FAMILY~Grandparent Christmas Present

My sister-in-law and I came up with a joint present idea for my in-laws.  I have two children and she has four, and since grandparents already love grand-kid pictures, what  better than ALL their grand-kids in one picture?!

By using free boxes from Aldi, and discounted yarn for the letters, this whole gift came together for less than $35!   The frame was the most expensive part of the whole gift.

My mother-in-law cried tears of joy as she opened it.  I was so very thankful we could give her this!

Materials Needed:

• Collage Picture Frame
• scotch Tape 
• printed letters (free printable)
• Sturdy Cardboard (I used free boxes from an Aldi's run )
• X-ACTO Knife 
• Cutting Mat
• White or cream yarn
• hot glue gun 

1. Cut letters out of cardboard
 Tape printed letter (link to free printable above) to edges of sturdy cardboard.
Use  X-ACTO Knifeto cut on lines to create the letter silhouette. Don't forget to put a  Cutting Mat underneath or you will damage your table.

2. Wrap letter with Yarn 
 We used hot glue to start on bottom of letter, then secured with glue on back as you wrap.  A good tutorial can be found here. 

Tip : On edges, cut the yarn and glue in lines,like this,  instead of wrapping around difficult corners.  You will see on the "L" we had an unattractive big bunch around the corners, but on the "A" we glued them in diagonal  lines.  You may have to click on picture for full size to see difference.

3.  Take & Print Pictures
 For consistency in your pictures, use the same background for each of the kids.  We just used a wide tree in the front yard.

When Printing, I highly recommend black and white, it really makes the letters pop.   We printed  in color and in black & white to test out which we like better. We found the color distracted you from the fact that you were trying to make a cohesive collage that spelled ONE Word.


4.  Mat and Frame
We used buy a six opening collage frame that includes matting at  online. It comes in 3 opening or 4 opening also.  Depending on the amount of grand kids and  you could spell out any type of word:

• JOY
• LOVE
• I <3 u
• YOUR FAMILY'S LAST NAME

If you have more than 6 kids in your family, consider doubling up in each frame.  For example, have the eldest hold the baby, and the baby holds the letter. Or each child holds one side of the letter.

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