Make Your own Faux Fireplace

When our family moved into this new house of ours, we were pleased to have more space, but one thing we didn't have anymore was a fireplace. With Christmas coming, the children were very concerned about their not being a fireplace for hanging the stockings onto or for Santa to magically appear through.

He rolled the sides of the cardboard to give it edging and to help it stand upright.

He cut the A4 paper in half and glued it on as "bricks" for the fireplace. He used the yellow and orange tissue paper to create the flames of the "fire."

He even created some logs for the fire by rolling up some shorter pieces of cardboard.

He rolled and then flattened the roll of some cardboard to make the mantle above the fireplace.

He says it would have been even better if he had painted it and added a vine-styled garland across the top of it, but I think it turned out pretty great as it is!

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Make your Own Popsicle Stick Butterfly Ornament

These butterflies can be made in a wide range of styles depending on the talent of the person painting them. The above photo was of a butterfly painted by a seven year old child.

This is really easy to do and all you need is some acrylic paint, popsicle sticks, gitter and a small piece of yarn.

First, you lay four popsicle sticks side by side. You can put a tiny bit of glue between the sticks (on their sides) to help them stay together.

Then you glue four more popsicle sticks, side by side, across the previous four at an angel (forming the two wings of the butterfly).

Next you glue one popsicle stick across both layers down the middle for the body of the butterfly.

When the glue dries, you paint the butterfly, adding colors and glitter to create the look you want. Allow it to dry.

Once your butterfly is dry, add two posts of glue on the backside at the tops of the wings. Affix one end of the yarn to each side and keep in place until the yarn feels firmly glued in place.

Wait a while to give it time to set even further. And then you are finished!

These butterflies make pretty Christmas tree ornaments and also make pretty Spring decorations for hanging around the house. They can also be affixed to gifts as an added personal touch to gifts.




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Christmas Jars

These jars are simple to make and are also a great way to recycle. All you need are some acrylic paints and some empty jars. Let your kids paint the jars any way they want to and then figure out what you want to fill the jars with to turn them into gifts. You can fill them with red and green m&m candies to give them extra festive appeal. Or you can make chocolate spoons to put in them. (I suggest tying a ribbon around the jar to make it even prettier.)

Here are some of the jars that my kids and their friends came up with. They wer elimited by the fact that my supply of acrylic paints was running out, so they didn't have a lot of colors to choose form.

















Examples of the jars with some ribbon and full of chocolate spoons:









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