A personal family story to share with you....our godsons came to visit (with their parents) for Thanksgiving. The boys and I spent some time "playing" in the shop. What mom and dad didn't know: we had cooked up a plan to give them a memorable Christmas gift.
The boys helped me make the shape of an ornament, using silver wire. I soldered while they watched, and then we traced the shape onto paper so they could color it in while I cleaned it up. Once I had it all polished, they stamped a message on the back (I held the stamps and they "whacked" away at it) Then we opened up my bead drawers and they helped direct me to the colors of beads that corresponded with the pencil colors they'd used. The rest was up to me. They went home to Oregon and a few weeks later I shipped off the finished ornament, gift-wrapped and ready to go under the tree. The boys, ages 8 and 5, were so good at keeping the secret. That time spent together was precious, and the memory relived every year when the ornaments come out.