Help! Need a quick gift for the kids to make for their parents

[torontokids]

So I feel like although we have made a bunch of crafts to prepare for Christmas, I don't have anything that would feel special for the parents to receive. Last week I tried making salt dough hand print ornaments but these failed. Some of the kids didn't want to do it (didn't want to get their hands dirty), some kids didn't push hard enough and in the end they didn't look that great after baking so I chucked them. We are having a party and concert on Thurs and the kids have done some baking already for this. I feel like I should have something nice to send home on Thurs for them to open on Christmas or present to their parents at the party. Ideas? My one kid won't be here until Wed and the party is on thurs so it needs to be something that can be done in one shot and be dry/ready the next morning (the party is a breakfast). These kids aren't into hand print type painting crafts.

[Secondtimearound]

I am making a canvas with their footprints, them making them look like ornaments , underneath write mistletoes !!! Got the idea from Pinterest !!! Lots if ideas there !!!!
Then I just bought the kids a book with candy and a cute gingerbread man bag !

[5 Little Monkeys]

Check pinterest for sure!! Lots of cute, simple, quick things you could do.

Today we made clay ornaments. We made and baked them this morning and then painted them this afternoon. It's 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 cup water(I added a couple tbsp more tho). Melt this over the stove until it's all one big lump. Put in a bowl with a damp cloth covering it. Let cool (about 30-45 minutes). When it's cool enough to touch, knead it a bit and then roll out about 1/4 inch thick. Then let the kids pick their cookie cutter and cut out the shape. Take a straw and poke holes in them so you can put string in later. Bake at 175*F for an hour and 15 minutes, turn over and bake another 45 minutes. Let the kids paint them!! (If you wanted, you could even bake them tonight and let them paint them tomorrow?)

We are giving these, some baking, some nuts and bolts and a calendar to the parents. Oh and a homemade card.....that I have to do tomorrow morning as it's one kids last day!! I better put that on my to do list before I forget lol

[Dreamalittledream]

Trap them in a snow globe!
...a full body image of them inside a jar amidst a snow scene (I used Mason jars). I did this over the weekend to add in their gift bags, although kids would love assisting in this as well...
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/12/...de-snow-globe/

[2cuteboys]

We did salt dough with ornament cookie cutters, then used their fingerprints to make hearts (had to push pretty deep) and then did mod-podge and glitter over top. I also had the kids paint (and decorate with stickers tomorrow) wooden picture frames from michaels, and we'll make a card as well.

I'm starting to think the same, but honestly, we've been super busy as it is, I don't want to cram in anymore than we are! We've done a bunch of ornaments that are going in their bags, plus kid-decorated cookies and some baking.

[Daisy123]

Dollar store-plain wooden boxes. Kids paint them and fill them with candy ie Hershey Kisses. Another cute idea I saw on pinetrest- dollar store canvasses. Kids apply green handprints in the shape of a tree.

[torontokids]

thank you. I tried making the homemade clay to do our hand print ornaments as I had everything on hand already. I love the consistency of the clay. They cracked however so I am not sure what I did wrong. The dough was a little sticky after having the cloth on it so I added a bit of cornstarch, maybe that was my mistake?

[5 Little Monkeys]

I'm not sure torontokids. I made mine pretty thick but they did crack a bit around the edges.

My dough was a bit sticky but not bad. Once I kneaded it, the stickyiness went away. They turned out okay but not as smooth as I wanted

[playfelt]

Don't feel guilty. I am not doing "parent" gifts by plan - haven't for several years. There are too many divorced, separated, remarried situations to deal with and I felt it put everyone - child included - in an uncomfortable position. My job is not to stoke the parent's ego. I do some general crafts with the kids and spend a bit more on supplies to make them fancy - a lot are decorations they can hang. I usually put their picture on one of them at some point - often just a face on an elf they coloured or something similar.

I make something for the kids and usually buy them a couple books - have access to scholastic book orders to pick from. This year they are getting crochet snowmen handpuppets and the book of Frosty the Snowman. Same thing for all of them.

If you do want to do a craft why not plan it for next week. A lot of stuff is going on sale now and you should be able to get things really cheaply. I made a couple things for a craft sale donation and jut got a wreath from the dollar store and a swag of poinsettias and cut them off and glued in place, added a bow and couple ornaments - also from dollarstore. Looked really nice actually. You could do it with the kids by giving them all the supplies and letting them decide where to put stuff and then you put a gob of hot glue there and they put items in place.

[2cuteboys]

This is the salt dough recipe I did:

http://simplybeingmum.com/2013/03/18...-dough-recipe/

I don't think I added all the water it called for (I'm sure that's no help to you... Sorry). I baked them at 200 F for close to 3 hours, the thicker ones needed flipping. They didn't crack at all though.

I'm not sure how well it would work for handprints though, as I said I had to push their fingers in quite hard. It might work if you made them thicker and pushed quite deep, then cut them out after.