Quirky Gift Ideas for Grandparents

Posted onAuthorMrs Lighty108 Comments

When it comes to the perfect grandparent gift, it can be so hard not to give something which isn’t just a framed photo of your child, or a piece of their artwork. What do you get for people that are often able to go and buy anything they want themselves, or who, when asked what they want, say that they don’t need anything?

I always love to give something a little bit different, although it’s often hard to think of something slightly unusual that your child can give as a grandparent gift. With that in mind, here are a few of my favourite gifts that we’ve bought for the Grandparents over recent years, all with a slightly homemade feel:

Personalised Hessian Bag Hamper

I really, really love a hamper. You can fill them with lots of little treats, and as a whole they look like a much bigger gift. However, bear in mind that you don’t have to use a basket or a box to house your hamper.

A couple of birthdays ago, I had personalised hessian bags made for both of Baby Lighty’s grandmothers. As well as a picture of Baby Lighty, I had a slogan printed on each one: “Nanny’s Shopping: Wine, Chocolate and things for [Baby Lighty]” for one Nan and “Nanny’s Shopping: Books, Biscuits and things for the grandchildren” on the other (as Mother-in-law Lighty has more than one grandchild). I then filled the bags with those things. They went down really well, and the bags are still used regularly 18 months on!

Quirky grandparent gift ideas: personalised hessian bag hampers.

Personalised hessian bag hampers.

Magazine Hamper

A certain grandparent of Baby Lighty’s always, without fail, requests photography magazines for his present. I don’t mind buying these, as I know that they are something that he’ll enjoy, but I always feel a little bad that we always get him the same gift, time in, time out.

Last Christmas, therefore, I decided that I’d give a magazine, but that I’d make it a little more interesting in the form of a mini hamper. This same grandparent is a little like Mrs Lighty in the sense that he loves rustic things like wooden crates, so I bought one of those and filled it with the magazine, a beer, some chocolate and biscuits and some socks to make a mini hamper of treats. Obviously as you can probably tell, this particular hamper was tailored to one of Baby Lighty’s grandfather’s, but it could easily be tailored towards a female recipient, too.

Quirky Grandparent Gift Ideas: relaxation hamper.

A hamper of treats to make giving a magazine more interesting!

Hand Print Frames

If you want to give something a little bit more unusual than the standard framed photograph of the grandkids, what about making some handprints? They’re really simple to do with inkless kits which can be purchased for a few pounds on the internet (thanks for the tip Dawn at Rhyming with Wine!). I framed them and wrote Baby Lighty’s name, age and date on them to make them look a little more special!

Quirky Grandparent Gift Ideas: framed hand and footprints.

Framed hand and footprints.

A Garden in a Jar

Instead of giving traditional flowers for Mother’s Day one year, we gave a garden in a jar to the grandmothers. We felt that by giving seeds and bulbs rather than cut flowers, the recipient would have the benefit of the blooms over a longer period of time!

Quirky grandparent gift ideas: a garden in a jar!

A garden in a jar!

Sock and Scarf Bouquet

If you’re on Pinterest as often as I am, you’ll no doubt be aware of the term ‘sock bouquet’. Last year I decided to give it a go myself, and bought the grandmothers a selection of socks and a scarf each as a gift, which I then hashed into lovingly presented as a sock and scarf bouquet.

I’m not going to lie, the idea of this grandparent gift was a lot better than the reality; creating a sock bouquet sounds a lot easier than it actually is. Mine did not at all look as good as I hoped it would!! Which is why I’m not going to embarrass myself with a photo of it here, but instead I’ll show you this one that the lovely Mandy at The Tinkergirl made for Baby Lighty when he was born, to show you what can be done if you’re better at crafts than Mrs Lighty:

Quirky Grandparent Gift Ideas: sock bouquet.

Mandy at The Tinkergirl’s sock bouquet.

Handprint Tea Towels

Something that worked really well as a gift was a handprint tea towel that we made at one of our toddler groups. You can easily buy kits from the internet, which you then use fabric paint to create the handprints on, and iron over them before washing so that they are colourfast. They’re simple to do, look good and most importantly are useful, too!

Handprint Decorations

Ok, ok, I know most of my gift ideas do seem to involve handprints, but who doesn’t love a tiny handprint?! As well as the tea towels already mentioned above, we also made hanging decorations from air-drying clay at our toddler group. They’re simple to do: just roll out the air-drying clay, use a cookie cutter to cut them to shape, firmly press your little one’s hand into it and then you can use a scalpel tool to write their name and the date in if you so wish. Use a straw to press a hole through the decoration in a suitable place, and then add some pretty ribbon so that they hang.

A tip for using air-drying clay is to try to dry them on a baking rack or similar, so that they air can circulate all around. This should help them do dry hard quickly, which will help to give them longevity.

And of course, if all of your creativity fails you, there’s no shame in resorting to the old framed photograph of the grandchild! What grandparent doesn’t love a beautiful framed photo of their grandchild, after all?!

What quirky grandparent gifts have you given in the past? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear some fresh ideas!

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108 thoughts on “Quirky Gift Ideas for Grandparents”

    1. Ah thank you! I forgot about the rhyme on there, didn’t think about the fact that you’d like that! The handprints were all of your idea! 😉 xxx

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  3. Hi, lovely gift ideas. My favourite has to be a garden in a jar. The children can even help plant it and watch it grow, just lovely, Chloe #DreamTeam

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  4. I’m not a fan of commercial ‘days’ but I like your ideas. The only one I wouldn’t do would be footprints… my mum hates them. They make her cringe. Seeds and plants for the garden are always a winner for her.
    I do like the idea of the hessian bags.
    #dreamteam

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    1. Me neither, and I hope therefore that these ideas can be applied for gift occasions across the board. Ha! Definitely don’t make your Mum the footprint frames in that case then!! I always think anything for the garden is generally a winner (even with myself!!) 🙂 #DreamTeam

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    1. I kinda wish I’d done a tea towel for myself too, ha!! I’ll have to keep hinting to Mr Lighty! Although let’s face it, that’ll never happen if I leave it to him!! 😀 #DreamTeam

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  27. Ooh the garden in a jar idea is fab – my mother in law loves gardening so this would be perfect for her! And I love a good hamper too. Thanks for the inspiration #dreamteam

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  28. I thought I had already commented on this post, but maybe it didn’t work! Anyway, I love all these ideas, especially the garden in a jar. You’re always so good at coming up with quirky ideas, I’m glad you did this post. Our job this weekend is a last minute card for Nanny, but next time I’m going to be more organised and do a tea towel, such a great idea! #DreamTeam

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  29. These are fab. My Mum and Dad would love anything from the Little Man, but these are some really nice personal things. Especially the framed handprints. #dreamteam

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  31. These are such great gift ideas! I love how creative you are. Grandparents can be so tricky to buy for as they already have everything and/or dont need anything. I love the garden in a jar, such a fab idea 🙂 Emily #DreamTeam

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    1. Ah thank you. Not sure about creative but I love browsing through Pinterest and adapting ideas as well as creating new things 🙂 #DreamTeam

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  41. I love a good hamper! I often do these for Christmas for the older members of the family. Like you say they already have everything! I love the hand print frames, think that will be on the list for the next round of birthdays.
    #DreamTeam

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  44. These are great ideas…I particularly like the garden in a jar idea! I also love a good hamper – great to make a few smaller presents look a bit special! Grandparents are notoriously difficult to buy for and their presents sadly end up being boringly practical! #DreamTeam

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    1. Yes that’s exactly it! I always think that if least the presentation is nice, that’s half the battle, ha!! 🙂 #DreamTeam

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    1. Yes that’s what I always think…they’re ok every once in a while but I like to mix things up a bit!! 😉 #DreamTeam

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  50. These are great ideas Nic. I have always liked the idea of creating a hamper, but couldn’t find anywhere to buy a decent but cheap enough container to hold everything. Gorgeous garden idea too. Thank you for co-hosting the #DreamTeam this week, it’s so great to have you back!

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    1. My go-to places for hamper boxes are: Homesense, the Poundshop (!) and Card Factory. It depends what you’re after of course; sometimes you can get rustic crates at garden centres, for example. Thanks so much for having me back on #DreamTeam temporarily, it’s been an honour! xxx

      Reply

    1. Ah I hope they do mean more to the recipients! Sometimes my experiments go a bit awry, but it’s the thought that counts, eh?! 🙂 #DreamTeam

      Reply

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