Tag Archives: Christmas Craft

Dec7

Simple Christmas Card Ideas, Part 1.

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Simple Christmas Card Ideas, Part 1.

Here’s a simple card decoration idea that doubles up as a fine motor activity.

For all the card projects this year I am using plain black card stock.  They were $2 for a pack of 12 at a $2 shop.

For this project you will need some coloured paper or thin cardboard, craft glue and any decorations you like (we kept it simple with an angel sequin)

Trace out a tree shape on the back of one of the pieces of paper.

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Fold the other coloured paper in half to double it over then bring all 3 pieces together and cut along the outline so you end up with 3 identical shapes.

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Using a pencil draw some lines across the back of one of the trees.  Then tear carefully along the lines as demonstrated by Ms5

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Cover the other colour tree completely with glue, then stick down every second piece of torn paper.

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Allow to dry and secure to your card stock 🙂

Torn paper christmas tree.

Torn paper christmas tree.

Christmas paper
Trace out tree
hold pages together for cutting
identical trees
draw lines on back of one tree.
tear along lines
ripping paper
glue down.
Torn paper christmas tree.
Dec19

DIY Christmas Bell Mobile

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DIY Christmas Bell Mobile

If you like working with fabric like my friends at All Tizzied Up , here’s a simple Christmas craft decoration you can put together with the kids that will last for years to come.

 

fuffybells1

 

Once you have gathered the fabric you want to use, all you need is some styrofoam bells, ribbon, hot glue and sharp scissors and you’re ready to get crafty.  The smaller kids can get working on the covering the loop while an adult does the hot glue bits.  The rest of the steps are covered in the photos below.

 

Christmas themed fabric in your desired colours
Cut into squares
Pinch in the middle and dab with hot glue
attach to your bell
Work your way up the bell from the bottom
One complete bell
Trace out some felt to cover the bottoms
Cut and glue on.
Bells ready to go
Cut strips of the same fabric to cover the ring
Tie in pattern
Finished ring
Cut different lengths to hang bells
Attach to bells with glue and hang from ring
Cut lengths to hang ring
Attach to ring
Secure all strings together.
There you have it!
Dec18

3 Easy Mini Christmas Tree Decorations

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3 Easy Mini Christmas Tree Decorations

 

 

 

 

 

My crafty mum friend at All Tizzied Up has been very busy putting together some Christmas Craft projects with the family.  Thought we’d share for inspiration.

 

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They created 3 different trees from styrofoam cone shapes using buttons, ribbon, felt, and every crafters favourite tool – a hot glue gun!

 

 

The felt tree was created by layering leaf shape felt pieces working from the bottom up, then decorating with plastic jewels.

 

This one is simply a case of measuring out same lengths or ribbon, fixing with hot glue, then twisting, gluing again.  Glue 2 of these together to create a flower type shape and attach to the cone.  Again, finishing with some jewels to look like ornaments.

The button one is covered in aluminium foil, before attaching buttons all over with hot glue.

So if you are wondering what to do this weekend before Christmas, maybe get out the craft supplies and get crafty with the kids.  Would make a great addition and talking point for your Christmas table on Wednesday!

 

Dec11

Easy Kids Craft – Hanging Christmas Decoration

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These are really simple to make and kids of all ages can help.  Mr8 actually showed me how to make one, then we extended on the concept to create this hanging ornament.

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It is really just 2 card board stars slotted into each other at right angles to create a ‘3D star’ as he calls them.  But we made 4 different sized and hung them form some cotton.  We covered each star with some paper from a themed wrapping pack, so they were not all exactly the same, but similar enough to ‘match’.  The whole project took about 20 minutes for 3 of us and looks pretty cool!  Further instructions available if you open or scroll over each picture.

Draw the star shapes on some card. We used cookie cutters to make it easier.
If using plain card, glue on some wrapping paper
Cut out and glue paper to the other side
Covering second side then cut out again.
Cut one star to the middle from one side, then the other star from the opposite side to the middle again.
Slot together and you have 3D stars
Hand on some string
3D Star Ornament.
Dec6

D.I.Y Leaf Print Christmas Cards

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D.I.Y Leaf Print Christmas Cards

Here’s a unique home made card idea that the whole family can get involved in.  All you need is some card stock, paint (brush and roller), sequins or other bling and some tree shaped leaves.  Glitter optional!

leaf print

Coat the leaves in a thick layer of paint, we used white as I thought it would stand out nicely on the black card.  Place the leaf, painted side down, carefully on the card, then roll over it with a clean dry paint roller to press down.  Remove leaf and you should have a pretty leaf print.  If you want to add glitter, do so now while the paint is still wet so it sticks.  If you are creating more than one card, just give the roller a wipe with an old rag between leaves to remove any paint and avoid smudges.  Once dry, let the kids decorate with sequins, we used PVA to attach them – done.

Coat with paint
Painted leaf
Place on card and roll over to press down
Leave print
Sprinkle with glitter while paint it still wet
Shake off excess glitter
Leaf print cards
Home made Christmas Cards
Dec5

Christmas Tree Decoration

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Christmas Tree Decoration

Maybe I should rename this blog ‘101 alternate uses for Christmas Baubles’, lol.  Here is something we put together this afternoon.  It took about 45 minutes and stands over a meter tall.  As usual, I struggled to take a photo of it, I really need to learn how to use my camera properly.

Christmas Tree

The sticks are those ornamental ones you buy from home decor shops, I think these ones actually came from The Reject Shop as around $4 a bundle. We cut them to size with secateurs and  glued with hot glue, I reinforced the corners with zip ties.  The stem is glued on – it is not weight bearing!  Then starting at the top we glued the bead string to one side, worked out the length needed to reach the other side, cut the string, threaded on some baubles, and glued the cut end to the other side.  Repeat, working your way down the tree.  To create the zig zag look, the strands are 12cm/5cm apart down each side.

Once upright, I shortened each string on the baubles by just tying another knot in them.  Glued on the star (came with the pack of baubles, $8 for the lot), and we are done.

What you’ll need
The tree frame
Mr8 helping glue
Glue the beads to what will be the back of the frame
Work your way down.
Christmas Tree Wall Art

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Bauble Tree.

Bauble Tree.

Dec5

Paper Plate Angel Garland – Christmas Craft

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Paper Plate Angel Garland – Christmas Craft

These are very easy to make and can be as fancy or as simple as you like.

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I usually avoid glitter when doing craft.  Sure it’s pretty, but after we use it, that stuff turns up all over the place for the next month.  ‘The herpies of the craft world’ a friend of mine called it, I think she was right.  But today I caved, because an angel needs her sparkle! Honestly, there was no template, just trial and error until I got the shape I was after.  You can see the steps in the photos below.  Double sided plates for the body would have made pretty dresses, but I couldn’t find any of those, so we stuck with white.  Of course you could get the kids to colour them or even use a different colour glitter on the body too. But I was all glittered out after the wings alone!

Cut your plate something like this, that’s right, no pattern, trial and error was all I went by
Secure with tape or staples.
Apply a generous amount of hot glue to the bauble
Place on top of the body. Tie a ribbon around the neck once glue has dried to cover any mess.
Run some glue (we just used a glue stick) along the edges and sprinkle with glitter
Once the wings are dry, attach to the body.
Hang from a string
Christmas Angels
Paper plate craft.

 

Nov28

Easy DIY Christmas Table Centrepiece

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Easy DIY Christmas Table Centrepiece

These were so quick and easy to make and I could not be happier with the results.

TableTrees

 

I picked up this wool a while back with nothing particular in mind, I just loved the colours.  The styrofoam tree shapes are available just about anywhere at this time of year.  These came from a $2 shop.  However, there’s no reason you couldn’t just make a cone shape from cardboard and achieve similar results.

 

I tied a tight knot in one end to stop fraying, then pushed through the wool and down into the middle of the cone.  Then gently began wrapping the knit around the top of the cone, before fastening again a few rows down so that it doesn’t spin off.  Continue down the full length of the cone until you reach the bottom.  Cut with enough room left over to tie another knot, then secure with a 3rd pin.  Done!

 

What you need
Close up of the pre knitted wool
Pin fastening to the top, and again at the side
Fasten at the bottom
Wool Christmas Trees
Christmas Table Centrepiece.
Nov23

Peg Angels Quick Toddler Christmas Craft Activity

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Peg Angels Quick Toddler Christmas Craft Activity

Check out these cute little Christmas Angels Miss4 and I put to gather today.  The best part? The whole kit, with everything except glue – $2 from Kmart.  Win.

angels

 

Ok ok, they have no arms, but who cares! We used hot glue to stick on the hair and faces, because hot glue rules the craft world (and I didn’t have time to PVA to dry).  The project is not something Miss4 could have done on her own, but it was quick, simple fun and the results are pretty cute.  She has been playing with them throughout the day and they have not fallen apart yet!

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If you didn’t have access to a Kmart, the kit is made up of 4 old style wooden pegs, 4 paper doilies, wool, gold string and some pre cut wings.  All things that are easy to get your hands on from a craft of $2 shop.

 

 

Nov18

DIY Marble Effect Baubles, Family Christmas Craft

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DIY Marble Effect Baubles, Family Christmas Craft

Everyone was making all sorts of cool glass baubles last Christmas, but by the time I tried to source the actual baubles to do anything with, they were sold our or $6 each – errr, nah.  But I found some in Spotlight in August this year and grabbed them so I didn’t miss out again!

Baubles1

 

I got the 2 different sizes available at spotlight, but for this project we just used the smaller ones.   The process really is so simple it barely requires explanation.  The beads are just plastic pony beads, you can find them in either the craft section or the ‘girls’ toy section of most variety stores.  The ones that turned out the best were about 2/3 transparent beads and 1/3 solid colours.  We did one with just transparent beads, but it ended up all kind of mixing together and turning brown, which was disappointing.  If you don’t have a well ventilated kitchen, it would be a good idea to do these outside on the bbq, but the beads surprisingly don’t let off much fumes compared to other melting plastics I have played with.   I had the oven set to just over 220c.  You will need to keep checking on them every 5 – 10 minutes and turning as desired to create the marble effect.  We used a silicone muffin and chocolate tray to position them after each turn and plastic tongs to handle them with.  I ended up adding some extra beads to a few half way through the process, and just used a tea towel to hold them while they were hot.

Glass baubles
Ms4 filling up her ‘rainbow’ bauble
Ready for the oven
Blue green and yellow combo
In the oven
The finished products
Green and Red – Christmas colours
Marbles baubles
Tie die baubles
Christmas tree decorations
DIY Christmas decorations
DIY baubles

As they cooled down out of the oven, they did make a popping sound, which I thought was the glass breaking – but it was just the plastic separating from the glass inside a few of them.  There you have it, marbled Christmas baubles.

Nov16

DIY Heart Shaped Christmas Wreath

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DIY Heart Shaped Christmas Wreath

I actually started today out with the intention of making some bell tree ornaments, but the bells I had were too big.  I then attempted another type of wreath and it was a big fat fail too.  So after a few hours of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to make a different kind of wreath using the same principle as the bauble tree I made last year.
baublewreath

Run your cursor over or click each image for step by step instructions.

Draw or trace out the outline of the shape . I used silver card, but you could use any colour card. Something that has a little bit of flexibility, but is strong enough to support the weight of the baubles.
I used hot glue to stick each bauble down. You could use PVA or craft glue, but hot glue dries really fast, which is very helpful when you are dealing with things that roll!
I removed the strings and holders off each bauble, and glued them so that each top was touching the line, as a gauge.
Once the outside was complete, I did the same with a row of smaller balls on the inside.
Once the glue had completely dried, carefully cut around the outside and inside of the shape, as close as you can to the baubles, but still leaving just enough card to hook any tinsel on if desired.
The glue is quite flexible, so you can weave the tinsel in and around each bauble easily, it will just hold in place when the baubles sit back into position.
Poke some tinsel between the 2 rows to fill any gaps.
I hung a start ornament from the bottom just for some extra bling and dimension.
Bauble wreath
Heart shaped christmas wreath.
Nov16

Pine Cone Christmas Tree Decorations

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Pine Cone Christmas Tree Decorations

Yep, it’s that time of year again kids.  I can deny it all I like, but that doesn’t help at all.  I am disgustingly unprepared this year, but don’t really have the time to care, I am sure I will pull it all together in time.  I do however, have time to think about some Christmas projects, YAY!   So this very simple Idea should have probably taken a single afternoon, but things have been so hectic around here lately it took several afternoons over a week.  It didn’t really turn out as well as I had imagined, but they are still pretty cute, and we have plenty of left over cones to make something else out of when inspiration hits me.

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The shaggy wool (I’m sure it has a real name) was $2 a ball.  There was wayyyy more than we needed in each colour.  I just used cheap spray paint, Mr 8 did the first few coats then I went back and got the bits he missed.  I tried sticking on some plastic ‘diamonds’ for extra sparkle, but you can’t really see them. We all had a go at wrapping the wool into the cone, then I gave them a hair cut to tidy them up.  Simple as that!

 

Jul27

Upcycled CDs. Sun Catcher.

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Upcycled CDs. Sun Catcher.

We were having a clean out of old computer stuff and were about to throw away a pile of old discs, but I decided those shinny little things must be good for something else?  So after a bit of thinking, I came up with yet another sun catcher idea.  Anyone would think I like sparkly things?  It took me ages to work out what to cover, a sphere didn’t seem practical as the CD pieces are flat obviously, so after some uhmming and arrring, I decided wooden cubes were the best solution.  The lovely man at the local hardware was kind enough to give me some 3″ x 3″ off cuts for free.  The rest of the instructions are on the pictures.  I just used clear drying craft glue to attach the CD chips to the wood and the grout is standard bathroom tile grout mixed according to instructions, available from any hardware (we had some left over from the laundry renovation).

Recycled DVD / CD Sun catcher

Recycled DVD / CD Sun catcher

Gather your old CDs, DVDs the more different colours the better.
Cut ’em up! Tin snips, side cutters, or seceteurs as I have.
Munched up CDs!
Drill hooks into each corner of the wood, placing a fishing swivel between, so they can spin freely in the wind.
Some white paint to enhance the colour of the glass tiles
Stick on the pieces covering as much area as you can.
Make some grout, following instructions on pack.
Dollop on the grout
Smooth over with a spatula (instructions for tiles suggest a squeegee)
Remove as much excess as you can, then allow to set for an hour or more (weather conditions will vary this time)
Use a dry or every so slightly damp sponge, remove more of the excess once it has set to a powdery consistency.
Let set over night. Then wash off any excess dust.
Finished product.
Sun Catcher. CD / DVD
Recycled DVD / CD Sun catcher
Upcycled CDs.
Sun catcher / Disco Cube!
Hang on display
Sun Catcher. CD / DVD

Sun Catcher. CD / DVD

 

CDsuncatcher

Jan25

Christmas Decorations, Easy Toddler Activity

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Christmas Decorations, Easy Toddler Activity

These really are too easy and turned out so well!  I will be using this concept for some other projects as soon as more cookie cutters arrive.

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We used a tupperware baking sheet under them, but I think any flexible non stick surface would do, (baking paper).  Simply fill some metal or oven proof cookie cutters or moulds roughly 2 layers deep, and bake at around 180c.  Keep an eye on them until they are all melted.  The plastic beads we used did not emit any nasty smell and did not burn, even when I got impatient and turned the over up to 200c, however, make sure the area is well ventilated just to be on the safe side.

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Try to pile the beads up in the middle slightly, but only leave them 1 high at the edges, to avoid any bits sticking to the sides higher than other areas (you can see where this happened on the small man) Once cooled, remove the cutter and there you have it.  I ran cool water over them to cool them a bit faster and this didn’t damage the shiny finish at all.

The husband drilled some holes in the top for string, and there you have it.

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We will make a stack of smaller Christmas coloured ones for the trees next year.

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Place the beads, trying to keep them at only 1 high around the edges
Green and red for the tree
Nice and flat and smooth edges
Once out of the oven,
Drilling the holes for string
Ms 4 showing off her man
You can see some sharp edges on this one where the beads were 2 high.
The finished 3d tree from jelly mould
In the sun
Catching the sun light
Pink baby
Dec14

Easy Toddler Craft, Christmas Reindeer

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Easy Toddler Craft, Christmas Reindeer

How cute are these?  Mr 7s year 6 buddy made him one for Christmas.  I had to give them a go with the little ones.

Super simple and we had everything lying around the house (I will admit I do buy wooden pegs just for craft, they are not much good for hanging out washing!)

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We started off painting them assembled, but that was just silly.  Paint all the bits first, THEN assemble once they are dry.

IMG_6126Add some eyes, a red nose and some pipe cleaner antlers.

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We even made a baby one with the mini craft pegs and mini paddle pop sticks.

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Dec14

Classic Christmas Cooking – Window Biscuit Decorations

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Classic Christmas Cooking – Window Biscuit Decorations

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I helped the kids in Mr 8s class make these at school, so thought we would give them a try at home.  There is heaps of different recipes out there, so you can really make them any flavour you wants, but you want to choose a biscuit that doesn’t rise too much.   We used a basic butter biscuit recipe.

  • 125g butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.

I also added a sprinkle of cinnamon and all spice.  I probably don’t need to tell you how to make biscuits.  To be honest, they rose a little more than I would have liked, so might use a different recipe next time.  The recipe also started with the usual ‘pre-heat oven’, but after mixing the ingredients you had to put the dough into the fridge for 45 minutes.  What a waste of electricity having your oven running all that time?

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Use any shapes you like, then a smaller shape inside.  Pop a hard lolly (boiled lolly or jolly rancher etc) into the centre and bake on some baking paper at around 180 for only a few minutes.  The lolly will melt in the time it takes to cook the biscuit.  So simple.

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If you live in an area of the world that is humid, these wont last long on the tree.  So just eat them!

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Dec13

Sweet Christmas Treats – Mars Bar Crackles.

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Sweet Christmas Treats – Mars Bar Crackles.

These are a really easy alternate to the traditional chocolate crackles. They are not as sickly sweet either, so adults can enjoy them.

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All you need is 2 table spoons of cream (some recipes say thin cream, but either works) 200 or more grams of Mars Bars  Rice bubbles (home brand will be fine) and thats it.  I also add chocolate drops and coconut for some different textures, but that is not at all necessary.

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Break up the bars and add the cream (I also added coconut at this stage).  Microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring at each interval to avoid hot spots (burnt chocolate).  Once its all runny, you can either add the rice bubbles directly, or poor into another bowl that has the rice bubbles in it.  This actually works better as its easier to distribute and you don’t end up with a heap of chocolate stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

Allow to cool slightly (you can put it in the fridge) so that you can roll the mix into balls.  When its hot its just too sticky and you can’t get it off your hands.  If you are going to add extra chocolate drops, do it when the mixture is cooler so they don’t melt.

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Dec12

Home Made Christmas Cards – Kids Craft

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Home Made Christmas Cards – Kids Craft

Unlike most of our projects, where I get inspired by Pinterest or something else,  I actually thought this up myself!

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Really easy messy fun for all ages.  Just take some coloured paper and draw some simple Christmas shapes.  If drawing is not your thing, trace around some cookie cutters.

Basic Christmas Shapes

Cover inside the outline with a thick layer of craft glue.  Smear around with a paintbrush or a finger tip if you don’t mind getting sticky.

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Then sprinkle christmas theme sequins randomly over the glued area.  Try to cover the outline as much as possible too.

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When you can’t see much of the paper within the shape, give it a light shake.  Then drizzle some more glue over the top to hold down any loose ones.

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Allow to dry.  We left them for 24 hours.

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Once dry, Use some large sharp scissors, cut around the shape.  If you can’t see the outline on the front, just follow the lines that went through the page as demonstrated above.

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Once the shapes are cut out, we added some double sided mounting tape (commonly used for scrap booking) to give them a slightly more 3D effect on the card, but you could just use standard double sided tape or glue.

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Position on the cards as you please, and there you have it.  Sparkly Christmas cards.  Mini ones of these would also make cute Gift Tags.  Just line the other side with another piece of paper to write on and use a hole punch to make somewhere to secure with ribbon.

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Dec10

Christmas Cards, Kids Craft

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Christmas Cards, Kids Craft

IMG_6081I couldn’t get my hand on any decent glitter paint pens to finish these, so this is just part one of the process.

 To make these decorated cards, all you need is a hot glue gun, strips of wrapping paper, card and either some large buttons or as we used, some plastic jewels.

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Cut strips of Christmas paper, approximately 3 – 4 cm wide and 30 – 40cm long.   Fold back and forth to create a zig zag, approximately 1cm wide.  As demonstrated by Mr 7 below.

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Once folded the whole way to the end, glue both ends together.  You can get the kids to do this with craft glue, but I chose to use the glue gun as it dries so much quicker.

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Once the glue has dried, put a circle of hot glue onto the card where you want to place your decoration

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Carefully turn the paper in at one side and out on the other, to create a flower type shape.  Trying not to let it all go at the same time as you can see on the right above.  The first one is the hardest!

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Then cover the back of your jewel of button with hot glue and place in the centre.   Repeat until you have as many decorations on each card as you like.  You can experiment with different thicknesses of paper to create bigger and smaller ones.

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Dec9

Teacher Christmas Gift ideas – part 2.

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Teacher Christmas Gift ideas – part 2.

This year, with changing schools and doing my Ed support certificate, I spent a fair bit of time hassling the ladies in the school office.  They are all very lovely and didn’t mind, but I really wanted to say thank-you.  Also, there is the little 2’s day care providers.  They only go one day a week, but they are great staff, so I figure they deserve some token of our appreciation.  I originally thought of making some sweets and wrapping them up to share around the office/centre, but after Mr7’s teacher claiming the doesn’t eat chocolate, I am damaged.  So I decided to find something small, that you don’t feel obliged  to keep, but you can use and most people like – a votive seemed just perfect.   I shopped around all the cheap shops hoping to find something that was affordable without looking cheap and nasty, then went to Dusk and found 6 packs of Christmas themed votives for $16.95.  Which was about what I had budgeted for.

 

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I grabbed a packet of Ferrero chocolates to top them off.   Then just stocked up with some Christmas ribbons and gift tags.  Not really sure what was going to work. After some trial and error, this was the finished product.

 

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