Easy Holiday Crafts

We're always looking for crafts to do here and, of course, the theme has been Christmas and winter! Here are some of our latest creations. Check out the photo gallery for the finished products!

I have found that a key to holiday crafting is making sure they know they're making gifts for people; otherwise we end up with stacks of papers and pictures hung three-deep on our door and fridge! 

Handprint Santa

We did these when we went to at the in Northford and I thought they were adorable and so easy to do at home. All you need is a piece of paper, some red and white (washable!) paint and some crayons or markers.

First paint your child's four fingers and the tip of the thumb white. Then paint the base of the palm red. Press down on the paper and you've got a Santa hat and his beard. 

Let it dry a bit and let them add a face and a Christmas message! 

Puzzle Piece Wreath

I saw these in Oriental Trading's catalog, remembered the big bag of puzzle pieces I'd been saving and thought they'd be a cute project for my daughter's pre-k class's holiday party.

Well, if you're making one, go ahead and paint some puzzle pieces green; I needed enough for 18 so I spent the better part of a Sunday afternoon flipping them all over so I could spraypaint the cardboard side.

Once you've got your green puzzle pieces ready and they're dry, you can get ready to make your wreath. I used a small green plastic plate leftover from and taped a photo (about 4x4) in the middle. 

I lined the outer edge with some Elmer's glue and let my daughter line up the pieces. She then decorated it with some sequins and I finished it off with a bow. 

Wrapping Paper Christmas Tree

You know all of those little pieces of wrapping paper that are hanging around when you've trimmed the edges of all your packages? This is the perfect way to get rid of them in a very green way!

Simply roll the paper around a pencil and secure the tube (I used a little piece of tape). Roll a bunch of tubes of paper then trim the edges so they get shorter and shorter. 

Glue the tubes onto paper from smallest to biggest to make the shape of a Christmas tree. Color a trunk for your tree or repurpose something else (I used a small piece of tile from our bathroom remodel). 

You can also add sequins or stickers as 'ornaments.' I even had a little string of lights that I'd been saving (can you tell I hang onto a lot of stuff 'just in case'?) that was perfect for this project.

We also put ours in a frame when we were done so we could add it to our decorations on the mantle.

Pipe Cleaner Candy Canes

This craft is easy enough for even the littlest fingers to help with (well as long as they are old enough to not eat the beads!). You need a pipe cleaner and some beads–you can find both at Dollar Tree.

All I do is help with the first bead as it needs to be secured. Then let them go to town. It is also a great exercise for patterning and my kids have made a few with some nice designs.

Once they put all the beads on, I secure the last one and then let them bend it into shape. The candy canes can hang right on the tree or be taped to presents as a nice little decoration!

Cottonball Snowman

Here's another really easy one. You can either just give them a bottle of glue and a pile of cottonballs and see what happens or draw the three circles of the snowman for them to fill in (I chose the latter).

Once Frosty is fully fluffy, they can draw arms and a hat; add a ribbon for a scarf; googly eyes; rolled up orange paper for a carrot nose; and buttons or other decorations.

Glitter Ornaments

We actually made these last year, but it's so pretty on the tree that I wanted to include it. These are the most time-intensive and you most likely will need to go to the store for supplies.

I got a 12-pack of clear glass ornaments, a wide selection of glitter and a product called Glitter-It. You have to rinse all of the ornaments before you do this and then let them dry.

Once they're dry, you squirt some Glitter-It into the balls and swirl it around until the inside is lined with the liquid. Then you drain the ball so it's not drippy inside.

Pour in your choice of glitter–be generous with it–and then cover the hole with your thumb and start shaking. The plain ornaments become a sparkly, beautiful ornament that twinkles on your tree.

And the best part is that the glitter is on the inside so it doesn't spread everywhere! You can also add stickers (we did monogrammed ones as gifts last year) if you want to personalize them a bit more.