Holiday Crafts for Kids: Cards and Ornaments

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

17 Dec 2008 01:10 PM

The countdown to winter break is on for hundreds of thousands of students in our city. Friday is the last day of classes for public school kids, and then it's fun, fun, fun until the first week of 2009.

If you are looking for a way to occupy your kids while they're home on break, consider the following simple holiday crafts:

HOLIDAY THANK YOU CARDS

These homemade thank you cards help eliminate the need to purchase costlier versions. The instructions are straightforward; the only challenging part to creating these thank you cards is the carving process. You will be carving an image of your choice into a Styrofoam board, then rolling paint over the image and pressing it onto construction paper to transfer the image onto the card. However, to get the image just right you need to carve it in reverse because when it is pressed onto the paper it will appear backwards. So, if you want to use words on your card, you'd have to carve the letters backwards so that they appear correct when you transfer them onto the paper.

Materials:

Styrofoam (from art store or use restaurant take-out container)

Block Printing Ink

Paint Brush

Paper

Brayer

Directions:

Carve a design into the Styrofoam using the other end of a paintbrush. If you're writing words, they must be written backwards.

Squirt ink onto foil-covered cookie tin.

Roll brayer through ink to cover completely.

Roll inked brayer over carved Styrofoam.

Choose a sheet of construction paper or cardstock and press it firmly down over design. Pat all areas. Then lift.

Allow to dry completely before embellishing card.

HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

This project teaches your kids how to transform a 2-D object (paper) into a 3-D work of art.

Materials:

Plastic Cup

Construction Paper

Yarn

Hole Punch

Scissors

Directions:

Using the cup, trace 9 circles onto paper and cut them all out.

Fold 8 in half and cut a slit from fold to center of the taco shape.

Slip the 8 cut circles onto the 9th circle. Fan each piece into a V-shape.

Punch hole, string with yarn and place on tree.

Related Articles:

What To Do with All Those Holiday Cards

What Do You Do With Pictures of Other People's Kids?

The Family Christmas Photo

Who's In Your Christmas Card Photo?

How to Make Homemade Christmas Wrapping Paper and Ornaments

How to Make a Simple and Festive Christmas Wreath

Fun with Fruitcake--The Best Gag Gift of the Season

Making Edible Garland for Your Christmas Tree

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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