- A lid from a juice can or jar can make a frame for a homemade Christmas ornament. Clean the lid thoroughly to remove any traces of food and give it plenty of time to dry so the decorations will stick. Let the kids paint the lid if it isn't a holiday color. Cut out images from Christmas cards, decorative paper or photos in a circle shape to fit inside the lid. Other embellishments, including beads, glitter and ribbon, can be added to the ornament. Hot-glue a loop of ribbon to the top for a hanger.
- A wooden spoon creates the base for a Christmas character ornament. The scoop part of the spoon serves as the face of a holiday character such as Santa, a snowman or an elf. Have the kids draw or paint faces on the spoons. Use scraps of fabric to create hats, scarves, clothing and other details for the spoon characters and glue them to the spoons. Tie a loop of cord or ribbon around the "neck" of the spoon to hang it on the tree.
- Felt is a durable material that works well for kids' crafts because you don't need to hem the edges to avoid fraying. Let the kids cut out the felt into holiday shapes, such as candy canes, Santa hats, Christmas trees, stars or stockings. Patterns make it easier to cut the felt. For younger kids, do the cutting part of the craft ahead of time. The kids glue on beads, glitter and other items to decorate the shapes. Puffy fabric paint also works to decorate the ornaments.
- A set of undecorated plastic Christmas ornaments allows kids to make their own custom ball ornaments for the tree. Have the kids use glue to draw images on the balls. Sprinkle glitter over the glue to create a raised, sparkling design on the ornament. A less messy option is to use glitter glue to draw the images so you don't have to deal with the loose glitter. Work on only one side of the ornament at a time so the image doesn't get smudged before it dries. Other options include having kids paint directly on the balls or attach stickers to them.
Lid Ornaments
Spoon Ornaments
Felt Ornaments
Decorated Balls
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