Easy Christmas Craft For The Kiddos!

Make a wool Christmas tree with stacked
concentric circles.

      Your little ones can make a bright wooly Christmas tree of their very own this year. Just cut and stack wool circles one on top of the other to make the tree you see here. Of course you will need to thread these concentric circles on a stiff thin wire. Perhaps a long ornament hook will do just fine for this craft. Bend one end of your wire and attach it with a piece of tape securely to a large flat circular piece of cardboard. Add glue for extra sturdiness. Cover the bottom of the cardboard with another felt or wool circle to give your project polish. Now poke each wool concentric circle in the exact center onto the wire until you have just enough wire left to thread through a star shaped button. Hook the top end of the wire around the back of the button; Mom or Dad will need to help with this part.

• I can't see the trees for the forest...
• Making Felt Christmas Trees
• Recycle your wooly sweaters into trees

Sew a Vintage Yo Yo Clown to Give As A Gift

I discovered this little vintage, yo yo clown stuffed inside a bag of fabric remnants in a resale shop. What a unpredictable yet happy purchase I had made!

      Young students can make a small yo yo clown to give to an even younger sibling (ages three to five) at Christmas. You don't really need fancy gadgets to make yo yos. In fact sewing these little round fabric puffs used to be the activity of young inexperienced sewers back in the day. However, sharp needles can prick so I wouldn't encourage very young children to experiment with the process. Boys and girls in fourth or fifth grade may certainly give it a try. 

Important Tips:

• Keep some Bandaids, peroxide and a couple of thimbles on hand, just to be on the safe side. 
• Make sure that all of the needles used in a project made by a younger family member are brand new. 
• New sewers need to be guided by an adult in order to complete the project. The project takes two, a parent and a preteen working together!

Supply List:

• three circle stencils
• fabric scraps (laundered and machine dried)
• scissors
• one finer needle and matching threads or quilter's thread
• one large embroidery needle
• embroidery floss for facial features
• 1 skein of red yarn for pom poms
• 36 inches of red ribbon for collar trim
• 2 inch wide cardboard strip
• cotton batting filler

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Prepare your fabric scraps if you have not already done so for former projects. The fabric needs to have it's sizing removed in the laundry. Plus the fabric should also be preshrunk. By laundering the fabric you will prevent shrinking and tearing in the future should you ever need to wash the toy after baby handles it. This preparation also prevents bright dyes from "bleeding" onto lighter colored fabrics in the wash.
2. Cut circle templates or patterns whose diameters measure: 1 inch, 1 1/2 inches and 2 inches. Trace and cut out 28- 1 inch circles, 32- 1 1/2 inch circles and 17- 2 inch circles from  your scrap fabric for the clown's body. An additional helpful video for this project is by Wendy Harbaugh.
3. Thread and knot your needle to begin sewing your first yo yo. Holding the wrong side of the fabric circle up, use large stitches to turn down the raw edges as you work around the inside of the circle. Then gather the edges together and gently pull them to the circle's center to make a puff. 
4. Now work the needle through the the gathered edge on the right side of the fabric to reinforce the gathering, tightening it up as you go without sewing through the gathering to the right side of your yo yo.
5. Backstitch over your work and snip off the thread. Set the yo yos aside for stringing later.
6. Make four red pom poms measuring approximately 2 inches in diameter. Wrap yarn around a piece of 2 inch wide cardboard at least 50 times, pass a small piece of yarn through the center of this wrapping and remove the cardboard. Tie the yarn tightly to bind together the twisted mass and then clip all of the loops to make your pom poms. Be sure to trim the pom pom in order to make a more uniform looking pom pom for your doll's hands and feet. Click here to view a video that demonstrates how to make a pom pom with your hands.
7. Use a thick thread to string the body together. Knot the end of your thick thread and string it first through one pom pom and then thread together 16 - 1 1/2 inch yo yos for each leg. Then take the ends of each of these threads used to string the legs and insert them into the eye of a large embroidery needle. On this combined threading add the 16- 2 inch yo yos. Stringing carefully through the center of each. After completing this stage of the stringing, neatly tie off the threaded ends and then sewing them down firmly to the last yo yo's right side. You should have one 2 inch yo yo left that was not strung onto the torso of your clown. 
8. String together a pom pom and 14 - 1 1/2 inch yo yos for an arm. Repeat for the second arm. Attach each arm using the stringing thread to the last 2 inch yo yo of the torso.
9. Take the remaining, left over 2 inch yo yo and neatly attach this on top of all of the exposed threads at the end of the clown's torso. This will hide this part of your stringing ends. You may choose to sew this yo yo down through the back side of the top yo yo in order to make a firmer finish.
10. Now cut a strip of any fabric 2 inches wide and 27 inches long for the ruffled collar of the clown. Fold a ribbon over one raw edge concealing it and run a straight stitch on top of the ribbon. 
11. Gather this collar piece and whip stitch it securely to the end yo yo piece where the head of the clown will be attached.
12. Cut a 4 inch in diameter, circular, solid colored piece of fabric for the clown's head. Gather this large yo yo's edges as before and finish the puff. Stuff cotton batting through this yo yo's small hole with the tip of your scissors until his head is filled firmly. Take a pencil and draw a face and embroider his features as you prefer. Attach the head using a slip stitch to the top of the clowns collar.
13. To sew the clown's hat, cut a very long triangular shape, sewing together the longest two sides. Attach this to his head turning under the raw edges of the cap as you use a slip stitch to attach the hat to his head permanently. You can cover this edge with a bit of extra red ribbon used to make the collar. 
14. Make a tiny pom pom for the tip of his hat. Stitch it on firmly babies may try to eat!

Yo Yo Christmas Garland from Thrifty Fun.

This Year, Join In Our Affordable Christmas!

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17 : 17

      The angels' song, "On Earth Peace, Good Will Toward Men," can also be translated "peace to men of good will." This version is timely, as well as correct for the Greek. For peace can and shall come to men of good will, and it cannot come to men of bad will.
      Who is the man of good will? It is he who has a choice of happiness, of righteousness, of goodness for all men. It is he who desires that men may be blessed, and who tries to make the desire effective. The man of good will does not hate. Neither does he incarnate hate in any weapon offensive or defensive. He is free from revenge, and is full of forgiveness for the penitent, He may not forget injuries, but, what is more important, he is eager to make injury the occasion for helping the offender to overcome the evil within the heart or will out of which the injury sprung. He is capable of mighty indignations, but he does not suffer himself to be conquered by them. Without being impassive, he is calm in the face of wrong, and he is very patient, being more willing to be the victim than the agent of evil. His hatred of all sin and his love for the man who, despite his manhood, is guilty of sin, are alike strong and lasting. He is free from suspicion, he thinketh no evil. He loves his neighbor, not only as himself, but even more, being more eager to do justice then to receive justice.
      The qualities and elements which constitute the man of good will also constitute the commonwealth of good will.
      Such a commonwealth is a commonwealth peace. Willing good to others, others will good also to it. Armaments in such condition have no longer any function to play, and they melt away. The battle flags are furled. Wars cease and rumors of wars are not heard. Men become brothers in mutual service and happiness, as they are brothers in origin and destiny. Charles F. Thwing

      Every year Journey Church, St. Louis gives to Mission St. Louis' Affordable Christmas. What a happy celebration these parents are given through the ever expanding hearts of the volunteers and contributors of this program. Come share God's joy with the children of St. Louis this year by visiting Mission St. Louis here and at their website here.

Every year we learn more and more about our neighbors and friends. We learn how to encourage, prosper and invest in others through kindness, education and joy.

Tutorial for Weaving Christmas Stars With Yarn/String

Left, my ten pointed, woven Christmas star. Right, a traditional eight pointed woven star ornament in reds and greens.

      This Christmas star ornament craft reminds me of a flat Japanese temari. It's origins are, however, most likely in Scandinavian culture. Nordic peoples have been weaving with straw by similar methods for centuries.
       I remember my art teacher showing me how to wrap these same stars when I was a school girl in the 1970s. It is an excellent introduction to simple weaving for older elementary students.
      The process can be made more or less complicated depending upon the age and or experience of the person producing the ornament. I took the idea a step further and invented a star wrap pattern of my own as well. The nice "how to" video below was made by an art teacher for her classroom students. Given the detailed nature of the weaving, I recommend that you watch the video while you craft your own star versions. Although the process is simple, it seems more complex when reading instructions for the method. For this reason alone, I'm going to recommend that you watch the video before attempt to follow any instructions that I include here.

Ms. Gentry made this nice weaving video for her 6th, 7th and 8th grade students.

Supply List For Both Star String Projects:

• multiple skeins yarn, spools of string and embroidery floss
• cardboard
• tacky white glue
• ruler
• scissors
• large sharp embroidery needle (for 2nd star version)

Left, 10 pointed, original star template but I made modifications
to it so that crafters only need to poke a needle through one
 layer. Right, the square template glued together for the eight
 pointed star version.

      Cut out 2 squares of equal size from the cardboard and glue these together, one on top of the other, to form an eight pointed star. (Left)
      If you are making the second star pattern version depicted below, I have provided a pattern for you to print out and trace around below. The second star only requires one piece of cardboard per ornament. You will also need a sharp embroidery needle to poke holes into the cardboard.
      Once your eight pointed cardboard shape is dry, you may proceed to wrap it with the first selection of yarn/string.
      Keep in mind that this weaving project has only a finished front side for young students who have limited experience in sewing or weaving. For every wrap that these students make, they will need to "tie off" their yarn strands on the back of their cardboard templates. However, if you are making these stars and have more experience with a needle, you can make your woven stars two sided. Simply snip, tuck, glue and hide the ends of your wrapped design as you proceed through the steps. I used a large embroidery needle and a bit of tacky white glue to hide my yarn ends as I wrapped.

First wrap step for both woven string stars.

      Above I have included a photo of the first wrap around each of the cardboard star patterns. On the left you can see that the floss is wrapped between each of the ten points on my own version of this craft. On the right I have completed the first wrap for the six pointed star described in the teacher's video above.

Above you can see me weaving a large embroidery needle in and out of the holes made just beneath my star tips.

      After wrapping the 10 point star with blue embroidery floss, I simply repeated the same wrap with yellow. Then I proceeded to make two sets of holes using the sharp tip of my embroidery needle beneath each of the ten points of my star. I wrapped multiple colors of floss in a herringbone stitch through the lowest hole. Then I used a whip stitch to create the feather like tips of the outer points of my star by threading through the upper hole.

The second wrap of the eight pointed star, back and front photographed.

      The second wrapping of the eight pointed star is photographed above. On the left, I show the back side of my work. Note how I have added tacky glue to hold the center crossing ends in place while I work. Also, see in the second wrapping how I have a strand of floss crossing in the back. I will cut this away after I wrap a third and fourth time over the green floss. This will not harm my weave because it is trapped beneath top layers. Keeping the backside clean of crossing strings will make it attractive enough to be a two sided pattern. Just right, above in the photo you can also see traces of tacky glue on the edges of my cardboard template. This glue helps to keep my weaving in place over time and it will also dry transparent.

Left, third wrap. Next, fourth wrap. Middle, fifth wrap. Far Right, sixth wrap.

      The photograph above depicts the 3rd through 6th wrapping sequence for the eight pointed star. After completing these steps, I threaded a finer needle and stitched a cross stitch pattern in green over last top square of my design. I attached a green tassel to the bottom to finish the look.

My tassels for these ornaments were made from embroidery floss. I have also included a simple video below that demonstrates the basic method that I used.

Click to download the largest file, 10 point star shape template.

More Christmas Star Crafts for Children:

• Christmas star patterns for all kinds of crafts!
• Star of Bethlehem craft from Equipping Godly Women
• Stained Glass Nativity with Star

Victorian Snowball Garland Tutorial

Craft a playful snowball garland for your own Christmas tree. Garlands like the one shown above were hung on Christmas trees in American homes during the Victorian era.

Unravel white cotton balls before wrapping the
egg carton cups.

 Supply List:

• white cotton balls
• paper egg cartons
• white school glue
• white tacky glue
• dental floss
• needle
• scissors
• white or translucent beads/bugle beads
• two hooks
• translucent glitter

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Collect and cut apart the cup shapes from paper egg cartons. I used 13 for this particular garland but it doesn't really matter how many of these your choose to include. 
2. Pull out a relatively long piece of dental floss and thread it onto a needle. Make sure that this needle is thin enough to thread floss through your bugle beads. It is important to use dental floss instead of thread for this process. It is by far more resilient.
3. Thread two or three extra long bugle beads and then one larger white bead before centering a portion of the dental floss across the egg cup. 
4. The egg cup should have a continuous beading of tacky white glue squeezed around the top edge of cups lip. See the pictures below.
5. Now gingerly take a second paper egg cup and press it on top of the glued edge. You can add a bit of white cotton batting to help seal this uneven seam around the two egg cups. 
6. It take only a few seconds for this seam to bond well enough for you to keep working. String another few bugle beads onto the other side of the finished snowball shape and repeat this process until you have the number of egg carton "snowballs" that you want on your garland. See pictures below.
7. Wrap the remaining ends of the dental floss around a wire hook for each end of the garland. 
8. Glue approximately half of the wire hook to the inside of each end paper egg cup before gluing together the end snowballs of the garland. Let the garland dry thoroughly.
9. Unravel white cotton balls before wrapping the egg carton cups.
10. Spread white school glue with your finger tips over the surface of each cup and wrap cotton batting onto the surface. Repeat the process until you are happy with how the snowball looks.
11. Coat the last layer with white school glue and sprinkle translucent glitter onto the wet surface. Let the garland dry.

Detailed photographs of the snowball garland craft. Far Right, see how the garland is threaded and assembled at the same time.

The egg cups do not need to fit together perfectly. Making snowballs is not an exacting process. Have fun, it will stick.

Here is the end result. I think this garland looks best on a silver and white tree. It is also an authentic inclusion to a Victorian tree. The garland is so light weight that it may even be hung on a feather tree!

More Snowball Ornaments: 

• Craft Miniature Snow Scene Baubles
• Making Snowballs From a Bedspread!
• Snowball Ornaments from Queen B
• Coffee Filter Snowball Ornament
• Snowball Ornaments Made with Toilet Paper
• String Snowball Ornament

DIY White Feathered Angel Ornament

       I crafted this silver and white angel from a single porcelain head, one pipe cleaner and a fistful of white downy feathers. She would look marvelous on a Victorian tree!

Supply List:

• white feathers
• silver beaded thread
• silver tinsel ruffle
• silver gems
• silver wired ribbon
• silver cross charm
• small porcelain doll head/breastplate
• one white chenille stem
• scissors
• hot glue gun
• toothpicks

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut the chenille stem in half.
2. Position the pipe cleaner or chenille stem in the center of the wired ribbon. Then wrap the stem while hot gluing the edges of the ribbon into shape. I did not use the full length of this ribbon to wrap my stem; I only used approximately 1/3 of the ribbon. See picture below.
3. Now bend the covered stem in half and hot glue this up inside the breastplate of the doll. There should still be plenty of room left there for you to hot glue the feathers and silver tinsel.
4. Hot glue the silver beaded thread around the outside of the angel's breastplate. (shown below)
5. Hot glue multiple white feathers stacked on top of one another then hot glue the silver tinsel on top of the feathers.
6. Hot glue the stack of feathers and tinsel to the inside cavity of the porcelain doll's breastplate just beneath the chenille stem arms.
7. Bend the arms to the front and hot glue a small charm between the angel's hands; I chose a silver cross.
8. Finally hot glue a selection of shorter white feathers to her backside; stacking and gluing until you are satisfied with the results. It's that easy!
9. Hot glue the silver beaded thread on top of her head to make a halo. Use the tip of a toothpick to clean away excess glue while you are working. This will greatly improve the quality of the angel's appearance.

Position the pipe cleaner or chenille stem in the center of the wired ribbon.
 Then wrap the stem while hot gluing the edges of the ribbon into shape.
 I did not use the full length of this ribbon to wrap my stem; I only used
approximately 1/3 of the ribbon.

Left, you can see that I have wrapped and hot glued some tiny silver beads around the outside
 of the breast plate of my angel. Left, here I have hot glued the ribbon wrapped chenille stem
 to the inside shell of my porcelain doll's breast plate.

An angel crafted almost entirely with white feathers.

The angel's backside.

More Angels Made with Feathers:

• Angel feather ornament from Crafty Crow
• Envol d'anges...
• Delicate and Pretty Angels

How to Make a Paper Doily Angel

My version of a paper doily angel includes also a metallic
cupcake liner and accordion shaped wings. I left the face
blank because I thought it fitting for a stylized angelic
countenance.

Supply List:

• (2) 4inch white paper lace doilies
• tacky white glue
• white school glue
• hot glue gun
• approx. 1/2 inch spun cotton head (white cotton balls to make)
• tooth picks
• metallic thread for hanger/hair
• 1 metallic cupcake liner

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut one paper doily in half.
2. Shape one of these clippings into a cone and glue it along it's edge overlapping the two sides slightly. Set this cone aside to dry.
3. Cut from the second clipping two sleeves. You will need to shorten these a bit in order to keep the arms in proportion with the skirt. Shorten the sleeves by cutting off the pointed half of each cutting. Use a toothpick to help you roll and shape the sleeves. Glue the edges together with white tacky glue. Set these tiny cone shaped sleeves aside to dry.
4. Shape the cotton batting head by breaking a toothpick in half and wrapping a wad of cotton batting around it's tip. Add white school glue as you wrap the head shape. Set this piece aside to dry as well.
5. Cut out the center of one metallic cupcake liner. Cut 3/4 of the accordion strip for the bottom ruffle of the angel's skirt and save the shorter ruffle for the top half of the angel's dress.
6. Glue the longer metallic ruffle to the inside of the cone shaped skirt using a hot glue gun.
7. Hot glue the second shorter ruffle around the top of the cone shaped skirting.
8. Now use the white tacky glue to add a sleeve to either side of the angel's dress.
9. Snip off a very small point of the cone dress to insert the cotton batting head.
10. Use white tacky glue to adhere the head to the top of the cone shaped dress. It also helps to secure the head with glue on the inside of the cone shaped dress.
11. Now finish the front of the dress by adding another clipping of the lace doily at the angel's collar.
12. Hot glue a gold metallic loop to the backside of the angel's dress to hang the angel with.
13. Cut a second doily in half and accordion fold each clipping. 
14. Hot glue the wings to the backside of the paper doily angel covering the end tip of the metallic hanger.
15. Wrap neatly a piece of gold twine in a circular fashion around the top of the angel's head using tiny amounts of hot glue as you go.
16. I did not prefer to add a face to this stylized paper angel but you can add a few simple features if you wish.

Far left, my 4" doilies. Next, you will need two doilies cut in half for the project. Center, see how the sleeve sections are cut. Right, the simple cotton batting head is easy to wrap and shape from a cotton ball, half a toothpick and some white school glue.

Left, half of the paper doily folded into a cone shaped skirt. Center, tiny sleeves for the paper angel's arms. Right, it only takes one metallic cup cake liner to jazz this paper angel up a bit.

This is how the paper doily looks in the round before I have added the wings and hair/halo.

Watch these creative sisters craft a similar version on video. This angel includes a wooden bead for her head and yarn for her hair instead of my cotton batting head with gold twine for my angel's hair. Their version also excludes the foil cupcake liner.