They sent us us a lovely box of crafty bits along with copies of the six downloadable guides, which made my children's day and inspired us to get creative!
Christmas Paper Wreath
At the weekend my three year old daughter and I decided to make the Christmas Paper Wreath...
- We started by getting together a selection of Red and Green card and some festive wrapping paper and using the provided templates to trace out lots of leaves which I then cut out. Elizabeth thought this was great fun and enjoyed grabbing handfuls of paper leaves and throwing them over her head!!
- While it was raining paper leaves, I cut a large ring shape out of a cardboard box and got out the glue stick...
- Then came the messy bit! We picked up the fallen leaves and started sticking them around the cardboard, carefully layering them around the ring
- As a finishing touch we added a bow made from lovely festive ribbon and hung it up on the wall!
- Tada, a lovely decoration that will brighten up the doorway and will be treasured for Christmas's to come.
This was a fun activity that was really simple and ideal for getting creative with younger children.
Homemade Christmas Crackers
Yesterday after school we got the craft box out again and decided to make some crackers!
We have been saving our toilet rolls ready to have some 'cracking' crafty fun!
We started by cutting the card down to size (20cm x 30cm)
I then played the 'Adult' and created a tear line by scoring with scissors 10 cm into each side of the card, I found this quite tricky and really dependent on the type of card, I had to be careful not to rip the card all the way through.
I added in one of the cracker snaps that we had been sent (you can buy these in craft shops) and secured with some glue.
It was time to get out the toilet rolls (I have to say that I was impressed with how excited the children were that they got to play wit 'rubbish!')
We cut one of the rolls in half and placed them along the paper ready to glue into place and roll up
( Top Tip! - After our first attempt I cut an extra couple of inches off each piece of toilet roll, I found this makes it easier later on when twisting the ends )
After rolling up and twisting one end we popped a special treat in each cracker, (I used a snowman chocolate and a joke that Ben helped me write!) then twisted the other end,
Finally came the really fun part... Decorating!!
Ben went for pretty wooden stars and a Christmas pudding sticker that he arranged into a smiley face but Elizabeth had seen the mini white pom poms and insisted on making a Snowman! We cut a snowman shape from card which she covered in glue and covered in the pom poms we then made a hat and scarf by cutting up bits of wool. It's very basic but Elizabeth was so proud of it and I think he's rather cute! The finished touch was added by wrapping some ribbon round each end of the cracker...
These beautiful crackers now have pride of place on our tree and my two little monsters are looking forward to pulling them on Christmas day!
Have you been crafty this Christmas? Don't forget you can download FREE printable guides for both these crafts and four more including Angels, Tree decorations, cards and an advent calender here.....http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/christmas
We were sent some crafty bits and have entered this post into the cartridgesave.co.uk challenge to win £500-worth of vouchers before Christmas
These look great. I'm not a very craft-y person but I know the girls would probably love to try these x
ReplyDeleteI'm so making the wreath next year! It's so easy and fun! I think we will also make an attempt on the crackers, it sounded a bit more fiddly but at least we get to choose what goes inside! Very inspirational, thanks :) x (Ooo the mini version of both will make fab teachers gifts too! *Take note*)
ReplyDeleteThe wreath is a lovely idea!
ReplyDeletehttp://lilykitten1.blogspot.co.uk
These look fab! I'm not very good at crafts... well I'm not very good at letting kids to crafts! I'm getting better though ;)
ReplyDeleteThe crackers look tricky but worth the effort!
ReplyDeleteLove the wreath - Ben was thrilled to get his handprint one out again this year. I love decorations that come out year after year like that :D x
Love those wreaths
ReplyDeleteooh well done, we made crackers as kids ought to do it with mine...
ReplyDeleteLove these. Im always looking for crafty ideas to do with the kidlet. think next year we'll start saving crafty bits early!
ReplyDeleteWe've been making lots of homemade Christmas decorations this year. I love the wreath idea! I think we'll try one of these next year :)
ReplyDeleteHow cute! I love the wreathx
ReplyDeleteI love your wreath, very sweet.
ReplyDeleteI too really like your wreath. It's great to be able to find a crafty project to do with young toddlers!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely adore your wreath. Such a simple yet beautiful idea. I have to remember this for next year x
ReplyDeleteI love the Christmas wreath. It's so pretty! And the crackers must have been a lot of fun to make :)
ReplyDeleteAww such lovely ideas the wreath is lovely. Definitely going to be doing that on Monday xx
ReplyDeleteThese looks fantastic! we have been getting a bit more crafty this Christmas, so I really love the look of these. x
ReplyDeleteI love the wreath!
ReplyDeleteI love the Xmas wreath, it looks great!
ReplyDeleteWe were doing this too, they were all so easy to make wasn't they! My lot enjoyed making the wreath too, they loved watching it slowly come together.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of making your own crackers.
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