Gifts kids can make is the perfect combination. The kids love being involved in creating something to give and recipients open a home made gift. Gifts kids can make are often challenging to find. You want something that the child can assist in making, but it would be great to have the end result something that could be used. Kids Activities Blog is excited about this home made gift because we know of several family members who will be receiving these soon!
When we were at the library recently, I came across this Photo Key Chain activity in a book called Crafts to make in the Summer and thought it would be really a cute idea for home made gifts. Unfortunately, I wasn't in time for Grandparents ™ Day. Fortunately, we won't be seeing the grandparents until next weekend, so we still have time to deliver their gifts to them.
Gifts Kids Can Make
To make a photo key chain, we started with a real old-fashioned bottle cap (like from a glass bottled soda or a beer (you can ask at a restaurant with a bar or a friend if you don't drink these beverages yourself). Note, if you're uncomfortable with putting your child's photo into a beer cap, don't worry – you can cover it up with felt at the end! Then, we looked through lots of our pictures on my computer to find the one that we wanted to use. Since I never get around to getting my photos printed, I just had to deal with resizing it and printing it from my computer (an actual photo would probably look a bit better). Then, we took the printed photo of the kids, traced a circle around their faces, and cut the photos out.
Once our pictures were ready and fitted to the inside of the bottle cap, we were supposed to cover it with clear Con-Tac paper, trim the excess off, then glue the covered photo into the bottle cap. However, I mistakenly purchased white Con-Tac instead of clear and, of course, didn't realize it until we were in the midst of the project. My husband came to the rescue and used an old plastic orange juice container to protect the photos instead. This actually worked quite well. We didn't need to use glue because when he put the plastic over the photo, it fit so perfectly that we were unable to get it out again. So, I guess that’s an option too!
After this, we flipped the bottle cap over and covered the back with masking tape. Then, we glued a paper clip to the back of the bottle cap, making sure that one end was sticking up over the edge. So that it would stay secure, we put another piece of masking tape over the bottom part of the paper clip. To complete the look and finish the project, we cut out a circle of felt and glued it to the back of the cap to cover the tape and bottom of the paper clip. Then, we let it sit so it could dry for a bit.
Finally, we used a key ring and fed it through the paper clip (though for the second one we were going to attach the paper clip to the key ring first so we didn't have to wait for it to dry). Voila! A photo key chain!
Home Made Gifts
This photo key chain is definitely a parent-child activity, especially for younger ones who may not be able to cut intricately. My son (who is 3) helped cut small felt squares before I cut it to fit the bottle cap. He also was involved with the photo, felt, and paper clip color selection and did the gluing and taping of the paper clip.
My son was so proud of his home made gift – the photo key chain that he wanted his father to put them on his key ring immediately. We now have to do this again for the grandparents. (That’s okay, though – it’s an excuse for me to drink Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda. All in the name of art, right?)
This would make great home made gifts for Father's Day, Mother's Day, or Grandparents ™ Day, so pin it and come back here if you're not quite ready to try it out yet! They really turned out cute!
More Gifts Kids Can Make
A photo key chain is a sweet way to share pictures with loved ones. For some more ideas for homemade gifts and kids activities, please take a look at these:
Dont cast your pearls before swine
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This is such a good idea. I can’t wait to try it the group of kids I work with. I already have them collecting bottle caps!
This looks like a great project my 3 year old grand daughter could tackle. Good Xmas present for parents!
So when do I get mine?????
Your key chains turned out so cute! We will have to make some of these as holiday gifts!
We made a child made gift – using those tiny photo sheets you get when you order prints, milk bottle lids, kids artwork and a magnet – to make a magnet for the fridge. You can see it here: http://www.weplayinpa.com/2012/09/recycled-photo-milk-bottle-cap-magnets.html
And we also made some homemade wrapping paper too: http://www.weplayinpa.com/2012/10/make-your-own-recycled-wrapping-paper.html