Normally, we do a countdown of activities to help you plan for your adventures in the upcoming weekend, but with Christmas coming this week, we thought we'd try to help you plan for the holiday.
Today we've found five easy Christmas crafts for you to make with your kids. These make great gifts for grandparents as gifts, keepsakes of cherished memories or cheery home decorations:
1. Christmas Tree Sun Dazzlers
You will need a Christmas tree cookie cutter, green felt, hole punch, plastic beads, glue and a ribbon for hanging.
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- Trace the cookie cutter onto the green felt.
- Cut out the shape and punch holes where you want the "ornaments" to be.
- Fill the holes by gluing plastic beads into them.
- Hang in a window to catch the sunlight.
2. Christmas Time Capsules
You will need plastic, fillable ornaments, found at and other craft stores.
- You can fill the ornaments with mini family pictures, a tooth lost, a button in your favorite color, clippings from a newspaper or magazine, miniature toys, your child's first hair clipping, a picture of their favorite toy, or whatever you want them to remember from this year.
- Paint the year, child's name or anything else you would like on the outside of the ornament.
- After filling the ornament, create and add a capsule list to explain why each item was chosen to be put in the ornament.
3. Easy Candy Cane Ornaments
You will need red and white chenille, bendable sticks.
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- Just twist a red and white stems together and bend the ends into a hook to hang on your tree.
4. Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments
You will need 3 cups applesauce, 3 cups cinnamon (buy the cheap generic brand, because you will not be eating these ornaments)
- Mix the applesauce and cinnamon together until it is thick enough to hold a shape when you cut into it with cookie cutters.
- Make a dough ball and roll out onto a flat surface. Make the dough about 1/2" thick when rolled out.
- Use cookie cutters to create your shapes. Stars, gingerbread men, Santa, and bells make wonderful ornaments.
- Make a hole in the top with a toothpick to slip a ribbon through to hang on your tree.
- Let air dry for 2-3 days.
- These ornaments are not only easy enough for toddlers to do, they make your house smell wonderful.
5. Gumdrop Snowflake Ornaments
You will need bags of large and small gumdrops and toothpicks.
- Stick six toothpicks into various spots around a large gumdrop, then slide smaller gumdrops onto the toothpicks. Let children pick out the colors and patterns for the snowflake.
- Place these on the tree, around the house, or enjoy them as a fun, sweet treat. (Be careful with those toothpicks.)
