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Crafting for the holidays with the
kids
By Angela Reiners
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[December 01, 2017]
Everyone who loves a
child smiles with warmth watching him or her "showing off"
personally produced handiwork. Having kids create ornaments, outdoor
decorations, cards, gift wrap, and centerpieces can be an
inexpensive way to add a more personal and memorable touch to your
holidays.
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 There are a lot of ideas on what you can do with
kids. We’ve narrowed it down to a few of the best ideas and provide
basic instructions. Below the article you will find links to the
resources with more detailed instructions and photos if needed, and
even more ideas.
Ornaments
Ornaments pasted together by little hands out-rank expensive Tiffany
tree jewels. The options and materials are endless, but here are a
few to get you started.
- Gingerbread cookie and other wood shapes can be found in craft
sections. Paint, hot glue ribbon and enjoy for years to come.
- Laundry scoops can be used to make ornaments to display pretty
winter scenes using cotton balls for snow and adding in miniature
animals or people. Nativity scenes can be made the same way.
Hgtv.com provides several other ideas for making ornaments.
- Clear ornaments can be decorated many different ways. For example,
help kids pour red or green glittery nail polish into the ornament,
then have them shake it until the whole ball is colored. Using
multiple colors will make a swirly pattern.
- For an extra personal touch, have children make thumbprint
reindeer or Santa ornaments.
- The paper chains many made as a kid can now be made more festive
using strips of holiday gift wrap. Just cut the wrapping into strips
and chain them together to put on the tree or use like garland.
- Parenting magazine has other activities parents and kids can do
together. For instance, kids can make mini Christmas trees by
painting cone-shaped paper water cups green. Once the paint is
dried, one option is to wrap ribbon around the cone and decorate it
with pom-poms. Another variation is to apply a thin layer of glue
and cover with glitter.
- If you do not have a chimney for Santa to come down and your kids
are not sure how he will get in, the kidspot website suggests you
help them make a special key with the message, "Dear Santa, We don't
have a chimney in our house. Please use this special key instead!
Lots of love (Suzie Q)"
Just trace out a key, write the message on it, and let kids decorate
with stickers and glitter or whatever they choose.
Outdoor decorations can be easy to make and even ones that look
decidedly non-professional still take center stage on Grandpa's
front porch.
- Have children decorate white paper bags and put in battery
operated tea lights to make luminarias that can line a walkway.
- Take plastic candy canes and glue them together to make several
heart shapes that form a wreath. To add more decorative touches, use
small beads and ribbon.
- Outdoor snowmen can be made even without snow. Just staple plastic
cups together side by side facing outward in a circle until you have
a half sphere, then make another half sphere the same way, stapling
the spheres together for the body. For the head, just make smaller
spheres and staple them together. The nose can be made from an
orange piece of cardboard and the eyes from two black circles. A
scarf and hat make good finishing touches.
Personalized Christmas cards
Personalize Christmas greetings by having children make Christmas
cards to send out to friends and family.
- Using green and red tempura paint, kids press their fingerprints
to create Christmas trees or wreaths on the cards. Add a picture of
the family as a tree topper. These personalized cards might even
become keepsakes.
- Trace kid's hands on green construction paper to make a tree and
let them decorate it however they want.
- Cards can also be made using green construction paper to make a
tree that can be glued on to cardstock. Children can decorate with
shapes, stickers, glitter, beads, or whatever embellishments they
want to use.
Cards can also become part of the holiday décor
- To display cards, just take twigs and arrange them in a pitcher or
vase, then tie or clip the cards to the twigs.
- Take old Christmas cards that were too pretty to throw away - kids
can help mount the cards on mat board to make a decorative picture.
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Making gift wrap
Save money on gift wrap by making it.
- Stamped gift wrap can be made using holiday stamp pads and white
butcher paper (found in craft departments) or for a country feel use
brown postal wrap paper (usually found at a dollar store in the
office/craft supply area).
For even more creativity, cut a potato in half and press a cookie
cutter into it, then remove the potato edges from around the cookie
cutter to make the stamp. After you brush acrylic paint onto the
stamp, press the stamp straight down on the paper to decorate.
- Repurposing the Sunday funnies are another good way to make your
own gift wrap.
- If you are making cookies to give to family and friends, you can
make a decorative tin to deliver them into. Just take plastic juice
or potato chip containers, add fabric or paper scraps, and decorate
them to look like Santa or snowmen.
Centerpieces
If you are hosting a holiday dinner and the kids want to help, have
them make centerpieces. Here are some ideas:
- Cardstock can be cut into the shapes of Christmas trees and glued
to toothpicks. A Hershey kiss is used as the "tree stand."
- For an easy centerpiece, fill a serving tray or glass bowl with
ornaments and add evergreen around them.
- The editors of Midwest Living describe a centerpiece that makes a
nice holiday scene. They say, "Line a two-tier cake stand with a
forest floor of dried moss. Add a dusting of faux snow, then bring
the scene to life with evergreen sprigs, pinecones, painted acorns
and glass balls. Snow-white tumblers filled with sprigs and
pinecones lend height and prop up reindeer cookies."
Midwest Living has many other ideas for centerpieces, which include:
- Take a clear candle holder and add stickers with snowflake or
Christmas designs.
- Use red or green scrapbook paper and double-sided tape to make
tabletop trees that can be placed in the center of the table.
- Make a "tree" from branches placed in a clear vase with pinecones
and plastic ornaments and even some greenery to help support the
branches. The branches can be decorated with pinecones and snowflake
ornaments.
These crafts are fairly simple and inexpensive to make and can be a
good way to get the family into the holiday spirit.
Links with Christmas craft ideas:
http://www.parenting.com/gallery/
christmas-crafts-kids?page=3
http://www.midwestliving.com/
homes/seasonal-decorating/easy-
christmas-centerpiece-ideas/
http://www.kidspot.com.au/things-
to-do/seasonal/christmas-galleries/11-
paper-craft-ideas-kids-will-love-this-
christmasimage-gallery/6313395a 9362834d732f57 d95b1dcb96?image=6
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