Christmas Crafts Archives

Country Christmas Idea: Milkweed Pod Poinsettias

At first glance, milkweed plants and poinsettias don’t seem to have much in common. If you live in an area where milkweed grows wild, however, you can use the dried milkweed pods to make poinsettia ornaments for your Christmas tree. Here’s how:

1. Collect some dried milkweed pods. In the fall, the milkweed plants have already gone to seed but the dried pods will still be attached to the plant. You will need six “halves” of a milkweed pod for each poinsettia flower that you are going to make.

2. After you have collected the milkweed pods and have brought them into the house, put them in a warm spot for a few days or a week to dry out more. This is especially important if it has been rainy and damp outside.

3. Glue the milkweed pod halves together side-by-side in a circle so that they look like a flower. A hot glue gun works well for gluing the pods together.

4. Decorate your poinsettia flowers with spray paint and glitter, or, if you don’t want to spray paint your poinsettias, just use glue and glitter. Mix and match and experiment with colors.

5. Glue a loop of string, yarn, twine or ribbon to the back of the poinsettia flower. Once the glue is dry, your ornament is ready to hang on the Christmas tree. You could also give these as gifts —four or six to set, or however many you want to give.

(copyright 2003/2004: LeAnn R. Ralph)

LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the books: “Christmas In Dairyland (True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm)” and “Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam” and “Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Interviewing Family Members and Writing Oral Histories) — You are invited to read sample chapters, order books and to sign up for the FREE! monthly newsletter, Rural Route 2 News — http://ruralroute2.com

Contact Information:

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

12 Creative Ways to Recycle Your Christmas Cards!

By Lindsay Small

Don’t throw your Christmas cards away! There are so many creative ways to use your Christmas cards, many of which you can do with your kids. We have brought together some ideas below.

Christmas jigsaw game:
Make a Christmas jigsaw game. Gather 10-20 cards and cut each one into 3 or 4 pieces, using straight lines. Shuffle them up and lay them out on a flat service such as a dining table or the floor – then put them back together again! Store the cards in a shoe box for next time. This is fun on a quiet family evening at the beginning of the season as it helps to get everybody into the Christmas spirit!

Christmas tree ornaments:
Make cinnamon stick ornaments for the Christmas tree. Wrap a small bundle of cinnamon sticks together with a pretty ribbon tied in a bow (leave a loop for hanging). Using a small dab of glue, attach a pretty shape cut from a Christmas card with pinking shears to the Centrex of the ribbon bow to finish the ornament off. These look pretty and smell delicious too!

Scented sachets
Make scented sachets to give as gifts or fragrance your own home. Simply glue the bottom and side edges of the card together and then slip a small amount of potpourri (or a cotton ball on which you have dropped a little Christmas essential oil) into the space. Use a hole punch to make two holes on the top edge, through which you can thread a pretty ribbon before tying a bow. If you leave a loop in the ribbon, the sachets can be hung on door handles, coat hooks or radiators (the heat will help to release the scent, but it won’t last as long) to create a welcoming, Christmas atmosphere.

Christmas mobile or “string”:
Cut shapes out of the cards in matching pairs. Hearts work nicely, as do simple Christmas tree shapes and even plain squares and circles. Stick the cards back to back and laminate them, then punch a hole in them and use to make a colorful and child-friendly mobile or “string” to decorate next year. You could add to this every year. As a variation, you could back each shape with a plain-colored piece of card or construction paper and write on it the date and name of the person who sent the card.

Christmas card game:
Cut playing-card shapes out of the cards, stick a piece of plain card over any writing if necessary, and use to make a Christmas game or quiz for your children to play next year. Laminate to protect.

Gift tags:
A traditional activity, but one which never fails to amuse the kids, is making gift tags for next year’s presents. Use pinking sheers, a hole punch, and leftover ribbon

Gift bags:
Make gift bags for next year by saving smart paper bags. Cut a nice shape out of each card and stick it to the front of the bag (covering any shop labels if necessary). Sometimes one Christmas card will yield many different bag decorations! Add a little ribbon bow just above the card and wrap your present in tissue paper before putting it into the bag. This looks lovely with brown paper bags and tartan ribbons.

Miniature Christmas cards:
Some Christmas card designs can be cut and folded into miniature Christmas cards for the kids to give next year, or for decorating the dolls house.

Christmas screensaver:
Scan your favorite cards into the computer – and some of your favorite messages from inside the cards as well – and make them into a Christmas wallpaper or screensaver with a photo program. Children love this and it is a great memento if you do it each year.

Lacing card:
Cut out the pictures on the larger cards, punch holes around the edges with a hole punch, add a shoelace or brightly colored yarn (with sticky tape wrapped around the ends) and you have a cheerful and cheap lacing card for little ones. If they are particularly popular you could laminate them to make them last longer.

Christmas confetti
Make some Christmas confetti to use next year (scatter it on the Christmas table, or put a pinch inside your Christmas cards and gifts!) Use either a plain hole punch or a special Christmas one (both together look great) and choose the most colorful areas from each card to cut. Gold and silver looks very effective, especially mixed in with red and green. Small scraps of leftover wrapping paper can be used too. You can keep the children busy with this for hours!

Lindsay Small is the owner of Activity Village, packed full of fun and educational activities for kids. Do you have children aged 2-10? Visit http://ww.ActivityVillage.co.uk to find free kids crafts, printables, educational resources, worksheets, coloring pages and puzzles, jigsaws, Sudoku for kids and much more!

Inexpensive Christmas Gifts

By Ron Long

Christmas is a time of joy, piece, and giving. It is also a time of being broke. Adults often think that the idea of making Christmas gifts is only for children who do not yet have their own money to buy gifts. However, with a little bit of ingenuity, some clever shopping, and a fair amount of free time, you can make some very grown up do it yourself Christmas gifts.

The first step is to spend an afternoon at a craft store, and see what sticks out at you as things you would be comfortable sitting down to work on. Some very basic, but very nice final product ideas include:

(1) Knit caps. If you have time to pick up crocheting or knitting, Christmas is a perfect time of year to put that talent to good use. You can make knit caps, mittens and scarves for men and women alike on your holiday shopping list. With all of the different available colors and textures in yarns today, it is virtually limitless what you can do to personalize a knitted gift. For some extra special fun, you can work in some fun beads fairly easily to jazz up a more basic design.

(2) Pick up some shadow box frames at the art store, and make some personal home decorations. For example, if you have someone on your list who is a big fan of Beethoven, you can create a shadowbox picture with some music notes in the background with a copy of a Beethoven songbook and maybe a dollhouse piano in the frame. Stuff like the dollhouse furniture as well as lots of great designs for backgrounds and the like can usually be found in the scrapbook section of your favorite craft store.

(3) Jewelry is a great personal do it yourself gift. There are all different skill levels for creating your own jewelry, and lots of different pieces that you can purchase to make your gift as professional looking and beautiful as you want. If you go to a good bead store, they will have lots of different settings on which to put earrings and a great selection of different and interesting beads for you to use. The best part though, is that they have expertise. With a little bit of help from the experts, you can make beautiful, one of a kind jewelry for less than a dollar a piece.

(4) Ornaments are a great way to celebrate the Christmas season. There are so many different ways to create your own unique ornaments, that you could make a different type of ornament for nearly everyone on your list. You could cross-stitch some ornaments, hand paint a box of regular glass ornaments, create egg shell ornaments with glitter or paint, make picture frame ornaments, bead Holiday shapes with pipe cleaners and pony beads, string some Hawaiian flowers for a funky tree garland, or just put a glittery hook on a plain ornament bulb. The best part about this gift, is that you get to see it every year on your loved one’s Christmas tree.

Easy Christmas Crafts for Children

By Nicole Dean

Remember how much you had creating Christmas art projects? Nothing brings out the kid in you better than sharing some together time with your own children and there’s no better time to do it than during the holiday season! Start the season with some cute and fun to make Christmas crafts that your kids will love.

Candy cane Reindeer

What you’ll need:

Candy Canes
Glue
Brown Pipe Cleaners
Small googly eyes
Small Red Pom Poms
Thin festive ribbon
Small jingle Bell

Instructions:

Take your brown pipe cleaner and twist it into a V shape under the curve of the candy cane, or ‘neck’ of your reindeer under construction…? Bend the pipe cleaner again to shape into antlers. Take your googly eyes and glue them onto the candy cane. Glue a red pom pom on the candy cane for a ‘reindeer’ nose. Tie the thin ribbon around your reindeer’s neck and string the jingle bell on for the final touch! You might want to glue the ribbon to the candy cane to secure. Make a bunch of these cute candy cane reindeer, and hang them on your holiday tree!

Pasta Holiday Wreath

What you’ll need:

Small Paper Plates
Variety of different pasta shapes
Glue
Holiday color tempra paint
Festive ribbon for bow

Instructions:

Cut the center out of your paper plate. Choose some really interesting pasta noodles, and glue them all around the outer ring of the plate. Try real hard to cover the entire plate! After the glue has dried, take your tempra paint and color the pasta. Have an adult tie the ribbon into a bow and then glue it to your wreath. Display them all around your home during the holiday!

For more holiday crafts and activities for your children, visit http://www.showkidsthefun.com/holidaythemes.html.

Inexpensive, Handmade Christmas Gifts

Christmas is a time of peace, joy, and giving to others. It is also a time associated with being broke. Adults often think that the idea of making Christmas crafts and gifts is only for children who do not yet have any of their own money to buy gifts. However, with a little bit of ingenuity, some clever shopping, and a modest amount of free time, you can make some very “adult like” do it yourself Christmas gifts.

The first step in your Christmas crafting adventure is to spend an afternoon at your local craft store, and see what catches your eye as something you would be comfortable sitting down to work on. Some very basic, but very nice possible ideas might be:

(1) Knit (stocking) hats. If you have time during the year to learn crocheting or knitting, Christmas is a perfect time of year to put that talent to good use. You can make knit hats, mittens and scarves for men and women alike on your holiday gift list. With all of the different available colors and textures in yarns today, it is virtually limitless as to what you can do to personalize a knitted gift. For someone of extra special importance, you can work in some colorful beads or “tinsel” yarn fairly easily to bring excitement to a basic design.

(2) Pick up some shadow box frames at the craft store, and make some personal home decorations. For example, if you have someone on your list who is a big fan of a particular musician or sports figure, you can create a shadowbox picture with some music notes or memorabilia in the background with a copy of a CD cover or trading card and miniature instruments or appropriate sports equipment in the frame. Miniature items as well as design ideas for backgrounds and the like can usually be found in the scrapbook section of your favorite craft store.

(3) Jewelry is a great personal do it yourself gift. There are all different skill levels for creating your own jewelry, and lots of different pieces that you can purchase to make your gift as professional looking and beautiful as you want. Jewelry can be made from just about anything but wire and beaded types come to mind as some of the most popular. If you go to a well stocked craft store, they will have lots of different cast settings and different styles/gauges of wire to construct earrings, necklaces, and rings. Also there will undoubtedly be someone in the store who crafts jewelry of their own and I’ve never been to a craft store that didn’t have helpful, and eager employees, especially around the holidays.

(4) Christmas tree ornaments are a great way to celebrate the Christmas season. There are numerous ways to create your own unique ornaments, that you could make a different type of ornament for nearly everyone on your list. You could cross-stitch some ornaments, hand paint a box of regular glass ornaments, create egg shell ornaments with glitter or paint (very nice but somewhat fragile), make picture frame ornaments, bead Holiday shapes with pipe cleaners and decorative beads, or string some Hawaiian flowers for a funky tree garland. You can even go all out and combine several of the above. One of the coolest things about this gift is that you might (hopefully) get to see it every year on your loved one’s Christmas tree.

Best wishess,

Shannon

Christmas Cornstarch Dough

What “yule” need:

3 cups baking soda
3 cups cornstarch
1 5/8 cups water (cold)

How to prepare it:

Combine baking soda and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add the water gradually until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this mixture constantly under heat (not too hot mind you) until it reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Put your clay mixture on a plate large enough to accommodate it and cover it with a dampened towel. When the dough is cool enough to handle, Knead it and your read to start shaping it into Christmas ornaments, Christmas beads, decorations for a faux gingerbread house, or anything else you can think of.

The main thing is to have fun!

Christmas Crafts – Salt Dough

My sister and I used to make ornaments with Christmas craft salt dough when we were in grade school. I think my mom kept the Christmas tree ornaments until just a couple of years ago, when my father and her moved out of our childhood home.

Here’s what you’ll need for the craft dough, and remember you can and should adjust accordingly. If you have more kids, or bigger projects make a bigger batch – and the opposite applies for less kids and smaller projects. Also, don’t forget that you can add food coloring as needed:

Christmas Craft Dough

2 cups salt
2 cups flour
1 cup water (a little less if you want it firmer)

Mix flour, salt, and water to make a stiff mixture.
Knead mixture for about ten minutes to dissolve salt.
Clay is ready to shape.

Black Friday…

Today was Black Friday for retail stores, but fear not crafters, it’s not as “gloomy” as it sounds. If you were brave enough to go out to the craft stores you undoubtedly got some great deals. If instead you decided to stay home and make some crafts, you undoubtedly made some great crafts.

You see it’s just that time of year. No matter what your underlying beliefs are, if you are involved in crafting at Christmas time, you can’t help but feel happy, and happiness is contagious… Especially “Christmas happiness” and it can’t help but show up in your crafting.

Christmas is the time when making, giving, and receiving crafts gets turbo charged, and now’s the time to start. Okay, if you’re saying it’s too late to get started, well then I say Bah Humbug – It’s only too late to craft if you think it is, and if you think it’s too late then it’s all in your mind… Get crafting, and stop complaining:)

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