Christmas is the perfect time to flex your creative muscles and get a little crafty. If you have kids, involving them in making homemade decorations is a fantastic way to encourage their imaginations and get their creative juices flowing.
The perfect way to fill long, dark evenings and rainy days, Christmas crafts can help you get your home looking fantastic and save you money on festive decorations. To help get you in the creative mood, we’re taking a looking at some of the best Christmas craft ideas for families.
Wreaths
Making a festive wreath is a fantastic way to get into the Christmas spirit. As making the base for wreaths can be tricky, skip this step by buying a cheap base from a local shop.
Once you’ve got your base, you can start building up your design using any materials you like. If you want to go for a traditional look, use evergreen foliage from your garden or local park. Holly, ivy and fir branches can all look fantastic when wrapped around a wreath. You can give the wreath an even more festive feel by using a bit of metallic spray to highlight standout elements.
Alternatively, use materials you have lying around the house and create a wreath that’s unique to your family.
Candle holders
Having a few candles around the house will help to lend your home a warm, festive feel. Make your rooms look even more Christmassy by getting your kids to create a few unique candle holders for the festive period. Get some jam jars and some tissue paper and get your kids to create their own designs by sticking the paper to the outside of the jars. Use glitter, paint, pens or anything else you like to create your lanterns and then pop a tea light inside to really set the design off.
Baubles
Hanging homemade baubles on your tree is a great way to personalise your Christmas decor. You can make baubles from pretty much anything. If you want a natural look, dried orange slices can look great hanging from a tree. You could also use little bundles of cinnamon sticks, star anise or pine cones to create your subtle but sophisticated decorations.
If you prefer your festive decorations a little jazzier, use glitter, metallic paint and brightly coloured cardboard to create your baubles. You could even print out a few classic family photos and use your crafty skills to turn them into beautiful personalised Christmas tree decorations.
String decorations
Festive string decorations can be made from almost anything. Popcorn, dried orange slices, paper cut-outs, photos and anything else you fancy can be strung together to create an attractive design that can be used to decorate your tree or your home’s interior.
Snowflakes
A great activity for younger kids, you can make snowflakes to decorate your windows, tree or interior using paper or cardboard. Simply fold the paper in half and then in half again. Then fold it diagonally to create a triangular shape. If possible, fold the paper in half again.
You can then take a pair of scissors and cut some shapes out of the paper. Round off the corners, and create intricate patterns all down the length of the paper. When you’re done, open the paper up to reveal your snowflake. Tape your snowflakes to the inside of your windows or tie them together to make a festive decoration for your home.
Gingerbread house
As well as giving you the chance to flex your baking muscles and get creative in the kitchen, making a gingerbread house is a fantastic excuse to indulge in your love of festive treats. You can either bake the various parts of the house yourself or you can buy a kit from your local supermarket.
Once you’ve made the various walls, roof and other elements, you’ll need to start sticking them together. Although icing may be strong enough to hold some gingerbread designs, it’s a good idea to use melted sugar as your glue as this will really hold the various parts of your house in place.
You can also use melted sugar to stick larger decorations to the gingerbread. If you’re working on the project with kids, make sure they keep their fingers well away from the melted sugar as it can easily burn their delicate skin.
Use a standard icing mix to stick the rest of your decorations to the gingerbread house and then pour a little more icing over the top of the roof to give the impression of snow and ice. Once it’s complete, your gingerbread house will make a fantastic centrepiece to your festive feast.
Cakes
If you just can’t get enough of festive baking, you can use your culinary skills to create a whole range of festive decorations. Have your kids help you to create platefuls of delicious mince pies, trays of cookies and batches of stollen. You can use these tasty creations to decorate your table on Christmas morning or to feed your guests at a festive get together in the run up to the big day.
Use a variety of icing tools, metallic decorations and food colourings to create designs that really stand out from the crowd. As well as giving you delicious treats to snack on, getting your kids involved in a little festive baking is a great way to get them cooking and get them comfortable in the kitchen.
A fantastic way to keep kids entertained on cold winter days, Christmas crafts will help you have fun as a family and give you a selection of unique decorations for your home. Find more ideas on entertaining kids over the holidays by exploring our site. And don’t forget to share your Christmas crafts with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.