4 Simple, DIY Crafts for the Whole Family This Holiday Season

With all the shopping, cooking, and excitement of the holiday season, it’s a little too easy to lose some of the real meaning behind the winter holidays. This time of year is truly about spending time with family and friends. If you’re looking for ways to find that quality time with loved ones, simple do-it-yourself (DIY) crafts are a perfect way to find that time without having to spend a lot of money.

The Benefits of Crafting

Crafting offers a perfect opportunity for family and friends to bond during the holiday season! There are also numerous other benefits, which include:

• Decorating for less – with DIY crafts, you won’t need to spend as much as you would through buying decorations online or in a department store.
• Keeping the family occupied – if you have kids, they are more than likely going to want to be entertained over the winter break! Crafting offers a perfect way for them to be creative and take a break from electronics.
• Relieving stress – crafting allows you to decompress and focus on a task that isn’t shopping or cooking. 

Assembling Your Crafting Supplies

For each craft below, there is a list of supplies you will need. You should have no problem finding the supplies at your local dollar store in the arts and crafts section. Stores like Walmart and Target should also have the supplies you would need. There also may be items, like scissors, tape, and glue, that you already have at home.

Pipe Cleaner Wreath

What You’ll Need:

• 7 pipe cleaners - it's recommended to use 2-3 different colors to achieve a unique look
• A pencil or pen

Steps:

1. Take two of your pipe cleaners and begin to wrap them around each other (as seen in Steps 1 and 2 above).
2. Repeat this process three times (as seen in Step 3 above).
3. Wrap each of your three wrapped pipe cleaners around a pencil or pen (as seen in Step 4 above).
4. Repeat this process three times.
5. Take a new, straight pipe cleaner and feed it through the ends of one of your pipe cleaner twists. Repeat this process with all three of your pipe cleaner twists (as seen in Step 6 above).
6. Once all your pipe cleaners are placed, bend the straight pipe cleaner into a U-shape (as seen in Step 7 above).
7. Finally, tie off the ends of your U-shaped pipe cleaner into a bow.

Your final product should look similar to the design in Step 8. You now have a beautiful, simple Pipe Cleaner Wreath!

Skiing Penguin

What You’ll Need:

• Sheet of black construction paper
• Sheet of orange construction paper
• Sheet of yellow (or any other color) construction paper
• Sheet of white construction paper
• Two popsicle sticks
• 2 googly eyes
• A pom-pom (optional for the hat)
• A glue stick
• Scissors
• Craft glue or a hot glue gun

Steps:

1. Start by cutting the black construction paper in half.
2. Take one of your halves and, using your glue stick, roll it together into a shape similar to a toilet paper roll.
3. Use your hot glue gun or craft glue to glue the googly eyes onto the front of your penguin's body.
4. With your orange construction paper, cut out two feet for your penguin, as well as a beak. For the beak, you can cut out a diamond and fold this over itself.
5. With your white construction paper, cut out a rectangle with an arc at the top (see Step 5 above). This will be your penguin's front.
6. Use your glue stick to glue on the beak and white body.
7. Take your two popsicle sticks and use your glue stick to glue on the feet in the middle of each popsicle stick.
8. Using your craft glue (or hot glue gun), glue your penguin to the feet on the popsicle sticks.
9. Take your yellow (or other color) construction paper and cut four strips. The strips should be about half an inch in width and 6 inches in length each.
10. From the remaining paper, cut a rectangular strip about 1-2 inches in width and 6 inches in length.
11. Similar to Step 2, roll this thicker strip of yellow (or other color) paper into the same shape as the body of your penguin.
12. Glue this strip together using your glue stick, and then glue this to the head of your penguin.
13. With the four strips of yellow (or other color paper) from Step 9, glue these across the ends of the hat (mirroring Steps 12-13 in the image above).
14. Once your hat is assembled, glue a pom-pom (or other creative piece) to the top of the hat with craft glue or a hot glue gun.

Stained Glass Dreidel

What You’ll Need:

• A sheet of any color construction paper
• Marker or pencil
• Clear contact paper or plastic wrap (contact paper is simpler to use for this craft but plastic wrap can work, too)
• Tissue paper (multiple colors)
• Scissors
• Tape

Steps:

1. With your colored construction paper, use your marker to sketch out the shape of a dreidel. It may be helpful to use a ruler or another object with a straight edge for this step. Once traced, cut out the dreidel shape.
2. With your cut-out dreidel, use your pencil to trace the inner shape (underneath the handle). Leave about a 1 inch border for your dreidel outline. Once traced, cut out the pencil tracing. See Step 3 above for what you should now have.
3. Grab your plastic wrap or contact paper and cover this cut-out portion (see Step 4 in the graphic above). Cut your saran wrap and tape it to the cut-out dreidel.
4. Grab your tissue paper, and cut into squares of all sizes.
5. Take these tissue paper squares and place them all over your plastic wrap or the sticky side of your contact paper. Be as creative as you'd like!
6. Flip your dreidel over and cover the other side with another sheet of plastic wrap. If you're using contact paper, you will have covered the sticky side with tissue paper and you can skip this step.
7. Feel free to hang your dreidel in your window for all to see!

Mini Canvas Ornament

What You’ll Need:

• A small canvas (2"x2" is a recommended size)
• Acrylic paint
• Fine-tip paint brushes
• Fabric markers (these are entirely optional, and can be used in place of paint)
• Hot glue gun or craft glue
• Ribbon or twine

Steps:

1. Start by thinking of a scene or festive holiday item you'd like to paint—it could be a snowman, a Christmas tree, or even a family pet. Be as creative as you'd like!
2. Once you have your idea, paint your scene. Make sure you have the right color paint or markers for your scene.
3. Once your picture is dry, cut about a 5-6 inch piece of ribbon or twine.
4. Use your hot glue gun or craft glue to glue the ends of the ribbon or twine to the upper corners of your ornament.
5. Find the perfect spot on your tree to hang your ornament!

We hope that you will take some time in the next few weeks to take a break from the busyness of the season and enjoy these crafts. From all of us here at American Heritage Credit Union, we wish you and your family a peaceful, safe, and happy holiday season!