Mesh Deco Wreaths

Hello, friends!  I wanted to share with you a fun craft my sister Melody has been working on.  She has made these beautiful wreaths below for Valentine's Day and St. Patty's Day!  They are easy and fun to make and add a little festivity to any room or door!

This wreath is called "curly mesh deco."

Materials:

-16 inch green metal wire wreath (can be found at Hobby Lobby)

-4 rolls of deco mesh, colors of choice (21 inch wide, 10 yards per roll)

-1 pack chenille pipe cleaners (25 per pack, will use 23 of them for 1 wreath)

-ribbon for big bow in center

Cut mesh into strips your choice of 9-12 inches (pictured 12 inches). *ALL MUST BE SAME LENGTH*  Then roll these strips up tightly one at a time.  After rolling, layer 3, 4, or 5 on top of each other and use a pipe cleaner to tie them together.  Make sure this knot is tight.  Then use the other ends of the same pipe cleaner to attach to the wreath.  Continue around the wreath until it is full, then secure your bow in the middle with a pipe cleaner.  This is somewhat time consuming, so you might want to put in a movie ;)

This is a flat tulle Valentine's wreath.  

Materials:

-5 rolls of tulle (25 yards/roll for $4.99 at Hobby Lobby) colors of your choice

-round white styrofoam ring 8 or 10 inches wide

-ribbon to use for hanging

To start, cut the tulle into 12 inch long strips.  Take 2 of the same color and tie around the wreath, making sure that the knot is double knotted and very tight.  Continue with the rest of the strips, 2 at a time, until the wreath is full.  Finally, tie a ribbon around to hang.

This is a St. Patrick's Day flat tulle wreath, made the same as the Valentine's one above.

Special Reindeer Food

Making reindeer food is an easy and fun craft to turn into a tradition for you and your little one!  You can make these bags of food for your kid's friends and keep one for your house!  Put out this special mix on Christmas Eve so Santa's reindeer will be sure to find your house and so they will have a treat to eat while Santa is putting presents under your tree :)

This craft is super easy to make.  You can use almost any ingredients you have in your pantry!  I used Cheerios, sprinkles, dry oatmeal and marshmallows to ensure that everything was edible just in case any of the young children I made this with decided to eat the ingredients.

In years past, I have used glitter, Fruit Loops (any type of cereal works great), and candy!

Make sure you have little baggies to put the mix in.  I happened to have clear gift bags but small Ziploc bags work great as well.

If you're giving a bag away, be sure to add a tag explaining what this special mix is!  I printed one from Thomcat Studios (see below).

Printable tags from the thomkat studios

Be sure to put this bag in a special place so you don't forget to sprinkle it in your yard on Christmas Eve!  Santa's reindeer will surely get into this treat!

DIY Christmas Light Craft

These little gems are something I enjoy displaying year after year.  The kids love to make them and each one is unique- no two are alike!

For this craft, all you need are lightbulbs, ribbon and paint.  You can save up lightbulbs that have burnt out over the year and use those to paint!

You simply use acrylic paint and a small paintbrush to paint the lightbulb (which can be any shape or size).  Then tie some ribbon the the end and you have a cute crafted light!

You will want to paint the year and maybe kid's initials to remind yourself when this craft was done!

Sweet Gumdrop Tree!

This easy craft is sure to be a favorite among your children this holiday season!

To create these gumdrop trees, you only need a few items:

• styrofoam cones (available at local craft store)
• toothpicks
• gumdrops

Set the styrofoam cone flat side down- this will be your tree.  

Break the toothpicks in half, adding the gumdrops to each toothpick.  Stick the remaining part of the toothpick into the cone.  It's easiest to start from the bottom and work your way to the top of the tree, and it's easiest to work in rows, moving from right to left.

To preserve your tree for future years, spray it with clear acrylic spray paint (also available at a local craft store).  Then cut out round piece of felt and write your child's name and year on it and glue it to the bottom of the tree, for memory's sake.

Remember, this sweet treat is for looks only!

Sassy Ornament Craft for Kids

Here's a fun way to pass time with your kids and create a holiday memory.

Buy a box of ornaments from a local craft store.  Shadow proof or glass will work.  The ones I used below are shadow proof.

1. Santa's Sleigh:

Using acrylic paint and your children's thumb, create Santa's sleigh with three red thumbprints, and Santa's face with one pink thumbprint.  Add a beard with white paint, and add white and red paint for hat with paintbrush.  Once dry, use Sharpie markers to embellish. 

For the reindeer, use two brown painted thumbprints for the body.  Add jingle bells with yellow paint and of course, red paint for Rudolph's red nose! Once dry, embellish with black Sharpie.

For best results, hang ornament to dry.

2. Snowman Hand:

Paint child's entire hand with white acrylic paint.  Let the child grab the ornament with their hand (carefully).  Once dry, paint hat, scarf and button embellishments with a tiny paintbrush.

For best results, hang to dry.

Don't forget to add child's name/initials and date/year!