It's that time of year again! I love getting ready for Christmas. I love the anticipation! I love making homemade gifts and I love helping my kids make them too.
This is a really fun project. It's simple for children to do and all you need is some scraps of wood and a scroll saw, or friend or family member with a scroll saw.
At my parent's this weekend, I had each of my children paint a prepared masonite board. Masonite is an inexpensive flat manufactured board, commonly used for childrens board puzzles, among other things. Artists often use it for painting because of it's price and smooth surface. To prepare the masonite, simply coat it with Gesso (this is an artist's sealant, if you don't have any, white house paint will work in a pinch).
Once the board is sealed, simply let your kids go to town. We used acrylic craft paint. The only rule I gave my kids was that they had to paint all the white. If they wanted white on their painting, they had to paint that with acrylic because Gesso isn't "real" paint.
Once their paintings were finished, we sprayed them with varnish to give them a nice glossy finish. When that dried, we cut them into the puzzle. You'll notice, we left a frame around the edge of the puzzle. This frame is then glued to a backer board (these were cut from scraps from our first trade show booth that my dad and I built together). TA DAH! You have a really fun and inexpensive gift that showcases your kid's masterpiece.
If you want to skip the painting, take a cute piece of paper, glue it to a board and cut it into a puzzle. Super simple!
If you have an idea for a Thrifty Gifty, send it our way. We'd love to share it with everyone here on our blog!
...................................................................................................................Now, I have to address some things that came up on the blog while I was gone. First, thanks to everyone that commented on Lindsay's post on Thursday. It really made my day to read all the kind words left about me!
Although I did feel a little guilty because I really am not at all like Wonder Woman. No, I think the character we are looking for is Amelia Bedelia. I am happily going along in my own little world, thinking I am doing everything perfectly, to realize right about dinnertime, the many ways I totally screwed up!
But, just like Amelia, I start a new sequel every morning, and always with my blissful optimism that this will be the day I get everything right! So, at 9:20, here we go again!!
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Now for Lindsay's winners! Congrats:
Jersey Girl Anne
Vel @11:33
Samantha Sibbet
Harriet Hensley
Tiffany Wong
You lucky ladies need to send your address to kristen@cosmocricket.com. She'll get you your prizes.
