Crafting with kids: Christmas cards and gifts

Your family and friends are sure to love the personal touch of receiving Christmas cards and gifts crafted by the kids, so why not start some projects now and get prepared for the festive season? It’s a great way to save money, and to get the whole family into the festive spirit.

Here are our top ideas for Christmas cards, gifts and wrap, so you can create the whole package.

1. Printed Christmas Cards

Christmas cards can be extremely expensive, but you and the kids can create fantastic cards the family will love using just your computer and printer.

Simply use a programme such as Microsoft Paint or Publisher and let the kids go wild with drawings, clip art and messages. You could even use your Christmas photos as part of your design. Let the kids use their imagination, and simply press print for a truly unique greetings card.

For professional results, purchase high-quality ink - CartridgeDiscount has low prices and free UK delivery to save you money, as well as card blanks and envelopes from your local craft store. Plain white designs are easiest to print on.

2. Christmas Wrap

You and your family can make personalised Christmas wrap by purchasing a roll of parcel paper and adding decorations. A quick, easy and effective option is stamping: create potato stamps, get the kids to finger-paint designs or purchase a pre-made stamp – NotOn The High Street has a great selection. Make sure to decorate a tag in the same way.

3. Homemade gifts                                                        

Home-baked treats are a fantastic option when it comes to creating gifts with the kids – fun to make and to eat, it’s something everyone will enjoy. The options are almost endless: you can ice cupcakes with festive designs, create gingerbread men, decorate cakes and more. Find inspiration and recipes at BBC GoodFood.                                      

Other inexpensive and easy options that are sure to bring a smile to loved ones’ faces are decorated photo frames featuring a photo of the family, diaries with kids’ drawings interspersed throughout, or painted mugs. Check out the kids’ Christmas craft kits available at Hobbycraft for more ideas.                                         

                                                                                                                               

                                                               

                                                               

                                                               

                                                               

                                                               

                                                                                                               

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, there’s magic in the air! Today, we brought in our Christmas tree and got out some of our Christmas decorations. We bought our tree yesterday and had it out side in a bucket of water. Yesterday we hung the lighted garland and the wreath. Noah oohed and ahhed over the lights and kept commenting on how beautiful the lights were. Today, he got really excited about having a tree in the house. We have this toy where Santa comes down the chimney. We got it when I was younger. I can’t remember how old I was but I remember playing with it. It was really cool to think about me playing with it as he spent an hour making Santa come down the chimney. He laughed and smiled the whole time as he played.

I showed him a snow globe that plays music and he thought it was really cool. He had me pick him up so he could get a better look at the mantle and the decorations on the entertainment center. He is really excited about Christmas. It is so much fun. He is adorable when he gets excited. He knows that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday too. He will tell you all about it. Well as much as he can. For his first Christmas he got the dvd God made Christmas. We started watching it before Christmas and it was his first dvd. I remember him being a few months old sitting in his bouncer being mesmerized at the sights. We love all of the Baby Faith DVD’s. It tells the story of Baby Jesus. I was going to let him watch it today, but I can’t find it. I want him to know the real meaning of Christmas. I hope I find it soon. I know he will enjoy it still.

We also made a craft. Noah is learning about patience and waiting for Christmas. I thought we should make a chain that counts the days till Christmas. Every day we tear off one of the links and count how many more days. Noah did a great job with the glue stick and had a lot of fun. I bought the stuff to make candy cane reindeer. I must say candy canes have gotten expensive. They were two dollars a box. I thought things were supposed to get cheaper. I guess not. The pipe cleaners I got were striped. They didn’t have any solid brown ones so I figured it would be the closest thing. I have come up with a few other fun Christmas crafts and decorations we can do together.

What are some fun holiday crafts do you do with your children? Maybe I will get some more ideas. Please feel free to share them with me.