Holiday Decor Your Kids Can Make

Snowflake Stained Glass

Materials: White paper, scissors and some glitter glue.

Instructions: Fold a piece of paper in half and then fold over each side to make a cone shape. Cut off the bottom to make an arc. Cut out shapes on the paper, making sure not to cut through the edges. Unfold carefully. You can decorate with glitter glue. For a stained glass effect, glue tissue paper on one side. Make a Christmas card by gluing the snowflake to red or green construction paper.

Pine Cone Ornaments

Materials: Pine cones, glitter, plastic bags, pot of white glue, paint brushes
Instructions: Send the kids outside on a scavenger hunt for pine cones. Spread them out on a sheet in the garage to let any small visitors leave before taking them inside. To open the pine cone, pop it into the microwave for one minute. Make up six separate bags of different coloured glitter. Dip the edges of the pine cone into the white glue or add the glue with the paintbrush. Once the glue has been painted on, put the pine cone into the glitter bag and shake. Once the glitter has dried, attach some clear fishing line to the top of the pine cone and hang on the Christmas tree.

Cookie Dough Ornaments

Materials: Cookie cutters, straw, string, cookie dough (see below for recipe)
Recipe for dough: 2 cups white flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water
Instructions: Make up a batch of cookie dough. Roll out the dough on waxed paper and cut into different shapes using the cookie cutters. Using the straw make a hole in the top of each ornament. Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for two hours or until the ornaments are hard.  Let cool and decorate using glitter, acrylic or tempra paints, stickers, fabric or tinsel. Thread some Xmas ribbon through the top and add them to the tree!

Popcorn Garlands

Materials: Unbuttered popcorn, needle, beige or white thread
Instructions: Threat the needle through each individual popcorn kernel. Be careful to pierce the kernel in the middle so you don’t break the kernel. Keep threading kernels and watch your garland grow. Try popping the corn with some oil and food colouring. Hang on the tree, being careful to avoid any lights.

Fragrant Pomanders

Materials: 6 small mandarin oranges, whole cloves, decorative ribbon
Instructions: Take each orange and insert cloves into the skin. You can cover the whole orange or make patterns. Set them into a dish or use them for stocking stuffers. Lemons will work as well, giving off a fresh scent.

Miniature Gingerbread House

Materials: Graham Crackers, icing sugar, assortment of candies
Instructions: Cover a piece of cardboard with tinfoil. Create a paste with the icing sugar-this is going to be your glue. Place 4 crackers together to from a box, using the icing sugar to glue them together. Let the glue harden. Glue two crackers onto the top of the structure. Decorate with the candies.

Personalized Stockings

Materials: Blank Christmas stocking, fabric glue or tape, cookie cutters, white glue, glitter, tinsel, trim or cording, fabric paint, scissors
Instructions: Write out your name in glue on the top of the stocking. Sprinkle with red, gold or green glitter across the glue. Let the glue set and shake off the excess glitter. Using the cookie cutters, draw shapes on the fabric and cut out. Using the fabric glue, iron the shapes onto the stocking. Add some trim underneath the name using the fabric glue. Create a hook for the stocking.

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