Christmas Ornament Crafts

Kid Christmas Ornaments

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.

Pine Cone Christmas Tree

Supplies: Pine Cone, green paint, glue, glitter, sequins, beads, etc., ribbon, and cotton balls. Instructions: Cut a six inch length of ribbon. Tie it into a circle and glue the tied section to the pointy tip of the pine cone. Hold the pine cone by the ribbon and put little spots of glue on the tips of the tree's "branches" and sprinkle with glitter (or just use glitter glue). Also put some glue around the bottom of the "tree" and glue on some cotton to make it look like the tree is sitting in snow. If your pinecone is big enough, you can even put some snow on the tree's "branches". When the glue is dry, you can use anything you like to decorate your tree. Some things to try: yarn, rick-rack, beads, sequins, tinsel, ribbons, etc. You can also use a hole punch to make little round ornaments to glue to the tree.

Puzzle Ornaments (Christmas Tree or Wreath)

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 Ornament

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.

Draw a five point star about 3 inches accross and a second one slightly smaller on cardboard to make a template. Trace both shapes on felt or construction paper in two different colors and cut out. Next cut six 8 inch strands of ribbon (any color you like). Gather the ribbons and staple together at one end. (make sure the ends are even). To lay out your star, first lay down the largest star, then lay out the stapled end of your ribbons in the center. Glue the ribbons down to the first star and spread enough glue around the large star so that you can lay the small star on top and glue securely. Once dried, make a hole in the top and thread a piece of ribbon through it to use as a hanger.

Gift Giving

Melt some chocolate (I use dove bars) with a little bit of butter in the micromicrowave. Dip strong plastic spoons in to the chocolate and let dry. You can give them to someone covered with plasticwrap, gathered and tied with a ribbon, and they can use them to stir coffee or cocoa.

Christmas Puzzle

These make a great gift or just something fun to keep the kids occupied over the holidays.

Supplies: Puzzle blank, a Christmas picture you can print from your computer, markers or crayons.

Directions: Print your picture on a puzzle blank. Give it to your child to color with markers. You can give this as a gift in one piece, or you can give it to them broken apart. I have even heard of people printing out their Christmas cards on these puzzle blanks, breaking them apart, and mailing them out.

Kids love to make their own gift wrap and it adds a nice touch to presents when you wrap them in your own homemade gift paper. You'll need red and green tempera paint and big sheets of butcher paper or newsprint. Tape sheets of paper up on a basement or garage wall. Pour paint into paper plates or pie plates, and let the kids stamp their hands all over the paper. Let dry. This idea also works well with plain gift bags.

You can also make your own gift wrap by making sponge stamps and using them to stamp all over the paper. To make the stamp, you need a brand new synthetic sponge from the kitchen section of the grocery store. It has to be one of the ones that is kind of smashed flat. Take it out of the plastic and use sharp scissors to cut the sponge into any shape you want. When you are ready to use it, get it wet and wring out all of the water before you dip it into the paint. Kids love these homemade sponges.

Other Holiday Decorations

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.

Snowman Poop

If you want to make an edible version, omit the sequins and glitter and replace them with white sugar crystals and white chocolate chips.

Looking for more kid craft ideas?

More Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make

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