Christmas in June? Well, no not really, but it's good to start DIY crafts and gift crafts for Christmas during the summer. Does the holiday season find you making DIY crafts? Here are budget gift crafts and DIY crafts for kids holiday gifts. A good way to organize and save money on gift crafts is with themed giving. Each holiday season, choose a theme and create gift crafts for each person on your list from that theme. You can do gift baskets, books, hobbies or games. This year, how about a polar fleece no-sew blanket and pillow theme? DIY crafts: Homemade polar fleece no-sew blanket and pillow sets, gift crafts | Examiner.com
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
DIY crafts: Homemade polar fleece no-sew blanket and pillow sets, gift crafts
Christmas in June? Well, no not really, but it's good to start DIY crafts and gift crafts for Christmas during the summer. Does the holiday season find you making DIY crafts? Here are budget gift crafts and DIY crafts for kids holiday gifts. A good way to organize and save money on gift crafts is with themed giving. Each holiday season, choose a theme and create gift crafts for each person on your list from that theme. You can do gift baskets, books, hobbies or games. This year, how about a polar fleece no-sew blanket and pillow theme? DIY crafts: Homemade polar fleece no-sew blanket and pillow sets, gift crafts | Examiner.comFree printable Christmas nativity scenes, Advent manger sets for Bible holiday
Are you looking for religious Christmas crafts for little ones? You'll want these free printable nativity scenes. Children can color Bible characters and assemble manger sets. Here's a free printable manger scene with cut and paste coloring pages to put on paper towel tubes. Catholic Icing has eight coloring pages that you can click and print directly from her blog. Each page features Mary and Joseph, donkey, angel, wisemen, shepherds, Baby Jesus, camels. Download the set from the website.Free printable Christmas nativity scenes, Advent manger sets for Bible holidayFree printable gingerbread house patterns, Christmas craft stencils
Making holiday gingerbread houses is a favorite family traditions. Not being very artistic, I'd cheat and get the gingerbread house kit. But I've found a better way: free printable gingerbread house patterns, recipes and templates. People approach gingerbread house making in two ways. The first is to painstakingly design a work of art--not to be eaten, let alone touched. Then there's our youngest son's method: slap together a ramshackle gingerbread shed, lather in two inches of frosting, cover every inch in candy and devour immediately. Whichever school you subscribe to, you'll want these free printable gingerbread recipes, templates and patterns. Free printable gingerbread house patterns, Christmas craft stencils Free printable Catholic Advent calendars for a Christian Bible Christmas
The Catholic Christian season of Advent begins November 30, 2014 and goes for four weeks till Christmas. Many families follow Advent calendars. If they're getting all season long, where's the magic of Christmas morning? Advent is about preparing for the coming of Christ with acts of charity. Here are Free printable Catholic Advent calendars for a Christian Bible ChristmasFree Christmas Crafts and Holiday Printables
Martha Stewart is the DIY home goddess. On her website, you'll find printable crafts for every holiday, theme and occasion. Coming up, she's got Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and winter themed holiday crafts. You can also find Advent, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Chanukah and Epiphany crafts to print. And you can access any holiday from the page I linked. There are free printable greeting cards, invitations, decorations, games, banners, cut and paste, children's activities, gift crafts and more. Look for birthday, anniversary, new baby, wedding, bridal shower, graduation and religious events. Free Crafts and Printables from Martha StewartFree Printable Christmas Crafts, Cards, Games, Party Decorations and Recipes
I maintain several highly-performing niche blog, the most popular ones involving printable crafts for children. Internet searchers are always seeking freebies and crafts. Christmas is an especially popular time to hunt up free printable crafts. So here are links for free printable Christmas crafts, recipes, games, decorations and greeting cards! Free Crafts and Printables from Martha StewartBudget Homemade Holiday Centerpiece Like Crate and Barrel
I shopped recently at Crate and Barrel at Somerset Mall near Detroit. Lovely store; very expensive. Crate and Barrel was displaying beautiful holiday centerpieces. So being a DIYer, I made mental notes on how to create these holiday crafts cheaper with natural, recycled sources.Crate and Barrel holiday centerpiece with table runner: Instead of the traditional centerpiece interior decorators are featuring table runners with holiday decor lined up down the length of the table. Buy a table runner for a buck at Dollar Tree and under $5 at Walmart or Family Dollar.
For holidays, choose table runners in rich fabrics: brocade, tapestry, linen, satin, velvet or lace. Look for bold colors: gold, silver, crimson, blue, emerald, black.
Or repurpose with a piece of favorite fabric. Perhaps you have a piece that matches your curtains? Or an old curtain valance? Cut a piece the length of your dining room table. Leave a little overhang or cut it shorter. Hem raw edges or if you hate sewing, fold edges over, press and secure with heavy tape.
For accent pieces, take a walk outdoors and select dry leaves, twigs, pine cones and acorns. Spray paint with a $3 can of gold or silver spray paint. Gilt edges or thoroughly paint. Place on newspaper. Spray one side. Allow to dry. Flip and spray the other side.
Arrange painted items along the table runner with several strands of contrasting Christmas tree bead garlands. For Christmas, paint foliage gold and use red and green beads. For Hanukkah decor paint the foliage silver and display with blue bead garlands. Or use four candles--3 blue or purple and one pink-- and make an advent wreath.
Add a lace or fabric ribbon or bow. Place three pillar candles of alternating heights on holiday platter in the center of the table. Choose any color that complements your seasonal colors.
Dress up candles by tying velvet ribbon bow around center. Using hot glue or Glue Dots or beading pins, add festive appliques, buttons, faux gems, sequins, beads. This same display retailed for over $150 at Crate and Barrel.
Free Printable Advent Calendar Crafts
Advent is a penitential season that starts four weeks before Christmas in +Catholic and +Orthodox-christian churches. As in lent (before Easter) we pray, fast and give alms to prepare our hearts for the "coming" (advent) of Christ (from the Latin "adveniat regnum"--coming of Christ's kingdom.) The first Sunday of Advent in 2013 is December 1. Here are printable advent calendars for kids. Free Printable Advent Calendar Crafts for Kids
Printable Catholic Saints Paper Dolls
I enjoy looking for free printable cartoon coloring pages, but my real passion lies in finding homeschooling and religious education free printables. I remember my early teaching and homeschooling career, sans computer. I must have made thousands of lessons. Alas, I am woefully inept as an artist, so those that required drawing skills...lacked. But now, with the beauty of the Internet, we have access to free printable lesson plans, coloring pages, cut and paste crafts, games and activities. Here are printable Catholic paper dolls for Advent and Christmas. Free Printable Catholic Saints Paper Dolls and Coloring Page Activities
Chris VanAllsburg, Polar Express, Herpolsheimers' Grand Rapids Connections
I have a lot of hobbies and interests. One is incunabula, particularly collecting children's literature. I'm not au currant in modern adult fiction, but juvenilia I speak fluently. A favorite author/illustrator is Chris VanAllsburg--of Jumanji, The Polar Express (books, then movies) fame. When I was in college and a new teacher, VanAllsburg was writing and illustrating some of his best works. My favorite is a little-remembered volume of M.C. Escher-ish pictures with intriguing captions "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick." I used that extensively in creative writing with my Montessori students in the 80s. And I just discovered a neat connection. VanAllsburg is from my hometown Grand Rapids. I think the train he used for the Polar Express was modeled on Herpolsheimer's Santa Express--a little train that went around the top of the store, that all us kids rode years ago. Oh, and here's a free printable Polar Express party kit perfect for children's Christmas festivities or birthday parties. Read more. Chris VanAllsburg is from My Hometown
Free Printable Christmas Party Games for Holiday Parties
Picture this: Christmas opened, dinner nicely settling and just when adults start to relax, the kids want to play. Why not pull out a little holiday magic with free printable Christmas puzzles and word games! Before Christmas or any other holiday, gather an assortment of books, toys, prizes. Put them in a Santa Surprise bag. When kids get restless, haul it out and add a free printable Christmas activity books. For each puzzle or coloring page successfully completed the child gets to choose one prize from Santa's Surprise bag! Woo-hoo, mom and dad can half-nap for a good hour or two! Here are your Free Printable Christmas Party Games
Fun Holiday Activities for Sick Kids
Wouldn't you know it--Christmas vacation is finally here and your child gets ill. Holidays can be miserable for sick kids (and parents who must care for them). No parties, curtailed activities, more work, extra worries--it kinda takes the "merry" out of "Christmas." But it doesn't have to. Here are at-home family holiday activities that sick kids can enjoy, too. Click around on this blog for free printable crafts for kids to make. Read more Free Printable Feast of the Immaculate Conception Activities, Crafts
December 8 marks the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Immaculate Conception is one of six recognized Holy Days in the liturgical calendar. Here are free printable activities and lessons to celebrate this feast day. I've gone through all the noted Catholic websites and linked this article to children's liturgy activities that explore the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Blessed Mother. read moreFree Printable Christmas Decorations, Ornaments, Crafts
Finding yourself cash-strapped this holiday season? You're not alone! Many years, my Christmas budget barely covered gifts, let alone holiday decorations. I admired the lovely Christmas decor my friends and neighbors put up, but not the big bucks they shelled out. If I had any money left, I wanted to share with kids in need, not buy dust collectors or disposable decorations. Fortuneately, the internet provides a solution: free printable Christmas decorations and crafts. Print from your computer for cheap holiday decor. All you need is paper and ink and you can save on those by printing in black ink on recycled paper (be sure to set your printer to "economy" to use less ink). Then have kids color black and white images! A 25 cent box of crayons bought at back-to-school sales and you've got a child minder craft that will keep kids happily occupied all season long! And kids will love decorating with ornaments they've made themselves. You're making memories, saving money and keeping kids productively occupied all at once! Talk about multitasking--girl, you rock! read onFree Printable Thanksgiving Puzzles and Word Games
Thanksgiving kicks off the Christmas holiday season in schools and at home. When I think of Thanksgiving holiday parties, I think of food, family and how richly blessed I am. I remember past Thanksgiving celebrations family and students I've taught. I've always linked curriculum current holidays. At Thanksgiving, we study American history, exploration, settlement, religions, native American cultures and early technology. At our holiday parties, we play seasonal themed games. Here are lesson plans for the holiday season, beginning with Thanksgiving. These are adaptable for Christmas, too. You can print games, puzzles, word searches, crossword puzzles, matching games etc. I use these games to connect lessons and content. Word games and puzzles also make excellent non-traditional tests. Read moreFree Printable Eastern Orthodox Catholic Coloring Activities
The Christian Orthodox church, whose branches include Russian, Ukrainian, Slavic, Slavonic and Greek Orthodox, is linked to the Byzantine Church. The eastern rite churches follow most of the same practices as the Christian Catholic church, such as veneration of saints, icons, holy relics and martyrs. Here are free printable coloring pages, activities and lesson plans to celebrate Orthodox Advent and Christmas. Epiphany is a specifically Orthodox holiday and the occasion on which most Orthodox families exchange gifts. Read moreAdvent Recipes, Christmas Cookie Recipes
DIY Advent Calendar Craft for Christmas Countdown
Free Printable Winter Season Lessons, Activities
The winter season is a popular theme in preschool and early elementary. In science, the winter season makes an ideal focus for chemistry, physics, earth and life science topics. In social studies, students might explore winter-specific holidays and religious celebrations, like Yule, Saturnalia and the December solstice. Concepts are adaptable across different curricula: writing, math, reading, literature, art and crafts. Here are free printable winter season activities. Most are interactive, hands-on project-type activities. Perfect for many ages and grade levels. Great for special needs learners, too. Read moreFree Printable Folded Paper Christmas Ornaments and Decorations
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