Two fun Christmas Craft ideas you can do with your children for fun, or to give as gifts. Includes making homemade snowglobes and pasta angel tree ornaments!
Here are two fun craft ideas you can do with your little ones for the holidays. Both of these are good for children from 3 and up, with parental supervision! Older kids will enjoy these too, and may get more creative!
Pasta Angel Tree Ornaments
You'll Need:
Small elbow macaroni
Large penne pasta
Bowtie pasta
Small pompoms
Thumbtacks
Gold spray paint
Gold rings or large gold sequins
Glue
Red nail polish
Thread or thin gold string.
Waxed paper to cover work area
Place the bowtie pasta flat on the waxed paper. Place one large drop of glue on the center of the pasta. Place the penne pasta on the glue, vertically (so it forms a "T" across the bowtie pasta). Allow to dry. These are now the angel's wings, and the penne pasta is the angel's body.
Glue the macaroni onto the front of the penne pasta, curving upward. This forms the angel's arms. Once dried, glue the thumbtack with the bottom flat against the macaroni and the tip pointing upward. This is the angel's candle. Allow to dry.
Glue the pompom to the top of the penne pasta. This is the angel's head. Allow to dry.
Spray the entire angel with gold spray paint. Allow to dry, flip over and spray the back. Allow to dry.
Glue the gold ring (or sequin) to the top of the angel's head. This is the angel's halo.
With your red nail polish, paint the tip only of the thumbtack. This is the flame on the candle.
With your string (or thread), form a loop around the back of the bowtie pasta. This is your ornament hanger for the tree!
Older kids may find that this entire process can be greatly speeded up by using a hot glue gun. You can also do an assembly line of pasta angels, moving down the line in sequence (putting all the arms on the angels in order, for example) which allows each one to dry by the time you complete the last one and return to glue on the heads.
Homemade Snow Globes
You'll need:
Baby food jars, washed and with labels removed
A bag of glitter
Glycerin or baby oil
Small figurines (about 1.5" tall)
Glue
Felt
Paint to match felt
Pretty ribbon or cord
Permanent Marker
Paint the outside rims of the baby food jar lids the same color as the felt. You don't have to paint the bottom, as these are getting covered with felt.
Cut the felt into circles approximately 2-1/4 inches in diameter. Glue the felt to the bottom (outside) of the baby food jar lid.
Flip the lid over and glue the figurine in upright to the inside center of the baby food jar lid. Make sure that the figurine will fit all the way into the jar with the lid screwed on before gluing it in! A hot glue gun works especially well in gluing the figurines upright into the lid.
You should now have a baby food jar lid, with a painted edge and felt glued to the bottom. When the felt side is down, there should be a small figurine glued standing upright on the lid.
Pour about 2 teaspoons of glitter into the baby food jar. Fill ¾ of the way full with glycerin or baby oil. Don't use water, as the oil is thicker and causes the glitter to fall more slowly.
Slowly screw the lid onto the jar. Your figurine should now be hanging upside down in the jar, in the oil, with the felt on top. Make sure the lid is screwed on very tightly.
Use your pretty ribbon or cord to tie around the base of the lid as a finishing touch. The permanent marker can be used to write your child's name and date on the bottom of the felt, with a message if desired.
Flip the jar over. The "snow" should fall slowly over the figurine.
