farmquilter

Something to consider about the fabric items--if they get soiled quickly/often, what about the laundry issue. Am not even 70 yet but we can make a small mess when food meets fabric.
Anything small that will be useful, how about a soft emery board in a fabric case, I was gifted one and like it. Only cost would be the emery board unless you can find someone to donate them, mine is from a quilt store, good advertizing.

kellen46

At any office supply store you can find packs of rectangular magnets that have adhesive on one side. They are business card size and very strong. They are made to attach your business cards to as a promotion but I use them to make mini collages to decorate not just the fridge but also as cubical décor to brighten up file cabinets and such. Perhaps if you don't want to make a collage you could use photo's cut to size so they could have a mini album on the fridge or any metal appliance. You could ask them to give you a copy of a favorite photo and with a little cropping and maybe some photo enhancements, even scraps and trims they could create their own as a little craft project.

Neesie

What a brilliant idea! I'm going to pass this along to my daughter, who's an elementary teacher. This would make a fantastic project, for her class.

cherrio

I agree the microwave bowls are always a good idea. We use them a lot. The small cube boxes are cute and great to hold candies etc. they both use scraps like 10 to 16 in squares and are quick! Lovely of u to brighten their day

kellen46

Thanks Neesie, for you kind words. Maybe you can remember a few years ago when artist trading cards were popular. I did an online swap with an collage artist group of these mini collage magnets. While I was living in cubical land I had my file cabinets well decorated and lots of my co-workers wanted ones of their own so I did a mini lesson during a lunch hour. The nice part is you can use lots of scrap papers as the format is so small. I recommend Elmers craft glue, not school glue, for adhering additional bits or you could use stickers for decoration. Another popular thing was making name plates out of scrabble tiles and the wooden tile holders. You can buy additional tiles and holders from Hasbroro Toys online for not a lot of dollars. For long names I would glue the tiles to a wooden ruler and then rest it in a holder. I gave everything a coat of wood stain to make it a bit richer looking. For gluing use E6000 which is easy to get in any craft supply department. Also if you had some funky tiles from some other games such as boggle you could glue them to a plastic ruler for a more eccentric look. Check in thrift shops and dollar stores for inspiration. These would make great Mom or Dad Day gifts, especially for those who work in cubical land. Have a happy crafty or quilty time.

Neesie

Thanks! Will pass that along, as well!

Neesie

Many, many years ago, when my friends and I were young and still getting married and having babies, we made many favors. One cute favor was a large bead, made into a flowerpot. The bead had flat sides and a magnet was hot-glued to the back of it. The hole was stuffed with floral clay and a tiny sprig of artificial flowers.

Ruby the Quilter

I would go with candy and /or cookies. I know my 93 yr old Mother would prefer that over anything.

Retiredandquilting

Ladies - thank you all so much. I have so many ideas now that I will have to choose. I knew you would all give me something to think about!