Monday, December 19, 2011

A Homemade Gift

Every year we give out kids a bag of small gifts - small toys and trinkets that don't cost a lot but encourage kids to play. (There's usually a candy cane or other candy, too!)

This year I saw these "I Spy" ornaments on the Craft Snob blog. When I saw them, I knew these would be fun additions to our gifts. I went to Hobby Lobby to find the ornaments mentioned on the Craft Snob blog. But I couldn't find them. So I went in search of something else to use. I found some small plastic bottles that seemed perfect. I bought shredded/scrunched paper as filler.


I then wandered through Hobby Lobby, finding small items to hide in the bottles - jingle bells, small ornaments and lights, pinecones, and various sequins. I also used red chenille stem pieces bent into "J" shapes (to remind kids of Baby Jesus).


I worked for a couple of hours assembling these bottles. I was really pleased with the results. The bottles are the perfect size to turn and look through - and the perfect size to fit into our gift bags.


I put a couple in the room this week for kids to use - so they would know what to do with them at home. I really liked these even more than I thought. And I'll definitely make them again for gifts.

(I also liked these ornaments by Play at Home Mom.)