5 Easy Christmas Ornament Crafts to Make with Kids
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The holidays are full of family time, fun get-togethers, celebrating time-honored family traditions, and hopefully plenty of opportunities to create new traditions, too! Today I’m sharing our Christmas tree decorating traditions and 5 Easy Christmas Ornament Crafts to Make with Kids.
Christmas Traditions
One of our family’s favorite traditions centers around the Christmas tree. (Or should I say “trees.”) Every Christmas season we put up two trees; a big tree in the main room for all my non-child-friendly ornaments and “fancy” decor and a second smaller “family” tree for the breakfast/sitting area in the kitchen.
We cover this smaller tree with multiple strands of twinkling multicolored lights and then let the kids go crazy, decorating their little hearts out with handmade garlands and ornaments. This year, we decided that rather than buy our tree at a local lot, it was time to create a new tradition and make the trip out to the local cut it yourself Christmas tree farm.
Even though the weather was a bit on the yucky side, we had a blast on our trip to the Christmas tree farm. The kids were running around, trying to find the perfect tree. And now, we can’t wait to get started decorating our trees!!!
If you need a few easy ideas for inspiration to get crafting, here are five easy Christmas craft ideas to get you started. These simple crafts are made with basic crafting supplies you probably already have around the house!
Easy Christmas Ornament Crafts Crafts Ideas for Kids
1. Construction Paper Wreaths
You’ll need:
- 4.5’’x 8” piece of green construction paper
- Red ribbon
- String
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Hot glue
Directions:
- Fold the piece of green construction paper in half, with the 8” side meeting the other 8” side.
- Using a ruler, draw a line about 1/2” from the edge of the open side (that is, the side that is NOT the fold).
- Make a mark on the folded side about 1/2 inch apart.
- Starting at the fold, cut at the mark to the first line drawn.
- Open your paper and roll it in the opposite direction that it was folded. Overlap the uncut space and hot glue the sides together.
- Take the tube you’ve just made to form a circle. Glue the ends together, and you’ve got a wreath! Add a bow and some string and it’s ready to hang.
2. Popcorn Garland
You’ll need:
- Popped popcorn (plain works best)
- Thread or clear fishing string, several pieces cut to 3 to 5 foot in length. (This length is easiest to work with.)
- Needle
- Scissors
- Beads (optional)
Directions:
- Pop your corn and throw out any scorched pieces. (If possible, wait a couple of days before stringing your garland. Fresh popcorn has a bad habit of breaking and falling off!)
- Thread the needle and make a large enough knot at the end, so the popcorn doesn’t slide off.
- Push the needle through the middle of the fluffiest pieces and slide all the way to the end.
- Alternate popcorn and beads if you want to add some color. Knot the end and you’re all set!
3. Paper Chain Garland
You’ll need:
- construction paper (2 or 3 colors)
- scissors
- scotch tape or glue,
Directions:
- Cut multiple strips of construction paper 1 inch wide and 10 inches long.
- Make your first strip of construction paper into a ring and tape or glue it together
- Slide your next strip of construction paper through the ring and tape or glue it into a ring
- Repeat the process until you have a long chain of construction paper rings.
4. Salt Dough Hand/Foot Print Ornaments
You’ll need:
- ½ c. salt
- ½ c. flour
- ¼ c. water (approximately)
- Rolling Pin
- Ribbon
- Scissors
- Paint (optional)
Directions:
- Mix the salt and flour together and gradually add water until soft dough forms.
- Roll the dough flat and smooth out the surface as well as you can. Have your child make an imprint of her hand in the dough.
- Use a sharp knife to cut around the imprint in whatever shape you want: you can make a heart, a circle, a mitten, etc. Make sure to leave enough dough around the handprint to make a border.
- Use a straw or pencil to poke a hole through the top (or bottom, depending on which way you want the ornament to hang) and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 200 degrees for about an hour, or until hardened.
- You can either paint the prints or leave them as is, but be sure to mark the year made on the ornament.
- Tie a ribbon through the hole and hang!
5. Cotton Ball Snowman
You’ll need:
- White paper
- Construction paper (blue or black works great)Cotton balls
- Glue
- Markers or crayons
- Scissors
- Decorations (felt, buttons, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, whatever odds and ends you have around)
Directions:
- Cut the snowman’s “body” out of white paper.
- Squeeze enough glue on the paper to keep the cotton balls from falling off but not so much that it oozes out everywhere.
- Stick cotton balls on the body until the paper is covered.
- Let it dry for a few minutes and then glue the body onto a piece of construction paper.
- Decorate your snowman.
Now it’s your turn? What is your favorite holiday craft to do with the kids?