A child's drawing printed on a mug, a tote bag and a framed print on a wooden table

14 Gifts Made From Kids' Artwork That People Actually Keep

Grandparents don't want another candle. What they want is sitting in a pile on your kitchen table: the drawings, paintings and scribbled portraits your child makes every week.

Turned into something they can use or hang, a child's drawing becomes the gift people keep for decades. Here are 14 ideas, from ten-minute homemade ones to printed keepsakes, plus how to get a drawing ready so it prints well.

Quick picks: a mug or tote bag printed with a favourite drawing, a calendar with twelve drawings from the year, or a framed original with the child's name, age and their own description on the back. For something unforgettable, turn an animal drawing into a photo of the real creature and frame the two side by side.

A child's pen drawing of a grinning creature printed on a white mug, a canvas tote bag and a small framed print on a wooden table
One drawing, three gifts: a mug, a tote bag and a framed print. Illustration made for this post with AI, using one of the drawings from our Crayon to Creature examples.

How do you get a drawing ready to print?

A few minutes of preparation makes the difference between a crisp print and a grey smudge.

  • Choose bold drawings. Pen, marker and strong crayon print best. Faint pencil tends to disappear.
  • Scan or photograph it flat. Daylight near a window, phone directly above, no shadow. A phone's document scanner (in the Notes app on iPhone, or the Google Drive app on Android) straightens the edges for you.
  • Clean the background. Most print services and phone editors can brighten the paper to white. Don't "fix" the drawing itself. The wobbles are the point.
  • Save the largest file you can. Big prints, like cushions and canvases, need more detail than a mug.

14 gifts made from kids' artwork

Printed on things

  1. A mug. The classic, and it gets used every day. Pick a drawing with a clear outline.
  2. A tote bag. Line drawings look great on natural canvas.
  3. A calendar. Twelve drawings from the year, one per month. Grandparents often keep the old ones.
  4. A cushion. Big, bold paintings work best at this size.
  5. A T-shirt or apron. Especially good when the drawing is of the person wearing it.
  6. A jigsaw. A colourful painting becomes a puzzle, and the child can help the recipient solve it.

Made by hand

  1. Wrapping paper. Big paintings wrap presents better than anything from a shop.
  2. Cards. Trim a drawing, fold it, and write inside. These are the cards people keep in a drawer.
  3. Laminated placemats. Cheap, practical, and lunch is more entertaining.
  4. A stitched tea towel. Trace a simple drawing onto fabric and stitch over the lines. Slow, and treasured.

Keepsakes

  1. A framed original. A simple frame with a white mount makes any drawing look like art. Write the child's name, age, the date and what they said about it on the back.
  2. A book of the year. Photograph a year of drawings and print them as a photo book, one per page, with the child's own words underneath. Our guide to what to do with kids' artwork has more on this.
  3. A soft toy. Companies such as Budsies sew custom plush toys from children's drawings. It's a handmade toy with a price to match, so save it for a big occasion.
  4. The creature, brought to life. If your child drew an animal, turn it into a photograph of the real thing, extra legs and all, and frame the drawing and the photo side by side. Here's how to do it.

Which drawing should you choose?

Let your child pick, then ask them why. The drawing they choose often isn't the neatest one, and the reason they give is worth writing on the back. For the gift itself, drawings of the recipient ("Granny with very long arms") or of something the two share, like a pet or a holiday, tend to land best.

If you're stuck for a fresh drawing, our list of drawing ideas for kids has a few prompts that make great gifts, such as "your family as animals."

When should you order printed gifts?

Earlier than you think. Printed and handmade items can take a couple of weeks, longer before holidays. Photograph the drawings as soon as they're made, and the gift is half done whenever a birthday comes round. The handmade ideas, like cards and wrapping paper, are also perfect for a wet afternoon. See our list of rainy day activities for kids for more.

A drawing of an animal that doesn't exist? Our Crayon to Creature turns it into a photo of the real creature, every "mistake" kept. Full disclosure, it's ours. Framed next to the original, it makes a gift nobody else will give.

See Crayon to Creature

Frequently asked questions

How can I turn my child's drawing into a gift?

Photograph or scan the drawing flat in daylight, then print it on a mug, tote, calendar, cushion or card, or frame the original. For a handmade option, use a large painting as wrapping paper or trim smaller drawings into cards.

What is the best gift made from kids' artwork for grandparents?

A calendar of twelve drawings from the year is hard to beat, because it's used every day and grandparents often keep old ones. A framed original with the child's name, age and their description on the back is a close second.

How do I make my child's drawing print clearly?

Choose a drawing with bold lines, photograph it flat in daylight from directly above, brighten the paper to white and save the largest file possible. Faint pencil drawings may need retracing in pen by the child before scanning.

Can a child's drawing be made into a stuffed animal?

Yes. Companies such as Budsies sew custom soft toys from children's drawings, keeping the design's quirks. They're handmade, so they cost more than printed gifts and take longer to arrive.

Keep the originals safe, photograph everything worth remembering, and you'll never have to think hard about a grandparent's present again.

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