Cupcake Liner Garland

Sometimes, even your kitchen needs a little holiday cheer. Turn leftover cupcake liners into a cute garland that’s perfect for the heart of the home!

Things you’ll need:
Large embroidery needle
Bakers twine
Cupcake liners, preferably in two different colors

Things to do:
1. Cut a length of twine about 6 inches longer than the length you would like the garland to be.

2. Form a loop at one end and then double up the knot to give the liners a good stopper.
3. Thread the other end onto the needle and pierce thorough the center of the liners, flipping each one and making sure the colors are in pairs to form the shape and pattern.

4. Once you have threaded enough to cover most of the length, remove the needle and Knot with a loop to secure the other end.

Cupcake Liner PomPoms

These pompoms are a great addition to your holiday decor and can be personalized to any color scheme. Perfect for hanging up with the mistletoe or perched on a shelf, they make a simple afternoon craft.

Things you’ll need:
Styrofoam balls – various sizes
Cupcake liners
Pencil
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Ribbon

Things to do:
1. Cut a length of ribbon twice as long as you want the hanger to be and glue into a loop.

2. Attach the loop to the ball with a generous dot of glue and press firmly until it is dry.
3. Separate the liners and gather one around the eraser end of the pencil.
4. Dot the end with glue and use the pencil to press it onto the ball.

5. Continue this process, packing the liners in densely, until the entire ball is covered.

Felted Bubble Scarf

I’m always on the lookout for wool items when I pop into our local charity shops. Even if I don’t particularly like it as is, anything with a high wool content can be felted and turned into a number of new things. Last week I found a long, 100% wool scarf languishing on the sale rack and snatched it up. While it was fun as it was, it was a little bright for me and too long for my daughter. But felted down, it would be perfect for her. Never one to let something be too plain though, I added an extra step in before felting and the result is this funky bubble scarf.

Things you’ll need:
Wool scarf, at least 60% wool content
Wood beads, at least 1/3 inch in diameter
Small rubber bands
Access to a washing machine

Thing’s to do:
1. This is pretty open ended in terms of patterns. You can choose to add a ton of beads for a really bumpy look, group them all at the ends, or just have one or two here and there. Try out a few options with the beads before felting to get and idea of what you like.
2. Set a bead on one side of the wool and pull the other side around it, securing it with the rubber band. Repeat with all of the beads, making sure they are all on the same side of the scarf.



3. Toss in the washing machine with soap (the combination of soap and agitation is what does the felting, not the temperature of the water). Run through the agitation cycle until you can no longer see the individual stitches well.
4. Remove from the water and wring out. Lay flat to dry.
5. Once dry, pull off all of the rubber bands and remove the beads to reveal your “bubbles”.

Handprint Heart with Acrylic Paints

This is a great way for little hands to spread some Valentine’s Day love. It’s best to start with plain white paper that can be cut down and mounted onto a card rather than pre-mounting the paper and trying to center wiggly little hands in the right spot.

Things you’ll need:
Red craft paint
Foam brush
White paper
Cardstock
Scissors

Things to do:
1. Paint a generous coat of red paint onto one of your child’s hands. Have them hold their fingers slightly together and their thumb at approximately a 30 degree angle.
2. Press the hand onto the paper, slightly off center, rolling the fingers slightly to make sure the paint makes good contact with the paper.
3. Repeat with the other hand, creating a heart in the void between the thumbs, criss-crossing the fingers.

4. Allow the paint to dry before cropping the paper and attaching it to the card.

Pom Pom Garland

Pom poms are great for all sorts of things. Crafts, gift toppers, cat toys, and they make super cute garlands for your home.

Things you’ll need:
Pom Poms – 1 for every six inches of garland you want
Yarn – DK or Worsted weight
Yarn needle
Scissors

Things to do:
1. Cut a piece of yarn twice as long as the length you want to cover. Tie a loop in one end. Thread the other end with the yarn needle.
2. Thread the needle through the first pom pom and slide it to a point about six inches from the loop. Thread the needle back through the center of the pom pom about ¼ inch away from where it exited and pull tight. Again, thread the yarn back through the pom pom, close to the original exit spot. This secures the pom pom into that spot.

3. Thread the next pom pom to a point six inches from the last and repeat the process. Continue to thread and secure the pom poms onto the yarn until you have the length of garland you are after. Remove the needle and tie a loop in the free end.
4. Use the loops to hang the garland.

Scribble Art

If you have a budding artist in your house, you probably have plenty of scribbled on paper hanging around. Turn those scribbles into treasured art for the grandparents this holiday season with this fun project.

Things you’ll need:
Scribbed paper
Scissors
Patterned or solid colored cardstock
Pencil
Spray glue
Stencil or template (animals are a great choice!)

Things to do:
1. Using your stencil or template, trace your shape onto the backside of the scribbled paper, centering it so that the entire shape will be covered in color.

2. Cut carefully along the lines so that your edges are smooth.
3. Spray a thin coat of glue onto the back side of the scribble shape and smooth onto your cardstock. Trim the paper to an even size and frame.

Ribbon Paper Plate Prettiness

I love to bake and gift holiday cookies, but when it comes time to deliver them, I always seem to have forgotten to pick up cute little gift boxes and tins and end up passing out my goodies on plain old paper plates. Well not any more! This project turns those plain plates into pretty little packages.

Things you’ll need:
Paper plates
Hole punch
½ inch ribbon

Things to do:
1. With the hole punch, make twelve evenly spaces holes around the rim of the plate, about ½ inch in from the edge.

2. Thread the ribbon in and out of the hole until both tails meet on the top side of the plate.

3. Tie the tails into a bow and load up with goodies!

Easy DIY Mint Tree

Perfect for the holidays and beyond, this little mint tree is a great way to perk up your winter décor with a holiday staple. Be sure to let your family know that, once the mints have been exposed to the glue they are no longer edible!

Things you need:
Striped mints
Fiberboard doll cone
Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Things to do:
1. Start out by unwrapping the mints and disposing of the wrappings.
2. Run a bead of hot glue about two inches long, half and inch up from the bottom edge of the tree form.
3. Press the two to three mints in a row into the glue. Repeat the process until you have covered the bottom edge of the tree, making sure that the tree will sit flatly on a table.

4. Start on the next layer of mints, settling the mints on this row in between those on the bottom for a better fit.
5. Continue with this process until you have covered the entire tree. Finish with a mint on the very top.

Upcycling: Snowman Tags

This is a perfect, simple and slightly silly way to gift some of those holiday cookies you’ve been busy making. Attach to a small bag that holds a single special treat or use it to close up the wrapping on a whole plateful!

Things you’ll need:
White bread tags
Orange, black, red and brown permanent markers

Things to do:
1. On the unprinted side of each tag, draw in coal eyes, a carrot nose and buttons for a mouth to create a snowman. Larger tags can also include a pipe.

2. Allow the ink to dry completely before attaching it to a treat bag.

DIY Tinsel Tree

Tinsel is one of those slightly kitschy, throwback Christmas items that I can’t help but love. And this is the perfect use for it! Glittery, glitzy and fun.

Things you’ll need:
Tinsel garland
Fiberboard doll cone
Hot glue and glue gun

Things to do:
1. Squeeze a generous dollop of glue on a spot near the bottom edge of the tree for and press the end of the tinsel firmly into the glue.

2. Continue to add dots of glue every inch along the bottom edge of the tree, pressing the tinsel in as you go.

3. Once you have made it all the way around the bottom, continue to add dots of glue and wrap, pushing the tinsel down to the previous layer so that there are no gaps.
4. Continue to glue and wrap until you have covered the whole tree.

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