CHRISTMAS CRAFTS

Holiday Candle
Supplies: A jar (baby food jars work well), glue that dries clear, colored tissue paper, glitter, ribbon, votive or tealight candle, paintbrush.
Directions: Tear your tissue paper into smaller pieces. Paint the jar with glue and attach the pieces of tissue paper (you may have to dilute the glue slightly with water). Randomly add some glitter (optional). Let dry and then tie a ribbon around the top, making sure that it won't interfere with the candle's flame. Put your candle inside. This makes a great gift or holiday decoration, but be sure to keep the lighted candle out of reach of children.


Christmas Chains
What Christmas would be complete without chain garlands? Kids love these and they add a colorful touch to holiday decorations.
Supplies: Construction paper in different colors, glue, scissors.
Directions: Cut strips of paper about one and a half inches wide and six inches long in different colors of construction paper (I use a paper cutter for this part). Glue the first strip into a loop. Thread the second strip through the loop and glue into a loop. Continue until your chain is as long as you want.

Cardboard Tissue Tube Santa
It just wouldn't be crafting if we didn't make something out of a recycled toilet paper cardboard tube. This craft can be adapted to make just about anything including: Sanat, Mrs. Claus, Reindeer, Snowmen, Elves, Angels, etc. In addition, you don't just have to use toilet paper tubes. You can also use paper towel rolls and wrapping paper rolls.
Supplies: cardboard tube, construction paper (red, white, pink, and black), gluestick, cotton balls, wiggle eyes (optional).
Directions: Wrap a cardboard tube with a 4 x 2 inch sheet of red paper and glue in place. To made the face, use a 3 inch wide circle of pink paper and glue in place. For the hat, cut a 4 inch wide half circle and roll it into a cone. Glue in place on top of Santa's head. Put a rectangular strip of white paper around his forhead. Put a black strip of paper around Santa's middle for a belt. Either glue on pieces of paper for his facial features, draw them on, or use google eyes. When that is done, tear some cotton balls apart and glue on for his beard, hatband, and make a pom pom on the top of his hat.


Paper Plate Wreath
Supplies: paper plate, green tissue paper, red tissue paper, piece of ribbon or string to hang, scissors, hole punch, and white glue.
Directions: Cut a hole in the center of the paper plate so that you have a ring that is about three inches wide. Cut your tissue paper (or tear it for a different effect) into 2 inch squares. Crumple each square up slightly and glue the center onto the plate. Fill the plate in with the green pieces, then go back and add red pieces randomly to make berries. Punch a hole in the top and thread the ribbon through to hang the wreath. You can embellish this project with a bow, glitter, etc. My kids love this project.



Popsicle Stick Rudolph Ornament
Supplies: 3 popciscle sticks, glue, wiggle eyes, red pom pom, six inch ribbon.
Directions: Glue the 3 popsicle sticks together to form a triangle - or a really fat, upside down capital A. This will form the reindeer's head, so you want the sticks to meet exactly at the nose, but not quite meet at the top two corners so that they form two small antler points. Glue the eyes and the red pom pom nose on. On the backside, glue each end of the ribbon about 2 inches apart to make a hanger.


Pasta Christmas Tree
Supplies: A small styrofoam cone, green paint, green and red marker, glitter glue, several different shapes of dry pasta
Directions:: Paint the styrofoam cone green and let dry. Use the green marker to color enough pieces of pasta to cover the cone. You can also color some red for berries, or other colors for ornaments. Glue the pasta onto the cone until it is completely filled in (We usually use low temp hot glue gun because it is faster and causes less frustration with the kids. We also work together to make just one tree). You can embellish it with the glitter glue, tinsel, pom poms, etc. to make it look like a Christmas tree.
You can also do this same craft differently by gluing all the pasta onto the styrofoam cone without coloring it first. After it dries, you can spray paint it any color you want (metallic paints work well). Leave it plain for a chic look or have the kids embellish it even more after it dries.

Candy Cane Reindeer
Supplies: Low temp hot glue gun, ribbons or yarn for hanging, 1 wrapped candy cane (this has to be wrapped around the candy, not a 'bagged' candycane, 1 little pom-pom for the nose, 2 little wiggle eyes, brown pipe cleaners for the antlers.
Directions: Make antlers out of the pipecleaners and wrap them around the candycane on the curve and glue them. Add two wiggle eyes and a pom-pom nose.

Egg Carton Christmas Bells
Supplies: Clean egg cartons (the paper kind work best, but the styrofoam can be cleaned easier), scissors, pipe cleaners, small bells, glitter glue, and markers.
Directions: Cut the egg carton into separate cups. With the point of the scissors or a sharp pencil, poke a small hole in the bottom of each cup. Decorate each cup however you like with markers and glitter glue. Cut a pipe clearner to about 6 inches long and thread though a small bell at one end. Twist to secure. Thread the other end of the pipe cleaner through the hole in the egg cup and bend it into a hook.
The last time we made these, I couldn't find my bells. The kids were already excited about doing the project, the weather was too nasty to go out and get any, so I had to improvise... Looking through my craft supplies I found a back of plastic beads that I had forgotten about. The kids loved them! When they finished making the bells with the bead substitution, they went to town creating their own ornaments out of pipe cleaners strung with beads.




Juice lid Ornaments
Cut a favorite picture from an old Christmas card. Using a juice can lid, trace and cut a circle from construction paper. Glue the picture onto the paper and the paper onto the lid. Glue a piece of ribbon to the back for a hanger. If you want to make it a bit more festive, you can spray paint the lids in gold, green or red, and you can glue lace, ribbons, etc around the outside of the lid.

Peppermint Candy Frames
Use a plain cheap picture frame and glue little starlite peppermint candies all around it. Spray it with sealer and put your favorite Christmas picture in it.


Pasta Christmas Wreaths
Cut the center out of a paper plate. Glue different shapes of dry pasta noodles around the outer ring, completely cover the paper plate. Let glue dry and then spray paint silver or gold. Glue on a bow.