As the most wonderful time of year approaches, there are many school events, church events, parties and activities. In the midst of this busy month, take a few moments to make a memory and a craft with your family.
Make an Ornament
There are many ways to personalize an ornament for family, friends or yourself. Most crafts stores sell the hard clay like ornaments with spots to write the names of your family members or friends. Be sure to use a fine tip Sharpie, as this is the easiest way to add personalization.
You can also decorate an ornament. Most craft stores also sell the clear glass or plastic round ball ornaments. If you are working with small children I suggest the clear plastic--it’s a little easier to push on when painting or decorating. The glass ornament balls are a beautiful choice for older children. There are many possibilities for decorating. You can write an initial in the center with a black Sharpie marker and then use red and green paint to make polka dots or stripes all around the ornament. You can paint it a solid color like red or green and make polka dots on top of that. Try some nontraditional color combinations like pink and green or blue and green or brown. These are fun gifts to make and give to your children’s friends. They also make great hostess gifts with the family’s last name initial on it. Personalize it further with favorite football team colors.
The clear ornaments also offer the option of stuffing with something inside. You can take off the top and add glitter, sparkles, small snowflakes or anything you can think of.
Make a Scarf
With a little bit of fleece you can make kid friendly scarves for your child, friends or even as an activity for a class. Measure out about 69 inches or 5 ½ feet of fleece from your local craft or hobby store. There are so many fabric choices to choose from that you can find a pattern for anyone--from cheetah prints, to sports themes, camo themes, flowers, stripes or holiday patterns. Then lay your strips of fabric out and cut fringe pieces 5 inches long on each side. That’s it…you are done! You can tie the pieces or leave them like a fringe on each side. These make great gifts and are really fun and easy to make.
Sugar Cone Christmas Tree Snacks
These easy snacks are great to bring to a party, dinner or class event. You will need pointy, triangle shape sugar ice cream cones, vanilla icing, green food color, mini M&Ms, regular size M&Ms, and any other small candy or marshmallows that you would like to use to decorate your tree. Now stand up the cone so that the pointy part is on the top. Ice the cone with green tinted icing from top to bottom. This is your Christmas tree. Then add any candies to “trim” your tree. Marshmallow stars work great on the top of the tree. Or you can just use sprinkles for smaller children. You can pour the sprinkles onto a plate and just roll the tree in them.
Sweet Snowman
This easy snack craft is great for kids of all ages. You will need small powdered white donuts, vanilla icing, chocolate chips and any candy you choose to decorate. Simply build your snowman using three donuts stacked on top of each other. Layer a thin layer of icing in between to help them stick together. Then add your “coal” eyes (chocolate chips), a Twizzler scarf and any other decorations. A small Reese’s cup makes a great top hat. Secure all of your candy on with vanilla icing.
Throughout this holiday season take time to enjoy the small moments and make something special today. It’s times like these that you will remember and cherish.
