This year, spread the holiday cheer with homemade Christmas decorations you can make with your kids. Carve out time for crafting and get one-of-a-kind décor.
Decorating your home to spread Christmas cheer is so much better when kids get to join in on the fun. Set aside an afternoon to get crafty with your little elves. You only need a few budget-friendly supplies to make truly unique pieces that could become family heirlooms. Get inspired by these 15 DIY Christmas decoration ideas that foster creativity, boost fine motor skills, and will create wholesome family-friendly fun!
To make paper mâché ornaments, mix water and flour until you have a consistent paste. Inflate a balloon, cover it with several layers of newspaper strips soaked in the glue-like mixture, and let everything dry. Then, pop the balloon and tell the kids to decorate the spherical ornaments to their hearts' content.
Add rustic touches to your Christmas tree with these pinecone ornaments. Kids of all ages can craft them using gold paint, glue, and ornament caps. Once the pinecones are sparkly and golden, thread a piece of twine through the ornament cap and hang it.
Keeping with the eco-friendly theme, take the kids on a budget-friendly hike to gather small sticks. When you're home, glue them in different shapes. For example, to resemble a snowflake or a tree. Don't forget to add a ribbon for hanging! Consider gifting these adorable ornaments to a loved one, they make for the perfect money-saving gift.
Turn your child's colorful handprints into ornaments with just three supplies: cardboard, paint, and a ribbon. What could be more unique than that? And if you're on a gift budget this year, these ornaments are affordable to make and so much better than anything you could have bought from the store.
Do you have a wire clothes hanger you don't need anymore? Shape one into a circle and let the kiddos tie strips of green felt around it. The more layers they add, the more it'll look like a wreath. Be sure to add a red ribbon to make the wreath even more festive and display it on the front door.
To make this garland, have your child cut stars out of colorful construction paper. Make two parallel cuts through the center of each star and have them pass a long piece of ribbon through the cut-outs. Hang the starry garland around the tree or from the ceiling.
Cut a handful of oranges into slices and dry them in the oven at a low temperature. Then, tell your child to pass a piece of twine through the center of each slice so you can hang them up. It's a simple craft that'll add a deliciously sweet scent to your home — and it'll keep for a long time because the oranges have been dried.
Whether you bake the real deal or use graham crackers as a shortcut, making and decorating a festive gingerbread house is wholesome fun. Allow your child to take charge of all creative decisions and marvel at what they come up with.
Have your child cut out a picture of Santa with a long, long beard and write the numbers 1 through 25 on it. Starting December 1st, give your child a cotton ball to glue on the day of the month. It's a lot of fun seeing Santa's look come together as you approach Christmas!
If you have old wooden clothespins and acrylic paints, your child can make simple homemade Christmas decorations. Let them decorate each clothespin however they want. Fun ideas include reindeer and Santa.
Cut out holes for eyes and mouth on a paper plate and have your kids decorate them to look like a Christmas character. The Grinch, Rudolph, and an elf are great choices. Thread a piece of elastic through each side of the plate so your children can wear their silly masks — or display them as affordable and fun decorations on the mantel.
Doing elf on the shelf this year? Put a crafty spin on it and let your bundles of joy make their own elf using a paper plate for the face. They'll need paint, construction paper to make a hat, and add googly eyes for a silly touch.
Even little kids can make candy cane reindeer. Help them wrap a brown fuzzy pipe cleaner around the top of the cane. Then, twist the ends to look like intricate reindeer antlers. Glue on a small red pompom to give Rudolph his characteristic red nose and add two silly googly eyes!
Whether you gather the pinecones yourself or buy them from the store, kids can paint them to look like Christmas trees. Display them upside down, with the pointy tip facing up, and remember to glue on small pompoms as ornaments.
You can make a DIY Christmas tree topper with polymer clay, paints, glitter, and cardboard. First, fold the cardboard so you have a funnel. Then, ask your child to make a star using the clay — the more homemade it looks, the better. Bake it until it's firm and paint it yellow. Don't forget to add a sprinkling of glitter to make it pop! Finally, glue the star to the spikey end of the funnel and give it the spotlight it deserves atop the Christmas tree.
Going all out for the holidays doesn't have to break the bank. These homemade Christmas decorations make use of things you probably already have around the house, and the supplies you do need to buy don't cost that much. Be sure to find a Save Coupon Book near you to save big on all kinds of holiday essentials this year. Yes, you can have a merry time while sticking to your budget!
