Gift Ideas for Tight Times

[Hound dog]

Ohhhh, Terry you've given me a great idea!

But not sure how I'm going to pull it off. The mittens, hat, and scarf I can do like you and pick them up at thrift stores and yard sales. But the version of what you make I want to be more permanent. See several years ago I picked up a Sam the Snowman (Rudolf) snowman making kit. I let Darrin borrow it when he was very small. easy child didn't realize what a big deal that was for both of us. Me because I have a really big thing for Sam the Snowman (Burl Ives) and Darrin because I gave it to him. And well.......the important pieces that could not be replaced were lost. Such as the wooden "coal" eyes / buttons and wooden "carrot" nose.

It was a really great kit because it was in no way messy and you stored the pieces for the next year. But I don't know how I'd get the wooden eyes / buttons / nose parts. Those each had little pegs on them for sticking into the snow. Hmmm. I know each set of grands would LOVE to have a version. husband has no tools in which to cut out the wooden pieces.......nor does sister in law. But I think I'll start hunting around the craft dept at walmart and hobby lobby and such and see what I can scrounge up. Nichole loves crafty presents. This might be a good idea for her to gift.

I'm basically stuck on men. They drive me nuts every single year. Last year I hit it dead on with wallets, they were thrilled, I picked them up cheap and totally got lucky. lol This year, not much of a clue. I'm thinking on the hat / scarf for easy child's husband.....but yeah. phht. Men can be so hard.

 

[keista]

Try yard sales for any wooden eyes and carrots, and you can always superglue a little peg on the back for sicking in the snow.

One year, my uncle wanted a zippered cardigan (like Mr Rodgers) Aunt could not find such a thing anywhere, so I made him one along with all the other men (my Dad) on my list. It was easy since I had an 'Incredible Sweater Machine' - hand knitting just takes too long. DD1 is now learning how to use it, and if she sticks with it (Yeah, not holding breath) she'll be making socks for everyone.

 

[Hound dog]

Keista

What is this Incredible Sweater machine thing, how hard is it to use and where would I get one?

I can knit, but am very beginner with mother in law gone and no longer able to ask her advice or have her show me things. Yet I like knitting......but like you said sometimes it's just long and tedious. And to be honest........those circular needles are intimidating as all heck. lol

 

[keista]

I think they are out of production right now, but you can still find them on Amazon or eBay. I bought mine years ago at Michael's (retail was about $100) and then when we moved to OK, I had found one in a yard sale for only $5, grabbed that one too since you can connect pieces to make it wider.

It's pretty easy to learn and use. Can be a bit frustrating until you get the hang of it, but once you do, it is FAST. A 4 foot scarf can be knit in under an hour.

The drawback is that it doesn't have the same 'zen' effect as knitting. It's pretty loud to use even though it's all manual. BUT the satisfaction of completing really nice intricate projects in minimal time is worth all that.

 

[Hound dog]

oooOOOOooohhhh. I looked it up. They still sell them, now at 160.00!! Holy smokes! But they're on ebay new for 60.00 which isn't too bad. Nichole is also interested.

I would love to go beyond the very basics of knitting........but I'm a "you've got to show me person". Only I don't have anyone to show me. And for me......trying to figure out knitting from a book is way harder than trying to figure out things with crochet via a pattern or some such.

I have a Dumbo infant set I've been dying to make since easy child was an infant. I still have the pattern. I've never been able to make it yet.......

Ok guys. How about some ideas for boys. This is my toughest area. It does not help that Alex is totally obsessed with batman and spiderman as it gives me little to work with.

 

[keista]

As for the "show me" thing, have you tried looking up tutorials on YouTube? I endlessly showed DD1 how to crochet, but I'm not a very patient teacher and she's not a very patient student. Bad combo. The last time she wanted to try crochet......AGAIN. I directed her to YouTube. she found a few tutorials, and now is able to do a single crochet on her chain. She is still FAR from even being considered a beginner, but learning from someone else did make it easier, and inspired her to keep on trying.

Do you crochet? You can probably find single crochet afghan patterns for spiderman or batman on the net. You can even find fabric applique patterns. He might love a cuddly blankey from Nana so it's like she's hugging him all the time.

 

[HaoZi]

I had to look up that machine, too. Looks like a pretty basic loom to me, but I don't know much about such things. Is it easy to use?

 

[keista]

Easy enough for my 10 y/o to make a basic scarf. Can even do some basic cables with it as well as ribbing and a few other decorative stitches.

Since the base construction is plastic, it does have it's glitches, but it's certainly easier and faster than hand knitting. Even though I rarely use it lately, I'll never part with it. Some day I'll have time to "play" with it again.

 

[Hound dog]

Yes, I've done crochet for years. I learned as a very little girl. Knitting on the other hand I learned after easy child was about a year old, well the very basics anyway. I'm not patient enough for U tube videos. I'm still throwing those cowboy boot booties Janet wants me to try. lol And I can't seem to locate how to get the guy's written version. And those are crochet. ugh

And I did find Alex a spiderman afgan.......looks cool, and looks like a type thing I've yet to try so I'll get to learn something new too. He's so far the ONLY other one I plan to do an afgan for as it fits what he loves, and the darn things take a long time to make. I just hope the pattern I found isn't to hard to follow. (some are better than others, depends on how it's written)

 

[susiestar]

For boys: nerf, lego, tools, magic tricks. One cool thing I did for wiz was to get a book of science experiments and the basic things to make most of them. He got more out of that than any other gift that year. Including the video games he begged the in-laws for! There are also a lot of awesome craft books that could come iwth basic craft supplies. Keep an eye out at yard sales for craft stuff. time with nana to make stuff counts as part of it also, though many are not needed for easy child's son(s). I would NOT give katie's kids any of those things unless you plan to keep them at your home. Not just their ages, but the total neglect means that they would misuse them and/or hurt themeselves or each other with them. That would open them up to M abusing them over it.

What about wooden blocks for the boys? If you have any scrap wood around, get husband to sand it smooth then cut it and sand the cut edges smooth.

They also might like those felt boards. the felt story boards are what I am talking about. You can just glue felt to a piece of cardboard or particleboard. I would use felt by the yard not the precut squares. then cut out shapes and people from felt and they will stick on as they work out stories or you tell them stories. I once did portable feltboards for an entire class using file folders. I just glued the felt to the inside of the folder and had the kids cut out the people, etc.... that they wanted. When time to clean up, the felt shapes just get put into the folder and it gets folded up and put on a shelf or in a file drawer.

You might find rescue rangers at yard sales. If they have vhs players, the vhs tapes are at yard sales everywhere here. Last Christmas I made a little boy's year by passing on all thank you's rescue hero stuff. It was for his Nov birthday but there was so much that it also did Xmas. As the dad was out of work it was a big help. they passed some stuff to us, forget what but my kids liked it, so they didn't so much feel like charity even though it was freecycle and I didn't need anything back.

I did an awesome Rescue Hero cake for thank you's birthday one year. Did 2 9 by 13 cakes and cut each in half. I stacked them and decorated them like a building. Then I used white chocolate and powdered food color to make flames that caem out of the building. I just made the flames on wax paper and peeled them off then stuck them on and in the cake. I put a rescue hero figure on the cake board with the fire hose (part of his presents) and it looked AWESOME. Katie's boys are the right age for rescue heroes, at least the younger one is. This was probably the easiest cake I ever decorated, lol. Easy windows and doors can be made with graham crackers and other cookies if you don't want to mess with colored icing.

 

[susiestar]

What about jigsaw and board puzzles for katie's boys? It would help give them some much needed skills.

 

[DammitJanet]

I dont know if this would be possible or not...but...most little boys like tools. And bob the builder is out there now as is Handy Mandy.

Can you make a small tool bench for one of them...or the combo. If you make a larger garage type bench with the peg board backing, places for tools...place to hammer nails, something like that...

or...go get a plastic laundry caddy and paint it a wood color. Add some little tools for kids. They sell them at Lowes or even dollar stores. I know Lowes sells some kid construction kits but maybe if your husband is handy he could cut out some simple shapes for them to put together. Cars, boxes, birdhouses, etc.

 

[Hound dog]

Hmm. Good ideas. Most would work for Darrin and Brandon. However I have to keep in mind Alex and Evan are more prone to violence than most boys.......so any tools that really build are out for them.

Evan loves tools, can't get enough of them. I might add to his tool belt this year somehow.

Wooden blocks are downright lethal weapons with katie's boys. Heck, I had to hide foam blocks because they managed to find a way to hurt each other with them. You have to keep in mind that Alex is functioning around a 3-5 yr level in many areas and Evan is hovering at Brandon's stage (2 yrs) Nerf is possible........hmm keep the ideas coming.

 

[HaoZi]

What about those big foam puzzles with the letters and numbers on them? The floor pad puzzles, if you know what I mean.

 

[DammitJanet]

Ohhhhhh...gosh...I have to think about the name of that company that sells them but the big cardboard blocks that you have to fold together but...they come in primary colors. They are REALLY cheap. You buy them online too. I bought them for Cameron the year Keyana was born for I think 12 bucks. They have a bunch of inexpensive toys that are the oldie toys. Gosh I have to remember that name!

 

[HaoZi]

Oriental Trading Company?

ETA: http://www.fatbraintoys.com/special_needs/index.cfm
Lots of ideas of toys to look for on that site.

 

[susiestar]

Found a great thing for a teacher IF you can afford a gift in the $7-$10 range. It is a post-it note holder shaped like an apple. A 3-D apple. It is super cool! husband is finishing his temp job tomorrow because he will be overwhelmed with soccer and football games and teaching and working an 8-5 job even if he cuts down to 3 days a week. the teaching just eats too much time to do it right and he won't shortchange his students. Turns out his boss at the day job had a birthday today that he didn't know about. He was included in the singing and cake, they truly think of him as "one of them" which is SO UNUSUAL for this college. He wanted to do a gift for her as a thank you for keeping him on this long and when he learned it was her birthday wanted to make it something nice. I had seen these in ads but not in stores yet. Well, our Walmart had them for $7.88 and they are AWESOME!! I have a handmade gift bag it will fit in perfectly so he is set to go.

I forgot how violent Katie's boys are. I would think the foam floor puzzles would be good. Maybe something sewn to go on their walls or the felt board idea IF they can do that. So many of the things I would suggest they would need supervision with and they just won't get it with katie so those are out. maybe bean bag chairs? You can sew them fairly easily and then just ask easy child and nichole and anyone else who works to keep an eye out for shipments that come with packing peanuts that are not the dissolving ones (some are made out of cornstarch and dissolve with water - cool to play with but not for chairs). Otherwise a cheap beanbag chair maybe. They are great for various sensory things. I have memories of an electrified wire my dad made so we could cut up styrofoam that he brought home from his security job (from stuff the store unpacked for display). It was the only way we could afford to fill the beanbag chair my mom made for gfgbro for xmas. I think Mom, Dad and I spent a couple of weeks using every spare hour we could get him out of the house cutting up styrofoam, lol.

Would they appreciate a nice looking comfy outfit to go special places with Nana? Wiz and thank you both really liked having "good" clothes to wear to church and special occasions. We used to make up reasons to have a special occasion back when we only had Wiz because he got such a kick out of it. By the time thank you came along there were plenty of reasons to dress up so we didn't have to. but each of them LOVED to put on a tie and look "all growed up" as they called it. Not sure where they got the idea that ties were for special occasions because NONE of the males on my side or husband's wore them around the kids, but they would not be budged!

Maybe gifts for alex and evan should be experience gifts, short outings with nana with-o mom and dad or whatever to things they otherwise would never do. Even church might be one. That way it is short, maybe just one boy each time so you are not overwhelmed, they can learn decent manners with Nana, and get some special 1 on 1 time. Because they are going to turn anything into a weapon if they can hurt with foam blocks. Even Wiz never managed THAT!

 

[HaoZi]

I have a coupon for that post-it note holder. Hound if you want it (it's $2 off those holders) let me know.

 

[TerryJ2]

Yes, WalMart or other craft stores should have wooden pcs with-pegs attached.

For men ... hmmm... movie tickets, but those can be expensive. One yrs I bought a nice case of "Around the World" beers for my brother from World Mkt. They were having a beer tasting and sale and I got very lucky, because I do not like beer and would never have thought of it.

For kids, an unpainted treasure chest from a craft shop should be inexpensive. Of course, you have to paint or stain it ... and then figure out what to put inside of it.

I like Janet's idea of a tool bench, but I don't know what sort of woodworking tools you have.