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CHRISTMAS DIRECTORY
FAMILY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS
TRADITIONS
FAMILY CHRISTMAS IDEAS
CHRISTMAS
CRAFTS
CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES
CHRISTMAS
FOOD FUN
CHRISTMAS
RECIPES
CHRISTMAS
CRAFT PATTERNS
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
CHRISTMAS
GIFTS FOR CHILDREN
Angel Gifts
Gift Directory
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Pinecone
Ornaments
Collect your own pinecones if
possible or purchase some at a craft supply store. Supply
paint, ribbons, silk flowers, jingle bells, beads, small craft
birds, dried floral materials, and just about any other small
decorator items and have fun! You can leave them natural,
paint them by dipping the entire pinecone into a container of
paint or just dab a little paint on the tips. (Keep in mind
that pinecones have sharp points. Handle with care.)
Salt Dough
Ornaments
For salt dough mix 1 cup of salt
with 2 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon of oil and about 1 cup of
water. Mix it and knead it until it is easy to work with. If
necessary add a little more water or a little more flour to
get a good consistency.
Fashion ornaments by rolling balls of
dough, making coils, rolling it out with a rolling pin and
using cookie cutters, pressing it through a garlic press (for
straw, hair or a lion's mane), pinching it or pressing shapes
into it. It can be cut with a butter knife. If you are
pressing two pieces together, sometimes a little water will
help seal the connection. If you will be hanging the
ornaments, press a metal paperclip into the top of each one
before the dough hardens. You can press dough into empty
walnut shell halves to make ornaments too.
Items can air dry over several
days or be baked in a slow (250°)
oven until they are hard. If you want to make something that
is fairly bulky and will be heavy if made completely from salt
dough, make a center or base of crumpled aluminum foil and
build the clay around it. When the ornaments are hard they can
be painted with acrylic paints and sprayed with a gloss finish
that can make them look like they are ceramic pieces. You can
also put food coloring into the dough itself before modeling
pieces and use colored pieces of dough. (If you put some dough
into a plastic bag with a zip closure along with a couple of
drops of food coloring, you can mix the color in without
getting it all over your hands.) Once pieces are finished, you
can add bits of ribbon, lace or other trims to them. |
Glue and
Glitter Ornaments
Materials: white glue,
glitter, waxed paper, heavy thread, paper, pencil
Use paper and
pencil to draw an ornament shape such as a star, bell or candy
cane. Place a piece of waxed paper over the shape. Use the
white glue to trace over the shape. This should leave your
shape in a thick bead of glue on top of the waxed paper.
Sprinkle glitter over the glue. Allow the glue to dry
thoroughly. Shake the excess glitter onto a piece of paper and
pour it back into the original container. Gently peel the
glitter ornament off the waxed paper. Run a piece of thread
through the ornament for hanging.
Sock and Mitten
Snowman
This cute little
character is made from a baby mitten or one of those miniature
mittens that are available in some craft shops. Sew some
random buttons to the front of the mitten and stuff it with a
tiny amount of fiberfill, or even a few cotton balls. Tie the
top shut. Take a baby sock and fold the opening to create a
winter hat. Tie a piece of yarn or string at the top of the
hat and again near the toe. At the toe, glue a pom pom to the
tip of the hat. Place a face inside of the sock hat. This one
used a small round wooden disk, but a pom pom, Styrofoam™
ball, a white button, or even some white felt would also work.
Glue the head inside the hat. Glue o sew the head/hat to the
mitten body. Tie a scarf around the neck. This example uses a
piece of knitted binding material, but a ribbon, yarn and
other scrap pieces can also be used. Make a face on your
snowman using a black marker and you're done. |
Kids' Craft of the Month
Beaded Pipe
Cleaner Ornaments
Provide children
with beads and pipe cleaners and amazing things can happen. (This activity
is not appropriate for children under three because of the swallowing hazard
of the small beads.) You can use "pony" beads, tri-beads or any others you
might have available or find on sale. String beads onto pipe cleaners, wire,
heavy thread, string, yarn or dental floss. The addition of pieces of ribbon,
eyelet lace, small silk flowers or use of glitter pipe cleaners or plain
jewelry wire can make some delightful ornaments.
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Candy Cane
Mouse
Cut a piece of gray
felt in a pear shape and another that is shaped like two ears joined
together at the base. Then cut a piece of pink felt in the same shape at the
ears, just slightly smaller. Make two vertical slits in the pear-shaped
piece just about where the pear begins to widen. Place the pink ears on top
of the gray ears and thread them through both slits, centering the pieces to
look like mouse ears. In the space between the ears, on the back side of the
mouse, slide a candy cane between the pieces of felt. Position it so that it
looks like a tail for the mouse. Glue some jiggle eyes or buttons in place
along with a pom pom nose.
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