5 Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids

Normally we do a countdown of activities to help you plan for your next weekend adventures, but with Christmas coming this week, we thought we'd try to help you plan for the holiday in and around Birmingham.

Today we are going to discuss five easy Christmas crafts for you to make with your kids. These crafts are great to giveaway to grandparents as gifts, to keep as cherished memories, or to just make your home feel more festive.

1. Christmas Tree Sun Dazzlers

• You will need a Christmas tree cookie cutter, green felt, hole punch, plastic beads, glue and a ribbon for hanging.
• Trace the cookie cutter onto the green felt. 
• Cut out the shape and punch holes where you want the "ornaments" to be.
• Fill the holes by gluing plastic beads into the holes.
• Hang in a window to catch the sunlight.

2. Christmas Time Capsules

• Buy a plastic fillable ornaments, found at your local craft store.
• You can fill the ornaments with mini family pictures, a tooth lost that year, a button in your favorite color, clippings from a newspaper or magazine, miniature toys, your child's first hair clipping, a picture of their favorite toy, or whatever you want them to remember from this year. 
• You can paint the year or anything else you would like on the outside of the ornament.
• After filling the ornament create a capsule list to explain why each item was chosen to be put in the ornament.

3. Easy Candy Cane Ornaments

• You will need red and white chenille sticks.
• Just twist a red and white stem together and bend the ends into a hook to hang on your tree.

4. Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

• You will need three cups applesauce and three cups cinnamon (found at , , or any other local grocer)
• Mix the applesauce and cinnamon together until it is thick enough to hold a shape when you cut into it with cookie cutters.  
• Make a dough ball and roll out onto a flat surface. Make the dough about half an inch thick when rolled out. 
• Use cookie cutters to create your shapes. Stars, gingerbread men, santa, and bells make wonderful ornaments.
• Make a hole in the top with a toothpick to slip a ribbon through to hang on your tree.
• Let air dry for two to three days.
• These ornaments are not only easy enough for toddlers to do, they make your house smell wonderful.

5. Gumdrop Snowflake Ornaments

• You will need a bag of gumdrops and toothpicks.
• Stick six toothpicks into a large gumdrop. Fill the toothpicks with smaller gumdrops. Let children pick out the colors and patterns for the snowflake.
• This sweet treat is not only fun to make, it's fun to eat.