Are you looking for easy, fun crafts to keep your kids occupied? With this article I will share with you how to make homemade Christmas decorations using dough, a great inexpensive craft you and your kids can do during the holiday season.I will also show you a place where you can find other cool things to keep kids of all ages crafty and engaged during the holidays along with more ideas for Christmas ornament crafts for kids.
You'll find that the time spent creating your unique holiday creations will be well spent and something to be admired.
To make these homemade Christmas decorations you will need:
4 cups of white flour
1/2 cup of salt
1 cup of water
Food coloring (optional)
Cookie cutters (optional)
1/4 cup ground cinnamon or a few drops of mint extract (optional)
For decorating your ornaments you will need:
Ribbon, pipe cleaners or fishing line Acrylic brushes and paints Glitter, Stickers, Felt pens, Stamps, Etc. Non toxic paint sealer
Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl, then add the couple drops of food coloring to the water.
Add water to the dry ingredients.
You may want to mix up a few batches of different colored dough, or you can omit the food coloring and just decorate your ornaments later with acrylic paints. If you choose to add cinnamon to your dry mixture, then this will just make your ornaments smell wonderful!
If your dough mixture feels too sticky, just add a little bit more flour. Knead the dough until it is smooth and stiff. Use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough to about a eighth of an inch but no more than half an inch, otherwise they will be heavy if you plan on hanging them on your tree.
Once the texture is nice and smooth, use your cookie cutters to cut out different shapes. You can also shape the dough into a design of your own, making them cool 3D decorations.
Here is how to make a candy cane decoration my kids like to make:
We mix up 2 batches of dough, one is red and one is plain. They flatten out the dough and cut out two long strips from each batch then intertwine the two strips to create candy cane decorations. To the plain batch we add a few drops of mint just to make them fragrant.
Depending on how big your decorations are, you can use a pen or straw to make a small hole at the top of each of your creations. Then place them on a baking sheet, and bake them in the oven at a low setting (150-200) degrees for about an hour.
After your decorations have baked, remove them from the oven. Once they have cooled completely, the fun part begins!
Pull out the stickers, felt markers, paints, glitter, dried flowers and anything else you can think of, and start decorating. Get those creative juices flowing!
When you are all finished decorating, let the paint dry for a few hours, then seal them with a coat of clear non toxic sealant.
When your ornaments have dried, string a ribbon, pipe cleaner or fishing line through the top and tie a knot. You can also use metal ornament hangers if you have extras.
Hang your new homemade Christmas decorations from the Christmas tree, wreath, swag or anyplace you like!
Christine Willson loves sharing neat ideas with parents who want to have really cool crafts for kids to do all year long.
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