Easy Holiday Family Crafts
by Lisette Cheresson
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is stressful. Visitors can make the house seem more crowded than ever and kids are home from school, brimming with excitement. It can feel like there’s always a little person underfoot, who’s overflowing with energy and looking for an activity. This isn’t an issue endemic to our busy modern lives, either—the old song proclaiming that “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” notes that Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again. Holiday crafts can be a great way to get the kids to slow down and harness their exuberant cheer for something productive.
Ornaments
These can be as simple as making paper items that hang from a paperclip, or as complicated as this wire star ornament we love, created by Alyssa and Carla. The old popsicle stick and glue routine shouldn’t be overlooked either—kids are great at turning junk into weird things that warm parents’ hearts. Provide yarn to hang ornaments from, which can be incorporated into their design. Try to avoid giving any instruction, and allow creativity to run wild—even if what they come up with has nothing to do with the season.
Keep in mind that ornaments aren’t just for trees! No matter what holiday you’re celebrating, you can hang ornaments around your house to keep things festive—from drawer handles, standing lamps, etc.
Gingerbread Houses
Gingerbread houses are some of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to holiday crafts. You can get a complete kit from sites like Gingerhaus.com for under $50 if you want to spare your kitchen the hassle, but gingerbread is surprisingly easy to make. Because they’ll likely be used as decoration instead of a holiday snack, don’t hesitate from using cardboard to help prop up the cookie. Provide sugared gumdrops, small candy canes, icing, Twizzlers, and gummy bears.
Placecards
Looking for a way to enlist your kids to help with those massive holiday dinner parties? Task them with creating personalized placards for your guests. They can be as simple as index cards and markers, or can as fancy as cute sun-catchers that your guests can take home. For a kid-friendly sun-catcher project, simply place cheap, translucent plastic beads in the cups of a muffin pan. The more complex your arrangement of beads in the pan, the more complex your craft will turn out. Bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes—they WILL slip right out of your pan once they’ve cooled.
Be warned, though, the fumes of melting plastic are gross and can be dangerous. Heading out to sled or look at neighborhood lights may be in order while your suncatcher-placards are baking!
Wrapping Paper
Have your kids create customized wrapping paper—another craft idea that will save you time and effort in the long run. Start with old newspaper or construction paper, and encourage them to create collages. If they’re too young to cut and paste, have them draw on the wrapping paper instead. Not only will they be entertained, you may just be able to recruit help wrapping all the presents when they’re finished!
However you get crafty this holiday season, you’ll be creating memories that far outlast winter break. And hopefully reducing your stress while you’re at it.
Krayons & Karma managing editor Lisette Cheresson is a freelance writer, editor, and filmmaker living in New York City. An avid traveler, dirt-collector, composter, hiker, dancer, and lover-of-yoga, Lisette’s work has appeared in Off Track Planet, The Huffington Post, a selection of New York Times books, TheRag literary magazine, and as a Glimmer Train contest finalist. Her films can be watched at www.flyoverpics.com.
Image courtesy of digidreamgrafix / FreeDigitalPhotos.net