Mini Straw Hats, Bread Dough Crafts and Other Easy Christmas Crafts

Christmas is upon us and we all enjoy making holiday crafts. Perhaps you need a quick little gift for someone or want to make some cute decorations for your home. Naturally, the kids will want to join in as well. These projects will keep them busy for hours, especially when they have their vacation week. But these crafts are not just for kids. I have made my magnets and hats for many of my friends and people I have worked with, and they are always a hit.

Let me tell you a bit about my projects first. Mini straw hats: You can design them any way you want. You can design a Christmas theme hat or just a flowered hat. You can make it a magnet or to hang on the wall or door. You can basically make them for any occasion. All you need is a glue gun, flowers , ribbons and whatever you would like to add. Be creative!

Next. My favorite. Bread dough crafts. This is a really fun project and you can make so many things with it. All you need is a little imagination. When they are done they look like porcelain. You can make just about anything if you are handy. I love making flowers. You can make snowmen, candy canes, trees, teddy bears etc. Whatever comes to mind. All you need to start this project is white bread (remove crust). Aleen's Tacky glue. You take 1 slice of bread and jumble it up in a bowl or container, then you take 1 tablespoon of glue. Mix it up a bit. Then take it in your hands and form into a smooth dough. Now you are ready to fashion your creations. Toothpicks will help with the detail work. You should let them dry a few days. Test them to be sure. When they are dry You are ready to paint them.

Now here is the fun part. You can use any kind of paint you want or you can use nail polish. This is usually my choice as there are so many great shades out there! You can even use sparkles if you want. Don't forget to put a few coats of clear nail polis on so it shines.
I usually like to make magnets for people. But you can even make cute additions for your Christmas village. I made a few snowmen for mine and some trees.

Here is a cute idea. Mini fans. Now these can be decorations for a tree or as magnets or even for the wall. You will need very light weight cardboard for this project. Also heavy weight thick type ribbon. Basically with a design on it, but it is your choice.
You will cut the cardboard into a square, and make a fan out of it. Trim anything if needed. Take the ribbon and shape it to the fan, Tim id needed. When you have done this you can use either tacky glue or Elmer's glue to attach the ribbon to the fan. You may want to add a different type of ribbon for the trim and streamers. You can also add small flower clusters to the base if you wish. Then you can attach either thin wire to the back or a paper clip, so that you can hang it on the wall or your tree, or just make it a magnet. This is also a cute gift to give.

You can even make one of each to give to someone, or just keep them for yourself, because when you are done you won't want to give them away! All of these crafts are cheap to make, and you and the kids will have so much fun. i enjoyed making them last year with my grandkids, and they had a ball!