Holiday greetings to all! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends this past week and are now looking forward to Christmas, which really is just around the corner! I think the older I get, the faster time goes…not necessarily a good thing!
At any rate, with a new baby and winter-like temperatures the past several weeks, we’ve been spending a lot (read that as TOO MUCH) time indoors lately…SO…I decided we needed to spice things up with some Christmas crafting. Yes, that does mean I started Christmas crafts before Thanksgiving. Shame.on.me. Even though our current living situation is one in which we don’t have space for many decorations, a Christmas tree was a must. I found a nice, little, pre-lit one on sale at Michael’s a few weeks ago, which is now sitting proudly atop our ottoman in the corner of our living room. I thought going “DIY” this year for decorating our tree would be fun too so I set about the task of planning and organizing Christmas tree crafts for our 3.5 and almost 2 year old. Here are a few I have in mind (I’m including a very brief ‘how to’ description but if you are a visual learner like me, you’ll need to google them anyway):
*beaded candy cane ornament (alternate red and white pony beads on a pipe cleaner)
*toilet roll reindeer (cut a toilet roll in half, stick on some wiggly eyes, a pom pom nose, and pipe cleaner antlers. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, paint the toilet roll first or cover it with felt, fabric, etc)
*popsicle stick Christmas tree (glue green sticks into a triangle then decorate with sequins, pom poms and buttons)
*Styrofoam snowman ornament (these are too cute not to mention again so check out my December post from last year’s blog to see instructions)
*Cinnamon dough ornaments (great for giving as gifts too)
*pipe cleaner icicles (thread various sizes and colors of beads onto a sparkly pipe cleaner then wind around a pencil to create a curly effect)
*pine cone reindeer (turn so small end points down, glue on wiggly eyes, pom pom nose, felt ears, and sticks for the antlers)
Whatever this season brings for you, make sure to take some time to remember what the celebration is truly for. Happy Christmas to you and yours!
Julie C.
