Anyone crafting holiday decorations?

[jenfl]

I see there's a thread for those crafting Christmas presents, but I'm still in my decor crafting stage. I might do a few presents for DD after Thanksgiving, but right now decorating for the holidays is all that's on my mind!

I'm working on two big projects right now. One is a 3d gingerbread house -- internal plastic canvas for support, covered in plain brown felt. I've got that done, and now I'm making decorations out of felt. The idea is that the kid(s) will be able to decorate the house over and over again, like a felt board!

The other project is a stuffed, standing Christmas tree. I'm sewing magnets into the "branches", and then attaching washers onto small fabric "ornaments" so that the kid(s) can decorate and re-decorate the tree.

After that... I don't know. I've got a couple things bouncing around in my head that I'm not quite sure how I want to complete (like a quilt, pennants, or a playable Christmas village). I guess I'll let them percolate until -- if! -- I get time to work on them.

I'd love to hear what other people are up to!

[zech13_9_goforgold]

You could make your village out of pint milk cartons (assuming your kids are in school) and quart milk cartons (like whipping cream some in). The kids could then move the village around quite a bit.

I like your other ideas. I dried some lemons, limes, apples, and oranges to which I've added cinnamon sticks for a nice smelling mixture to go on top of my wood stove. I usually try to keep a pot of water on when we're heating with the stove to help rehydrate the air. The house smells really nice now with the fruits and cinnamon. That's as much "decorating" as I've done.

We're getting ready to move, so I'm not even sure if we'll have a tree. My MIL is bringing table decorations when she flies here for Christmas dinner.

[jenfl]

Originally Posted by zech13_9_goforgold

You could make your village out of pint milk cartons (assuming your kids are in school) and quart milk cartons (like whipping cream some in). The kids could then move the village around quite a bit.

Ooo, I love that idea. I gotta figure out a way for my family to drink things out of pint cartons.....

[IntuitiveJamie]

Those are great ideas and sound like fun. I feel the need to get presents out of the way first. That's prob. backwards now that I think about it, but I feel most accomplished if I have the gifts done. I am almost finished and so during Dec. I can do more things that are just for my enjoyment, like crafting decorations. I hope to come back later and share. I will keep an eye on this thread.

[sunanthem]

I love your ideas, Jenfl.. they're great! I really want to make my own wreath, and some new felt ornaments... that's probably as much as I'll do for decorating.

[DeerMother]

Originally Posted by jenfl

The other project is a stuffed, standing Christmas tree. I'm sewing magnets into the "branches", and then attaching washers onto small fabric "ornaments" so that the kid(s) can decorate and re-decorate the tree.

That sounds so cool! I want one!

I'm trying to come up w/ ornaments to make w/ my two 21 month olds. I was thinking of making a chain w/ some of their drawings. But I really want something we can do together. Maybe collecting pine cones and gluing glitter to them. Or cutting winter shapes and having them glue yarn and fabric scraps to it.

[ms.shell]

well, i wasn't planning to craft ornaments, but our tree wound up having some lights out, and so dp talked his mom into buying us a new one. The old tree had the lights out on one side, so i put it at the end of our (wide) hallway, with the broken lights against the wall. We certainly dont have enough ornaments for two trees, so I am making everything to deck the hall tree. i used the smallest ball from this cloth ball pattern: http://grandrevivaldesign.typepad.co...attern1000.pdf to make some ornaments that turned out really nice. I used christmas fabrics, along with some other green and red scraps, and just attached a ribbon for hanging when i sewed them together. So far i have made 10 and will be making more today- i really like the way they look on the tree. I also used plain green and red ribbons 1/2" wide like a paper chain to make a long garland. I guess i need to make another tree skirt, too- right now i just laid down a christmas quilt at the base of the tree, but it looks messy.

i was also inspired by your ideas upthread! I think i might try the felt gingerbread house, what a great idea, and also thinking about the milk carton village.
also wanted to ask for details, sunanthem, on what kind of felt ornaments you are making? i have just recently discovered the fun of felt and have been making lots of stuff with it, but hadn't thought of ornaments, would love to see some ideas.....

[jenfl]

Originally Posted by esaesa

That sounds so cool! I want one!

I'm trying to come up w/ ornaments to make w/ my two 21 month olds. I was thinking of making a chain w/ some of their drawings. But I really want something we can do together. Maybe collecting pine cones and gluing glitter to them. Or cutting winter shapes and having them glue yarn and fabric scraps to it.

My 2.5 year old and I made cinnamon-applesauce ornaments today that might work for you. She loves play dough, so I knew this would be a hit. You mix nearly equal amounts of cinnamon and applesauce together (I did 1/2 cup of each) until it's solid enough to roll out (I had to add a bit more cinnamon). Then use cutters to cut ornaments, press out a hole for string, and set aside to dry. The instructions say to flip them over every 12 hours or so as they dry, and that it may take a few days.

Originally Posted by ms.shell

well, i wasn't planning to craft ornaments, but our tree wound up having some lights out, and so dp talked his mom into buying us a new one. The old tree had the lights out on one side, so i put it at the end of our (wide) hallway, with the broken lights against the wall. We certainly dont have enough ornaments for two trees, so I am making everything to deck the hall tree. i used the smallest ball from this cloth ball pattern: http://grandrevivaldesign.typepad.co...attern1000.pdf to make some ornaments that turned out really nice. I used christmas fabrics, along with some other green and red scraps, and just attached a ribbon for hanging when i sewed them together. So far i have made 10 and will be making more today- i really like the way they look on the tree. I also used plain green and red ribbons 1/2" wide like a paper chain to make a long garland. I guess i need to make another tree skirt, too- right now i just laid down a christmas quilt at the base of the tree, but it looks messy.

That tree sounds amazing! Simple and festive.

AFM -- I've finished the magnetic tree and ornaments, and DD has been decorating it for the last few days. The gingerbread house structure is done, and I ended up sewing the windows on so that it looks a little neater when all the decorations are removed/fall off. I need to make more decorations, too.

I painted one of these (http://www.magiccabin.com/product.as...ex=&pcode=1532) and am nearly done sewing a version of this (http://checkoutgirlcrafts.blogspot.c...t-it-snow.html). I'm a crafting machine this year!

[MamaChicken]

I'm working on ornaments out of salt dough. They look like sugar cookies, and I'm going to decorate them with glitter glue. I'm looking for other ideas too. I remember doing a bunch of decoration when I was a kid with plastic cross-stitch grid (not sure what that is called) with yarn. We also made stuff with pipe cleaners and beads - bells, candy canes, etc. Oh, I wish I could remember how we did all that.