You can help your friends and family avoid long return lines at the department store by helping your child create thoughtful, homemade gifts.

"Crafting as a family is a wonderful way to slow down the pace of the hectic holiday season," says Sue Hannah, author of "Crafty Concoctions" (Meadowbrook Press.) "Your children will love creating, wrapping and presenting gifts of their own."

Trish Kuffner, author of "The Arts and Crafts Busy Book" (Meadowbrook Press), agrees that a crafty gift can display love and care for your family. "Gifts from your children are gifts worth keeping," she says.

"Crafty Concoctions" offers step-by-step instructions for more than 100 cool concoctions kids can make with minimal adult supervision. The book offers a variety of the concoctions such as the "Jewels & Gemstones" recipe to make gift necklaces or "Tasty Glue" to stick pieces of a gingerbread house together.

"The Arts and Crafts Busy Book" is the fourth book of the highly successful "Busy Book" series. Parents of toddlers and preschoolers can find an array of gift ideas their children can create in the "Holiday Arts and Crafts" section of the book. Gift ideas include "Sand Art Brownie Gift Mix," "Kwanzaa Cutouts" and directions to make a Menorah.

The instructions for all these wonderful gift ideas are found below.

Crafty Jewels and Gemstones
From "Crafty Concoctions"
Add sparkle to any craft project with these beautiful imitation jewels and gemstones. They are perfect for making all sorts of crafts sparkle and shine.

Small glass jar
1 tablespoon Epsom salts
1 tablespoon hot water
Mixing spoon
510 drops of food coloring (optional)
Fork
Paper towel
Paintbrush
Clear-drying glue

Here's How You Make It
1. In a small jar, mix the Epsom salts and hot water with a spoon. Add food coloring if you want to make colored crystals. Stir the mixture a few times until most of the salt dissolves.
2. Set the jar aside in a place where it will not be disturbed. Do not cover it.
3. Beautiful crystals will grow in about 1 week. Gently scrape the crystals from the jar with a fork, and lay them on a paper towel to dry.

Here's How You Use It
1. Use a paintbrush to spread clear-drying glue on your artwork. Sprinkle the crystals on top of the glue to add a twinkling effect to your artwork.
2. Throw any unused mixture into the garbage.

Crafty Idea
To make a beautiful sparkling necklace, fill a clear glass or plastic necklace pendant with the crystals. (Make sure the pendant closes securely to contain the crystals.) Thread the pendant onto string or yarn to make a necklace.

Tasty Glue
From "Crafty Concoctions"
This tasty, edible glue is perfect when you need to glue pieces onto gingerbread houses or other edible crafts. It also works well for gluing paper.

Small saucepan
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 cup cold water
Mixing spoon
1 1/2 tablespoons Jell-O mix
1 tablespoon corn syrup
Potholder
Popsicle stick

Here's How You Make It
1. In a small saucepan, mix the cornstarch and cold water with a spoon.
2. Add the Jell-O mix and corn syrup.
3. Ask a grownup to help you place the saucepan on a stove and bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Ask the grownup to help you stir the mixture until it's thick and gel-like.
5. Ask the grownup to help you remove the mixture from the heat using a potholder.
6. Let the glue cool slightly before use.

Here's How You Use It
1. Spread the glue with a Popsicle stick when gluing edible or paper crafts.
2. Store the glue at room temperature in an airtight container. Do not refrigerate it.

Menorah
From "The Arts and Crafts Busy Book"
A menorah consists of nine candles, one for each day of Hanukkah and one, called the shammes, to light the other candles.

10 empty thread spools
Strip of heavy cardboard
Glue
Aluminum foil (optional)
9 birthday candles
Play dough
10 large marshmallows
Ornamental Frosting
Pretzel sticks
Shoebox
Sand
Drill and tree branch or piece of driftwood

Help your child make a menorah in one or more of the following ways: