Days Until Wood Sign

I made a really fun Days Until wood sign.  The cardstock numbers are held on by cup hooks.

Bethlehem Church Christmas Party

Huge Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter

I made this huge gingerbread man cookie cutter out of yard edging that I found at a thrift store.  It is tin.  First I drew a picture of a gingerbread man on a large piece of paper(newsprint).  I bent the tin edging around the curves.  When it was finished it was too flimsy to hold its shape.  I then cut out of some old scrap paneling wood the same gingerbread shape with a jigsaw.  I stapled the tin gingerbread man cookie cutter to the wood gingerbread man.  I would love to find a roll of sheet metal that was 4 inches wide to make this but this will do.  I'm excited to display it.

Burlap Advent

I used burlap ribbon to make my bags.  I just folded and sewed up the side and bottom.  I used jute string ran through the back to tie them up.  I got my free printable here and just stapled them to the burlap bag.  I love how they turned out.  Now to fill them great thanks writing prompts and scriptures from here and here.

Winter Vignette

I found this toboggan at a thrift store and fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.  I cut out the snowflakes with a jigsaw and painted them white.  Love the look of  this.

DIY Large Angel Wings

I made these large angel wings by first drawing a wing with its feathers on large newsprint paper.  I then traced onto wood (some old paneling that I had) and cut out with a jig saw. 

I then, from my drawing, cut out one layer at a time of the wings to use as a stencil and using a putty knife applied putty or drywall mud.  You can see my layers of putty on the photo. 

 When that dried I painted the wings black.  I then lightly painted white with a downward stroke to leave the details of the putty feathers. The bottom feathers I used a screwdriver to scrape lines in the white paint exposing the black underneath.  I love how they turned out.  It was also super easy.

Tall Nutcracker

I wanted a tall nutcracker for my front porch so I made one.  I cut it out with a jigsaw and painted it white with gold accents.  I love how it turned out.  Just use a free coloring page as your template and enlarge it. 

DIY Willow Tree Creche' DIY

I made my Willow Tree creche' with building direction from http://digitalrich.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-build-willow-tree-crche.html.  I did make a few changes. 

I cut my height to 14" and nailed the roof down.  I also added a small piece of wood about 2 inches under the roof line.  I LOVE how this turned out and using scrap wood saved me the $100 Willow Tree price.

**I am getting my nativity for Christmas so I have to wait 7 more days.  I just couldn't wait to post my Creche'.

Gingerbread/Foamcore Houses

I used gingerbread templates from bobvilla.com to create my fun houses out of foam core board. We colored them. fun project to make with the kids. We made mini ones for our ornaments on our tree. To make real gingerbread houses there is a great recipe here at Housefull of Homeade.

Here are Bob Villa's A-frame house templates.

North Pole Coal Sack

Been naughty? The Crafty Cupboard has this great sack for your naughty's here.

Bell Wreath

Everything I Love and More has easy directions here. Just string them on wire. Beautiful.

Christmas Stockings-elf, boot, skate, ballet, etc.

My cousin made some cute cowboy boot stockings. I wanted a pattern to whip some up & I found a great pattern here at Family Fun. My kids wanted the elf & ballet slipper as soon as they saw them. I made the ice skate for me and a boot for my husband. Fun.

Wood Nativity Set - to make or buy

Make this simple wood nativity set that kids can play with without breaking. Directions and pattern can be found here at Under My Umbrella. I LOVE this. Made a set today. It took one hour to cut out all the pieces with a jig saw and sander to smooth. Still needs paint but the kids have been playing with it.

Nativity Finger Puppets

When my daughter (3) broke my ceramic nativity after playing with them like dolls I decided to make finger puppets. I sewed a simple manger onto some felt. I made all the finger puppets out of felt. I just drew mine free hand. You need to have a space large enough for a finger to fit into. You should sew the outer edge of the puppet to withstand child's play. You can glue or sew your decorative felt pieces onto the finger puppet. Have fun.

update***found an inspiration page well after mine were created found here at Ucreat w/ Kids.

Christmas Choir

Make this simple kids craft for the holidays. Family Fun had directions here.

Window Cookies

Do you remember making window cookies as kids. Just use sugar cookie dough (I bought mine this time) and cut shapes making sure to leave a hole in the middle like a doughnut. Take broken pieces of hard candy & put in the hole of the uncooked cookie on a cookie sheet. Bake your cookies as directed and the hard candy will melt and fill in the window. Use transparent candy (like Jolly Ranchers) for more of a glass look.

Update**The Friend Magazine (Dec '09)has another great recipe for Shining Star Cookies here.