Busy Mommy Media» Christmas Arts and Crafts

Christmas Craft Tutorial: Foil Tree Cards

Stacey Nerdin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:00:50 +0000

{guest post submitted by Ashley of Our Family Stone}

We are a crafty household. I knit, crochet, cross-stitch and other random things, our girls are ALWAYS pulling out paper and crayons, there are stickers everywhere and together we love to pull out the big tower of craft supplies and create. It makes us happy; it helps our girls feel like they can express themselves and it makes gift giving for the Grandparents easy! It also kills many a rainy afternoon, and when you live in the part of the country we do, there are a LOT of rainy afternoons.

When Christmas rolls around we amp things up a little, crafting reaches its all time high. We’ve been baking (because that’s a craft of its own), making ornaments and crafting Christmas cards! This is a craft we’ve done before and one that gets rave reviews both from our girls and from those who receive the cards! Of all the different cards we make, our Christmas Foil Tree cards are the favourite. They include glue and glitter and everything messy – who wouldn’t love it?

It’s really not that hard, and if you put a disposable table cloth on your table (which I didn’t do in the photos…live and learn) as well as one on the floor under each kidlet it makes the clean-up easy! So why not join us, make 1 or 100 and have a great time! Just make sure if you do, to let us know. We want to see the pictures and hear how it went.

Christmas Foil Tree Cards

Supplies:

Tin foil (I purchase dollar store foil for our crafts. No sense using your good, expensive foil!)
Cookie sheet or cardboard (as a surface to attach your foil to) and tape
Poster board/cardstock
White glue
Sponge brushes
Glitter
Red and green tissue paper (cut or ripped into smaller pieces ahead of time. This is fun to do with your kids and then just put them in a ziplock bag till craft time)
Dish for watered down white glue
Sequins
Scissors and pinking shears
Black marker pen
Ruler
Christmas shaped templates

Let’s Make it!

1. Cover cookie sheet/cardboard with sheet of tin foil. Make sure all your edges are VERY secure with tape, you don’t want this moving around

2. Squirt white glue all over tin foil and then use a sponge brush dipped in water to spread the glue in a thin layer all over the tin foil

3. Have your kids cover all the tin foil with pieces of tissue paper. Using the watered down glue (one part glue, one part water) and a sponge cover all the tissue in another layer of glue and more paper. This is a layering even, have fun with it! Just make sure each layer, including the last has a layer of water glue.

4. Once you’re done with the sponge brush and tissue and your project is still WET, sprinkle the whole project with a thin layer of glitter.

5. Add sequins

6. Allow to dry overnight

7. Either use your pre-cut blank cards or cut your poster board into the desired card shape and size.

8. Using your pinking shears cut a decorative edge on your cards

9. Once your tin foil is dry you have two choices

i. you can trace your Christmas templates onto it directly and cut them out, then glue them to the front of your card and decorate with stickers

ii. You can cut a piece of tin foil slightly smaller than the front of your card, glue it on, then cut out another piece of cardstock the same size as your card, cut out a Christmas shape from the over lay and glue it on.

10. Allow to dry and mail!

We love this craft! Our family has loved the cards and it’s been excellent! The process of decorated tin foil can translate into ornaments, story pictures and all sorts of things, just use your imagination!

Author bio: Ashley Stone is a Mommy to two beautiful girls, the wife of a handsome husband, and the voice of Our Family Stone. She spends her days working with her kids in tow, baking, crafting, blogging, cleaning and trying to go to the bathroom alone. She started blogging 6 years ago because she wanted to feel like an “author” and to relieve the excess noise in her brain. Ashley has something to say about everything, pop on over to Our Family Stone and you’ll find that out!

Free Christmas Printables: Gift Tags and Notepaper with Envelopes

Stacey Nerdin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:15:17 +0000

{guest post submitted by Mina of Mina’s Journal}

Use these printouts as part of your Christmas gift giving craft stash to help you prepare for the holiday season. Grab your scissors and let’s go!

One of the most recognizable motifs of Christmas has to be the tree. It conjures up images of presents, decorations and lights. Anticipation about being with the people you love, the feasting, and the presents you receive and the reactions of those you are giving something to.

So while a good deal of thought goes into the preparation of those things, the time comes to think of the finishing touches to Christmas gift giving.

These printables feature simple designs and basic colors.

*NOTE: You will need Adobe Reader to view, print and save your downloads. Save to your machine so you can print as many as you wish and then get it out again for next year. All designs by Mina Keenan.

Christmas Gift Tags

Nine tree themed gift tags to put the finishing touches to Christmas presents with sentiments and room for a message on the back.

{download Christmas Gift Tags}

There is also a page of gift tags to color, so you can put your own special touches to them. (Think glitter and gel pens).

{download Christmas Gift Tags to Colour}

Punch a hole in the top and thread ribbon or string through and attach to your gift.

Craft Ideas

Cut and paste tags onto small paper bags for those small gifts like earrings and other jewelry. Draw the top and tie with ribbon to tie to the tree.

Use the printables and get crafty with them bits and pieces you find in the home.

Use ‘Chrissmas-sy’ paper. Use up wrapping paper scraps.

Use the images and text separately by cutting them out and decorating other things.

Make a Christmas Card

A greeting card can be a present in itself. Using some easy techniques you can make something that people will treasure and want to keep.

A nicely made card is a gift in itself. Try using the tags as a card topper.

Make a card by pasting a tag on different sized layers of paper or card.

Christmas Notepaper and Envelopes

A handwritten note to someone special is always a nice touch and is an extra thoughtful, heartfelt gesture.

{download Christmas Tree Notepaper and Envelope1}

Download some seasonal lined notepaper and matching envelopes for those gifts that require a little more writing than just a gift tag or card.

{download Christmas Tree Notepaper and Envelope2}

Trim notepaper.

Cut out the outer bold lines of the envelope.

Fold and cut where indicated

Print and make up five notepapers and envelopes. Package these up in a creative way to give as a gift.

*BONUS: Check this post out for Free Snowman Gift Tags. So have fun with these and have yourself A Very Merry Christmas!

Author bio: Mina Keenan – so in love with paper, cloth and yarn. Crafted all her life. Main focus right now on papercraft – designing printables in particular. Mina’s Journal.

Holiday Craft – Handprint Christmas Tree

Rachel — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:58:40 +0000

Holiday crafts can really help kids get into the spirit of the season – and they can teach great developmental skills at the same time. This handprint Christmas Tree gives kids a really fun way to practice their scissor skills and you end up with a really festive piece of preschool art to hang up for the holidays.

This project does involve a lot of cutting so depending on the age of the child, it can take quite a bit of time to complete. You can break the project up into several sessions for younger kids or help them cut a few of the handprints out. My 4 1/2 year old sat and did this in one session and even though he said it was kind of hard to cut the handprints out, he was so proud of himself when he was done – although he did say that we definitely needed a star on top so we’ll have to add that next time we do this project.

Supplies Needed

Green Construction Paper
Red Construction Paper (or another color of your choice)
Kid-Friendly Scissors
Glue
Assorted Craft Supplies – Buttons, Sequins, Glitter, etc.

Instructions

Help your preschooler trace his hand on a piece of green construction paper. For a small Christmas Tree, you’ll need 6 handprints, but you can do more than that if you’d like to create a taller tree.
Have your preschooler glue his handprints down on a piece of paper (any color is fine). Arrange them with 3 on the bottom, 2 in the middle, and one on the top.
Give your preschooler assorted craft supplies and let him decorate his handprint Christmas Tree any way he likes. We used buttons because they were easy but you could use anything you have in your preschool craft supplies.
Optional – Cut out a star from a yellow piece of paper and add it to the top of your tree.

Variation

Younger kids may have an easier time doing this project by painting their hands and making painted handprints on a piece of paper. You can either cut out the painted handprints afterwards and do this project as explained above or help the child stamp their hand in the form of a Christmas Tree.

Older children can enjoy this project too. Just set them lose with some basic instructions and stay out of their way so they can be free to create. My kids usually end up surprising me by coming up with something more creative than I would have come up with on my own.

Gingerbread Playdough

Rachel — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:43:08 +0000

Preschoolers will love this festive touch to traditional play dough. The wonderful gingerbread scent of this play dough adds an additional dimension to this sensory play activity and helps preschoolers to celebrate the holiday season.

What You Need

1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 tsp. Cream of tartar
1 cup of water
1 tsp vegetable oil
cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, etc.

What To Do

Mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar together. Blend the mixture well. In a separate bowl, mix the spices together until you get the scent and color you want. When you are happy with the scent and color of your spice mixture add it to the dry ingredients. In a small bowl mix the water and oil together. Add the water and oil mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Cook the mixture in a pot for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. The play dough will start to pull away from the sides and form clumps. Remove the dough from the pot and allow it to cool. Knead the play dough until it becomes a smooth consistency.

Give each preschooler a piece of gingerbread play dough to experiment with. You may want to provide preschool sized rolling pins, cookie cutters, or dough stamps to create an exciting sensory experience for preschoolers.

Alphabet Practice

Print large bubble letters on pieces of cardstock. Have preschoolers form play dough snakes and then lay the pieces out on top of the letters to create three dimensional play dough alphabet letters.

Preschool Pretend Play

Have preschoolers pretend to make some holiday treats with their gingerbread play dough. Provide preschool sized rolling pins, plastic knives to cut the dough, and a metal pie plate. Have preschoolers pretend to make holiday cookies or pumpkin pie.

Make Use of Leftover Dough

Use leftover gingerbread play dough as a base for a Pine Cone Christmas Tree

Pine Cone Christmas Tree
Preschoolers will love making these open ended pine cone Christmas trees. Let preschoolers use their imagination and decorate their Christmas trees using a variety of leftover sequins, beads, and other craft supplies.

Additional Play Dough Activities

(Taken From - Toddler Sensory Play: Homemade Play Dough for Your Toddler)

Sand – Mix sand into your homemade play dough to give your dough a grainy texture. You can adjust the amount of sand that you add to your play dough to give your toddler a variety of textures.

Cloves – Whole cloves can be added to play dough to create an uneven texture and add lumps to the dough. Toddlers will have a different play experience using the uneven dough and the scent of the cloves adds another dimension to their play.

Be Creative – Nearly any material can be mixed in to your homemade dough to alter the play experience for your toddler. Be aware that if you use an add in that your toddler is used to eating it may encourage them to eat the dough but one taste of the heavy salt in the dough and they are not likely to try it again.

Christmas Countdown Craft

Rachel — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:46:50 +0000

Time is a strange concept for preschoolers. Their life is made up of 5 minute increments and tomorrow is a year away. This simple Christmas countdown craft for preschoolers is fun to make as a family and gives preschoolers a clear passage of time so those last few weeks before Santa comes aren’t quite so frustrating.

Take this easy Christmas craft to the next level by writing simple holiday activities on each strip of paper so that your preschooler has a new activity to do each time he removes a ring from his Christmas countdown. Activities could range from singing a favorite Christmas song, reading a Christmas story, or reading a specific Bible verse.

Christmas Countdown Craft Supplies

Construction Paper (Yellow, Red, and Green)
Child Safety Scissors
Tape

Christmas Countdown Craft Instructions

Cut out a bell shape from a piece of yellow construction paper. Write or help your preschooler copy the following poem:

Christmas Chain

Christmas day will soon be here
And I can hardly wait
I’ve made this little Christmas chain
To help me celebrate.

Please help me hang my chain up high
I’ll cut one loop each day
And when we reach my pretty bell
It will be Christmas day!

Cut the red and green construction paper into 2 inch wide strips. When you have enough strips for each day until Christmas, form a loop with the first strip of paper and tape it closed. Use a second strip of paper in whatever color you did not use for the loop and slide it through the loop. Close the second strip of paper and tape it. Continue, alternating colors, until you have enough paper loops for each day until Christmas.

When you are done, tape the chain to your Christmas bell and hang it somehwere your preschooler can reach it. Remove one loop from the chain every day until Christmas and do the activity written on the loop together as a family.

Pine Cone Christmas Tree

Rachel — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:43:59 +0000

My preschooler loves to make open ended crafts that can be displayed as holiday decorations. These easy pine cone Christmas trees make beautiful and festive holiday decorations.

Preschoolers will love making these open ended pine cone Christmas trees. Let preschoolers use their imagination and decorate their Christmas trees using a variety of leftover sequins, beads, and other craft supplies.

What You Need

Green Paint
Paper Plates
Glue
Extra Play dough – I like to use leftover Gingerbread play dough that is scented using holiday spices such as cinnamon and cloves
Large Pine cones – You can either collect these on a nature walk with the preschoolers or purchase them at the store. Most craft stores have pine-cones in stock during the holiday season for decorating purposes but they could easily be used for this craft project.
Assorted Craft Supplies – You can use any leftover craft supplies for this project. Sequins, beads, buttons and pom poms work well as Christmas tree decorations. Extra yarn or string could be draped around the Christmas tree to create a garland. Foam shapes in a holiday theme would make a wonderful addition and a foam star would be a nice touch for the top of the tree.

What To Do

Pine cone Christmas trees are a really simple to make and they allow preschoolers to be creative with this open-ended project. Start by giving each preschooler a small piece of left over play dough to form into a ball. Give each preschooler a pine cone and instruct them to turn it upside down and gently push it into the play dough to form a base. As they push, the play dough will form a flat base on the bottom that will allow it to stand up and will adhere to the wide end of the pine cone. The upside down pine cone will resemble the shape of a Christmas tree.

Give each preschooler a paper plate to set their pine cone Christmas tree on. Fill another paper plate with green paint and have preschoolers paint their pine cone green. This will need to dry for several hours or overnight before preschoolers are able to decorate their Christmas trees.

When the pine cone Christmas trees have dried assemble your assorted craft supplies in several bowls for the preschoolers to choose from. Give each preschooler a bottle of glue and have them decorate their pine cone Christmas tree in any way they want. Give preschoolers free reign and allow them to be creative as they decorate their Christmas trees.

When the pine cone Christmas trees are completely dry you can either send them home for the preschoolers to share with their families or use them to decorate your preschool classroom in a festive Christmas theme.

Gingerbread Christmas Tree

Rachel — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:40:41 +0000

Gingerbread houses are a fun way to celebrate the Christmas season but they can be difficult and frustrating for preschoolers to make on their own.

This simple variation of the traditional gingerbread house is easy for preschoolers to make on their own and creates a fun gingerbread Christmas tree that preschoolers can decorate. Use this gingerbread Christmas tree as a fun holiday decoration or a festive snack.

What You Need

Sugar Cones
Icing
Popcorn
Red Hot Candy (or another candy of your choice)
Sprinkles
Optional: Additional candy to decorate your gingerbread tree
Plastic knife
Paper plate

What To Do

Step One:
Give each preschooler a sugar cone and a paper plate. Turn the sugar cone upside down on the paper plate so that the pointed end is up and the sugar cone stands on it’s own.

Step Two:
Give each preschooler a plastic knife and a container of frosting. White frosting is the easiest to clean up when you are done and will not stain preschoolers clothes but green would also be nice as the base color for a Christmas tree. Help each preschooler frost their sugar cone so that the entire surface is covered with icing.

Step Three:
Decorate the gingerbread Christmas tree by gently pressing popcorn and assorted candy into the icing. Sprinkle the surface of the icing with colored sprinkles for extra color.

Step Four:
Send the gingerbread Christmas trees home with each preschooler or enjoy them as a festive snack.