Creative and affordable handmade gift ideas for a grandparent can be easily made on your own. These are the kinds of gifts that come from the heart and will be treasured for years to come. Even if you’ve never made a homemade gift before, there is no better recipient than a grandparent, as grandparents will especially appreciate unique and thoughtful gifts.
Handmade Gift Ideas for a Grandparent
When thinking up ideas for handmade gifts for grandparents, there are a few ways to get the creative juices flowing. First, think about the kinds of gifts your grandparent might enjoy receiving or find useful, as well as what you can easily make on your own. Second, consider where you will buy the supplies or if they are readily available already in your home. You definitely want to make sure the handmade gift isn’t too complicated or something that you would be better off buying. Finally, start making your handmade gift, and keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be perfect. The best handmade gifts have a little soul and a few unique personal touches.
Gifts for Grandmothers and Grandfathers
Here are some creative handmade gift ideas:
- Lavender Satchel: There are many homemade lavender gifts, and the satchel is especially easy and a great gift for putting in the bathroom or into a clothing drawer. You’ll need some pretty cloth or fabric, ribbon or thread, and some dried lavender flowers.
- Jewelry: Handmade jewelry, such as necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, are another good gift idea. You can enhance your jewelry creation by buying stones or crystals from a bead store that offer healing properties or other attributes.
- Bird Feeder: Try buying a premade wooden bird feeder and painting it in custom colors, or make your own. Birdhouses can be made out of gourds and are easy to make once you have the right tools. Check out Birdhouses You Can Make in a Day for inspiration.
- Knitted Scarf: Anything that can be knitted or crocheted, such as a scarf, hat, or mittens, would be useful to a grandparent in a colder climate.
- Clay Vase: Make a vase out of clay or use clay to sculpt a meaningful paper holder or decoration. You can also sculpt humorous figures of family members or pets out of clay as a light-hearted conversation piece.
- Cards and Calendars: Make your own custom birthday, holiday, and special occasion cards and calendars for your grandparent. For printing, try a local printer or Vista Print online, who will ship the items to you after printing them.
- Memory Album: Gather up those shoeboxes of photos your grandparents have been storing and organize them into a photo album, or try an electronic version by scanning old photos and printing them into a book. You can print digital books using Shutterfly.
For Grandparents in a Nursing Home
Older grandparents also appreciate homemade treasures from family members. Here are a few simple ideas for gifts for a nursing home resident:
- Wallpaper: Bring in contact paper and make your own wallpaper for a section of your grandparent’s wall.
- Good Luck Charm: Sew pieces of fabric together, use stuffing or dried flowers, and make a small pillow or satchel as a good luck charm.
- Window Hanging: Collect beads or crystals and string them together to make a piece of artwork that can be hung on a window.
- Corkboard Photo Display: Spray paint a corkboard in your grandparent’s favorite color and bring it in with photos of family members to display in the room.
Give From the Heart
No matter what kind of handmade gift ideas for a grandparent you decide to work with, remember that as long as it comes from the heart you’ll get a delighted response. Grandparents are also the perfect test subjects for handmade gifts because they don’t expect perfection and will enjoy gifts that have a lot of thought put into them.
