Getting Crafty: Five Incredible Holiday Gifts To Make With The Kids!

Making holidays gifts with your little helpers is a really good way of spreading Christmas cheer! Not only are they great for having some special festive fun with the little ones, but the person receiving them feel ho-so special too! Here are our five incredible DIY holiday gifts!

Photo tree decorations

This is the possibly the quickest personalised Christmas gift to make, and it looks amazing! You can put your friends and family on your tree, or one somebody else’s with this DIY gift.

What you’ll need:

• Printed copies of photographs with your loved ones
• Some round thin pieces of wood (you can buy these, or you can get them as wood cuttings from anywhere selling Christmas trees for free, just ask the person cutting them up!)
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Glue
• Permanent marker
• String

(Just a quick one to say that if you opt for getting the wooden discs for free from a Christmas tree seller, you will have to drill a hole into the disc before you start.)

How to do it:

1. Cut the printed copies of the photographs of your loved ones into circular shapes that will fit your wooden discs. We recommend matching the disc to each photo, then trace around the area with the disc before cutting – just to make sure they are the perfect size, and that the hole punch won’t be going through anyone’s face!
2. After this, you can hole punch the photo (maybe best for Mummy or Daddy to do this bit!)
3. Help your little one to glue the cut-out photograph to the wooden disc, making sure to overlay the hole in the disc with the hole in the photo. You’ll need to use some good glue, so keep little fingers away to guard against stickiness!
4. Take a piece of string and run it through the hole of the decoration and tie a knot or bow in the end.
5. Help your little one to write a phrase you would like on the opposite side (the name, the date, the place, a message etc.)

Your friends and family will be rockin’ around the Christmas tree to get a look at these photo tree decorations!

Cinnamon trees

These decorations are easy to make, plus they smell incredible – if you like cinnamon that is! They perfect for hanging anywhere to give the whole house a warmly spiced, Christmas smell!

What you’ll need:

• Large cinnamon sticks
• Green ribbons
• Scissors

How to do it:

1. Take two cinnamon sticks and lay them flat side by side on the table, so they are facing vertically.
2. Help your little elves to roll out some green ribbon in strips on top of the cinnamon sticks, so that each piece is slightly less long than the last piece, cutting them as you go. You should make these strips slightly too long for them to look like the branches of a Christmas tree. Also, leave a space at the bottom of the cinnamon sticks to give the illusion of a Christmas tree trunk.
3. One by one, take each ribbon and tie it onto the cinnamon sticks tightly. Try to make sure there is equal(ish!) amounts of ribbon on each side, so they look like tree branches. Repeat this until the ribbons are tied all the way to the top of the cinnamon sticks.

Christmas (and cinnamon) will be all around with these cinnamon trees!

Pom-pom wreaths

Super colourful, super festive and super fun, pom-pom wreaths are a fantastic Christmas tree decoration! 

 

What you’ll need:

• A set of small multicoloured pom-poms
• Some craft wire
• Pliers
• Some ribbon

How to do it:

1. Take your wire and cut a loop with the pliers (this is definitely a joint job for parent and helper!) It might take a few attempts to know how much you’ll need.
2. Thread your pom-poms through the wire until there is approximately an inch each of wire left on each side.
3. Fold the two end bits of the wire away from each other so you create a kind of horseshoe shape.
4. Wrap a piece of ribbon around each side and create an initial tie which brings the wire together. Then tie the rest of the ribbon into a bow.
5. Cut away any excess wire which distracts from the prettiness of your pom-pom wreath.

Boom: You’ve made your own pom-pom wreath!

Brownies in a jar

You can send this to every family and friend as a sweet treat for Christmas, plus your little one will love making them!

What you’ll need:

(This will give you one litre (one quart) jar of brownie mix)

• 1 cup + two tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• ⅓ cup of cocoa powder
• ⅔ cup of brown sugar
• ⅔ cup of white sugar
• ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips
• ⅓ cup of white chocolate chips
• ⅓ cup of your choice of nuts, or extra amount of chocolate
• A ribbon

How to do it:

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl and get your little elves ready to go with their measuring cups!
2. Get your little helper to layer the brownie mix into the jar in the following order (you can choose any order, but we think this is prettiest!):

• Half of the salt and flour mix
• All the cocoa powder
• The other half of the salt and flour mix
• All the brown sugar
• All the white sugar
• All the dark chocolate chips
• All the white chocolate chips
• All the nuts or extra chocolate of your choice

3. Put the lid on your jar (before something tragic happens!)
4. Tie the ribbon into a bow, just around the top of the jar (just below the lid)

Tis the season to give brownies!

Salt dough decorations

Salt dough decorations are a Christmas classic that are great for making with the little ones!

What you’ll need:

4 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of salt

1 ½ cups of warm water

A straw

String

How to do it:

1. Combine 4 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 ½ cups of warm water in a mixing bowl and take it turns with your little ones to give it a good mix!
2. When the mixture starts to form a dough-like texture take it out and knead it until it’s firm and smooth. This is the fun part for your little helper because they get to punch it, push it and squeeze it around!
3. Flour your kitchen side or table (pretend its snow to amp up the Christmas vibes!) Then roll out the dough and cut it into the shapes you want – think, snowflake, Christmas trees, stockings, stars etc. You know the drill!
4. Use the straw for details and to poke a hole through for the string later.
5. Put the shapes on a baking tray lined with baking paper, then bake them in the oven at 300°F/150°C/Gas Mark 2 until they’re dry, approximately an hour.
6. Let the shapes cool completely, put the string through the hole and tie up the end.

You’ve dashed through the dough and made your own fabulous salt dough decorations!

Homemade holiday gifts are a fantastic way to feel festive with your little helpers, plus your friends and family will love receiving a dashing DIY Christmas present. We ho-ho-hope our dashing DIY crafts bring joy to your world and the people around you!