“I will not let December become about making a production, when it’s simply about not missing You, Lord.  Miracles happen whenever I look for shoots of Jesus’ love everywhere…because this grows deep roots in Jesus’ love for everyone.”  Ann Voskamp

I am a long-time fan of Ann Voskamp and her Sticky Notes for the Soul often stick close to home.

Perhaps you are one of those amazing people that can create the Pinterest-worthy crafts without breaking a sweat.  You always have a full supply of materials on hand to create and time to spare for intricate Christmas DIY.  Maybe you even have children who color inside the lines and your kiddo crafts turn out perfectly every time.

I’m not that person.

In fact, I managed to somehow ruin even a pre-packaged gingerbread cookie mix this season, already.  True story.

But we also have already made some fun memories.  I began this season with a commitment in my heart to enjoy my decorating, create time and space for activities with the kids, and have joy in the process.  It hasn’t been perfect…I’m not perfect and neither are my kids…but we’ve had fun!

I’m sharing 4 quick and simple crafts (STRESS-FREE) to do with kids this Christmas season!

Ornament Garland

For this DIY, we only needed a package of favorite ornaments (these could be ones you already own!), twine, scissors, and hot glue.  Depending on the size of your ornaments and how long you want your garland to be, work in a little math lesson and space out the ornaments accordingly.  We didn’t worry about them being too perfect.  We simply cut off the ornament string and hot glued it to our twine.

And yes, Harrison touched the hot glue to see if it was actually hot.

DIY Ornaments

For this fun DIY, I purchased paper mache stars.  Using acrylic paint, the kids painted their stars.  We chose to use only white so that it would tie in with our Christmas tree, but you could pick your colors to match your own Christmas décor!  Each of the kids chose a theme for their ornament and laid out their buttons how they wanted them to be.  After the paint dried well, we hot glued Christmas buttons to the stars.  You could use wooden craft ornaments and any kind of buttons or miniature Christmas objects to create your own ornaments!

Cookie Ornament Decorating

This was a fun afternoon craft that even I couldn’t mess up by mixing the dough wrong!  Ha!  We used a pre-packaged set of Christmas cookie ornaments from Trader Joe’s.  The package came complete with frosting and sprinkles!  Easy breezy and fun was had by all!

Click Here for the Trader Joe’s Cookie Set

Nativity Fingerprint Painting

I did this craft with the younger two while their big sister was out with friends!  For this craft, we used Kraft Card Stock, washable paints, and a colored pencil.

• Draw a simple house outline. It doesn’t need to be too perfect.  A little “imperfect” actually works best!
• Using one finger, paint around the frame of the house for the stable. You’ll do the sides and roof with the brown paint.
• Next comes the hay! Make a single row of yellow along the bottom of the house outline and we chose to make a “loft”.
• Using the yellow paint, create a 5 point star at the top!
• The manger was just three small lines, fingerprinted with brown.
• Create Baby Jesus with one fingerprint of peach paint and three fingerprints of white. You could also use blue.
• After the paint dries, cut around the border.
• Hole punch the top and tie a loop with twine!
• The kids chose to deliver their Nativity paintings with a little note to neighbors. Spreading a little Christmas cheer and giving some meaning to their creations!

I hope that maybe this inspires you to carve out 15 minutes to create with the special little people in your life!  The craft is insignificant but the memories last a lifetime. 

Blessings,

Robyn