Holidays pose as the perfect opportunity to cash in on some quality family time.

Everyone seems so busy with activities, social media, school, and work. But for a moment—gasp! maybe even a week—things seem to slow down (ff course not for you though, mom.)

You’re busy decorating and baking and hosting oh my! Why not hit a holiday bullseye and kill two birds with one stone? It’s a new family tradition, and it grows with your kids and decorates your home, and it’ll have you laughing and playing merrily, together, in no time.

Ditch over-doing it on the expensive holiday décor and craft some hangings of your own. Each year, add something new until you have enough decorations to deck the halls and cover the tree! Building off last year’s hand-made décor is a fun way to reflect, and soon your holiday decorations will serve as a timeline, reflecting the growth of your children!

 

Mosaic Ornaments

You’ll Need: CDs or DVDs, Styrofoam balls or clear glass ornaments, scissors, a glue gun, glitter, and thick satin ribbon. 

Gather up all those outdated CDs and DVDs—you know, those shiny things that your kids don’t even acknowledge as high tech anymore. Carefully cut the discs into very small pieces with scissors. The shards can be sharp, so keep an eye out! Shapes do not need to match, but should all be close in size, and generally, the smaller the pieces, the better!

Once you have your discs cut up, take the clear glass ornaments and use the glue gun to cover the ornament with the disc pieces. Then, remove the ornaments top hook, stuff it with the satin ribbon and re-secure the hook for a new, creative take on plain clear ornaments. This look is totally in this year, in fact, don’t be surprised to find very similar ornaments at Target for way too much. 

 

Stemware Snow Globes

You’ll Need: New or old stemware, small plastic snowmen, reindeer, evergreen trees (or any holiday-themed figurine from a craft store), thick cardboard, pencils, artificial snow, glitter, and a hot glue gun.

Use some old wineglasses, purchase new, or find at a second-hand store. Place the glass upside down on cardboard paper and trace around the outside of the glass. Cut out your cardboard tracing and fashion your figurines in any desired style and secure them with a glue gun. Fill the glass with a few tablespoons of artificial snow or glitter, line the glass rim with hot glue, and press the cardboard creation to the rim, leaving the figurines trapped inside the glass. You can keep them just like this, or use the bottom of the glasses (now at the top) as a candleholder for an extra special look!

 

Framed Reindeer Feet

You’ll Need: Small white canvas or cardboard paper (you can frame it.) Gold, brown, black, red, and blue paint, googly eyes, red puffs, ribbon, and a set of thin and thick paintbrushes.

Paint your children’s feet with brown or gold, (kid and skin friendly) paint and have them press each foot to the canvas, a few inches apart. Allow for the paint to dry before adding details to avoid smudging the footprint! Once dried, it’s time to get creative! Add antlers to the footprints, one by the big toe and the other toward the pinky. Then, add eyes, a nose, and any other accessories fancied by your little feet.