5 Gifts Grandparents Will Love
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. For grandparents, that number might be a little higher.
Photos
Here's the first thing you need to know about holiday shopping for grandparents: We just can't get enough pictures of our grandchildren.
Whether they're printed on Kodak paper or popped in as wallpaper on our iPad screens, grandparents love, love, love looking at those precious faces. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking in the right direction:
1. Photo books
These are available on-line through sites like Snapfish.com, or you can order them when you take your digital images or film to Walgreen's, CVS, Rite Aid, or wherever you order prints. My personal favorite is a 4x6 album that fits into my purse. (Go ahead, ask me about my grandchildren.)
2. Framed photos
Help the kids make a frame using a craft-store kit, or simple materials like heavy cardboard or Popsicle sticks, then fill it with a school photo. MarthaStewart.com has a cute idea for picture frames made out of paper.
3. Photo mugs or key chains
Take it from me, there's no better way to start the day than with the smiling faces of your grandchildren looking back at you. The same is true with key chains, or anything else a grandparent might use every day.
4. Photo t-shirts
Hip, happening grandparents still wear these, and it's easy-as-pie these days to customize them with photos. Michaels has plain t-shirts in a variety of sizes and colors, as well as transfer paper that you can use to print the images from your home computer. If you're a little nervous about getting the shirts just right, leave it to the professionals.
5. Photo keepsake box
A small wooden box with decoupaged photos on the lid looks great on a grandparent's coffee table or dresser. You might even fill it with a few more photos or keepsakes, like a memento from a special trip.
MS
8:08 pm on Sunday, November 25, 2012
Cruel... You will be old one day. Don't make fun of old people!
GW
10:59 am on Monday, November 26, 2012
Where is anyone making fun of the elderly? Please educate us.
William Mays
8:08 pm on Sunday, November 25, 2012
How about a actual good gift, like a nice watch or a new ring?
rose matt
9:35 am on Monday, November 26, 2012
How about just spending time with us. Take us to brunch or lunch ,tell us what you are doing in school or at work, about your friends, Email us a funny joke,or just say hello.
Me
11:56 am on Monday, November 26, 2012
A picture is nice but a homemade card from the kids is much better.
hsr
11:56 am on Monday, November 26, 2012
If I get any more pictures I'll have to rent an apartment to display them.
MS
12:04 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
Nancy D. The inappropriate comment making fun of the elderly was removed.
Patti Urbano
5:44 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
I'm a young grand parent, I agree with hsr I don't need any more pictures. Nor do I want any of the stuff the article said was nice. And don't want a homemade card either. Like William said a good gift.
rose matt
11:08 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Young or old, if it from the grandchild [not the parents] then it is a gift of love.
That's the best gift
Christine Stolte
10:04 pm on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
I love my Grandma very much, but like you HSR and Patti Urbano - I don't think she has room for any more pictures. Haha. As much as she loves them!
And as far as homemade cards? All of my cousins and I are well into our 20s....So I really don't think that's an option. Heh. Maybe for her Great-Grands.
I really don't think there can be a generic "Grandparent Christmas Shopping List." Especially like this!
As you said, Patti: You're a young Grandparent....So is my mother....You two would like things WAY different than MY 80+ yr old Grandmother. If I gave my Grandmother anything that turned on, plugged in, or needed batteries? The show's over! haha. It would only get used when one of us was up there to help her! (this has happened, I have proof...lol)
I DO, however, agree with the "spend time with" option. That is always a wonderful thing. And sometimes, if that's all you have to offer? That's enough.