Tween and Teen

Page 2: Where to look
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Craft fairs and bazaars: Your child will find plenty of small items like fridge magnets, tree ornaments, handcrafted jewellery, candy and preserves.

Ten Thousand Villages and other import craft stores: Lots of nice handmade things, such as baskets, pottery, hair clips and candles.

Hardware stores: You can find fishing lures, camping gadgets, CD wallets, nifty tools, amaryllis bulbs and kitchen stuff.

Kitchenware: Specialty kitchen stores can be expensive. Instead try a hardware, department or grocery store for cool cooking gadgets (cookie cutters, holiday tea towels, whisks, salad servers, cheese slicers).

Office supply stores: You’ll find handy items like small whiteboards for beside the phone, pen and notepaper kits, desk organizers and mouse pads.

Luxury food stores: The special consumables are great for grandparents who already have too much stuff. Look for really good coffee, fancy tea, smoked salmon or chutney.

If your child likes the idea of making some of his gifts, starting off with some inexpensive base materials from stores like Michaels, White Rose, Lewiscraft or Ikea can make the project easier and more successful:

• Decorate a plain glass votive candle holder or two with glass paint and pop in a candle.

• Paint or decoupage (with magazine photos or tissue paper) plain wooden boxes, shelves or picture frames (with a picture of your child inside).

• Roll sheets of beeswax around a length of wick for simple homemade candles.

• Jazz up T-shirts with acrylic or fabric paint.

• If your child has a little more money to spend on a special someone, some ceramics centres will allow you to pick out a piece of greenware and paint it, and then they fire it for you.

The wheels are turning already: three kids, three picture frames for $5, three photos, three perfect grandparent presents…. I give myself a mental shake. I quickly recall one embarrassing Christmas where my children literally didn’t know what they had “given” some people in their family. That was bad. I decide Lynn is right: My view is, it isn’t about me getting what I want; it’s about me receiving what people choose for me.” The presents I love to receive from my kids are the ones they are excited about. I make a mental vow: Whatever it is, I’ll use it.

Originally published in Today's Parent, December 2003