Sorry - Christmas first world problem

[hohohumbug]

So - gifts for grandparents have been a point of contention (internally) for me for the past couple of years. In laws have said they don't need specific gifts but some keepsakes from the grandchildren would be nice. DH's sister in the past years have pretty much monopolised the gift ideas - they've done mugs, calendars, photo books, ornaments, hand/ foot prints, aprons, cards, canvases, you name it, they've done it. In laws don't really like clutter, so couple of bits we've made/ bought haven't seemed to have been displayed. But theirs have been. The calendar that she makes only have their family in it. I would also love to give them a calendar with our kids pics but it's become their thing now so don't want the in laws to end up with 2 calendars?
It's obviously up to In laws what they want to keep/ display, but aibu to not bother as it's just our stuff that are put away, and I don't want to give them more clutter. In my opinion, the gifts were tasteful/ at least similar to what SIL have given. We all order from the same online retailer pretty much.
More important issues in life than this obviously but it does make me a bit sad.
Has anyone got any unique ideas for mementoes that I might be able to get? Thanks

Scrap the memento idea if they’re not going to use/have them on show. It’s wouldn’t expend anymore energy on it tbh.

£50 JL voucher or an amount you’re happy with.

Get the kids to make things.

Paint your own gnome for the garden.

Decorate plant pots and put lovely plants in them.

What about jewellery, a charm bracelet to add to it similar.

Photobook of your year.

What about getting them an experience type gift to do with the grandkids?

I not it’s.

I'd just put a nice photo in a frame or, if you're feeling creative, make a photo book.

There are squillions of personalised things available on Notonthehighstreet if you want something unusual but most of it is tat.

Why not pay for a family day out/panto/ meal? Then take photos of them together with the kids. Creating real memories?

Could you do a calender with SIL? I'm one of 12 grandkids and remember one year been given a month and drawing something to be made into a calender rather than a photo one. Even a baby can do handprints.

Photos in a frame and be done with it.

Maybe get the kids to make cards themselves?

No way would I give my in laws (I don't actually have any, but even so) a gift voucher, I'd rather give them nothing.

My brother makes a calendar for our parents each year which includes all the kids and grandchildren. We all send him a few photos and he gets it put together. I don’t think any of us would dream of getting a calendar made with just our own children.

Tickets for a day out together sounds like a good idea to me.

Get the kids to make them chocolates / cake / x-mas pud etc?

Same idea but no clutter .. .

Maybe avoid the mementoes as they're clearly not appreciated (although I'm sure a photobook of your family would be).

How about going down the useful or practical route? Or clothing? It opens up a whole new world of gift ideas.

Also, your PILs might well be thinking "not another sodding footprint!".

Actually I think Plsadvise's idea is brilliant.

We negotiate with bil and sil to do a joint calendar (we alternate doing it and send photos back and forth. It as the same number of pics of each grandchild). Would that be an option?

We had a photo jigsaw that was well accepted one year. Another year a lot of hyacinths in a pot the dc had decorated.

Plain, cheap, photo frame. Get kids to decorate it.
Pop in family pic

What about getting kids to make some decorations too for the in-laws' Christmas tree? (assuming they have one)

photo mug - you can never have too many mugs.

filled with homemade sweets, made by dc.

We often make a collage of artwork. Depends on if they are hang things on the walls kind of people, but my mum loved having a framed collage of some of the things my dd made over the past year (also a good excuse for sorting through all the drawings and binning the ones you don't use). Alternatively, I've also gotten mine a personalised bottle of bubbly with dd's photo on it. Not really a keepsake, but if you put it with a hamper of nice seasonal food, it's a really thoughtful gift. My mum loved it and said she really enjoyed when they finally opened it (several months later as she kept it in the kitchen on display for awhile) and it was a sweet reminder of Christmas.

Coasters with the kids paintings in them or keyrings with the kid's drawings inside.

Take them on a lovely day out, even a walk on a nice autumnal day and take some nice photos of them all together or in various groupings. Then make a small collage of the photos in a hand decorated frame by dc. Otherwise a food gift sounds nice ( but could be hell on earth to produce, can you cheat?!)

I would make them a food hamper with your children.
Buy a tin of marmalade mix from Lakeland, ( all you do is boil it with sugar) and add a couple of spoons of whiskey. Voila, homemade whiskey marmalade.
Make some ' bark' - melt plain , milk and white chocolate.
Spread a piece of baking paper ( non stick) on a table.
Pour on the milk chocolate and spread it thinly. Pour some blobs of plain Choc on to milk Choc. Get kids to use cocktail sticks to ' swirl' the plain chocolate in.
Then, while its still melted, kids sprinkle flaked toasted almonds, tiny chopped cherries/ dried apricots/ sultanas/dried cranberries/ dried pineapple etc all chopped small. Then drizzle milk chocolate over the top.
Put, covered in car/ garage ( somewhere cold) to harden off.
Break into pieces and put in pretty box/ cellophane bags. ( I would even give smug SIL a bag too!)

Make ( or buy and unwrap, put a merry Christmas ribbon on it) Christmas cake. Buy a small cheddar/ Wensleydale wrapped in wax to go with it.

Then, get your kids to write letters to their grandparents ( with your help) telling them hiw much they love them, and the best memories they have with them. Get them to write that the want to make lots more memories with them. Then stick in an envelope tickets for your family and in laws to go to panto/ or done other trip together depending in your budget ( local theatres do some great cheap plays/ ticket prices)

Go for it! Out smug the SIL. GOOD LUCK,!!!!!

Thanks. Some really great ideas to try here. I actually love the day out idea. PiLs are quite particular about their house. It feels so awkward filling their house with stuff.
Joint calendar is possible if I ask, but she hasn't offered in past years so assumed she didn't want to include us.
I'm going to look in to getting some tickets somewhere. Thanks again for all the help.

Mhake taking them with the DC to panto a tradition - problem solved for next x years ! It doesn't have to be a big expensive panto miles away can be the local amateur production.

x-post

We bought a digital photo frame one year and uploaded lots of pictures on it, as well as the grandchildren, we included pictures from the past, including their parents and grandparents, their wedding day, their children's weddings etc.

Get the kids to draw pictures of their grandparents and get them printed onto a cushion?
A tin of biscuits with a device in the lid to record the kids saying Love you grandma....from M&S

@yorkshireyummymummy thanks for those fab ideas!!