Holiday DIY Crafts

Paper Snowflakes

  1. Start with a square piece of paper. (Tip: To cut a perfect square from a standard 8-by-11-inch sheet of paper, fold paper into a right-angled triangle; trim off excess.)
    A square piece of paper

  2. Fold paper in half diagonally to make a triangle.
    Fold paper in half

  3. Fold paper triangle in half so that the pointed corners meet.
    Fold paper in half again

  4. Fold paper triangle in thirds, overlapping the left hand pointed corner over the triangle.
    Fold paper in half a third time

  5. Overlap the righthand pointed corner over the triangle. (Note: You may need to adjust these folds a little to get the sides to match up, so don't crease the paper until the folds are just right.)
    Fold paper in half a final time, but don't crease all the way

  6. Trim the pointed ends so the paper triangle looks as shown.
    Trim excess pointed ends

  7. Cut your folded paper with variations of cutouts. (Tip: The ones with straight lines are easier to make than the ones with curvy lines.)
    Cut off parts of the paper and unfold to reveal your snowflake

  8. Unfold it gently. Don't worry if your snowflake isn't exact: No two snowflakes are ever alike! (Tip: To smooth out any creases from folding, lightly iron one paper snowflake at a time on a low setting. You can also spritz a little spray starch to stiffen and flatten out the snowflakes.)

Candy Cane Reindeer

Supplies

  • Craft glue or hot glue
  • Large candy canes
  • Red candies (like red hots) or red pom-poms
  • Small googly eyes
  • Brown pipe cleaners

Instructions

  1. Place a dab of craft glue or hot glue on the end of a candy cane's hook and press a red candy or red pom-pom onto the glue. Repeat until all of your candy canes have red "noses."
  2. Smear a strip of glue about 1 inch above the nose and press two googly eyes onto the glue.
  3. Twist a brown pipe cleaner at the top of the candy cane, right where it starts to curve. Pinch each side several times, so that it has bends that resemble reindeer antlers. If your pipe cleaner seems to slip around, add a dab of glue to the bottom so that it doesn't slide.
  4. Your candy cane reindeer are now finished. Although the candy canes are edible, the small parts and glue on the canes make these more appropriate for decorations than eating. If you want entirely edible candy cane reindeer, you could use royal icing to glue on the candy nose and use it to make the reindeer's eyes.

Cotton Ball Snowman

Supplies

  • Blue construction paper or card stock
  • Cotton balls
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • 1 brown pipe cleaner
  • Green, black and orange felt
  • 2 googly eyes
  • 3 buttons
  • White 3-D paint

Instructions

  1. Use the glue to "draw" three circles on the blue construction paper as an outline of your snowman. Fill the circles in with glue.
  2. Stick cotton balls in the glue circles to form your snowman.
  3. Cut a pipe cleaner in half and glue them on either side of the middle circle.
  4. Cut a pair of gloves out of the green felt for the snowman's mittens and glue over the pipe cleaners.
  5. Cut a longer and shorter rectangle out of green felt. Glue the longer rectangle over the "neck" of the snowman. Glue the shorter rectangle over the longer one at a slight angle so that it looks like the scarf has been wrapped around the snowman. Cut slits in the ends of the green rectangles.
  6. Glue two eyes onto the snowman.
  7. Cut a small triangle out of orange felt and glue into place under the eyes.
  8. Cut a "C" shape out of black felt and glue into place under the nose as the snowman's mouth.
  9. Cut a hat out of black felt and glue to the top of the snowman's head. Add a strip of red ribbon in the middle of the hat.
  10. Glue on 3 buttons.
  11. Use white 3-D paint to add dots of snow to the background of your picture.

Paper Snow Globe

Supplies

  • A pom pom
  • A black marker
  • Black cardstock
  • A paper towel roll / cardboard tube
  • White, brown and orange paint
  • Tape roll
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Paintbrush
  • Paper plate

Instructions

  1. First, trace the tape roll onto the cardstock sheet and cut out the circle.
  2. Then cut a 2" piece off of the paper towel roll and paint it brown.
  3. Use the white paint and the pom pom to paint a snowman on the black circle.
  4. Then add details like buttons and a nose with the black marker and the orange paint.
  5. Use the scissors to cut 2 slits into the brown paper towel roll and insert the snowman painting into the roll.
  6. Now just find a good place to put your paper snow globe.

Hot Chocolate Mug

Supplies

  • Light weight cardboard (we used an empty cereal box)
  • Paint
  • Paint brushes
  • Chocolate syrup
  • Small white pom-poms
  • Stickers
  • Mug template

Instructions

  1. Print our mug template and cut it out. Trace it onto a piece of cardboard and cut that out.
  2. Paint the mug any color you would like and set aside to dry.
  3. When dry, Draw a semi-circle at the top of the mug. This is where you will paint in the chocolate. Have your child decorate the rest of the mug using stickers or markers.
  4. Paint on a heavy layer of chocolate syrup at the top of the mug. We found that a dabbing motion made the smoothest effect.
  5. While the chocolate is still wet, add the pom-poms to it (no need for glue).