Christmas Crafts
From LoveToKnow Crafts
There are crafters out there who do almost nothing all year but make Christmas crafts. At every craft fair you can find one, and there are whole stores open year round that offer Christmas decorations and crafts. We so love this holiday, some of us are willing to think about it and prepare for it all year long.
If you’re not one of those people, and you’re just looking for a few ideas of how to bring the Christmas spirit into your home, the following overview should be helpful.
Christmas Cards
If you have a small list of people to whom you send Christmas cards, or if you are willing to start making cards early in the year, you can make homemade Christmas cards for everyone on your list.
Purchase card stock or blank cards, die cuts, rubber stamps or stickers (or construction paper you can cut out in the shape of a tree, snowflake, house, Santa, manger, etc.) festive colored paper and maybe a pair of scissors that makes a cool scalloped edge.
Cut pretty paper to the size of the inside of the card or smaller. You can stack several pieces of different sizes, just make sure the one on top is light enough for you to write on. Glue these to the inside of the card. Decorate the outside with your stickers, die cuts, rubber stamps, more paper, or whatever you want (of course you can use these things inside, too).
And don’t forget the envelope. If you have plain white or cream-colored envelopes, slide a colorful piece of paper in as a liner (you can put a piece of double-stick tape on the back side to help it stay in place) and put a festive sticker, stamp or decoration on the front of the envelope. For cards I’m not mailing, I like to glue on a little three-dimensional item, like one of those mini decorations for tiny Christmas trees.
Miniature Christmas Trees
Speaking of little Christmas trees, one way to liven up the whole house during the Christmas season is to have a little tree in each of the main rooms of your house. You can find little artificial trees in several sizes (look for a deal at the after-Christmas sale). In addition to your large tree in the family room, try a tiny tree on the dining room table, the kitchen table or on top or the television; set one on your dresser or bathroom counter.
You can decorate these little trees with miniature Christmas ornaments; you can usually purchase minatures where where you buy small trees, or you can make your own decorations. Tiny popcorn strands are really cute, or you create a theme for each tree. The little tree in your sports lover’s room could be decorated with tiny baseballs and football helmets (specialty Christmas stores often have these ornaments and party stores carry favors and other small items that you can use or check on eBay for tiny toys you could make into ornaments).
Make little snowman ornaments out of cotton balls, or cut tiny snowflakes out of white paper. Bring a little summer into the season by converting seashells into ornaments (just poke a little hole in the shell for the hook to go through). Want visions of sugarplums? Decorate the tree with candy.
Larger Ornaments
For your big tree, a great activity is to have everyone in the house decorate an ornament each year. You can buy a box of clear glass ornament balls (nearly every craft store carries them) and allow your kids and other members of the family to decorate their ornaments however they like. This is a great activity for groups of children and it’s fun for the grown ups, too.
Assemble a bunch of supplies: tinsel, paper for decoupage, popped corn, glitter, sparkles, holiday stickers, ribbon paint pens, potpourri or Christmas-colored fake flowers, even little odds and ends from beading projects, scraps of fabric, etc.
Put butcher paper or newspaper down over the whole surface where people will be working. Spread out the supplies, give each person a ball and have a ball. If you do this with your family each year make sure you put the date somewhere on the ornament (or take a picture of all that year’s ornaments and label the picture).
Christmas Crafts Around the House
Of course there’s no end to the crafty decorating you can do around the house, from making grapevine wreaths to stringing lights on every surface that doesn’t move. You can make candle holders from decoupaged glass baby food jars. Or, use baby food jars to make a snow globes with confetti, using equal parts water and light corn syrup for the liquid inside.
Go for a hike and collect fallen leaves (if you still have any at Christmas time), holly branches or mistletoe to spread around the house. Fallen branches can also make a nice centerpiece or be used to decorate the fireplace when you don’t have a roaring fire.
And if you’re into a particular craft (knitting, crochet, candle making, beading, plastic canvas or cross stitch, quilting, etc.) you can always make Christmas themed items with that particular craft. Knit a set of stockings, crochet a table runner, make green and red candles or use a novelty candle mold of Santa, bead Christmas ornaments, make a seasonal plastic canvas box to hold Christmas cards, cross stitch a wall hanging, quilt a colorful pillow. The options are nearly endless!
The main thing to remember when making Christmas crafts is to fill your homemade items with love. Whether you’re giving them as a gift or keeping them for yourself, things made with care and love will become treasured heirlooms, while those rushed through or fretted over will not. Merry Christmas and happy crafting!
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This page has been accessed 37,428 times. This page was last modified 11:55, 19 April 2006.
© 2006-2009 LoveToKnow Corp.
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