Craft Site Directory Newsletter: December 2005
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SECTION 2):*~*: Christmas Crafts for Kids
Making gingerbread houses, ornaments, decorations and more.
Now is a great time of year to get your children or grandchildren involved in arts and crafts. Christmas Eve this year falls on a Saturday. If you will be staying with family over the Holiday weekend or they will be coming to your home, perhaps you can arrange a crafting session with the anxious children on the day of Christmas Eve. Choose a project from those listed below then pick up enough supplies for everyone. Most of the projects listed utilize inexpensive items or items you may already have on hand.
Build Gingerbread Houses from Graham Crackers:
This is a fun crafting project for children of all ages. The kids will have a great time building their edible creations and when they are done, they will have a great time eating them! Be sure to have a camera ready so you can get pictures before the projects dissappear.
For this project you will need one package of graham crackers per child. A box of graham crackers normally comes with 3 packages. You will also need cake decorating icing in various colors, candies like miniature candy canes and gum drops, and something to place their creations on. Old shoes box lids lined with wax paper make a perfect surface for building the gingerbread houses. Or, ahead of time, cut small boxes down to size using a razor knife. Use the bottom of the boxes and leave about one inch of the box for a border, this somewhat controls the mess involved with this project. Again, line the inside of the box with wax paper.
For a very simple house, four graham crackers can be used for the walls and two for a flat roof. Use the cake decorating icing like glue to hold the house together. Just spread or squeeze out a generous amount of icing onto the edge of the graham cracker that you want to connect to another, then "glue" them together.
Once the basic shape of the house is built, decorate it with various candies. Flat square candies can be used to make windows, just "glue" them in place with icing. A flat rectangle candy, or 2 square candies, can be used for the front door. Spread icing on miniature candy canes and stick them to the walls of the house for decoration. Two white gumdrops can be stacked to make a snowman in the yard, use candy sprinkles for the face and break off pieces of candy cane for his arms.
Additional decorating ideas include: To make a tree, break off the curved part of a mini candy cane and press it into a large white gumdrop(for snow at the base of the tree and to hold it up) then place a large green gumdrop on top. Green gumdrops can also be used for shrubs around the house. A square caramel candy can be used to create a chimney. Make certain objects snow covered with white icing or shredded coconut. Once the creations are finished, take pictures then dig in!
Follow the links below for many more Christmas craft projects for kids:
Here you can find ideas for making ornaments and other tree decor along with Christmas decorations for the house. These projects use items that are either cheap or free:
http://www.robinsfyi.com/holidays/christmas/activities/christmaskidcraft.htm
Don't throw away store bought Christmas cards after the season is over. Activity Village lists 10 creative uses for Christmas cards:
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/christmas_cards.htm
Kids' Turn Central lists some easy Christmas craft projects for you to try out with the kids:
http://www.kidsturncentral.com/holidays/christmas/ccrafts.htm
For many more project ideas, visit the Christmas category at CraftSiteDirectory.com:
http://www.craftsitedirectory.com/Christmas/index.html
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SECTION 1):*~*: What's New at CraftSiteDirectory.com?
Have you stopped by lately?
SECTION 2):*~*: Christmas Crafts for Kids
Making gingerbread houses, ornaments, decorations and more.
SECTION 3):*~*: Arts and Crafts New Year's Resolutions
Setting arts and crafts goals for 2006.
SECTION 4):*~*: Free Snowman Projects
An updated list of free snowman projects available online.
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