How To Make Felt Christmas Stockings

The Christmas stocking is a holiday staple for families with children. Kids love to get up on Christmas morning and see what kinds of goodies Santa has left them! Small stockings are also great for decoration, and they're ideal for holding small gifts to give to your friends and family.

Making felt stockings is very easy, and it's a great family project.

Here's how to do it:

What You Need

* Felt
* Cardboard or card stock
* Marker
* Scissors
* Straight pins
* Needle and thread
* White faux fur and other embellishments

Instructions

1. Draw a stocking shape of the desired size on a piece of cardboard or card stock. Cut out.
2. Place the cardboard shape on the felt, trace around it, and cut out. Make two pieces for each stocking.
3. If you want to sew buttons, fabric or other embellishments on the stocking, it will be much easier to do so before you sew it together. Just make sure to sew them onto the side that will be facing outward.
4. Pin the pieces of felt together, wrong sides facing out, and sew around the edges with a sewing machine or by hand. Be sure not to sew the top closed.
5. Turn the stocking inside out so that the seams are now on the inside. Decorate the outside using fabric paint, glitter, beads, or anything else you like. Sew a strip of faux fur to the top if desired.
6. Cut a strip of felt an inch or so wide and 3 or 4 inches long. Fold it in half to make a loop and sew it to the top left corner of the stocking.

Letting the kids decorate their own stockings gives them an opportunity to express themselves. They could add charms that reflect their interests and hobbies, make pictures with beads, or use finger paint to add handprints. Tubes of fabric paint or glitter glue make it easy for them to write messages to Santa and add their names.

Scraps of holiday fabric are great for adding a decorative touch to stockings. You could cut out shapes such as Christmas trees, angels, or reindeer and sew or glue them to the front of the stocking. If you want a different look, you could even use a sturdy fabric such as canvas instead of felt to make the body of the stocking.

Making and decorating your own Christmas stockings is lots of fun, and it's very inexpensive. Whether you're making them to hang on the tree, fill with gifts for friends, or place on the mantle for Santa to stuff, it's a wonderful way to get the family creative together during the holidays.

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5 Christmas Crafts for Kids

The kids are home for Christmas break and are bored already. The weather is cold, wet and nasty. What do you do? Keep them busy making something with their hands, instead of you tearing your hair out. Here are some fun ideas that kids will love.

1. Christmas cards are always a great craft.

Provide the kids supplies like construction paper, card stock, scissors, glue, glitter (the bottles of glitter/glue in one package are a very nice low-mess way to dress up a project), pencils, crayons or markers and old Christmas cards. Let the kids use their creative energy to make wonderful handmade cards that can be shared with family and friends. By cutting pictures out of old cards, even the younger children can make something really nice (and recycle at the same time).

2. Snow globes are a favorite.

If you want to make your own, gather glass or clear plastic containers, like baby food jars or mustard or mayonnaise jars. Wash and dry them completely. Gather small plastic Christmas or winter decorations. Try to find some that float. Winter themed stickers or small foam cutouts are also nice. Decorate the outside of the jar with stickers or glue a few of the foam pieces on it. Attach a couple of the floating pieces (things like snowflakes or stars work well) to string and glue a figure to the inside with the string underneath the figure to anchor it (which will become the base). Fill the jar with water and some glitter. Carefully glue the lid in place using waterproof glue and let dry. Once dry, shake it, set it lid down and watch the glitter swirl around.

3. Candy crafts can be fun, as well as a tasty gift.

A train can be a quick craft that can be used as a decoration or gift. Use a roll of hard candy (like Lifesavers) for the main part of the train. Use individually wrapped round candy, like peppermints for the wheels. For the front, glue a square candy, such as a caramel or a Starburst with a Hershey kiss on top. If you add a string, they can be used as a tree decoration. Experiment with other kinds of candy to create other things, like robots, animals or even angels.

4. Garland trees can be a great project for the kids, especially if there is limited room for a Christmas tree.

Take a large piece of green poster board and cut a circle, with a slit out to make a cone. Tape it with clear packing tape. Take an artificial pine garland and wrap it around the cone, completely covering it to create a small tree. Fasten the ends in place so it doesn't unwrap. The tree can be decorated with lightweight paper ornaments that the children can also make.

5. A cozy fireplace can warm up any room but not everyone has one.

Let the kids make one. Find a large cardboard box and cut an opening in the one side for the fireplace. Using sponges, paint bricks on the box, leaving space in between to be the mortar. Paint the inside black if you want. Paint flames on the inside back section of the box. Use paper towel rolls to stack up in the fireplace as logs. Decorate the top to look like a mantel.

Get creative and think up your own Christmas crafts as well. Children will love the fun involved in creating these crafts and so will you. You can even give the crafts as a gift which will warm even the scroogiest of hearts.

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Snow Fun Scrapbook Layout

by Rachel Paxton





Playing in the snow is a great time to take candid pictures of your family. Where we live we might only get one or two days of snow each year, if we're lucky, so this year we decided to drive to the snow! We found a state park only a couple of hours away where they had great sledding hills, and took the whole family along for an afternoon of sledding and snow fun.

We took lots of great pictures that day. It's not often you get pictures of grandma and grandpa sledding and playing in the snow. The hard part is choosing which pictures to put in my scrapbook!

Materials Needed:

Dark blue piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper
White piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper
Paper Cutter
Glue
Two photos

I was trying to come up with a "snow" theme for my scrapbook layout. I chose a 12x12 dark blue piece of paper for the background of my page. I decided to accent the blue with lots of white to represent the snow.

For the first white accent I decided to create snowflakes to be the mats for my photos. There was only enough room for two photos on the page, so I cut out two snowflake mats.

To make the snowflake mats, I cut out a piece of white cardstock to be the size my mat would normally be. Then I folded the piece of paper in half as many times as I could and cut the corners off and cut little triangles into each side of the shape to create my snowflake. You can have fun with this part, just think back to making snowflakes as a child! I also cut out a couple of small snowflakes for extra decoration.

To add some snow to the background of my page, I took a 12x12 piece of white card stock and tore a strip of it to glue at the bottom of the dark blue background page. This gives the page the appearance of a snowy background (see photo).

Next I cut out a freehand snowman to glue on the side of the page. It really doesn't have to look perfect, it's supposed to look homemade!

I then printed out the words "Winter Wonderland" on my computer to create the heading for the page. I didn't mat this piece of paper. I just cut it out and glued it at the top of the background page.

Last but not least, I glued two photos to my "snowflake" mats and arranged them in the center of the page with the extra snowflake for an added accent.

Easy, and very cute!

Photos of finished snow fun scrapbook layout:
http://www.crafty-moms.com/scrapbooking/snow-fun.shtml

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For scrapbooking, card making, gift-giving ideas, and more family memory-making activities, visit http://www.crafty-moms.com/.

Christmas Cheer Without Breaking the Bank

If asked, most people will say that the best part of the Christmas season is all the beautiful decorations and yummy food! Everyone loves all the sweets, cookies, cakes, pies and candy, but they also like all the cheery and warm decorations that abound everywhere!

If you're on a tight budget you may feel like you can't offer much for the holidays, but as they saying goes, "it's not the cost of the gift that counts, it's the thought". Just take a look around at what you have to work with, and of course you can always give some kind of baked goods or other homemade goodies.

We don't have much money ourselves, so I make big batches of different kind of Christmas cookies and then put them in cookie tins or on sturdy paper plates wrapped in cellophane! They are always one gift I know will always be loved regardless if the recipient is young or old!

Decorating is another thing that can be done without having a big budget to work with. Maybe you have some decorations from previous years or you can pick up some simple red, green and gold streamers to decorate around the house.

If you have some old Christmas baby clothes or stuffed teddy bears around perhaps you could put them in a small child's chair by draping the sweater over the chair and have the bear sitting snuggled in the corner of the chair. Find a nice corner of the room to place the chair or near the tree if possible.

Candles are another thing that always adds a nice touch and they can provide the atmosphere with some wonderful scents as well. The small votive candles are inexpensive and can be used in a number of ways for decorations. For instance you could put some votive candles floating on some water in a festive bowl of some kind or place them in groups of 3 on a small plate and scatter them around on the end tables or coffee tables.

Candy canes are always popular and don't cost much. You can hang them around at various places or make some candy cane bouquets and place them in some green or red glasses or other festive glasses you may have.

It's not about how much you spend it's about spreading a little Christmas cheer in the best way you can.

More Christmas Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Guide
Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

Christmas Card Organizing and Displays Ideas

The average family receives over twenty Christmas cards each year. What happens to them after Christmas? Do you throw them away? Instead of doing that, use those Christmas cards to make holiday displays.

Christmas Card Tree
The tree can be hung on string or small hooks. The smaller cards are displayed at the top. Each line gets a little wider so that you are forming the shape of a Christmas tree. The cards should be hung so that people can open them and see who they were from. For a more permanent display, the cards can be tacked to a piece of fabric that is attached to a rod. This makes the set up and breakdown easy each year.

Christmas Card Window Decoration
Christmas cards can be hung around the window like a border to make a display. The cards can be tacked directly to the top and sides of the windows. For windows facing the front of the house, make a display that can be seen from the outside. Using only the picture on the front of the cards, string them on a piece of ribbon through holes punched in the top center of each one. Secure the ribbon to the window so that the cards are in view. Let a string of white lights hang intertwined with the cards to illuminate them.

Christmas Cards as Ornaments
Your favorite Christmas cards can be displayed right on your tree. Punch a hole and run a thin piece of ribbon through each one. Knot the ribbon and curl the ends of the strands. Secure each card to the tree in a place where it will be seen. Propping the cards against a branch of the Christmas tree allows you to keep them sitting open so they can be read without disturbing the tree.

Christmas Cards Display Ideas
Christmas cards received for the current year should enjoy their day in the spotlight. Display them on the mantle. Another alternative, if you don’t have or don’t want to use the mantel is the coffee table. Have a piece of glass cut to fit the top of your coffee table. Take each Christmas card and arrange it on the top of the coffee table. Throw glitter or confetti, in Christmas colors of course, on the table among the cards. Cover with the piece of glass.

Christmas cards are not just for a year to be tossed away once the holidays are over. You can use them each year to remind us of people long gone and special moments. Finding different ways to display your cards throughout the years will let others share in your special memories too.

More Christmas Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Guide
Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

Making Homemade Christmas Cards with Kids

The Christmas holidays are the most joyous time of the year for families. Especially important is the time families spend together decorating, wrapping, and baking. So let’s explore how you can spend family time making homemade Christmas Cards with your kids.

Here are some items you will need. Buy a Santa coloring book and a package of colored construction paper. Cut the construction paper to the size of the cards your family wishes to make. Get out the crayons, magic markers of all colors, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, ribbons, glue or glue stick, sparkles, red, black and green fabrics, and small candy canes. Your family is ready to begin making unique Christmas cards.


Christmas Tree Cards
Make Christmas tree cards by drawing several trees on green construction paper. Cut the trees out. Glue fabric and candy to the cards for a beautiful visual effect.


Santa In A Chimney Cards
Draw a house with Santa climbing down the chimney. The card can be decorated with cotton balls for Santa’s hat and beard with a line of trees cut from construction paper for the front of the house. Use colored markers to add ornaments to the branches of the trees. Sprinkle glitter on the ornaments, as well as the tree, to resemble snow.


Santa Cards
A picture of a full-sized Santa could be cut out of a coloring book, and pasted to the front of a card. After it is colored in with crayons, add fabric to enhance the picture. Make a green sack out of material and place it over Santa’s shoulder; use black material to glue onto Santa’s boots; use the red material to glue onto Santa’s hat. You can adorn the card with small candy canes.


Reindeer Cards
Draw a reindeer and sleigh card. Instead of drawing antlers, take some brown pipe cleaners, arrange the brown pipe cleaners into antlers and glue the pipe cleaners to the top of the reindeer’s head. If the coloring book has a picture of the sleigh, cut the sleigh out of the book; color the sleigh using crayons; and paste the sleigh in front of the reindeer.

Once the fronts of the cards are decorated, your family can write a personal Christmas message inside the card, with everyone signing their names using colored crayons or markers. Or, to really make the card special, insert a family photograph and sign all your names.

Making personalized Christmas cards is probably one of the most popular craft ideas for the entire family. While the kids are on Christmas vacation, take a day to sit around your kitchen or dining room table and create memorable homemade Christmas cards.

More Christmas Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Guide
Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

How to Make a Gingerbread House for Christmas

Would you like to make a gingerbread house this Christmas? There are a few options. Either start from scratch, which may take more than a day to complete, or buy a Gingerbread House Kit which includes all of the items you’ll need to build this holiday favorite. Whatever the choice, your kids will have a lot of fun making it. This is a perfect way for them to use their imagination and creativity.

If baking is not your thing, simply go out and buy the kit so that your kids can spend more time decorating it. Putting the house together is pretty simple. Just follow the instructions given in the kit. You will need edible glue to hold the pieces together.

Make the glue using this recipe:

1 egg white
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 cups confectioners sugar

Make sure the glue is thick – like glue should be. Put it into a piping gun or cake decorationg bag, and you are set to go.

Once the house is built, you get to start on the fun part. Let the kids pick out what types of candies they want to use to decorate the house, for example, gum drops, M&M’s, candy canes, or cookies.

Here are some more ideas:

• Put some trees in front of the house. How about using pretzel sticks with green candy leaves attached?

• Add food coloring into part of the glue to add color to your gingerbread house. Use the colored glue to outline the windows, roof, and other parts of the house.

• Make gingerbread cookies as people and set them in front or inside of the house. Decorate the gingerbread cookies to give them a more personal touch.

• Perhaps the kids would also want to add a chimney. Use licorice squares.

• Add a gingerbread Santa cookie on the roof.

• Want to add your family pet? Buy animal crackers and place them outside the house.

• Take a graham cracker and pipe on the family name, or the names of the kids who decorated it. That’s a great personal touch.

There are so many ways with which kids can decorate a gingerbread house because their imagination is never-ending. The main thing is to provide the tools and then have fun doing it. Whether it is a small, medium or large gingerbread house, the possibilities are endless. Not only will they have fun, but it will be a learning experience as well. Be sure to take lots of pictures!

More sites on How To Make A Gingerbread House:
Simply Recipes: How to Make a Gingerbread House
Gingerbread House Recipe. How to Make a Gingerbread House.
How to Make a Classic Gingerbread House eHow.com
Gingerbread House Recipe for Christmas With Complete Instructions ...
Make Your Own Gingerbread House
How to Make a Gingerbread House: Includes Recipe and Decorating Ideas
How to Make Gingerbread Houses - wikiHow
How to Build a Gingerbread House - Mahalo
and How to Make a Felt Gingerbread House Homeschoolist

Make a Gingerbread House! on YouTube:



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Make Your Own Christmas Wreaths

Most people want to place a sign of the season on their front door. Usually the decoration of choice is a Christmas wreath. Wreaths don’t have to only go on the front door and they don’t only have to be made out of artificial pine garland or real pine sprigs. Think outside the box this Christmas and create a beautiful and unique wreath.

The holiday wreath on the front door welcomes people to your home. Traditionally it was good luck to hang greenery because it remained green throughout the winter when everything else had died. Greenery gave a pleasant scent to the air inside the home as well.

Wreaths are usually made of evergreen pine sprigs and decorated with bows or holly with berries. The Christmas wreath has evolved into so much more since the early days of Christmas celebrations. They have become bigger and more ornate each year.

Most stores carry undecorated wreaths. These are artificial wreaths that are just waiting for you to add your magic touch. If you plan on using the same wreath each year, let each member of the family add something to it to symbolize the uniqueness of the whole family.

Bows
Bows are a great choice for additions to any wreath. The fabric can be looped around the wreath or you can use a hot glue gun to attach smaller bows to the front of the wreath. Tiny figures like English horns, cherubs, Christmas trees, Santa ornaments, and pine cones can be added to the wreath as well. A blast of spray snow on the tips of the pine needles brings a touch of winter to the entire decoration.

Dried Fruit
If you want to get away from the pine variety of wreath, try dried fruit slices. Thin slices of fruit like apples and oranges can be dried and arranged in a circle. The slices can then be glued together in the shape of a wreath. Add sprigs of holly, mint, and other herbs to create an even more inviting scent. Don’t limit your wreath to just the front door either. Fruit wreaths can be hung in the kitchen or dining room. Cover them with a varnish or other coating so as not to attract ants and insects to your creation.

Fabric
Wreaths can also be made out of fabric and stuffing. A festive cloth can be used to make a tubular shape. Stuff the cloth with pillow filling to give it a full look. Add herbs to the filling or try a scented spray to the outer covering. These wreaths can be hung on bedroom doors and in any room where you want a nice, clean holiday smell.

A Christmas wreath can be created from any number of items. Look at what you already have and see what you can do with before you purchase a wreath from the store. Put your thinking cap on and in a few easy steps, you could have a house full of holiday wreaths in no time.

More Christmas Ideas:
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The Ultimate Christmas Guide
Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

Making Christmas Wrapping Paper with Kids

Making Christmas wrapping paper with kids is an enjoyable activity to do with your kids. Here are a few to consider.

Tin Foil -
Using tin foil as Christmas wrapping paper is a great idea. Take a gift and wrap it in aluminum foil, which you can purchase at any supermarket. You can decorate the wrapped gift in several ways. Attach a Christmas card or cut out pictures. Or gather together some Christmas stickers and place the stickers you have on the box.

Fabric -
Another idea is to take fabric, and use it as Christmas wrapping paper. This is ideal for a small gift. Simply wrap the fabric around the gift and close the top with a ribbon.

Sunday Newspaper -
Make wrapping paper from your Sunday newspaper. The newspaper is filled with full color inserts and Christmas ads, which are usually two to four page store specials. The Sunday paper also usually contains comics, as well. Select some pages and pull out the pages that you choose. Take some scotch tape and tape the pages together so that you have enough paper to wrap the gift. Attach a bright ribbon to match the colors in the paper. This is a unique and fun way to wrap a gift, and I am sure the recipient of this present will be delighted at your ingenuity and imaginative style.

Kids Artwork -
Kids love to show off their artwork. Why not wrap the gift in plain newsprint or a paper bag and encourage your child to decorate it? Your child may be more excited about their artwork than presenting the gift itself. Simply present your child with the standard tools – crayons, markers, rubber stamps, stickers -- and let them go crazy with it.

If you don’t have paper bags or newsprint, you can take the artwork that your children bring home from school to create Christmas gift wrap. Simply take several pieces of their existing art and help them use it to wrap the gift. Just make sure it isn’t their “most special favorite” artwork before you begin.

While most people are deciding on what Christmas wrapping paper to buy, making Christmas wrapping paper with kids can be so much more enjoyable, and easy to do. Whether you use tin foil, ribbons, ornaments, drawings, or goodies – these original ideas will make Christmas gift wrapping a pleasure for you and your kids.

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Making "Scents" Of Christmas

Here are 3 recipes to help you add that special Christmas "Scent" throughout your home during the holidays!

CHRISTMAS SCENT #1

3 tbsps of ground cinnamon
2 tbsps of ground cloves
1 tbsp of anise seed
1 tsp of ground nutmeg
1 tsp of ground ginger
1 quart of water

Mix the spices together. Add water. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally, then simmer on low. Add water as needed. Dry mix can also be used as gift.





CHRISTMAS SCENT #2

Peels of 2 oranges
3 cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves
2 1/2 cups of water

Combine in a saucepan. Simmer, add water as needed.


CHRISTMAS SCENT #3

1 pkg. of pickling spice
1 pkg. of whole cloves
1 pkg. of stick cinnamon
1 can of apple juice

Put all ingredients into a crock-pot. Fill to top with water. Bring to boil, put on simmer. Add water as needed.


More Christmas Ideas:
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The Ultimate Christmas Guide
Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

Easy Christmas Gifts in a Jar

Sometimes it is the simple things in life that makes us happy. Easy Christmas gifts in a jar are one of those simple things.

Love to make gingerbread cookies? Why not put the ingredients in a jar; write the recipe on red construction paper; cut the construction paper to the circumference of the jar; and wrap the construction paper around the front of the jar with white ribbon. Place a green bow on top of the lid of the jar.

Brownies are a wonderful gift anytime of year, but especially during Christmas. Find your favorite brownie recipe and put the ingredients into a jar. Type up the recipe, roll it up, and place the rolled recipe into jar along with the ingredients. Wrap the jar in color cellophane, and tie the cellophane with red ribbon.

Have you seen those spice green and red candies? There are sold in most supermarkets. This would make a perfect Christmas gift in a jar.

Jelly beans in a jar are another traditional Christmas gift. Easy, fun, delicious, and low in calories as well.

M&M’s in a jar is another wonderful Christmas treat. Buy a bag of red and green M&M’s, either plain or with nuts, and fill up a jar as a Christmas gift which anyone would love to receive.

A traditional Christmas gift in a jar is the colorful hard candies, such as peppermint sticks; Christmas hard candies with filling; red and white mint swirl candies.

For chocolate lovers, why not put chocolate pretzels in a jar. Chocolate pretzels come in packages, and are available in your local supermarket. What a sweet treat this gift would make.

How about theme gifts in a jar? Examples are: Chocolate golf balls; chocolate baseballs; chocolate footballs; chocolate soccer balls. Any of these fun theme gifts would be a hit with anyone who enjoys these sports.

No matter what you choose; traditional; off-beat; baked or bought, making easy Christmas gifts in a jar is fun and allows you to be as creative as you want to be. Gifts in a jar can be an inexpensive treat to give to your colleagues at work; your friends, and even your family members.

The best part is you can go to your supermarket or shopping club and stock up on your favorite candies and chocolates, to make as many jars of treats as you need. Happy shopping.

Homemade Christmas Gifts for Family Members Who are Away

Families love to spend the holidays together. Sometimes, circumstances are such that family members aren’t able to be present in the same place during Christmas. There are many reasons that some family members can’t be together during the holidays. If they are in the military, they could be stationed overseas. Family members who are ill may find it hard or not possible to travel long distances.

When situations arise that keep families separated don’t let it stop you from making those who can’t be with you feel they are still a part of the celebration! Homemade gifts sent to them through the mail will help you to accomplish this. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Do you own a video camera? Create a holiday video for far away family members. Each person can talk about how much they miss them and send their own personal message of love. Kids can drop hints about what they want for Christmas too. If you haven’t seen the person in awhile, talk about what has changed in your life to get them up to speed.

Along the same line as videos are scrapbooks. Scrapbooks are like a hyped up photo album. They can contain funny sayings, neat designs, and other added ornamentation that you wouldn’t find in a photo album.

Scrapbooks can be about the person who is missing, about their family back home, or both. Each person can create a miniature scrapbook of themselves to send. Scrapbooks contain magazine clippings, announcements, and other keepsakes not just photographs. Use your imagination and come up with new ideas that will make the gift special for the family member who can’t be with you.

If you decide to send edible homemade gifts, be sure to check on the requirements for shipping those gifts. Not everything travels well through the mail. If the gift is breakable like cookie mixes in jars, they must be wrapped well with bubble wrap to prevent accidents during shipping. You’ll also want to be sure you send the gifts early enough so that they arrive on time. Check with your local post office to find out how much time you should give for the package to arrive.

Homemade accessories like scarves, hats, and gloves are easy to ship and even kids can make them with a bit of help. These items are always needed in cold weather. Using solid color yarn will make them more versatile with different outfits.

Certain homemade gifts can be too large or bulky to send in one piece. Package the gift in separate parts and send instructions for constructing it on the other end. This can actually be fun for the family member receiving the gift.

Speaking of fun, jigsaw puzzles provide hours of brain boggling fun. Create your own using a blow up of a family portrait. Glue the picture to a piece of cardboard and cover it with clear contact paper. Create different shapes in the picture and cut them out. Paste a smaller copy of the picture on the top of the gift box so that the person reassembling it will know what the completed puzzle should look like.

Homemade crafts are appreciated by family near and far. By sending homemade gifts you help the miles separating you seem closer and the heart warming thoughts put into the gifts will show no matter how far apart you are.

More Christmas Craft Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Collection
Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

Fun Santa Crafts For Christmas

If there’s one thing that kids love to do it’s create things. The holidays are just the right time for them to have free reign with crafts. Since everyone is hard at work decorating the house, kids can lend their creativity to the moment by creating their own decorations of Santa Claus.

When you mention Christmas kids think of Santa Claus. The bearded man in the red suit has fascinated young ones for decades. Show the kids how to make fun Christmas crafts that feature Santa.

Before you buy anything, check around the house. Primary colors for Santa Claus are red, white, and black. Go on the hunt for materials that match this description. A bag full of cotton balls can be turned into a white beard for several crafts. Pipe cleaners, wooden clothespins, pieces of fleece or felt, and Popsicle sticks are excellent for many holiday crafts and Santa crafts are no exception.

Once you’ve turned the place upside down, head out to the store for the items that you are missing. Using items that you already own saves money especially when there is more than one child and they want to make a lot of crafts.

Christmas Stockings, Hats or Scarves
Let’s return to those cotton balls. If you have some generic Christmas stockings lying around, give them a face lift. Use a black marker to draw the face of Santa Claus on the stocking. Attach a cotton ball beard, eyes, and a nose with non-toxic glue. These items can also decorate Santa Claus hats and scarves. Be sure to let the crafts dry completely before hanging or wearing them.

Santas Puppets
Paper bags are for more than just lunch sandwiches. The end of the bag where it folds can be outfitted with a Santa Claus face to make a merry puppet. Make hands and arms with extra felt pieces. Let kids stand their puppets up on canned food cans to dry. This idea also works well for sock puppets.

Santa Cup Dolls
Red plastic cups or small terra cotta pots can be turned over and used as Santa’s body. A Styrofoam ball can double as Santa’s head. Give kids the space to decorate and dress Santa the way that they want to. Get them to make enough of these Santa cups or pots and place them on your table as a small gift for each dinner guest.

Santa Ornaments

Using clothespins and pipe cleaners, you can create miniature Santa ornaments for the Christmas tree. Remember, younger children will need more help and supervision no matter which craft they are making. For older kids, spread the craft items out over the table and see what their imagination can conjure up.

Santa is a big part of the celebration of Christmas and therefore should be part of the household decorations and festivities as well. Santa crafts are easy holiday fun that allows kids to contribute to the decorations and be proud of their completed work too, so let them show their creations off as much as they want to family and friends who come by to visit this holiday season.

More Christmas Craft Ideas:

Little Kids Christmas Crafts

The Ultimate Christmas Collection

Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

Christmas Centerpieces Kids Can Make

When sitting down to Christmas dinner, all eyes go to the center of the table. This is because there is a beautiful centerpiece there that was made by your kids. Don’t spend money purchasing something elaborate for the holiday table this year. Let the kids (with your help) do the honors for the family.

Here are some centerpiece ideas that are easy enough for kids to create.

Decorative centerpieces can be crafted from items that you already possess. Things that you use to decorate the house each holiday can be converted to an arrangement for the family dinner table. Gather a few things and see what you and the kids can come up with.

It’s possible that a string or two of lights can be spared. What about a few sprigs of greenery? Put some of those on the table. No one ever uses every single ornament on the tree. Get the kids to pick the ones they like and add them to the stockpile. Wire bows, wrapping paper, small boxes, and candles are good items for centerpieces. If you don’t have any, invest in some decorative flat marbles that are frequently used in flower arrangements. That should be plenty to get started with.

When most people think of holiday centerpieces they see candles and greenery. Try them together and separately. You will need a platter or a charger plate for the base of your centerpiece. Charger plates come in holiday colors and compliment whatever you decide to put on them.

Candles can create a centerpiece all by themselves. Let the kids choose candles of various sizes and colors. Let them mix the heights and colors of the candles however they choose. As an accent have them place colored marbles between and around the candles. The light will sparkle off the marbles when the candles are lit, creating a pretty glow.

Greenery looks rather plain all by itself. To spruce it up, add a string of colored or white lights. A touch of sprayed on snow can be added to the tips as well to give it more of a winter feel.

How about adding some glittery ornaments? Red ornaments resemble large shiny holly berries sitting atop the greenery. Ornaments can be arranged in a glass bowl with miniature pine cones to create a different kind of centerpiece. Floating candles can also be placed in a bowl of water and lit during dinnertime.

The ideas are plentiful when it comes to centerpieces for the holiday dinner table or coffee table. Let the kids create as many as they can think of. If you have more than you can use, give them away to friends and family to adorn their holiday tables as well.

More Christmas Craft Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Collection
Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

6 Tips To Celebrate Christmas On A Small Budget

Below are six Christmas decorations ideas that can help you save money and celebrate Christmas on a small budget. If that doesn't thrill you, I don't know what will!

Holiday Wreaths:

There are two types of holiday wreaths: real and artificial. Real ones cost more and can spread the Christmas smell of pine throughout your house. But an artificial wreath can do the job as well. They may not have the smell of the real ones, but they look festive nonetheless! You can add spice to those wreaths by tying or glueing small bundles of Christmas scented potpourri to them.

Acrylic Paint:

Did you know that you can create Christmas decorations on the windows by using acrylic paint mixed with a small amount of dish soap? It is an inexpensive way to create multiple decorations on your windows and can be washed off once the holidays are over.

Handmade Crafts:

Ask your children to give you a hand in creating some Christmas decorations. Not only will this be a fun Christmas experience for your family, it will also add sentimental value to your Christmas tree decorations.

Bows:

Place bows at as many places as you can think of - your doors, windows, stairs, gardens, etc. The advantage of using bows as Christmas decorations is that you can save and use them year after year.

Candles:

Buy some inexpensive jar candles from your local store and tie a ribbon around the outside of the jar top and then light your candle. Voila! You created an instant Christmas decoration!

Start a Christmas Decoration Tradition:

Make it a tradition to make and save Christmas decorations for the next year. This will not only make Christmas an enjoyable tradition for the whole family, it will also prove to be a great cost-saver in the long run.

By using any of those six tips from above, you can truly make your Christmas decorations as festive as the more expensive ones and stay well within your holiday budget!

More Christmas Craft Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Collection

Christian Christmas Ideas:

Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

Christmas Food Crafts

What’s better than a cute craft made by your child? A cute craft made by your child that you can eat, that’s what. Most kids like to cook. When you are baking cookies or cakes, they want to help. And no I don’t mean just licking the batter bowl. Strap a kid-sized apron on them, grab a stool and get ready for some fun family time. Edible crafts are a hit with family members, teachers and friends too, so you can never make too many.

Here are some ideas for edible crafts that your kids can help you to make.

Chocolate Spoons
Chocolate is a good choice for treats all year 'round. For the chocolate lovers in your life, create chocolate stirrer spoons. These spoons can be used in hot cocoa or coffee for extra sweetness. To create your sweet stirrers, you’ll only need a few ingredients and cleanup is a snap.

First, pile a bunch of plastic spoons with melted semi-sweet chocolate and let them cool. Then wrap the tops of the spoons in colorful bags or festive cellophane and tie with a twist tie. The chocolate spoons can be added to gifts of coffee, mugs, kitchen baskets, or placed in Christmas stockings.

Candy Canes
Candy canes can decorate your tree or you can decorate them and give them away. Turn that candy cane into a reindeer by adding pipe cleaners, a nose, and felt ears. Lay them down and glue a box of candy on top to create a sleigh. Take several different flavored candy canes and tie them with a wire bow to create a candy cane bouquet.

Christmas Cookies
Enlist your child’s help when baking holiday cookies too. Red hot candies or M&M’s can be added to make faces on Santa or reindeer cookies. Christmas tree cookies can be frosted with green icing and candy sprinkles for lights.

Gingerbread Houses
Christmas is the time that many bakers make gingerbread houses. Gingerbread kits contain everything needed to bake and assemble the house. Kids will need your help to put the pieces together, but they can add the icing, gumdrops, and other candies to the house. Covering the gingerbread house with a protective coating will help preserve it over the Christmas holiday. If the kids decide to eat it, forget about the coating and dig in.

Cookie Gift Tags
An alternative to gift tags would be to create cookie gift tags. The cookies are baked and then a hole is made in the top center while they are still warm. The recipients name is written in frosting on the cookie and attached to the gift with curly ribbon. To keep the cookies fresh, seal the cookie tags in plastic bags after they are attached to the top of the gifts. Wait until the night before Christmas to attach them so the ants don’t enjoy them first.

Food crafts are tasty and oh so much fun to make. Creating them gives kids a chance to get in the kitchen and learn all about the art of baking and allows you to relieve yourself from some of the stress that all that cooking can cause when you are doing it alone.

More Christmas Craft Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Collection

More Christian Christmas Ideas:

Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

Christmas Keepsake Crafts

Some crafts made during holiday time are more special than others. These crafts, we will call keepsakes. A keepsake is something that you treasure for years to come and it holds a special memory for the recipient. All kids can create keepsake crafts that will be used each year at Christmas.

I’ve seen ornaments in the store that say “Baby’s First Christmas”. For a more personal touch on the first ever Christmas for your child, create clay handprints. Craft stores may carry baking clay that can be used at home. Be sure to follow the packaged instructions for use.

Place baby’s tiny hands in the clay to make an imprint in the softened surface. Once the clay dries, paint the handprints. Label the keepsake with the child’s name and the year. All of the kids can participate in this craft. This is also a great (and precious) way to see how they grow over the years. When the kids are old enough, let them paint their own keepsake Christmas handprints. The handprints can double as paperweights around the house or in the office or be hung each year for the holidays only.

Foam craft sheets are wonderful things. They come in cutout shapes and are easy to cut yourself. This year, let everyone create their own version of Santa, Rudolph or a snowman using foam. First, cut out the top piece of the foam where the head would go. Next, you’ll need a head shot picture of each family member. Cut the photo to the size necessary to fit on the foam as a head. Glue the picture in place.

To turn them into ornaments, put a hook through the top and hang them on the tree. If you want to display it on the refrigerator, attach magnets to the back of the figure. They can also be used in a family picture wreath if you’d like. These are another ornament that can be used over and over each year. Watch the kids grow by creating new ones each year with a recent photo.

Some keepsake crafts don’t have to be made at home. When kids are younger, they make holiday crafts in art class. I made a reindeer out of a paper plate when I was in the first grade that my mother still hangs on her tree. I have kept up the tradition with my own children. I want them to know that I treasure the gifts that they brought home to me. I have a special place on the tree for all the crafts that they have given me throughout their days in elementary school.

What kinds of crafts are special to you? Maybe your child has made the cutest snowman or the perfect paper star. Let others see how proud you are of it by putting it on display. The tree doesn’t have to be the only place you show off their creations either. Press paper crafts between two panes of glass. Once you seal them, the crafts can be used as coasters at holiday gatherings.

Don’t let your kids’ treasures get thrown away at the end of the holidays. Preserve them to be used again and again. When they go out on their own, be sure to give them all their creations to decorate their own homes with or to give them ideas for helping their own children decorate for the holidays.

3 Tips For Making The Perfect Christmas Basket

Christmas cards and ordinary gifts are passé; if you want to garner the attention of your friends, then you need to gift them with something unique. By 'unique', I don't mean a very expensive gift. You need to gift them something that very few people have even thought of!

Can think of anything?

What about the Christmas gift baskets?

People love Christmas gift baskets because they contain a dozen gifts instead of one, even if the gifts are usually cheaper than the expensive gift. If you want to gift a Christmas basket to all of your loved ones, here is what you need to know about:

Things You Will Need:

There are not many things that you will need for making a Christmas basket. All you need is an empty basket, colored paper, ribbon, and the gift items. Now, you can get all these at your local discount store. When choosing a basket, make sure you look for the red or green baskets, as they are quite appealing to the eyes. If you don't find a basket to your liking, you can use an empty bowl as an alternative, as well as a colored paper. Next, you should purchase a pretty ribbon from the same discount store. Make sure the color of the ribbon matches that of the basket!

Visit Package Stores:

Next, it is time to shop for the main gift items. It is not as hard as you think, especially if you already know about something that the gift recipient loves or longs for! For example, if the gift recipient happens to be a cat lover, find out all the gifts, food items, crafts and cards that are especially themed on cats. If you do a little research, I am sure you will be able to come up with a dozen gift items. In my opinion, it is far easier to come up with several small gift ideas than a large and expensive one.

One more thing. You should make a list of all kinds of gift baskets you can/want to make. Then visit stores that sell products in bulk. For example, if you buy a dozen soaps or two dozens of candles, you would be able to finish the gift shopping within a short time. Also look for stores that sell bundled products.

Make That Basket:

You are almost done! Now all you need to do is to make the basket itself! Wrap the basket with the colored paper, put the gift items inside it and tie it with your pretty ribbon. That is all there to it!

One thing you should note is that if you are making more than one basket, it is not always easy to assemble all the items in order of theme. That is why I'd recommend you engage your children in making the Christmas gift baskets as well!

Christmas Craft Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Collection

Christian Christmas Ideas:
Christmas & Advent Celebration For The Holidays Package

4 Ways to Make Christmas Gifts For Free

What kind of gift will you get for your loved ones this Christmas? It seems like a tough question. Sure you can purchase generic gifts such as chocolates, biscuits, cookies, dresses, crafts, etc, but what if you are short of money? Why not make some cool gifts at home this year. They would not cost you anything more than some work on your part, and it is worth it! As a matter of fact, it is not the gift but the feeling attached to it that matters most to the gift recipients.

1. Turn Your Junk into Valuable Treasure. Search your house a little and I am sure you will be able to come up with a lot of old stuff that no one in your family uses anymore! Have you got old curtains that you don't use, or old beads? Do you feel that the old ornaments are no longer a good fit for your new Christmas tree? Well, why not turn these items into something precious. You can easily use these items together to make bracelets that would be loved by the girls in your family.

2. Do You Know How to Knit? Then there is yet another option for you. Why not knit some sweater or scarf for your loved ones. If you have got the time and skill you can knit almost anything! Most people knit baby clothes but nobody said you cannot knit adult clothes as well. Gift them to your relatives and see how happy they become!

3. Are You Good at Woodwork? Then why not take some time to make a photo frame and gift it to your friend. Photo frames are always in demand because they serve as holders for memories, that is, pictures. Of course you can also make a magazine rack and gift it to your loved ones.

4. If you are not skilled at anything above, don't fret. I hope you can write a few lines? Why not pen your family history. Take the pen and let your imagination run a little wild. Remember the good old times and write about them and don't forget to paste some old family photos in the book as well! Then gift it to someone who is very close to you. Will they love it! You bet! Anyone will love your book if not for its content then for the memories attached to it.

Now go ahead and make some of these gifts. Like I said, you can really make some cool gifts for free if you know how to!

More Christmas Craft Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Collection

3 Cute Christmas Ornaments...

...You Can Make with Items Around Your House



These days it is quite expensive to buy ornaments or other decorations for the holidays. As a more frugal and fun option, here are 3 cute Christmas ornaments you can make with items you have around your house.

1. Cookie Ornaments: Use whatever cookie cutter designs you have on hand and bake cookies to hang on the tree. If you do not have cookie cutter designs, no problem. Make your own designs. For example make pretzel cookies, which can easily be hung on a branch and decorated with ribbons. Here is how to do it. Roll out a small piece of your favorite dough to about 3 inches. Take the two ends and overlap them at the top to form an upside down letter “Q” – or make any loop shape. After the pretzel is baked, you can tie a ribbon through the hole in the shape of a bow, and hang it on the tree.

2. Paper Tree Ornaments: Take white construction paper and cut out Christmas trees. Your child can personalize each one with his name, stickers, glitter, a drawing, or color each tip of the tree to resemble ornaments. Use these trees to make a border in your child’s room or string them together to wrap around your Christmas tree.

3. Christmas Stocking Ornaments: Make your own Christmas stocking ornaments using whatever material you have on hand. Use several fabrics and colors to really make them bright and colorful. Glue on bows, beads or large ribbons. You can also personalize them with your child's name. When the stockings are done, cut a piece of fabric into a loop and sew it onto the top of the stocking. Hang them on the tree proudly.

Making homemade Christmas ornaments is not only fun for the entire family, but lets your child expand his creativity and imagination. It is much more meaningful to make something than to just go out and buy it. It is a wonderful and satisfying way to spend time with your children. These home-made ornaments make wonderful gifts as well.

Before you decide to go shopping for Christmas ornaments, first take a look around your house. You’ll be surprised at what you may find!


More Christmas Craft Ideas:
Little Kids Christmas Crafts
The Ultimate Christmas Collection