Clever Crafty Mom - Fun Winter Crafts!

Nancy Masannat – Clever Crafty Mom and Stampin'Up Consultant from right here in the 'Burg

When the weather outside is frightful, it's time to break out the craft supplies. With just a few things you probably already have around the house, you can get those little hands busy.

Try "glue" painting! Using white glue, draw a winter scene on white paper. Once the glue is completely dry use white crayons for smaller snow details. If you want to add fine detail such as stick hands on a snowman, do that now with your choice of crayon color. Next, apply blue, purple, or black watercolors to create the background color. Add buttons, foam, scraps of fabric, even glitter for fun 3-D detail.

Need a quick activity that will keep the kids busy? Try letting them play in shaving cream! If you're not sure the surface you are using is safe; test it first. A thin layer of shaving cream makes a great blank canvas on which imaginations can be turned loose...and it's clean, too!

Think that paper snowflakes are just for Christmas? Here in Fredericksburg, we often have more snow in January, so why not make snowflakes now? A pair of scissors and a pack of white coffee filters will provide tons of fun. Tape to windows, hang from doorways, even from lights for an inside blizzard!!

Creativity is a great remedy for the cabin fever brought on by winter. You've put away the Christmas decorations and now the house looks a little bare. Why not bring the "snow" people inside?

Make a winter tree by placing bare branches in a vase, or other container, weighted down with stones or marbles. Now it's time to decorate your tree. Use bath tissue tubes to make snowmen! Paint the tube white with craft paint and then add felt or scrap fabric for a hat. Cut the fabric 6" X 6" and wrap around the tube to cover. Attach with a rubber band at one end. Once in place pull fabric up from tube to create hat (see picture.)

Sew, tie, or use another rubber band to finish hat. Use paint, markers, buttons, foam, and more to add details. Make several and hang on your winter tree. Add coffee filter snowflakes to your tree in different sizes. Add cotton balls for snow balls. Don't forget the white lights if your "tree" will be somewhere near an electrical outlet.

Christmas leftovers, what do you do with them now? I'm not talking about the fruitcake Aunt Bonnie gave you...I mean the scraps of wrapping paper, the photo cards, and even the traditional cards that were just too beautiful you couldn't throw them away. Well, why not make a keepsake book? Using an inexpensive scrapbook you can have an ongoing book about friends and family. Use leftover wrapping paper as back grounds for stories written by your older kids about the people in the photos. Have them share a favorite memory...you'll be surprised at how they see things. Let everyone participate. Divide this up so everyone gets a job. Use cards as "die cuts" to add decoration to your pages. This doesn't have to be perfect; the point is to spend time together and build memories about friends and family.

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