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‘Tis the season to be crafty!
Celebrating Christmas is so much more than ripping into presents on Christmas day. It’s about family – visiting loved ones, spending much need quality time with our kids, and equally as importantly, stuffing our faces with food guilt-free (kids and adults alike).
With this in mind, it’s important to teach our kids the value of family time and to remind them that us parents can be pretty cool sometimes. How exactly are we supposed to convince them of this? Through crafts of course!
There’s always that bit of magic and accomplishment that making things by hand brings. It’s such a rewarding experience for children when they make something they are proud of like a card they made for Grandma, a bauble that hangs proudly from the Christmas tree, or cookies that are devoured by the family. Most importantly, it also teaches them the joy and pleasure of giving.
We’ve collected our top 5 easy DIY Christmas crafts that you and your little elf can get working on in Santa’s workshop over the holidays. They’re fun, easy, and oh so merry Christmas-y.
Remember, we’d LOVE to see how yours turned out. Share your snaps on our Facebook page or tag us on Instagram @kiddipedia #kiddipedia so we can share the spirit.
Christmas Cookie Bunting
Image Source: taste.com.au – Coles
This deliciously crafty recipe brings our two loves together: eating + decorating! For an easy recipe with guaranteed success, try this Coles Shortbread Christmas Wreaths recipe.
Once your shortbread dough is ready, all you need to do is punch out your favourite shape with a cookie cutter. Or, if your little one is feeling creative, get them to make their own shapes! They’re perfect decorations but don’t forget to eat them before they go stale (about 2 weeks max).
Handy tip: to make a hole to thread string through solid shapes, just use a straw to cut the hole out prior to putting the dough in the oven.
This recipe will only take about 45 minutes to prepare and cook in total. But if you’re up for more of a challenge, try these Gingerbread Bunting from BBC goodfood.
Christmas Cards
Image Source: Pinterest
Let’s go back to the classics by making adorable Christmas cards for family and friends. Our favourites are the Christmas Tree (Pictured below). Simply punch out the tips of each side of the tree onto the card, then thread a coloured ribbon through to form the tree. All you’ll need is a piece of A4 card stock cut in half and folded in two for two cards, scissors, a hole puncher, and ribbon.
Image Source: Pinterest
Alternatively, for a cute reindeer card, grab some brown paint and cover your child’s thumb well with it. Press their thumb to the paper to make the head. Get goggly eyes, then add red sequins for the nose, and draw on the antlers in a brown texta or dark brown paint. Don’t forget to get them to sign off on their piece of art!
Personalised Snowman Baubles
Image Source: Pinterest
This one is probably one of our top favourite crafts ever. It’s easy and so personalized that it makes for a great keepsake and present for the family. Simply cover the palm side of your child’s hand in white paint, then place a plain coloured bauble in their palm, and get them to grab and wrap their fingers around it. Decorate the fingers into snowmen using paint or extra materials like felt and sequins to turn the little fingers into cute snowmen! Do this once a year and you’ll soon have a tree filled with lasting memories.
Christmas Luminaries
Image Source: One Little Project
These little fire-safe DIY tea lights are perfect for an easy craft to boost creativity, and for kids who are scared of the dark. Making their own cute night light that can hang or be stuck on the wall is not only decorative but also handy for lighting up their room just the right amount. Get crafty using ribbon, mini pom poms, felt, or even just cardboard!
Mason Jar Luminaries
Image Source: Today’s Creative Life
Boy oh boy have we found the easiest mason jar candle crafts for you! The first jar (pictured above) is as simple as grabbing some faux cranberries (so you can reuse them next year), something green like cedar leaves, a floating candle, and water. Adding a ribbon around the jar and glitter are final touches you can add for extra pizazz.
The second jar (pictured below) is a little more time-consuming, but also allows your kids to spend more time designing their favourite style jar. With paint in Red, Green, white, gold, or even blue for snowflake jars, they can design shapes and inverse patterns which creates a pretty Christmas tea light holder. Make sure there’s a little window without paint for your kids to see their candle shine brightly through the jar.
Image Source: InSpiDeco
Looking forward to seeing your creative versions! Share your snaps on our Facebook page or tag us on Instagram @kiddipedia #kiddipedia.
And until then… Merry Christmas!
You may also like to read:
Where have all the Christmas cards gone?
How to Get Christmas Sorted Early, Stress-Free!
Kiddipedia: Australia’s Fastest Growing Parenting Website
