Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets Blog

Posts Tagged ‘holiday crafts’

When the holidays arrive, thoughts turn to parties. If you want to host a fabulous one this year, start with lovely invitations. There are so many ways to create memorable and interesting invitations. You can make them yourself or design them online and have a printing company print them for you.

If you choose to make your invitations yourself, gather up the necessary supplies. You’ll need rubber stamps, ink, glitter, good card stock, envelopes, and markers or pens. Choose a rubber stamp with a holiday theme. Do a stocking and then cut out the shape so your whole invitation is the shape of a stocking. Or stamp out a Christmas tree and then decorate it with glitter and tiny ornaments made of foil or fancy papers. The fun of the handmade invitation is that you can design any shape and size you like. You might do a snowman cutout and then layer in glue and dust with white glitter. Add facial details with markers. Visit a craft store or look through holiday magazines for ideas on how to personalize invitations to suit your theme.

If you want an even easier way to design fun holiday invitations, try a site like vistaprint.com. There, you can design your own cards either using their templates or you can upload your own design. Add photos of your kids, your pets, or even upload your holiday card from last year to use as an invitation this year. The process is so easy. Log on and start designing. Once you have chosen your holiday design—and there are dozens to choose from—just add your wording. You can write a little rhyming verse to invite everyone over, or just list the date and time in fancy script. You might ask everyone to bring something like canned food to donate to a food bank or an ornament for an ornament swap.

The invitation is the perfect place to include something special that’s more than just paper and ink. Why not put a piece of mistletoe in an envelope with a little card tied to it with your invite information? Or deliver an evergreen branch to your friends in person with the details tied onto it. There is no limit to the ways you can use ordinary objects from the holiday season to send out your invitation.

Another fun idea is to purchase inexpensive clear glass ornaments from a craft store. Fill them with something festive like red and green candies or potpourri and then write your party details with permanent marker on each one. Tie up with a pretty silk ribbon and deliver by hand. The thrill of seeing your invitations come in person will give everyone a taste of how special your party is going to be.

If you’re going to be caroling at the party, why not print your invitation on the back of a musical score? Photo copy the words and music to a song you’ll be singing and include your invite on the back in pretty colored paper. Tie it all up in a ribbon and mail in a tube.

For a fun and yummy treat, how about cookie invitations? You can decorate cookies with your invitation details. Once the cookies have had time to set, put one per small box and tie up with a ribbon. Label and you can send these through the mail. Or, of course you can hand deliver your holiday treat.

Create a theme for your party early on so you can carry it through in your invitation. This will be the first thing people will see and it will set the tone for your party. If you’re having a snowman themed fete, send a small snowman ornament in a box along with your details. Or if you’re having theme is red cardinals, send a red cardinal pin or suncatcher as your invitation. With indelible pens, you can write on just about any surface and make the most amazing invitations.

Create a fun-filled evening for your family by combining these adorable reindeer themed Christmas crafts with a special showing of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.  In this post, I will share just of few of my kids favorite reindeer crafts along with the instructions for making my childhood favorite...A Clothespin Reindeer.

To create this cute little reindeer, you will need three old fashioned wooden clothespins (I bought mine at Michaels craft center), two wiggly eyes, a small red pom-pom for the nose, and some glue.

Assemble the reindeer by gluing two of the clothes pins together to form the deer's body, then glue the last clothespin (in the opposite direction) to create the face and antlers.  Finally, glue on the eyes and red pom-pom nose as shown in the photo.

Tip - I like to use these as ornaments on the tree so when gluing on the face, we insert a loop of thin red ribbon or string in the glue between the body and the face.  Then you have a little hanger.

Here are some links to a few of my other favorite Christmas reindeer crafts:
Wooden Spoon Rudolph - makes a cute addition to the kids Christmas dinner table
Paper Plate Rudolph - makes a great holiday wall hanging
Rudolph Puzzle Pin
Reindeer Candy Cane - my kids give these out to their friends & classmates
Light Bulb Reindeer - recommended for older children or adults

If your family has a new addition this year, be sure to check out our reindeer hooded towel Christmas gift which includes an adorable reindeer hooded towel, two matching wash clothes and a pacifier.  Super cute!

My kids love making crafts (especially when the holidays roll around).  In this post, I'm sharing some of my favorite Santa-themed crafts that are easy to make and easy on the budget.   I would say that kids aged from 4 - 8 would like these craft ideas best, but they are great for any age. 

One of my favorite crafts that uses leftover Pringles cans is this Chip Can Santa Craft that I found at Craft Kaboose.  To make Santa, you'll need a Pringles can, felt (red, white, black, peach), cotton balls for the beard, a small pink pom-pom for the nose, two wiggly eyes, a medium white pom-pom for the end of the hat and some glittery silver chenille.  You'll also need to have glue and scissors handy.  You can get the printable patterns to create the boots, jacket trim, and arms and the full instructions for putting him together here at Craft Kaboose.

Here are links to some more of my favorite Santa-themed Christmas crafts:
Santa's Bearded Christmas Advent Calender

Santa Box

Cup and Ball Santa Craft

Wooden Spoon Santa

Ho Ho Ho Santa Door Knob Hanger

Santa's Magic Key (so Santa can get in the house without a chimney)

If you are an Aunt or Grandmother who lives a long way from your grandchildren, consider giving them a craft kit so they can make a little something fun even if you aren't there to help them.  Or consider, our Child's Reindeer Holiday Chef  Set which comes with a little chef hat and a personalized holiday themed apron for the child that loves to help in the kitchen.