Gift Giving to Grandkids

 Keeping Up on a Fixed Income

     First of all, DECIDE who you will be giving gifts to.

When I remarried, a man ten years older than me who now is having great grand children coming along, things changed.  I no longer had just my own set of grand children to buy gifts for.  At first, since he had all but quit giving gifts to any of his kids, I didn’t feel like stepping in and changing things since I really didn’t know them.  After a few years, and as I began to know them and we started doing things together, I felt guilty not including these grand-kids along with my own in buying gifts for.

Because of our age difference, some of his grand-kids were the same age as my kids!  We have a rather large posterity, we both have five adult children.  As his kids started having kids long before my kids did, we would give gifts to all the grand-kids as new ones came along on our small income.  At first this worked.  As his grandchildren began having children of their own, great grand kids…we could see our gift giving was becoming a concern.  Especially at Christmas where we were trying to buy for so many all in one time frame.  (I have a whole blog on this subject and will write more on it here as well.  You can go to that other blog and read some fun things on Christmas Gift Giving.)

We kept abreast of our growing family, remembering every single person’s birthdays and at Christmastime as well.  Eventually, it began to really take a toll on our budget and we knew we had to make some changes.  We feel the adults understand the idea of a budget and the limits thereof so have restricted our gift giving to grandkids only now.  Yes, this is hard.  I love to acknowledge my adult children’s birthdays with gifts still but decided I might give them a greater gift in being an example they can see in living within my means in this day and age where credit cards make it so easy to just charge things.

Ideas: 

A Practical Gift that Makes a Difference:

     http://www.suzeorman.com/blog/how-grandparents-can-make-the-most-of-a-grandchilds-summer-job/

• SHOP YEAR ROUND:  We always run into sales or that special gift that would be perfect for someone on our list.  I took a closet in a home I lived in and used it specifically to store these gifts, bought in advance.  Luckily, there were enough, deep shelves in there so I could pretty much use one shelf per family.  This is especially helpful at Christmas when we have SO MANY presents piling up and buying for so many on one day in the year.  I also have a Greeting Card Booklet that stores cards by the month and I will buy a card that catches my eye for a special someone months in advance.  Before buying new greeting cards (birthday) I always check there first to see if I bought one already.  (Easy to forget so far in advance.)

        This is a photo of my old gift closet.  It looks kind of disorganized but with gifts for ten families                    piling up at  Christmas Time, it gets really crowded in there!  It feels good to get them all wrapped              and delivered!

We have now moved from this home and a I need to get another gift closet or Gift Shelves going.  It                     really is a big help when shopping year round to have a place to store the gifts.

 Best online “card maker’ ever!  They have hundreds of templates to choose from, very easy to use. I create whole slide shows for different occasions.  You can upload your own music or use their huge selection and, of course, upload your photos.  It’s easy to use and my family loves it!  

If I can’t afford a gift for everyone in our huge family, I always, at least, make a special Smilebox for them and post it to their Face Book Wall.  Here’s 2 examples:

 (The above Smileboxes “open up” and have quite a large photo display.)

 To see an example of a Smilebox I made, click on this link:   Smilebox  Be sure to hit the back arrow to return to this post.

• YOUNG GRAND-KIDS:  Look for items on sale to purchase for the younger grand-kids.  They love to unwrap presents.
• LOCAL GRAND-KIDS:  I do a “play-date” in lieu of a purchased present whenever I can.  We do a “photo shoot” around town and to a few favorite spots a little ways out of town.  After the photo session, discovering the unique in the common things is really fun, we go have lunch or a treat like an ice-cream sundae or whatever they want.  I then go develop the pictures instantly at one of those photo kiosks in a pharmacy or Wal Mart, you get the idea, then purchase a little scrap book for the younger kids and we go home and put their photos of this special day in a scrapbook they can keep.
• FOR A LITTLE BIT OLDER GRAND-KIDS: If they are still young enough to enjoy doing this, I buy a larger size scrapbook and we go home after the photo shoot and they start building a fun scrapbook with stickers, glitter, pretty scrap-booking paper and all the fun things that goes into making a nice scrap book.  My ten year old granddaughter still has not completed hers.  I saved it out in my apartment behind her house that I used to have when I came to town,  It was an ongoing activity when I come in.   You could even just buy them their own supplies and let them build it themselves in their own homes as part of the gift.
• OUT-OF-TOWNERS:  My daughter in law out of town heard about how I do this and thought it would be a special activity if I could come down during these grand-kid’s birthday month and do the photo shoot and scrap-booking with them as well.  I will try to do this, but again, budget and time are an issue so I may just order something on Amazon and have it mailed directly to them.  Everyone likes to get a package in the mail and you can find great buys on Amazon!  (Again, set your limits and stick with them.

*One year for this set of grand-kids who live out of town, I found the neatest toy on Amazon…the Perplexus.  It is a round shaped plastic maze with a steel ball you have to get to its destination.  As I was ordering it, I read that it was actually voted “Toy of the Year” so felt pretty certain it would be a hit.  The grand-kids all loved it so I told them I would get a different “model” for each of the other’s upcoming birthdays.  They were really excited to see what the different ones would look like and it was really fun for them to know they would get a new version in the mail on their birthday and I didn’t have to worry anymore about what to give this set of grand-kids.

• OLDER GRAND-KIDS:  Decide at what age you feel like your older grand-child would prefer money or a gift card.  Just get whatever amount you can afford for your grand-kids who fall into this age category.  Easy-Peasy!  As our posterity grows, and we have grand-kids in multitudes now, we feel okay even slipping $10 into a card.  It’s hard to find gift cards in this amount but I have found some now and then in packs of three.  Sometimes I’ll send a $15 Gift Card.  I have also just sent them money through Pay-Pal to their email address and send them a Smile Box on their or their parent’s Facebook Wall.  (They understand and feel good to be remembered.)

Being a “Card Freak” I love to find the Perfect Card and can ALWAYS send a card or make a Smilebox.

• GIFTS THAT COST LITTLE TO NOTHING:

    SHARE A TALENT:  If you have a talent, you can turn that into a wonderful gift!  I do custom walls.  One year, I redid my granddaughter’s bedroom in painting the ceiling and then dropped the deep rose faux paint down about 2 feet all around the room.  I painted a very pale pink the rest of the way down.  I added some hand-painted roses and butterflies as a border between these two colors.  It actually was an awesome look and a “long-lasting gift” I felt very proud to give.

UPDATE OR PAINT A ROOM:  

Two Shades of Rose With Rose Border

I did a “Castle Theme” mural for a trade once.  A cabinet-maker wanted me to paint a castle theme in their basement playroom.  This was one of the funnest things I’ve done.  This type of thing could certainly be done for a grandchild as a big present, any type of theme.  I have also painted other things for the adults on our gift list.  The possibilities are endless.

HINT:   If you aren’t artistic, no worries.  Rent or buy a projector where can you insert the picture you want into it then cast it on the wall in the size you want.  Just paint what you see on the wall.  This is so fun and easy!

You can either find a piece of furniture someone on your gift list would like at a flea market or yard sale.  Repaint it to fit their decor.  I did this for some friend’s who had a cabin in the mountains and wanted this plain, white “wardrobe” to fit their rustic cabin decor.

Another idea:  Instead of painting a huge surface; I have painted little things on walls, such as a fairy or flower near a light switch plate.  It will be a lasting impression that you were there every time they see it.

The Climbing Wall:  An idea from a friend’s blog:

Climbing Wall

 

  CARPENTRY SKILLS:  My husband is a skilled carpenter.  We have a grandson who is very interested in animals and pets of all kinds.  My husband used his carpentry skill along with a hobby he’s had since childhood and built a pigeon loft for this grandson to get into this hobby as well.

PIGEONS….

The look says it all!

Sharing the Love

Building him a pigeon loft of his own.

Birthday Present for a Grandson

  FOOT RUBS:  I talked about this in a different blog post.  Who doesn’t love a foot rub?  I bought one of those “cleaning caddies” to carry cleaning supplies in from room to room only made sure it was big enough for each (adult) foot to fit in each side.  Fill it with warm, soapy water and have your recipient soak their feet to clean and soften them.  Have a thick towel in your lap.  Take one foot out at a time, dry it and then apply lotion.  I like to use Grapeseed Oil as a base then mix in a scented, essential oil; Lavender is a favorite.  Massage the foot.  When done, repeat with the other.  You can even paint the toe-nails if you want.

To maximize the relaxation process, I bring a portable CD Player with relaxing music playing as I massage the feet.

  KNIT/CROCHET

I have a friend who has opened a business by knitting beautiful and original hats and scarves.  This is a Snoodie, part hood, part scarf. She calls it From Sheep to Shawl. (Click on that link to view her amazing website.)  One Christmas, everyone on our list got handmade winter caps.  I found them at Farmer’s Markets and even a yard sale scored some of the most beautiful, original ones I found!  I decided, I need to learn to knit and make my own for loved ones in the future.  This is a photo of my friend, Eve’s, daughter modeling a “Snoodie”.

The link I posted below is a very touching and inspiring story told on another blog I read.  I am so impressed with this family’s conscientious efforts at remembering what is truly important in attaining and teaching our children about gifts.  Here is a link to a beautiful blog on gift giving (at Christmas).

https://savvygrams.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/why-i-kept-santa-claus-real-for-my-kids/