I am so not an artist.  I struggle to makie stick figures look like stick figures. . . But, that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate fine art work when I see it.

I have recently come across the fabulous site Feed Your Soul.  Jen, the site owner, knows that when money is tight (as it is in our current economy) that money usually isn’t spent on non-essentials.  But sometimes it’s those non-essentials that bring sunshine to our souls.

Jen’s purpose is to bring a smile to your face and brighten your day.  (I personally think she has accomplished that goal!  At least she has for me.)

Since she isn’t an artist herself, she has asked some of her artistic friends (almost 75) to share one of their art pieces that could be printed up and framed.  (Do you have 75 artistic friends??  I don’t even think I have that many friends!)  Those friends have so kindly agreed and Jen has made them available for download in PDF format on her site.

Here are a few that I absolutely love:

• the little old lady and little old man shown above  (I identify with them) by K*Smith
• “Home is wherever my books are” by Stephanie Fizer
• the little girl with balloons by Shira Sela
• the hot air balloon one by Ellen Currier
• two owls by Amy Ruppel
• an orange by Stephanie Nance
• a snowman by Angela Traunig

Such a fun and artistically pleasing site!  I’m sure you’ll agree with me — as will your granddaughters.

Here are my ideas as to how you, dear grandmothers, can use this site with your grandchildren.  (Probably just your granddaughters.  I think the artwork would appeal more to the females in your family . . .)

Have a printing party!  Get together with your granddaughter and print up one of the pictures that she likes.  Have a frame handy that she could put it in.  (Of course you have gone shopping together beforehand to select the frame.  Of course.)  If you are really skilled, get a frame that could be painted to match the colors in the print.

Print up several so that your granddaughter can create a wall grouping.

Print up several and frame in one frame that has matting areas for multiple pictures.

And don’t forget about you.  Print up your favorites to decorate your home with, too.

Jen, thanks so much for sharing with us.  We are blessed because of your kindness!

Today is a hodgepodge of ideas that can’t be organized into one category.  But then, isn’t that how our lives are at this time of the year — scattered and unorganized?  (Well, at least mine is anyway . . .)

Here is a great idea for a stocking stuffer.  Just put sticky-backed Velcro circles on a ping pong or Wiffle ball, add a winter glove, and you’re done!  One pair of gloves gives you two gifts.  Can’t get much cheaper than that!  You might want to make a set to keep on hand (pun intended here, folks) when your grandchildren come to play at your house.  (I can see it now — Spencer, Natalie, and Simon tossing the ball to me while I sit in my rocking chair sipping hot cocoa.)  Click here for specific directions on making them.

(I’m thinking ahead to summer.  Wouldn’t it be fun to have some of these at a family reunion?  At your grandma camp? For a grandchild’s birthday party?  You might even want to have a contest to see who could be the Stickie Ball Champion.)

Will you have a Christmas family get together in the next few days?   Want to have an easy (and cheap) Christmas-y project for grandchildren to do? (Parents can participate, too, if they behave nice.)  You can make a plethora of these Ten Seconds Ornaments. You might want to sing Christmas songs while you’re making them.  Those of us who are craft-challenged shouldn’t have too hard of a time making these!  (The operative word here, folks, is shouldn’t.) You also might want to spend some time poking around the Dollar Store Craft site.  Lots of cheap and easy ideas there.

A game that fits inside an Altoids tin box. A miniature game.  Cute! The Little Game Box can be either a memory game or a treasure hunt game. You can download the labels, game sheets, and directions from this site. An easy last minute gift.  This is another site that you might want to spend some time on.

Now for some edible creativity.  When I saw these Santa and Rudolf pancakes, I instantly wanted to make some. Like, I didn’t want to wait until breakfast.  Nothing wrong with that, is there?  Why not also try your hand at making snowmen pancakes, Christmas tree pancakes, ornament pancakes, or gingermen pancakes?  Be sure to involve your grandchildren in the whole mess process.  What great kitchen fun — and a delight for grandchildren to eat.

Only 8 more days until Christmas!

Robert Sabuda is a children’s book illustrator.  And creator of pop-up books.  His website offers simple pop-ups you can make. This would be an easy, great, and inexpensive activity to do with your grandchildren.

He has several Halloween pop-ups: a witch, bat, and this endearing Frankenstein.  He also has pop-up directions for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valetine’s Day.

Folding the pop-up turkey would keep grandchildren busy while grandma is wrestling the turkey in the kitchen.  Older grandchildren can supervise younger grandchildren in the making of these pop-ups if the turkey in the kitchen starts winning the battle against grandma . . .).

Who says that we have to have rectangle or square picture frames? And who says we have to hang them in orderly rows or symmetrical patterns? My stodgy, old-fashioned inner self, that’s who!

But, if you are more artsy, edgy, and especially if you are more modern than me, making ring picture frames with a grandchild might be something that could be loads of creative fun.  And  it’s cheap!

I do like this idea.  But I don’t especially like the brown-ness of the frames.  I would probably spray paint them a different color.  That way, the cardboard ‘look’ wouldn’t be so obvious.  (Unless you like the idea of people knowing that your frame is a toilet paper tube . . .)

Here are the step-by-step directions on how to make the frames.  Grandchild that are fairly young and ones that are all the way up through the teen-age years will be able to do this activity.

Extend this idea and make a wedge from card stock paper to put on the back so that the picture frame can stand upright on a desk.  Or, put a magnet on the back so the frame could go in a school locker, on a mirror, or on the everything-gets-put-on-me fridge.

This would be a great way to display the digital pictures that you and your grandchild have taken!