'm always so clueless. I have from 12 months up to 3 1/2 yrs. Help!
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midaycare 06:10 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:
I would love to get started early this year. I say early, it's already the first week in November. What are you guys having the kids make for parent gifts this year? I'm always so clueless. I have from 12 months up to 3 1/2 yrs. Help!
Those are about my ages! I could use a cute idea, too.
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Jupadia 06:39 AM 11-08-2017
I just useally do salt dough ornaments. But i rotate shapes i do them in so parents get a diffrent shape each year. I useally do 2 per shapes per year. My husband sprays a shall on them as well.

As well the kids color Christmas colouring pages and we use that as well to wrap them in.
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MyAngels 07:26 AM 11-08-2017
I think I'm going to do something like this: https://pocketofpreschool.com/glass-...content=tribes

My kids are all young this year so I need to keep it simple.
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Justjoy 07:53 AM 11-08-2017
For the kids gift to the parents it's usually the no bake cinnamon ornaments or something similar. I know I probably go way overboard, but I always give the kids a gift from me and make the parents a gift basket.
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amberrose3dg 08:23 AM 11-08-2017
I would like ideas too. Most of my kids are infants or 2 year olds that honestly cannot participate much.
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Cat Herder 08:42 AM 11-08-2017
12 days of Christmas hand/foot print books are fun, although time consuming. The big stamp pads help, though.

I remember doing these in the 80's. I did find a current link for reference: https://www.healthyhappythriftyfamil...handprint.html
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HappyEverAfter 09:05 AM 11-08-2017
Kids to parents will be a salt dough ornament or magnet. Me to parents will be a photo album of their child through the year. Me to kids will probably be pajamas, slippers and a book. Me from my husband will be new toys for the daycare playroom, lol.
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daycarediva 09:22 AM 11-08-2017
We are doing a photo of their child decoupaged onto canvas, with handprint antlers and a red nose.

Then a christmas cardstock tree card, I bought printed cardstock at michaels on sale, I cut it into strips of varying sizes and have the kids glue them smallest to largest to make a tree shape. We have some similar ones with craft sticks.

We have done SO MANY Christmas crafts most parents here 3+ years will get repeats at some point.

other ideas-dollar store mugs and acrylic markers (just bake to set)

white canvas, painters tape a snowflake and let kids go to town. After it dries, peel the tape.

melt perler beads into metal ornaments. Easy for toddlers.

crystal snowflake ornaments (pipe cleaners, boiling water, borax) they crystalize and come out super cute.

fingerprint christmas lights

pine cones and pom poms for a tree

so.many.handprint ideas out there.
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hwichlaz 09:26 AM 11-08-2017
It's been a while since I've done snow globes....or lighted potpourri jars.
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Blackcat31 09:29 AM 11-08-2017
I just take the week off and give parents the gift of spending time with their children over the holidays.
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NeedaVaca 09:45 AM 11-08-2017
I'm making these this year!
Attached: 1034162e57ac0f5aac0d02863ec0573b.jpeg (104.9 KB) 
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amberrose3dg 09:49 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I just take the week off and give parents the gift of spending time with their children over the holidays.
Haha I'm closed too. I did a holiday party last year but this year will not be open to have one.
Sad thing is if we were open there be parents sending their kids to have free time.
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NeedaVaca 10:13 AM 11-08-2017
I made these last year and the parents loved them! I didn't spend more than $3 each on these!

7 inch glass vase from dollar tree, vellum paper and a battery operated tea light candle. Really cute when lit up at night.
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Miss A 10:27 AM 11-08-2017
Maybe I am the odd one out here, but I don't usually to Christmas gifts for parents. We do big mother's day and fathers day gifts, and then at Christmas I give the kids gifts from me.

In my mind, if a parent wants a holiday keepsake (outside of the usual handprint/footprint holiday themed art we do year round), they should also build the memories around the keepsake and make it with their child themselves.

I love to make keepsakes with my DS, and I know the memories are what make his art even more special to me.
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Josiegirl 10:38 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by NeedaVaca:
I made these last year and the parents loved them! I didn't spend more than $3 each on these!

7 inch glass vase from dollar tree, vellum paper and a battery operated tea light candle. Really cute when lit up at night.
Do you have instructions for those; they're adorable!
I also like the painted jars; I think the dcks would like to do those.
Last year we made dough ornaments, tree shapes painted green then their fingerprints with different colors for tree lights. They also made their hand prints out of dough and then I finished up by painting them to look like Santas. Pretty cute. One that came out so cute was the baby last year; I was able to get a foot print in the dough, and painted it to look like a little snowman.
Another year I had them make foot prints on a canvas, brown for Rudolph, green for a Christmas tree, black for a penguin, white for a snowman. Then I painted the little finishing touches. That was awfully cute too.
Many years ago, we made calendars, using hand or foot prints each month to create a picture meaningful to that month. I'd find a poem to go with it and a picture of their child, wearing a Santa hat for Dec., etc. Took so much time and not one parent mentioned it.
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lovemykidstoo 10:40 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by NeedaVaca:
I made these last year and the parents loved them! I didn't spend more than $3 each on these!

7 inch glass vase from dollar tree, vellum paper and a battery operated tea light candle. Really cute when lit up at night.
I LOVE these! Can you show a link or tell us how you did them exactly! Super cute!
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lovemykidstoo 10:41 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by Josiegirl:
Do you have instructions for those; they're adorable!
I also like the painted jars; I think the dcks would like to do those.
Last year we made dough ornaments, tree shapes painted green then their fingerprints with different colors for tree lights. They also made their hand prints out of dough and then I finished up by painting them to look like Santas. Pretty cute. One that came out so cute was the baby last year; I was able to get a foot print in the dough, and painted it to look like a little snowman.
Another year I had them make foot prints on a canvas, brown for Rudolph, green for a Christmas tree, black for a penguin, white for a snowman. Then I painted the little finishing touches. That was awfully cute too.
Many years ago, we made calendars, using hand or foot prints each month to create a picture meaningful to that month. I'd find a poem to go with it and a picture of their child, wearing a Santa hat for Dec., etc. Took so much time and not one parent mentioned it.

What is your secret for the dough ornaments? Mine never turn out good. Do you paint with acrylic? Do you seal them? Thanks!
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Snowmom 10:45 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by Miss A:
Maybe I am the odd one out here, but I don't usually to Christmas gifts for parents. We do big mother's day and fathers day gifts, and then at Christmas I give the kids gifts from me.

In my mind, if a parent wants a holiday keepsake (outside of the usual handprint/footprint holiday themed art we do year round), they should also build the memories around the keepsake and make it with their child themselves.


I love to make keepsakes with my DS, and I know the memories are what make his art even more special to me.
That's my thoughts too.

I don't do anything more than give a small gift to the kids and have a party day (loosely defined there too- just cookies and gifts and a lot of free play!).
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Josiegirl 10:46 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:
What is your secret for the dough ornaments? Mine never turn out good. Do you paint with acrylic? Do you seal them? Thanks!
I've made a lot of recipes for dough too and never had any luck. I'm not sure if I kept the recipe I used last year; I'll try to look for it later but it worked pretty well. I did use acrylic paint and I did seal them after they were all done.
I'm pretty sure I found the ideas on pinterest somewhere; will have to search now because my memory is kaput.
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Josiegirl 11:04 AM 11-08-2017
http://www.messylittlemonster.com/20...alt-dough.html

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7a/ce...c5580e9587.jpg

https://indulgy.com/post/mD1KDUlG23/...ough-ornaments

Not sure if the first link is the recipe I used or not but it's the picture I went by last year.
The 2nd link is one I might do this year. And the 3rd link was part of what we did last year.
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lovemykidstoo 11:07 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by Josiegirl:
http://www.messylittlemonster.com/20...alt-dough.html

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7a/ce...c5580e9587.jpg

https://indulgy.com/post/mD1KDUlG23/...ough-ornaments

Not sure if the first link is the recipe I used or not but it's the picture I went by last year.
The 2nd link is one I might do this year. And the 3rd link was part of what we did last year.

Thank you!!!
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NeedaVaca 11:20 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by Josiegirl:
Do you have instructions for those; they're adorable!
I also like the painted jars; I think the dcks would like to do those.
Last year we made dough ornaments, tree shapes painted green then their fingerprints with different colors for tree lights. They also made their hand prints out of dough and then I finished up by painting them to look like Santas. Pretty cute. One that came out so cute was the baby last year; I was able to get a foot print in the dough, and painted it to look like a little snowman.
Another year I had them make foot prints on a canvas, brown for Rudolph, green for a Christmas tree, black for a penguin, white for a snowman. Then I painted the little finishing touches. That was awfully cute too.
Many years ago, we made calendars, using hand or foot prints each month to create a picture meaningful to that month. I'd find a poem to go with it and a picture of their child, wearing a Santa hat for Dec., etc. Took so much time and not one parent mentioned it.
I took a picture in front of my tree with the kids wearing the hat and holding the book, black and white, I may have edited the picture a bit to make sure it was a nice tone-not too dark. That was the hardest part Everything else is easy!

7 inch vase(dollar tree), print the photo on vellum paper (Hobby Lobby), wrapped it around the vase and used double sided tape (Hobby Lobby) at the seams to stick it on. The paper is a perfect fit for these vases! Tea light on the inside(dollar tree). That's it, super easy and very inexpensive!
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lovemykidstoo 11:23 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by NeedaVaca:
I took a picture in front of my tree with the kids wearing the hat and holding the book, black and white, I may have edited the picture a bit to make sure it was a nice tone-not too dark. That was the hardest part Everything else is easy!

7 inch vase(dollar tree), print the photo on vellum paper (Hobby Lobby), wrapped it around the vase and used double sided tape (Hobby Lobby) at the seams to stick it on. The paper is a perfect fit for these vases! Tea light on the inside(dollar tree). That's it, super easy and very inexpensive!
You just printed it on your regular printer on the vellum paper? I have never heard of that type of paper before. I thought maybe you put the mod podge on it or something. I am totally doing this and going to get the stuff this weekend. I always wait until the last minute and then panic. I'm gonna be ahead of the game this year! Thank you!
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NeedaVaca 11:29 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:
You just printed it on your regular printer on the vellum paper? I have never heard of that type of paper before. I thought maybe you put the mod podge on it or something. I am totally doing this and going to get the stuff this weekend. I always wait until the last minute and then panic. I'm gonna be ahead of the game this year! Thank you!
Yes, just printed it like regular paper! It's like see through paper/kind of frosted looking, just make sure you let it dry good after printing because it will smudge if you aren't careful. I agree about getting supplies now, I notice those vases go quick close to Christmas!!
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lovemykidstoo 11:31 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by NeedaVaca:
Yes, just printed it like regular paper! It's like see through paper/kind of frosted looking, just make sure you let it dry good after printing because it will smudge if you aren't careful. I agree about getting supplies now, I notice those vases go quick close to Christmas!!
I was just at our local Dollar Tree (love that place). They do have those types of vases and they did have the santa hats, so off I'm going lol
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storybookending 11:31 AM 11-08-2017
Originally Posted by NeedaVaca:
I made these last year and the parents loved them! I didn't spend more than $3 each on these!

7 inch glass vase from dollar tree, vellum paper and a battery operated tea light candle. Really cute when lit up at night.
I really love these! I might try something like this.
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DaveA 02:12 PM 11-08-2017
DCKs will make a couple different breads and cookies to take home the Friday before Christmas.
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ColorfulSunburst 03:54 PM 11-08-2017
we make gifts only for Father's and Mother's days.
My gift for parents is one long day of service (to 9pm)without extra payment in a week before Christmas.
December 24 - January 1st we are closed.
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Lil_Diddle 08:24 PM 11-09-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I just take the week off and give parents the gift of spending time with their children over the holidays.
Best gift ever! I do the same!!!! I'm not sure who benefits best from this gift them or us.
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Unregistered 07:15 AM 11-10-2017
Originally Posted by NeedaVaca:
I made these last year and the parents loved them! I didn't spend more than $3 each on these!

7 inch glass vase from dollar tree, vellum paper and a battery operated tea light candle. Really cute when lit up at night.
Those are the cutest! I'm going to look into doing these for my families. Thanks for the great idea!
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Blackcat31 08:57 AM 11-10-2017
Originally Posted by Lil_Diddle:
Best gift ever! I do the same!!!! I'm not sure who benefits best from this gift them or us.
Right?! Im not gonna lie... I know I benefit! I don't care if the parents do or not but I know I do!

Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Those are the cutest! I'm going to look into doing these for my families. Thanks for the great idea!
My sister-in-law made candles like that for everyone in the family one year....she put each family's child(ren) on the candle.

I thought they were really cute!

My son was probably about 4 yrs old maybe.... he loved that he was on a candle...thought it was the coolest thing ever! We lit it alot during the holidays... one evening he started having this massive melt down and we couldn't figure out what the issue was... finally we got him to calm down enough to tell us.

Turns out he was upset because the candle had burned down far enough that it was melting him (his face in the photo) and he didn't like it. It was funny and sad at the same time. Given that he's in his mid-20ies now, I'm going back to funny!
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flying_babyb 11:28 AM 11-11-2017
We are doing salt dough clay hand prints painted into a reindeer. I want to do a cute picture frame with thumb print christmas lights too, with pictures of the kids taken on a professional christmas photography backround. Kinda nice that Im a photographer on the side. Waiting to see if coteacher is cool with it lol
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Leigh 08:22 AM 11-12-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I just take the week off and give parents the gift of spending time with their children over the holidays.

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Tags:christmas - gift exchange, christmas gifts parents
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