‘Tis the Season to Be Crafty

It’s the season of giving, and what better way to show your love than with a crafty homemade present? Whether you’re looking for a quick DIY craft to make or something more involved, we’ve got plenty of options that’ll have you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

If you’re looking for an easy way to get into the holiday spirit, try making a DIY tree ornament. All you need are a few basic supplies, and if you have kids at home, it’s bound to be an afternoon of fun.

Use Crafty Kits

Use tree ornament kits. They can be purchased in craft stores or online. You might want to check out some kits that come with everything you need—including paint, glue, and glitter — and leave yourself some time to create your masterpiece.

Decorate away. Your kids will have so much fun painting their own special ornament for the tree. The possibilities are endless when it comes to decorating these festive designs; use glitter sprays in reds and greens or sprinkle them with gold flakes before adding colored paints onto the surface of each ball using small paintbrushes that come packaged in most kits.

You could also use stamps from around your house (even old gift cards would work great) to create patterns on each ball before painting over them with bright colors like purple or blue. These cool shades often go well together when mixed together on one object such as this. We all know how hard it can be sometimes to find just the right color combination sometimes. Especially when working off budget but don’t worry there are always plenty more options available besides just sticking strictly within budget constraints.

Make Your Own Decorations

You can even make your own decorations. With a bit of creativity and materials, you can create amazing decorations. Like painting wooden cloth pins brown, gluing on some googly eyes, and adding some pipe cleaners for antlers. You can also make salt dough ornaments. For these you will need:

• 4 cups of flour;
• 1 cup of table salt;
• 1.5 cups of warm water;
• parchment paper;
• acrylic paints, clear spray paint or mod podge, glitter, ribbon, and whatever other items you wish to use to decorate.

Steps

First, you will need to preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Then in a large mixing bowl mix the flour, water, and salt until you can’t mix it anymore. Then you will knead the dough until thoroughly blended together. For those who don’t want to paint the dough but would like to add color, you can add drops of food coloring to the desired color.

Then you will use a rolling pin to flatten the dough out on some parchment paper. You will want your dough roughly half an inch or less thick. Then you can use little ones’ hands or feet and press them into the dough to have a keepsake or cookie cutters. After the hand/foot is pressed into the dough cut around the indentations with a knife. Use a straw, pencil, or chopstick to poke a hole out for the ribbon or string to hand your ornament.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the cut-outs roughly two inches apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 2 1/2 to 4 hours, depending on the thickness. Let it cool and decorate.

Other Crafty Ideas

For a quick and easy DIY project, try making your own lip balm. You’ll need beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, and almond oil as the base. Add flavor extracts such as peppermint or lavender to make it more appealing to younger kids or adults who aren’t necessarily fans of chocolate-flavored products (but can still appreciate the health benefits). Once you’ve made the mixture you’ll want to pour it into a small container of some sort. I like using these little plastic holders for lipstick because they’re easy for kids to hold but sturdy enough for adults too.

You can also create spoon rings, slippers made from crayons, snowflake cookie cutters (made from paper or cardstock), and paper snowflakes (cut from old magazines, construction paper, and newspapers).

People can also create tasty treats to give out as presents. Things like cookies, fudge, candies, cakes, and pies. They are one of the easiest, crafty, gifts you can make and comes from the heart.

Get Crafty and Decorate Planters

Use a small plastic container. The tinier the better! Cut out a piece of fabric or felt that fits in the bottom of your container. Using a hot glue gun, attach your fabric to the bottom of your container and set it aside to dry for about 15 minutes. Attach another strand (or two) of white string or ribbon around the top edge of the planter so it can hang from your Christmas tree’s branches like a garland.

You could also decorate terra cotta planters with acrylic paints, glitter, and ribbons. After painting use clear spray or mod podge to ensure your painting doesn’t wash off. You can also glue ribbons and other decorations onto the pot to make them unique

I hope that you have enjoyed this list of fun and easy DIY crafts. I have tried my best to make sure that all of the projects require minimal supplies and take as little time as possible. The best part is that most of them are made with items you probably already have in your home. One of the best things about this season is it’s not the money you spend but the thought behind your gifts. So get your crafty on and make your loved ones unique presents.

By Sheena Robertson

Sources:

Yummy Toddler Food: The Best Salt Dough (for Ornaments and Crafting!)
HGTV: Ideas for Outdoor Christmas Container Gardens
Bob Vila: 50 Insanely Easy-to-Make Holiday Ornaments

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Anne H. Putnam‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Chiot’s Run‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License