A Christmas Decoration

What you'll need:

How to make it:

1. Paint bottom half of the doll pin with brown paint. It is not necessary to paint the top as it will not be seen.
2. Paint the doll pin stand gold. Set both items aside to dry.
3. Cut a 3” square piece of the green construction paper from the corner of the sheet. Paint this with gold paint and set aside to dry.
4. Roll the construction paper sheet into a cone shape. Secure with a piece of clear tape.
5. When doll pin is dry, insert the flat end into the doll pin stand, secure with some white glue.
6. Place the cone on top of the doll pin. It will be too big!  Trim the cone with a pair of scissors until you are able to see some of the brown on the doll pin (tree trunk).
7. Remove the cone from the doll pin. Add a generous amount of white glue to the top of the doll pin and put the cone back on. Position it so that it is straight and allow it to dry.
8. Use white glitter glue to put dots all over the “tree” where you want your “lights” to be.
9. Place a small colorful bead onto each dot of glitter glue. You will need to hold the tree and keep going around it carefully checking and adjusting the beads as they may begin to drip and slide. Blow on it as you turn it slowly and gently adjust the beads. Once the glue begins to set you can set it aside to dry completely.
10. Take the construction paper square that you painted gold and turn it over to the green side. Use a pencil to draw a star shape on left side of the paper. Leave enough room so that you can fold the paper in half and cut out two stars from the drawing you just made.
11. After the two stars are cut out, turn them over so that the gold painted sides are both facing outward. Glue together, all except for the bottom end of the star. Glue a gold sequin to the center of the star, repeat on the other side.
12. Position the un-glued section of the star over the top of the cone and glue to the tree top.

Tips:

• Instead of painting a gold star, use yellow construction paper.
• If you don’t have gold paint, use white and cover with gold glitter or gold glitter glue.
• To simplify this craft, glue sequins on the tree instead of beads as they won’t slide.

What you'll need:

How to make it:

1. Cut a 7” wide strip the length of the paper grocery bag.
2. Decide which side you want to be the front and turn over so that the back is facing up.
3. Place gingerbread boy cookie cutter at the left side of the paper strip. Use pencil to trace the outline of the cookie cutter.
4. Place gingerbread girl cookie cutter just to the right of the tracing of the boy gingerbread and trace with pencil.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you run out of room on the paper.
6. Use scissors to cut the outlines of the gingerbread people out, keeping them connected. Do not cut the gingerbread people out separately. If need be, cut around your tracing marks rather than on them to give yourself “padding” which will make up for any gaps between the tracings.
7. Turn paper over so that your pencil marks are now facing down. Decorate gingerbread with acrylic paints. Dot buttons on by dipping the handle end of the paintbrush into the paint and then onto your paper.
8. Use thin paintbrush to add the “rick-rack” squiggles with white paint around wrists, ankles, and skirts.
9. Use a thin paintbrush or black marker to add smiles them dot on pink for cheeks with handle end of paintbrush.
10. Dot on eyes with black or dark brown and paint on red bowties for the boys.

Tips:

• Craft paper will work in place of a brown paper grocery bag. You can also use brown construction paper.
• Cut individual gingerbreads to glue to cards and packages.
• Glue some yarn to the back and hang as garland on your mantle or tree.

By: Amanda Formaro

By: Amanda Formaro

What you'll need:

How to make it:

1. Paint cup with brown paint and set aside to dry.
2. When paint is dry, stand cup upright and glue two wiggle eyes on the front of the cup, about halfway down from the rim.
3. Glue red pom pom on for the nose just above the bottom of the cup, centered under the eyes.
4.  Use scissors to carefully poke aslit in both sides of the cup where you want the ears to go.
5. Roll one of the felt squares up like a cone; insert the pointed end into one of the slits on the cup. Repeat on other side. Secure felt to the cup with white craft glue.
6. Bend each chenille stem in half. Form chenille ends into antlers by creating a couple of bends on each one.
7. Glue strip on tan felt inside the rim of the cup, then immediately insert the antlers under the strip on each side. You may need to hold these in place for a few minutes until the glue grabs. You can also secure with clothespins.
8. Dip your fingertip in pink paint and dab the excess off onto a paper towel. Dot pink on for cheeks.
9. Use a black marker to draw on eyebrows.

Tips:

• To give this cup some weight, glue a washer to the bottom of the cup.
• Fill with wrapped candies and give as a gift.
• Substitutions: red glitter can be used instead of pom poms; brown felt can stand in for brown chenille.