My Grandma is turning 90 at the beginning of April and I wanted to think of a cool "gift" to do with my 3 year old son that would be homemade and have 90 of something (buttons, pom poms, etc??). She is very artsy and crafty and I'm really not, but I know a homemade gift from her great-grandchild would mean a lot to her. Let me know what you think and appreciate the recommendations from craftier people than I! :)
How about one of those cement garden tiles, you son could place his hand print in the middle and then 90 marbles around his little print.. ..
the pottery places has cups, plates, bowls. Can do his hand print and a saying about grandmas.
Well, what about, writing down 90 things that you love about her and is special about her and how your appreciate her?
Then frame it and sign it and date it.
How about buying a frame and decorating it with 90 of something (buttons, trinkets that remind you of her or family memories)? Then put a family picture or picture of your son in it. She would love it. :)
Go to the craft store and buy a little trinket box that your son can paint. Then have your son fill it with 90 of the "coolest" things he can find, things that he finds interesting (buttons, marbles, rocks, small dinosaurs, pieces of chalk, acorn, pennies,etc) . I love the idea of writing things that are special about her, but it may be hard to come up with 90 of them, maybe put some of those in the box. Add some pictures in there and what your son wants to do when he is 90. At her age she probably has most everything and a lot of times older relatives just like to hear and see the things that go through kids minds, they also love to hear what the kids have to say. Maybe ask your son some questions about her and write down exactly what he says how he says it and put that in the trinket box. Then he can definitely take ownership of the gift because he completely created it, just for her.
Good Luck
You can get a little wooden frame form the art store. Get a bag of pretty pearly white buttons and glue 90 of them on.
He can color a picture of put a pretty black and white picture of her when she was in her younger days in there, like this one:
http://www.lovetosew.com/buttonframe.htm
Or, do it like this, where you make her initial or a heart out of buttons in a pretty frame:
http://citycents.blogspot.com/2011/03/craft-tuesday-diy-b...
or this, love this one, just a random gluing of buttons in a fancy frame:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/29154984/reserved-for-tipkend...
something like this is cute, a cork board:
http://littlemissmomma.blogspot.com/2010/03/revamped-pict...
they love pics of their great grandchildren framed!
Here is something a 3 year old can do if you want to do the 90 theme.
Need
construction or cardboard paper 8x10
white glue that dries clear Tacky or elmer's
paint brush (cheap kid's painting brush)
at least 2 different color of either beans, dried peas, corn (dry), rice, etc
Hand draw (not hand print kinda like bubble letters) 90 on the construction paper. Make it off center to give it an artsy feel. Paint the 90 in white glue (be generous) and have your son sprinkle the beans (one clor) over the paper. WHen you tap it you should have 90 in one color beans. You can let it dry overnight. Once dry, paint the rest of the paper with white glue and sprinkle another color.
Search for bean art to give you an idea.
My grandmom turned 91 this past Sept. Cool that you still have her in your life. I feel so blessed I still have my grandmom. .
How about a cermanic plate from a local cermanic studio. Some homemade cookies.
Photographs are always good! Make the photo big and very clear. I like the button idea; if your son can string buttons onto a line, you could add some pretty beads to make it look intentional and that way he could give her a nice necklace.
We did this last year. We made a construction paper chain with 90 links and called it a "chain of 90 hugs". We also made a bouquet of 90 tissue paper flowers, a big Happy Birthday Banner, a birthday crown and 90 pencils for her to "pass out" on her birthday(my 3rd graders idea) :). She lives in Florida and we are in IL so we put it all in a box and sent it so she would get it a few days before her birthday. She decorated her house with our homemade decorations. She LOVED it! She lives in her own house but in a retirement community so they have a place where everyone can go eat. She brought her pencils there, wore her crown and enjoyed passing out her treats! Other relatives were there visiting and said she really enjoyed it.
**Oh! One "rule" our Great grandma has is that she never wants anyTHING. For example something that is not a self-destruct item. She says she is at the point of her life where she wants to get rid of things, not get more. Something to keep in mind :)
Have fun!
J.
Thanks for asking this! My Grandma is turning 90 in May and I have the same dilema!
