Christmas Crafts Archives

Christmas Card Concepts: Be Diverse!

Christmas Card Concepts: Be Diverse!

Trying to find Christmas card ideas? Then you might have almost certainly decided to do something distinctive from the mass market store bought cards this year. Congratulations! You have a great deal of alternatives in front of you and your friends and family are certain to love your cards.

Most Christmas card suggestions focus on homemade cards. This really is not surprising. If you wish to locate concepts for factory printed cards, all you must do is appear in a catalog.

Naturally, some shop purchased cards are much more imaginative than others, and there was a time when you had to look difficult to locate one thing that could be different from the same boxed cards that everybody else in your town was acquiring. But nowadays, with the web, you’ve numerous far more alternatives.

If you would like printed cards but want them to be individual, you are able to go to an on line printing shop exactly where they’ll print cards for your design. You may also pick there from quite a few designs of cards which will be overprinted together with your signature or personalized in other techniques. If you have a batch of cards printed all the similar way, this will not need to be quite costly. Having said that, if you want a diverse card for everybody, you may expect to pay a high price.

Homemade cards are not necessarily less expensive if you count up the expense of all of the supplies. Of course, you can make them inexpensively if that’s your priority. The only thing that you simply really ought to buy may be the blank card itself, and perhaps some envelopes. Following that, it is possible to make everything else from made use of materials if you would like.

Children enjoy generating Christmas cards. Quite a few kids will happily sit for hours with paper, scissors and glue cutting and pasting to make a card for grandparents, aunts and uncles or neighbors, too as their very own pals.

Homemade Christmas card tips can incorporate almost everything from the simplest drawn or pasted illustration to a complex needlepoint style sandwiched between two layers of card.

If you decide on the needlepoint alternative, it is possible to obtain a wide range of printed patterns from Christmas trees to Santas and snowmen, or you’ll be able to style your personal. You could then paste your finished needlepoint onto a section of card. From the full size, folded card you cut a square or rectangular hole, utilizing a cutting knife and making it the appropriate size to display the needlepoint. Then stick the first section of card towards the full sized card to ensure that the needlepoint shows in the ‘window’.

For kids, a fantastic solution to make individual Christmas cards is to have them draw a tree on the front of the card, or cut and paste a tree shape from green paper. Spread some glue onto the tree and cover it with glitter. Leave to dry, then shake off any loose glitter. It is possible to also trim the tree with old buttons, sticky gold stars and short lengths of tinsel.

A different possibility is usually to have your kid write a message including ‘Merry Christmas’ on the front of the card having a glue pen, and cover that with glitter to ensure that the words appear to be written in glitter. In truth, you might in all probability locate that your kids delight in trying out all of these methods to make cards. They may even come up with Christmas card ideas of their own.

Merry Christmas,

Shannon

The ideal Cheap Christmas Decorations

There are many low-cost Christmas decorations which you can obtain in shops as Christmas approaches.

However, the very best low-cost Christmas decorations are those which you make your self. Why? Due to the fact it is enjoyable, and in generating them you happen to be generating memories that might be associated with Christmas joy for numerous years to come!

For those who have youngsters, they’ll really like to assist make Christmas decorations with you. Youngsters are generally impatient for Christmas to arrive and if they can be doing one thing to hurry it along, they’re content!

Paper chains are some of the easiest affordable Christmas decorations to create. You’ll be able to either obtain packs which you stick together, or you can get a couple of rolls of wrap in distinctive colors to cut and stick. Then hang your chains about the leading of walls in all of your downstairs rooms. This can brighten up the rooms suitable away!

In case you have kept old Christmas cards from last year, you may use the pictures to make other kinds of decorations including hanging them on the tree. Punch a hole within the top for a colored string and obtain some glitter to add sparkle to the pictures.

In the event you get low cost Christmas decorations for the tree, you could discover that they’re not so intriguing as the extra high-priced items. But that will need not matter – you may very easily brighten them up and make them individual for your family. You could spray them with glitter paints or use glue to stick glitter or beads to them. Or why not take a photo of every single family members member and stick 1 to every single ball so that everybody has their own personalized tree decoration!

Even when you make the majority of your own personal decorations, you should nonetheless contemplate buying 1 great good quality item for your Christmas decor each year. Choose one thing which you is going to be in a position to maintain and use year right after year. Gradually, over the years, you are able to collect a full range of leading good quality decorations this way.

Keeping your Christmas decorations for reuse in future years is a great idea whether you purchased them or made them your self. In case you have youngsters or grandkids, you’ll be amazed how they keep in mind all the Christmas decorations that the family owns. Keeping exactly the same decorations to bring out year after year may well appear boring to adults – particularly if they are becoming somewhat tattered – but youngsters just love to determine their old buddies coming out of the box once more!

Christmas is such a magical time for children and trimming the tree is really a large part of creating up the atmosphere of excitement as Christmas approaches. Over the years, some decorations will turn out to be an essential component of Christmas for them.

This can be specially correct if they helped to create something, whether or not it truly is the angel at the leading of the tree or the snowman that sits on the windowsill. So even if acquiring or generating low cost Christmas decorations is your priority, make an effort to have items which will last.

Merry Christmas,

Shannon

Christmas Gift Tips: Ways to Make An Affordable Gift Mean Additional

Christmas Gift Tips: Ways to Make An Affordable Gift Mean Additional

Are you currently in search of Christmas gift suggestions mainly because you want make your income go further this year? Do not be concerned. Quite a few people are in this similar situation inside the existing economic climate. Nobody will think worse of you inifou devote less money on your gifts, as long as you make them unique in some way.

In case you do not think that, just consider it for a moment. How typically have you been glad to receive a gift from somebody although the gift itself was not some thing that you seriously wanted? If it was chosen for you, or produced for you, or just produced unique in some way, it becomes a valuable present. It is the thought that counts, as the old saying goes!

Now, having said that, that a low-priced gift will not be appreciated unless it shows some imagination. Quite a few folks will delight in a quirky or enjoyable gift, regardless of how low-priced it was. But if you give them a cheap and boring grocery store shower gel, it’s going to not have exactly the same impact. Your gifts must be particular in some way if they’re going to pass the test.

In case you don’t have a whole lot to devote, one of the most effective solutions to make a gift special would be to have made it your self. You may most likely be surprised to find how effortless it really is, for example, to make candy, chocolates or Christmas cookies.

Should you be skilled at needlepoint or other crafts you have got most likely already designed some attractive gifts, but if not, there are still several items that you can do. Grandparents will love photographs of your children produced into bookmarks or calendars. For other household members, you can take into account customizing regular inexpensive CD holders or other items.

The second critical point to don’t forget after you are looking for low-cost or household made Christmas gift concepts is the fact that with affordable gifts, packaging is every thing. That house produced candy will be appreciated significantly additional if it comes in a box or jar that you simply have decorated oneself.

Wrapping is significant too. Standard Christmas wrap is affordable, and it is worth buying a roll of gold or silver ribbon to ensure that your presents will have that extra unique touch.

Of course it’s true that if your children or grandkids are hoping for a new bicycle, an Xbox or some other expensive item, they might be disappointed if all they obtain below the tree is usually a box of home made candy. And when children are disappointed, they tend to show it, in some cases loudly and violently. Within the worst circumstances, this can entirely ruin Christmas for everyone.

So in that circumstance, make sure to sit down with your youngsters several weeks ahead of the holidays and explain why you can’t get them a huge, pricey present this year. Tell them which you enjoy them and you would like for them to have almost everything that they want, but your priorities must be keeping food on the table and also a roof over everybody’s heads right now. To ensure that they feel involved, you might need to ask if they have some affordable Christmas gift tips for themselves or their brothers and sisters.

Cheap (Low Priced) Christmas Decorations

There are lots of low-priced Christmas decorations that you simply can find in stores as Christmas approaches.

Even so, the top low-cost Christmas decorations are those that you simply make your self. Why? Simply because it’s fun, and in producing them you might be producing memories that could be related with Christmas joy for many years to come!

If you have youngsters, they are going to enjoy to help make Christmas decorations with you. Youngsters are constantly impatient for Christmas to arrive and if they are able to be performing something to hurry it along, they’re happy!

Paper chains are several of the easiest low-priced Christmas decorations to make. You’ll be able to either get packs which you stick together, or you may acquire a couple of rolls of wrap in different colors to cut and stick. Then hang your chains around the top of walls in all of your downstairs rooms. This will brighten up the rooms suitable away!

In case you have kept old Christmas cards from last year, you’ll be able to use the images to make other kinds of decorations including hanging them on the tree. Punch a hole in the leading for a colored string and buy some glitter to add sparkle to the photos.

If you acquire low-cost Christmas decorations for the tree, you may uncover that they are not as interesting as the more costly items. But that will not matter – you’ll be able to very easily brighten them up and make them individual for your household. It is possible to spray them with glitter paints or use glue to stick glitter or beads to them. Or why not take a photo of eeachloved one and stick 1 to each ball so that everyone has their very own personalized tree decoration!

Even when you make the majority of your own personal decorations, it’s best to still consider purchasing 1 beneficial quality item for your Christmas decor every year. Opt for something that you are going to be able to mkeep upand use year after year. Gradually, over the the years, you can collect a full range of leading good quality decorations this way.

Keeping your Christmas decorations for reuse in future years is a superb idea whether you purchased them or created them oneself. When you have kids or grandkids, you can be amazed when they realize all all theistmas decorations that the family owns. Keeping the same decorations to bring out year soon after year may possibly seem boring to adults – especially if they are becoming slightly tattered – but kids just adore to see their old buddies coming out of the box once again!

Christmas is such a magical time for kids and trimming the tree is actually an enormous part of the atmosphere and excitement as Christmas approaches. over than the years, some decorations will develop into a critical part of Christmas for them.

This is in particularly true if they helped to create something, whether it is the angel at the top of the tree or the snowman that sits on the windowsill. So if discovering or creating cheap Christmas decorations is your priority, try to have items that will last.

-Shannon

5 Scrapbooking Secrets for the Holiday Season

By Kathy Williams

These 5 scrapbooking secrets are sure to bring out the best in all of your albums and pages. Though inexpensive, they are the wonderful ways to add memorable value to the pages you will cherish and love for many holiday seasons to come!

1. Buy your embellishments on December 26! As always, the day after Christmas, lights and gumdrops and shiny tinsel are always at ridiculously low prices. Make sure to buy the things you could use as scrapbooking page embellishments. Look for deep discounts on Christmas stickers and patterned paper. You might even stock up for next year!

2. Save your wrapping paper! We once joked about a frugal couple who saved their wrapping paper from year to year. For scrapbooking however, this can be a truly memorable piece. In your layout, why not put some of the wrapping paper as the background for the picture of that special someone opening the present…covered in that very paper! (You may opt to coat the paper with a archival safe gloss spray to keep from introducing acid into your album.)

3. Squash the bow! Unlike wrapping paper, I knew many families growing up who would save the Christmas bows that were placed on presents. Try pressing them just as you would dry flowers. Placing them in a heavy book or underneath a heavy object and use them as decorative backgrounds glued to the pattern paper.

4. Watch the boxes! These days almost anything you buy at Christmas time comes in a box with adorable christmas decoration and design. Why not cut out some of the more adorable designs (words, sayings, lights, snowmen…) and place them as collage material on your scrapbook page. Looking back, these designs will convey even more about the time period. (Like looking at old drawings and boxes from your parents days.)

5. Use your senses! Christmas is such a special holiday and in many ways is unique because of our senses. From thousands of twinkle lights in our yards to a gingerbread cookie, even the smell of a christmas tree, all contribute to our memories of the holiday moments. Try capturing as many of them as possible in your scrapbook albums. Instead of conveying events, write about smells, sights, feeling, emotion, and sounds. This means you will need to either write them all down temporarily, or finish the pages quickly in order to remember all of the details that made the moment truly special!

Christmas and scrapbooking have always gone together. With friends and family and so many warm memories, this should be a time you capture all of the moments and record them for generations to come. These 5 scrapbooking secrets are simple, inexpensive, and effective ways to put the most into this year’s scrapbooking album…and the many wonderful seasons to come!

Kathy Williams loves scrapbooking and rubber stamping. She enjoys these hobbies and spends much of her time at her online store http://www.rubberstampingfun.com.

 

Holiday Cinnamon Clay (Fragrant Christmas Shaping Dough)

This will make a sweet smelling dough that can be used to make Christmas Tree ornaments, and or gift decorations.

It should be noted: Humidity can affect the consistency of this dough, and how easy it is to handle.

What you’re gonna need:
1 cup Applesauce

1 1/2 cups ground cinnamon

1/3 cup Elmers glue (or other “school gule” just like it)

1 medium sized bowl

Wax paper

Flat kneading surface

Rolling pin

Cookie cutters (Christmas themed)

Knife

Straw (if you’ll be hanging these as ornaments)

Cooling rack

Puffy craft paints (optional)

Decrative Ribbon

 How to make it:
Mix cinnamon, applesauce, and glue together in a bowl.
Remove the mixture from the bowl and knead it until it turns into a firm “clay”.
Let this sit for about 30 minutes or so.
The mixture is best used at room temperature. You may need to dust your rolling pin, hands, and working surface with cinnamon, or use wax paper as a working surface.
Roll out the mixture with a rolling pin until it is approximately 1/8 of an inch thick.
Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.
If you are going to hang your shape, use the straw to cut out a hole near the top of the ornament.
Place cut out shapes on a non stick cooling rack or wax paper. You’ll want to keep an eye on them and turn them over occasionally so that they dry evenly and dry flat.
Dry shapes for approximately five days.
When dry you may put a ribbon through the hole for hanging on the tree or adding to a package.
You can also use puff paint to decorate your shapes, if you so desire.

Tips:
With this recipe you can make all kinds of ornaments to give to your family, friends, teachers, the Postman, and even the Garbage man…Happy Holidays.

Christmas Gifts Kids Can Make

By Janice Wee

Christmas is a time of giving and receiving. Even kids would want to get into the picture. Giving gifts to their friends and loved ones.

Now what gifts can kids give that do not look tacky? I mean, kids generally do not have much income. It kind of breaks a mom’s heart to see a kid break his or her piggy bank just to buy a gift for someone who might not really appreciate it.

A better alternative is to get kids to make something cute to give as gifts to those who matter to them.

One thing that comes to mind is a pet rock. Those cute little pebbles with faces, which one could get quite fond of. These are easy to make, and they are practical as well. Pet rocks make great paper weights. Add a secret message below and you have an adorable, personal gift a kid could make, without breaking the bank.

All the kid has to do is to collect some smooth pebbles, each around the size of his or her palm. Mom can supply the felt, glue, cardboard and pens. Kids just spend their free time making gifts they can give out on Christmas day. The glue must be able to stick the felt to the stone. To avoid disappointment, test first by sticking a small piece of felt to a stone that you do not want. Stick another small piece of felt on top of it. Let it dry. If the felt pieces stay stuck to each other and to the stone, you are all set to go.

How To Make Pebble Pets

1. Wash and clean the pebbles. Let these dry. Take 1 dry pebble to begin with.

2. You need white, black, brown, pink, and red felt, and a light colored felt to write the message.

3. Cut 2 ovals from the white felts to be the white of the pebble’s eyes. Cut 2 smaller circles out of brown, blue or green felt to be the irises of the eye. Cut to even smaller circles out of the black felt to be the pupils of the eye.

4. Glue the 2 white ovals towards the end of the pebble, where the eyes should be. Remember to leave some room for the nose and mouth. Glue the irises to the white of the eyes and the pupils to the irises.

5. Cut out a small triangle out of pink or brown felt to be the nose. Glue it right at the center, beneath the eyes, where the nose should be.

6. Cut out a small crescent out of pink or red felt to be a happy smile. Glue it below the nose, where the mouth should be. Let the pebble pet dry.

7. Cut a piece of light colored felt slightly smaller than the pebble. Write a secret message on the felt. Glue the felt under the pebble with the message facing outwards. That way, whoever gets that pebble can turn it over and read the secret message beneath it. Kids love secret messages. This should appeal to them.

Once you and your kid have made the first pebble pet together, your kid should be able to make the rest of the pebble pets he or she can give away on Christmas day.

Here is another a tip about Christmas gifts. Every year, you and your kids would get gifts you do not like and spend money on gifts for your loved ones which they do not really like either. Everyone wastes money that way.

A smarter way is to be more up front. Go to What Do You Want For Christmas and search for the things you and your kids really want. Then add what you want to your personal registry by clicking on the pink add to my gift list button right below the gift. Get that registry to email your choices to those who give you gifts each Christmas and ask them to return the favor by adding what they like to their registry. Everyone gives and gets gifts that will really be appreciated. No money is wasted that way.

 

New Ways to Use Old Christmas Cards

by LeAnn R. Ralph

Forty years ago when I was growing up on our dairy farm in Wisconsin, my mother always saved the Christmas cards she had received in the mail. In those days, people sent many more Christmas cards than they do now.

Today, I still find myself saving the cards that I get each Christmas. When the holiday season is over, I take them down off the dining-room side of our kitchen cabinets. I look at each one and think about the person who sent it. Then I tuck the cards into Christmas canisters and store them with my Christmas decorations. The next year when I take the decorations out, I discover the cards and then I look through them again. They are still much too pretty to throw away, but unfortunately, I only have so much space available for keeping cards!

If you save your old Christmas cards, too, but don’t know what to do with them, here are three ways that you can put them to good use:

Make ornaments
1. Cut out the pictures and glue ribbon or lace around the edge. Craft shops and variety stores carry an amazing assortment of ribbon and lace.

2. Punch a hole in the top and hang from the Christmas tree with yarn or ribbon.

Make gift tags
1. Cut around the pictures, leaving enough room at the edge to write “To” and “From” if the pictures are arranged in such a way that there is a large open space around the perimeter. Glue ribbon or lace around the edge to add a bit of decoration.

2. Cut out the pictures and glue onto pieces of colored paper folded in half (so you can write your message inside). Add ribbon or lace, if desired.

3. Cut out the pictures, write your message on the back up-side-down and tape just the top edge to the package so that recipients only have to lift the tag to read your message. Once again, glue ribbon or lace around the edge for extra decoration.

Make collages
1. Purchase a 5×7 or an 8×10 picture frame with glass (or a larger frame, if desired).

2. Cut out the pictures from the Christmas cards.

3. Glue the pictures onto a piece of cardstock or other heavy paper cut to fit the frame. Cover the paper with pictures. Experiment with different arrangements before you glue them down.

4. Display the collage on a coffee table or end table or hang it on the wall. Christmas card collages also could be given as gifts to family and friends.

LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the farm books: “Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm) (trade paperback; 2003), “Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam” (trade paperback; 2004), “Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Interviewing Family Members and Writing Oral Histories” (e-book; 2004). http://ruralroute2.com

Contact Information:

LeAnn R. Ralph
E6689 970th Ave.
Colfax, WI 54730
(715) 962-3368
mailto:bigpines@ruralroute2.com
http://ruralroute2.com

Construction Paper Reindeer

What you’ll need:

Brown construction paper
Lighter Brown construction paper
Large “google eyes” from a craft store
Small red pompoms from a craft store
Trace a children’s shoe on the darker brown construction paper then cut it out for the head.
Trace your child’s hands on the lighter brown construction paper and cut out to make antlers
Glue the eyes, antlers, and pompom (for the nose) to the head
There you have it! A reindeer that is fun to make, and it gets your child involved because you’re using their shoe, and their hands in the project…they’ll instantly feel connected to it.

Make a Phone Book Christmas Tree

Make a Phone Book Christmas Tree
by John Martin

I’m not sure who showed my sister and I how to make a Christmas Tree out of a phone book all those years ago, but someone did, and I it made my mother quite happy. Why you ask? Well, considering that we lived in a fairly good size town, the phone book was pretty hefty, and folding all of the pages to make the tree was time consuming… my mother got an early Christmas gift.

Here’s how to do it:

Materials:
An unused phone book or an old paper back that no one wants anymore – the book has to be fairly wide
Tempra paint, or spray paint, depending on how old your kids are, and how much supervision you’re willing to provide
Elmer’s glue, or any other “white glue”
A stapler
Trinkets, buttons, macaroni, or tiny ornaments

How to do it:
Open the book and grab the upper right hand corner of the very first page. Fold the page so that the top now lines up with the spine, and crease so it is flat. Depending on the difference in the width of the book as opposed to the length, there will a space at the bottom of the folded page  once you’ve got the first page done, repeat until you’ve folded every page in the book including the covers. Now, bring the front cover around to meet the back and staple the two together. Paint the tree and allow to dry, then use the white glue to add decorations to the tree, and there you have it.

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