Christmas Decorations

Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming! I love the holiday season, and to start it of right I wanted to make my own decorations. Not only for the creative outlet but also to make something with my own hands instead of buying it. I am a true believer in home is where you make it and to me Christmas is a time to share with your family. I would much rather be at home with my husband and son making decorations for our house and gifts for our loved ones then spending time with strangers in a hectic store scene.

A few years after searching for a black Christmas tree we came up empty handed. We could find foil blue and green and even pink but no black...I did used to have an awesome red table top one when I was in college though, but anyway we ended up breaking down and just buying a cheap fake one then painting it our selves. NEVER AGAIN! It was so messy and to this day still smells like paint. Not so warm and cozy. This year we have decided to get rid of the black tree and go back to real. But since our apartment is not very big we are opting for a table friendly size. Hopefully a little more then just a Charlie Brown tree, which I saw a fake version of the other day. I honestly thought about getting it for a second but my husband vetoed that idea. So since we will be having a small tree this year, I have felt the need to decorate the rest of the house more to make up for the size of the tree.

Paper Chain

I have always loved making paper chains, I remember making them in school and at home when I was little. Some people make them like a day count to Christmas and others make them a countdown to how many days are left. Either way you do it is really easy and great thing to do with kids.

You'll need...

Paper (25 strips of paper of choice, I used strips cut to 2" X 9")

Glue Stick / Glue dots / double side tape

Numbers (Optional)

Cut paper into strips. You can then add number or pictures. I used numbers cut by my Cricut machine but any premade sticker or cut number would work just fine. You could also use a glitter glue pen or metallic paint pen to write it on.

***Hint - Make sure your numbers all face the same direction other wise when you hang it up some of the numbers maybe upside down***

While I had my Cricut out I also made snowflakes which I dressed up with pearl accents. You can make your own snowflakes the old fashion way by folding your paper in a wedge then cutting out your pattern.

Candle holders

Candle holders are so simple but can make any area look a little classier and you can personalize them to be exactly what you want instead of settling for the decorations that store has.

You'll need...

Candle holders (Any color or size)

Ribbon

Rhinestones or other decorative embellishment

Glue dots / craft glue/ hot glue

Tea light candles

Make sure you candle holder surface is clean so adhesive can stick well. Measure the circumference of the surface of your candle holder. Cut ribbon to just barely overlap the ends. Glue ends down to surface of holder then add the embellishments to hide the seem.

With either of these projects you can customize to whatever your style is or color of your decorations are. And these are great and simple decorations anyone can make for any of the winter holidays. This is also a fun project to do with kids. One thing I have learned is that kids will remember things like this more then some shopping trip or toy. Personally I like to trick kids into learning. I feel good about it, you can't make me think otherwise! Hey, baking is a real world application for fractions.

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