Ideas for Christmas card craft

Making Christmas cards for family and friends is a great way to keep the kids entertained and create something with a purpose. The grandparents love receiving them too!

Here are some ideas to help get you started:

- Collect old sweet wrappers, bits of tin foil, ribbons, sequins, pompoms, bits of tinsel, fabrics, coloured card and paper, old Christmas cards, cotton wool, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, wrapping paper, beads and anything else that will appeal to kids for scrapping.

- Glitter glues, strings of sequins, metallic paints, glitter and christmas sequin shapes are great for adding some sparkle.

- Cover the table in a wipeable plastic cover and lay all the scraps, pens, pencils, paint and glue out in the middle. By providing your kids with a large choice of materials to use it will encourage them to be more inventive with their creations.

- Get some friends around and make an afternoon of it. Put on some Christmas music to help you get in the mood!

- For older kids you can provide them with a blank folded card and let their imaginations run free to create some festive scenes. For younger children or those who are lacking inspiration you can print off Christmas image templates from craft sites online, and then get them to decorate them.

- The card stock doesn’t have to be white, experiment with different coloured card backgrounds to get different effects.

- A quick and effective card is to cut out a scene/object from old Christmas cards or wrapping paper and then just stick them on some layered up card/paper/ribbon to create a border around it.

- You can buy already prepared christmas card kits with everything the kids need in them for a hassle free craft session. Stationary shops and supermarkets usually have some for a reasonable price.

- Try cutting the card into different shapes, such as a christmas tree, stocking, or a round shape that could become a bauble, snowman or pudding for them to decorate. Remember when you fold and cut the card to keep some of the folded edge in tact so it can still be opened!

- Use pompoms as baubles on trees, cotton wool as snow, glitter as snowflakes and stars, sequin strings or glitter pipe cleaners as tinsel.

- A great idea to create a santa face is to get the child to put their hand in white paint and print it onto a coloured green card. Leave to dry and turn the handprint upside down. The hand becomes santa’s beard. Add googly eyes, rosy cheeks and draw in the rest of the face. Cut out a santa’s hat from red paper and stick on. Add a fluffy white trim and pompom using cotton wool.

- Add a personal touch by using a photo of the children and decorate around it.

- If you’re feeling really adventurous you could attempt a 3-D pop-up card:

• Fold 2 pieces of thin card in half width-ways (one is the outside, one the inside). 
• On the piece of card that will be the inside, cut two pairs of short parallel slits along the folded edge.
• Fold over these flaps that you have just created. Unfold them again and open the card.
• Push up the flaps into the card and close it again with the flaps inside.
• Cut two christmas tree shapes (or stars, gingerbread people or anything else you want to make pop out) that will fit inside the card.
• Glue the cut out shapes to the flaps, leave to dry and close the card.
• Glue the other folded piece of thin card to the outside, and decorate.

- Easy christmas objects the kids can create for the front include: holly and berries, baubles, tree, wreath, snowman, stocking, candy can, star, santa face, bow, candle, presents, snowflake, gingerbread, bell, angel, christmas pudding, fairy light strings, crackers, crowns.

- Don’t be afraid to get stuck in with your children for a good crafty session. They will look to you for some ideas and it will give them more confidence to try new techniques out for themselves.

- Don’t forget to write a thoughtful message inside and get the kids to sign their names!

Happy Crafting!