#LifeSkillsNow Mini-Series: Creative Gifts Kids Can Give
This Year, Grandma Gets Something Great Your Kid Made
10 short workshops that turn your kid loose on real gifts: healing salve, lip balm, a wooden pencil holder, lavender syrup, a bouquet, a potted herb garden, and a car wash Grandpa will brag about.
The Dollar Store Aisle at 8pm the Night Before
You know the trip. Four kids, twelve dollars, and a shelf of scented candles and novelty mugs that nobody in the family wanted and nobody will keep past March.
Meanwhile your kid has time, energy, and hands that want a job. They just don’t know what to make or how to make it, and neither of you wants to start a craft project you’ll end up finishing at midnight.
So we collected ten workshops where somebody who does this for a living walks your kid through one nice, giftable thing. An herbalist. A hairdresser. A florist. A woodworker. A bike shop owner. Your kid watches, then makes the gift. You get to receive a clean car instead of a coupon that says “Play a game with me, 30 minutes.” Much better deal, right?
This is such a cute diy idea and love the suggestion of giving it to teachers for a gift. Video is super easy to follow.
Arianna R., on the DIY Pencil Holder
Why Creative Gifts Kids Can Give?
Handmade gifts land differently. The grandparent who has everything does not have a jar of salve their eight-year-old cooked up, or a bottle of lavender syrup with a ribbon on it.
These ten workshops run 6 to 32 minutes, and each one ends with a finished thing your kid can wrap.
- Real skills, not crafts for the sake of crafts. Measuring, cutting, joining, growing, trimming, detailing.
- Ten teachers who actually do this work: the founder of Earthley, the owner of MadeOn Skin Care, a florist with 27 years in the industry, a hairdresser of 20-plus years, an engineer turned woodworker, a homesteader, a bike shop owner, and a car dealership sales manager.
- Service gifts for the kid who wants to give something and has zero dollars. A bike wash. A full car detail. A haircut.
- A one-time purchase with no subscription, and it’s yours to keep.
Building this was so fun! I made it with my pop pop. I am going to paint it and use it to hold my pencils for school.
Peyton W., a #LifeSkillsNow kid, on the DIY Pencil Holder
What Your Kid Will Make
By the end of this series your kid can:
- Cook up a healing salve from herbs, oil, and beeswax, using a recipe they can adapt over and over
- Turn out 25 lip balms in under 30 minutes, which covers the whole cousin list and the teacher gifts
- Build a wooden pencil holder with a hand saw, a miter box, and a hammer, and know the safety rules first
- Arrange a bouquet so it looks like it came from the shop instead of the grocery store bucket
- Grow herbs from seed, from a start, or from a cutting, then pot them up with a ribbon and a recipe card
- Bottle lavender syrup for lemonade, ice cream, or a gift basket
- Trim long hair without an appointment, and clean up short hair with clippers
- Wash and lube a bike until it shines
- Wash and detail a car inside and out, which doubles as a summer money-maker
Every workshop ends with a mission, so the skill leaves the screen and shows up in somebody’s hands.
What’s Included in the Creative Gifts Kids Can Give Mini-Series
Ten video workshops with printable handouts and a real-world action step for each one, pulled from previous seasons of #LifeSkillsNow. Plus four bonuses: a workshop on growing lavender, a workshop on measuring ingredients accurately, printable coupons kids can wrap to give service gifts, and an herb salt recipe with printable gift tags.
Access to a private, ad-free membership area with no distractions and no autoplay
Lifetime access, so the lip balm workshop is still there next December
Downloadable videos for offline watching
#LifeSkillsNow Mini-Series: Creative Gifts Kids Can Give
This Year, Grandma Gets Something Your Kid Actually Made
- Downloadable Videos
- Printable Handouts for Note-Taking & Quick Reference
- Access Never Expires PLUS if anything is added, you get that too!
- 10 Gift-Making Workshops for Ages 5 to Teen
- 4 Bonus Videos & Printables (lavender growing, measuring, service-gift coupons, herb salt recipe + gift tags)
- Private, Ad-Free Dashboard
- $10 per Workshop = $100, Plus $40 in Bonuses = $140 Value!
$30
Rest Easy with our Happiness Guarantee
You have time to decide what you love! Let your kid watch a few workshops, make one gift, see how it goes, and if you don’t love it let us know within 30 days of purchase and we’ll give you a full refund.
You have unlimited access to all the content, so even if your kid watches every workshop and you still ask for a refund, we’d give it to you because we believe in this collection so much. That’s our risk, but we trust you probably won’t do that. It’s just important to us that you understand how much care we’ve put into this.
Good easy instructions. It was also good that she had a junior helper to demonstrate struggles and possible problems that might arise.
JulieA, on the DIY Pencil Holder
Mini-Series Package, 10 Workshops
Workshops included in the Creative Gifts Kids Can Give #LifeSkillsNow Mini-Series:
How to Create Your Own Healing Salve Recipe
with Kate Tietje of Earthley, ages 5-teen, 6 min
Earthley’s founder and lead herbalist shows kids a salve recipe built as a framework, so they can swap in whatever herbs they have, fresh or dried.
How to Make Your Own Lip Balms in Less Than 30 Minutes
with Renee Harris of MadeOn, ages 12+, 9 min
Three ingredients, 25 lip balms, half an hour. Stocking stuffers, party favors, and Valentine’s gifts, handled.
Into the Workshop: Make a DIY Pencil Holder
with YouTuber Anika Gandhi, ages 5+, 16 min
An engineer turned woodworker teaches the three steps behind any wood project (measuring, cutting, joining) with a miter box, a hand saw, and a hammer. Safety first, then the build.
How to Arrange a Flower Bouquet: The Joy of Floral Design
with florist Brenda Brown, ages 8-teen, 25 min
Stem length, height, balance, and how to make flowers last, from a florist with 27 years behind the bench. Works on grocery store flowers and on whatever’s growing in the yard.
Growing a Kitchen Herb Garden
with Tracy McGee, ages 8-teen, 32 min
Three ways to grow herbs (from seed, from a store-bought start, from a cutting) plus how to pot them up with a ribbon and pair them with a recipe. Gift tags and recipes come with it.
How to Make Lavender Syrup
with Adriana Copaceanu, ages 5-teen, 14 min
How to grow, harvest, and store lavender, then turn the buds into a syrup for lemonade or ice cream. Sachets and dream pillows too.
How to Give a Haircut: Long Hair Trim
with hairstylist Dawn Smyka, ages 12+, 28 min
Where to part, how to hold the scissors and comb, and exactly where to cut, so a teen can clean up the ends for a sister, a friend, or you.
How to Give a Haircut: Short Hair with Clippers
with Dawn Smyka, ages 12+, 23 min
Contouring the head, keeping it even, and shaping around the ears and neck. Watch Leah learn on her brother. One clippers kit lasts about a decade.
That’s a Nice Ride: Washing Your Bike and Making it Shine
with bike shop owner Brant Widdis, ages 8-teen, 16 min
Degreaser, brushes, and bike-specific lube. A clean, well-lubed bike is a gift and a tune-up at the same time.
That’s a Nice Ride: Washing and Detailing Your Vehicle
with automotive sales manager Sam Tillema, ages 5+, 14 min
Inside and out, the way the dealership does it. Little kids can help with this one, and big kids can charge the neighbors for it.
Ten workshops. Three hours. And a gift pile that feels more meaningful.
What does a workshop feel like?
1. Watch a Short Video
Workshops run 6 to 32 minutes. Most are under 20.
2. Optional: Print the Handout
Every workshop comes with a printable supply list and instructions, so nobody’s re-watching to find out how much beeswax.
3. Try the Action Step in Real Life
Each workshop ends with one specific thing to go make: the salve, the balms, the bouquet, the bike.
With the Creative Gifts Kids Can Give Mini-Series, your kid gives something they made, and you skip the dollar store entirely.
Got Questions? Here are Your Answers:
Your kid. Every workshop is taught straight to kids. That said, you’ll want to be nearby for the ones with a hot stove, a hand saw, or a pair of clippers, and honestly you may pick up the bouquet trick yourself.
Four workshops are for ages 5 and up, three are for 8 and up, and three are for 12 and up: both haircut workshops and the lip balms. A 5-year-old won’t run the saw or the stove alone, and the presenters say so themselves. Little ones make great helpers on the salve, the lavender syrup, and the car wash.
For most of them, no. The salve, lip balms, lavender syrup, herb garden, and bouquet use kitchen and garden supplies, and every workshop lists what you need up front. The pencil holder is the one that needs real tools: a hand saw, a miter box, wood glue, and nails. One reviewer told us straight out that her 9-year-old struggled with the cutting and she finished it on the table saw. Borrow tools from a grandparent or a neighbor if you don’t have them, which also makes the project a two-generation thing.
Between 6 and 32 minutes, 3 hours and 3 minutes for the whole set. The herb garden workshop is the long one, because it covers three different ways to grow.
With practice, yes. Both haircut workshops are for ages 12 and up, and Mrs. Smyka has been cutting hair for over 20 years. Start on somebody forgiving. Families have told us they’ve saved real money on trims since they learned it.
In a private, ad-free membership area you can get to anytime. Videos are downloadable so you can watch offline, and every workshop includes a printable and an action step.
Yes! It’s a one-time purchase with no subscription, and your access never expires. Pull up the lip balm workshop every December for the next ten years.
The #LifeSkillsNow Mini-Series are pulled straight from previous Seasons, so if you already own one or more, chances are you have some of these workshops already.
Yes! Creative Gifts Kids Can Give is one of several. If your kid likes the making-things side, Celebration Essentials and Kid’s Guide to Party Planning and Hosting are good next stops. Read about all our #LifeSkillsNow Mini-Series right here.
No, our terms and conditions require you to use your #LifeSkillsNow Mini-Series login solely for personal use. You’re welcome to watch alongside your spouse or invite a friend over to watch with you at your house.
Still have questions? Our Happiness Coordinators are here for you. Start a conversation with the chat icon in the corner of your screen.