DIY Gifts for Girls
Building gifts for girls is much different than building gifts for boys, although there are certainly gifts that span the gender gap. Daughters, more than anything, love to know that mom and dad (or grandpa and grandma, aunts and uncles) are thinking of them. DIY gifts show that.
Instructions
Make Beads
Make beads. Girls of almost every age love beading, and making beads isn't terribly hard. Rip newspaper into small pieces, soak in boiling water for an hour, and drain. Mix the newspaper with clear-drying glue (such as Elmer's or Modge Podge), and roll little gobs into oblong or geometrical shapes. Let the "beads" dry for two to three days. The glue takes a while to dry, but once dry, the little newspaper beads should feel as hard as wood. Paint the beads with a paint that won't smear, an acrylic or oil-based paint. Then varnish the finished beads with two coats of varnish; polyurethane works well. A colored stain makes the beads look aged. Make a Simple Doll House
Make a simple shelf-style doll house. Little girls love to play with their dolls, and building a traditional doll house is beyond most weekend-warrior hobbyists, but building shelves is not. Build the shelves out of prefinished, white "pressboard" 1-by-10's. Eight-foot lengths are easy to find in any home-improvement store. Cut the base to fit the area where you intend to place the doll-shelf. Four feet wide is probably more than enough, and four feet high is, too. Cut 10-inch supports out of 1-by-1 lumber. Screw them into the sides and rest shelves on them. If you want to router the side boards for extra support, that's fine, but not necessary. The important thing is that the shelf looks like a house, and that each shelf has several different "rooms." To that end, separate the different shelves into sections with vertical pieces. Cut the "roof" of the house so that the two sides angle upward to a peak. You'll probably need supports from the top shelf up to each roof-piece to hold it up. Little girls will love this shelf unit; they can put doll furniture in each "room" and then store their dolls there when they're finished. When they're older, they can use it as a bookshelf, too. Make a Decoupage Pendant
Buy a pack of spinners (shiny fishing lures) and cut off the hooks. Cut out little pictures of whatever your girl's favorite things are, like butterflies, horses, or flowers. Decoupage them piece by piece onto one of the spinners. Take your time and let them dry in layers. The edges can be difficult if you're in too much of a hurry. When finished, add a layer of polyurethane to seal everything. Add a little circlet and loop a necklace through, and it's finished...a special, meaningful necklace.
