Have you ever done crafts with your grandkids? I have and the fun of it all is unbelievable. I do the crafts with my grandson, and you would not believe the things we have made. The small thing from a drawn picture with the popsicle frame to a t-shirt with a picture of him ironed on and his hand prints around it. Yes it is fun. I thought my daughter and son-in-law was the type, that if it wasn't bought it wasn't good enough. Man was I totally wrong. Christmas was on it's way. My grandson was old enough to know that you were suppose to give Christmas presents.

My first time doing a project so important to him. Making mommy and daddy a present that they would like. Let me tell you, they loved them. First we made his hand print in plaster of Paris. What a trip. We had a time getting the hand print just right. Then it hit me….This is a little kid…..nothing is suppose to be perfect. Well the hand prints were in place…now what. I put on my thinking cap. Wallaaaaaaa. Why not print out the poem "Little Finger Prints". So I did and around it I had pictures of him when he was a toddler. Put it in a frame and stood it up behind the hand prints in the plaster of Paris. One the plaster of Paris dried, I painted it blue and let the paint dry…. Grandma and grandson was pleased. We took care of mommy's Christmas present, but now for daddy's.

On with the thinking cap again. Wallaaaaaaaaaa. Let's do something with a t-shirt. Back to the computer and printer. We found a good picture of Tristan when he was little. Printed it out.

Now we got and iron-on for a t-shirt. Need something to go with it. We took a dish and dumped paint in it and in goes the little hands and hand prints on the t-shirt around the picture. Job well done. You talk about a proud little boy… He was even prouder when Christmas morning came and he gave them their presents. I wanted to cry. I didn't think mommy and daddy would be so happy with their presents. I really under estimated them. They loved them.

As for my daughter and Christmas, I make sure I make her at least one thing for Christmas. I always thought that she thought, oh another one of moms junk crafts, until one Christmas she told how much she likes my homemade things.

That really surprised me and made me feel good. It's not the store bought things that mean the most, it's the things that you take time to make for someone you love, that means more. Anyone can go shopping and buy something that means a lot to someone but the best satisfaction of a gift, is when you make it and see how much it means to someone. There is a big difference. But the most satisfaction of all of this is when you sit and make gifts with your grandson and see his face when the gift is done and when he wraps it up and gives it to his mommy and daddy.

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