Hand-Colored Candles

Materials
Dull pencil
Permanent marker
Pillar candles
Watercolor brush
Acrylic paints
Cotton swabs
Rubbing alcohol

1. Use the point of the dull pencil to etch designs into the was (for younger kids, it may be helpful to draw the designs in marker first). Don’t press too hard, or you may accidentally veer off course. Instead, go over the lines once or twice to create a shallow groove that will catch paint.
2. Brush paint into the grooves. Dilute the paint as you work by occasionally dipping the paintbrush in water.
3. Let the paint set for about 5 minutes, then clean away the excess from around the designs with cotton swabs, being careful not to wipe any out of the grooves. To remove any spots of paint that don’t wipe away easily, try using ac cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol (a parent’s job).

Eyeglass Cases

Materials
Piece of craft fur (7 ½) by 10 inches)
Adhesive-backed craft foam (6 by 6 1.2 inches)
Marker and ruler
3 pairs of buttons (1/2 and 1 inch in diameter per pair)
Sturdy sewing needle and thread
Fabric glue
4 clothespins

1. Place the fur right side down on a table. Holding the craft foam with the longer edges at the top and bottom, stick it to the underside of the fur centered along the lower edge, as shown. The mark 2 spots on the foam about 2 inches up from the lower edge of the fur and 2 ¼ inches in from each side.
2. 2. Loosely but securely sew the buttons onto the furry side, creating each eye by stacking a ½-inch button atop a 1-inch one (young sewers may need help pushing the needle through the foam).
3. 3. Fold the foam-covered fur area in half, making a crease, then unfold it. Apply fabric glue along the edges of the fur piece adjacent to the foam.
4. Refold the foam and secure the seamed with clothespins until the glue dries.
5. Fold the fur flap over the glued pocket, then mark and cut buttonholes large enough for the eyes to fit through. Spread a thin layer of glue around the non furry side of the buttonholes to keep them from stretching. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly before buttoning the case.

Wooden Tree Mobile

You’ll need
Coping or other small saw
Two 36-inch pieces, plus one 12-inch, piece of balsa wood with a ½-inch-square thickness (available at craft supply stores)
Drill or hand drill with a 1/8-inch bit
Acrylic paint in green, brown, and yellow
Small wooden star
4 feet of plastic lacing or lanyard
4 brown beads with 1/8-inch (or larger) diameter hole
11 green beads with 1/8-inch (or larger) diameter hole
Wood glue

First, saw one of the 36-inch wooden strips (parents only) into 8 pieces, each 1 inch longer then the previous one: start with a 1-inch piece, then a 2-inch piece and so on until you reach 8 inches. Saw the second 36-inch strip of wood into a 9 inch piece, a 10 inch piece, and 11 inch piece, and three 1 ½ inch pieces. The remainder is scrap.

Drill a hole through the center of each wood strip. Paint the three 1 ½-inch pieces brown and paint all of the other wood strips, including the 12-inch strip, green. Paint the wooden star and let all of the paint dry (about 15 minutes).

Knot one end of the plastic lace, then alternately string on the beads and the wooden strips as shown. Finally, glue the star to the top strip, let it dry, then hand the tree where it can spin freely.

Potted Paper Cones

For each tree, you’ll need
1 large piece of drawing paper or poster board
Clear or double-sided tape
Scissors
Hot-glue gun
Small ornaments, garlands, fake jewels or ribbons
Dowel with a ½-inch diameter (ours were 3 feet long)
Decorative bucket or flowerpot
Small rocks
Cotton batting

Roll the paper or poster board into a cone shape (make sure the hole at the tip is less then ½ inch wide), then tape the seam and trip the bottom so that it’s even. Decorate the cone by hot-gluing small ornaments, garlands, fake jewels, or ribbons to it. (If you’re using bulb ornaments, glue the top of the ornament, rather then the bulb itself, to the cone for for a stronger hold.) Let the glue dry.

Stand the dowel in the bucket with enough rocks to keep the dowel upright. Cover the rocks with the cotton batting, then set the paper cone atop the dowel.

Festive Forest Garland

You’ll need
Green paper or card stock(we used assorted scrap booking paper)
Scissors
Hold Punch
Craft glue
Sandpaper or brown construction or scrapbooking paper
Star-shaped shank buttons
Cord or string

Cut trees in various shapes and sizes from the papers and punch a hole at the top of each one. Add trunks by bluing a small strip of sandpaper face down to the back of each tree. To string the trees together, push the shank of each button through each punched hole, then thread a length of cord through the button shanks, knotting the cord around each one to keep the trees in place.

Christmas Dinner Place Markers

You’ll need
Green acrylic paint
Paper cone water cups (without wax coating; 1 for each guest; available at office supply stores) or construction paper
Clear or double-sided tape
Glitter glue
Craft glue
Plastic gems
White and gold paper
Scissors
Pen or marker

Paint some of the cups green and let them dry (about 10 minutes). If you’re using construction paper instead, roll it into cones, tape the seams, then trim the bottoms so that they sit evenly. Decorate the trees with garlands of glitter glue and glue on plastic gems for ornaments. Finally, glue together different – size stars cut from the white gold paper, write a guest’s name on each pair, then tape or glue the stars atop the trees.

Ribbon Candy Ornaments

Materials
17 inches of 1 ½ inch wide wire ribbon (striped or solid colors work well)
16 inches of clear fishing line or decorative thread
Needle
Pencil

1. For each ornament, fold down ¼ inch at each end of the ribbon, then accordion fold the ribbon in 1 ¾ inch sections.
2. Knot one end of the fishing line and thread the other through the needle. Push the needle up through the bottom of the folded ribbon pile and return the needle ¼ inch away from the original hold as shown. Knot the line at the bottom.
3. Pull the line from the top until the ribbon sandwich is about 1 ½ inch thick and two bottom knots are taunt Knot the line on the top as shown, so that a loop is left for hanging. Now us a pencil or your finger to round out the side folds.

Fancy Fans

Materials
Gift wrap
Decorative craft scissors (optional)
Stapler
Pushpin
Monofilament

1. Cut a 4 ½ - by 10 ½ - inch rectangle from the gift wrap. Accordion – fold the paper as shows, making the pleats ½ inch wide.
2. Staple the folded paper across the center. Then bring together the ends on each side of the staple, taping the joints on the unprinted sides.
3. Use a pushpin to poke a hole through the tape at the top of the ornament. Thread a 10- inch length of monofilament through it and then knot the ends to form a loop for hanging.

Spoon Santa

Materials
Red felt
Scissors
Pushpin
Monofilament
Wooded craft spoon
White faux fur
Glue or glue dots
Self-adhesive googly eyes
Small white pompoms

1. Cut out a red felt hat that’s slightly taller than he craft spoon handle (ours is about 3 inches). Use a pushpin to poke a hole through the felt about ¼ inch below the tip of the hat. Thread a 7-inch length of monofilament through the hole and knot the ends to create a loop.
2. 2. Cut out a fur strip to trim the hat and glue it in place. Then cut out a fur bear.
3. 3. Glue the hat and beard to the spoon as shown, then stick the googly eyes to the wood. Finally, glue a small white pompom to the tip of the hat.

Winter Wonderland

You will need
9-ounce clear plastic up
Silver poster board
Pinking shears or decorative craft scissors
Polyester batting
Miniature trees (sold in craft stores try the dollhouse or model railroad section)
Miniature animals or people (sold in craft stores or online at bjcraftsupplies.com)
1-inch wide mirror
Tacky glue
Fine glitter
Pushpin
Monofilament
Several craft beads

1. Trace the rim of the cup into the underside of the poster board. Cut out the circle, but stay at least 1/8 inch of the trace line so that the base will be slightly larger then the cup.
2. Cut out a circle of batting now that’s the same diameter as the cup and set it atop the shiny side of the poster board circle.
3. Separate or snip the batting where you’d like to position the trees, figurines, and mirror pond. Glue the base of each item to the poster board, then smooth or fluff the snow around them as needed. Sprinkle the scene with fine glitter.
4. Use the pushpin to poke a hold in the center of the cup bottom. Thread a craft bead into a 12-inch length of monofilament. Gather the ends together, letting the bead fall to the center of the line, and thread them up thought the hold from inside the cup. String a few more beads onto the double lined (outside of the cup) and then knot the ends to form a loop.

Dangling Snowmen

You will need
3 round objects (we used a spice jar lid the bottom of a yogurt container, and a mason jar lid)
Scissors
Craft foam, white and orange
Glue dots
Monofilament
Buttons
Permanent Marker
Ribbon

1. Using the round objects as patterns, cut out 2 white foam circles in each size.
2. Place one set of the circles on a flat surface, spacing them ¼ inch apart. With glue dots, glue a 12 inch piece of monofilament across the circles as shown, then firmly press the matching circles on top.
3. Use more glue dots to attach buttons and an orange craft foam nose. With a permanent marker, draw on eyes and a mouth. Finally, tie a ribbon scarf around the monofilament at the neck, and then knot the line above the head to create a loop for hanging.

Fun Felt Pens

You will need
Felt (any color you like)
Glue Gun
Scissors
Pen
Googly eyes

1. Cut a strip of felt as shown
2. Run a thin bead of hot glue along one edge, roll up the pen in the felt, and glue the other edge.
3. Once that dry, glue on googly and felt details, such as wings and ears

Beautiful Beaded Rings

You will need
Clear elastic beading cord Scissors
Beads
1. Cut a piece of elastic. To make the beading easier, we stranded with a 10-inch length for an adult’s ring finger and 6-inch length for a child’s pinkie.
2. Thread the bead or beads onto the elastic (for our larger ring, we used18).
3. Using a helper’s finger as a guide, knot together the ends. Finally, trim the ends and slide the knot into the middle of a bead so it’s hidden from sight.

Fun at the kids table
Tiny Twisted: Don’t just plop the kids in the corner at their own table-make it active. Sicard puts down butcher paper and provides crayons so kids can decorate their “table-cloth” before the meal. Print out the coloring pages, mazes and more at www.kidsdomain.com for something for the kids to do between courses.
New Tradition: Go a step further by letting a playful adult sit there. “In my family the grown-ups all want to sit at the kids’ table,” says Sicard. “It’s considered a place of honor!”