Christmas Gift Ideas

Homemade DIY farm pebbles for kids

It’s that time of the year again - the time of Christmas gift ideas! It’s one of my favourite things to do, make someone feel special. And with kids it’s especially nice. Gift ideas don’t have to be expensive, it’s the thought and the effort that count. Handmade gifts have essence that no other gifts have, you actually create them from scratch. The other day I came across these beautiful story stones by Julie from the Clever Poppy. And I instantly knew we’ll be making these too, including the fun DIY zipper pouch! How could I miss a chance to use textiles and my dear sewing machine hmm. Both together they make such lovely Christmas gift idea or craft to make with the kids!

Beautiful creative process

What I LOVE about this inspiring DIY is the holistic creative process (unless you’re using this idea as a surprise for Christmas). It begins with a walk outside, collecting pebbles and chatting about what to paint on them. My son brainstormed what each stone could become and I was making notes in my mind. We eventually decided to create a little farm because recently our family got a new baby cow that we are so excited to meet! Why not make the painted pebbles educational since they’re for kids. They can play with them as well as learn. All you need are a few simple tools available in any craft or stationery store nearby!

Christmas Gift Ideas - Painted Pebble Farm

You’ll need:

• pebbles or any smooth stones found in nature
• correction fluid (known as Tipp-ex)
• any coloured pens - the best to use without the correction fluid are the Posca Coloured Markers
• black fine liner (around 0.3 - 0.7 mm)

DIY zipper pouch - learn how to make one HERE

Instructions

Firstly - collect some pebbles while going for a walk. These should have a smooth side which you can easily draw on. The best size would be approx. 2 x 2 inches if you’re planning to play with them. Use your judgement for the pebbles size, too small are hard to draw on and could be inhaled, too large are quite heavy and may cause an injury.

When you’ve found your ideal pebbles, wash them gently in warm soapy water first. This is to remove any dirt from the surface and help the paint to adhere nicely. This would be the white Tipp-ex paint. Our coloured pencils seemed a litte pale when painted directly onto the pebble. As they dried the colour faded even more. So I decided to paint the pebbles with white correction fluid first to help the coloured pens stand out more. It worked really well! All you need to do is shake the Tipp-ex bottle well and paint the flat side of the pebble with it. The bottle lid already comes with a small brush so no other tools needed. Paint all pebbles and allow them to dry for about 15 minutes.

Painting your theme motifs

Now that the pebbles are nicely primed, it’s time to draw! Our theme was a farm but there are so many others you can choose from. Here are some ideas:

1. amazing sealife - fish, shells, plants
2. types of cars for a garage
3. cooking - tools, ingredients, herbs
4. elements of a fairytale story
5. little village - cottages, a pond, shops
6. north pole animals
7. visit to the zoo
8. tools we use at school
9. what to do in the garden

…… and so much more! Painted pebbles are amazing Christmas gift ideas for adults too! Decorate some with mindful abstract art or elements of slow living and give them to someone special as a treat or reminder.

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