Crafting with kids! That phrase could either be exciting or a little scary depending on how things go. The days I can just let go of my control and allow them to create, is when we have THE MOST FUN!! A couple nights ago, I decided to bust out all the goodies I snagged from JOANN for a Christmas card making session. Raise your hand if craft stores overwhelm you and you get completely distracted by ALL the things! That's totally me so I opted to order my crafting supplies online! Shout out to JOANN for not only having pages of craft DIY tutorials but also offering an online website making it simple to order everything needed straight to your front door!
My game plan for this crafting night was to pick a craft that would be fun for all three of my kids (ages ranging from 4-7), that wasn't SUPER messy and something they could really get creative with. Handmade Christmas Cards was the winner!
What You'll Need:
Scissors
2 Shade Of Green Card Stock
Tan Card Stock
Glue Sticks
Ribbon, Paint And Stickers ( *optional)
I love to set up a little art "station" for each kid. This really helps keep the crafting "mess" to just a designated area and also keeps arguing over supplies at a minimum. For this craft, I laid out several pieces of card stock, scissors, a glue stick, and some extra supplies like ribbon and paint.
Slated Tree Card:
The JOANN website had the cutest tutorial for a slated tree card! If you're wanting a more planned craft, this is for you!
Cut strips of green paper about 1/2' thick. Using your tan card stock fold the sides, leaving an opening in the center to create a card base. Alternating sides and colors, glue strips in place. Glue a little tan star at the top.
LET THEM CREATE:
With all the supplies I was able to grab, my kids enjoyed creating on their own versus following the tutorial I had planned. Which turned out to be so fun and I had to remind myself to just release control and let them create!
Kailand loved using the card stock as a starting point and added paint and small pieces of green paper he cut.
Audri knew right away exactly what she was going for! She grabbed the white card stock and painted the entire front page red. It was so cute to see her use each supply given to make precious Christmas cards.
Maddox enjoyed this craft for about 10 minutes before losing interest. His favorite part was using his scissors to cut tiny pieces of paper into tinier pieces of paper...lol. I found the PERFECT kid sized scissors from JOANN. If you've got little ones, these projects don't always last long but it's so sweet to see them make a mini masterpiece.
Overall, even though our end result was much different than I originally planned the craft to be, the cards came out BEAUTIFUL and the kids were so proud of their creations!
So, the moral of the story; grab some fun craft supplies (JOANN has you covered) grab some friends and have a crafty night! Let go of your control and stress and just enjoy creating! Would love to hear about YOUR favorite hand made holiday crafts so feel free to share in the comments! Huge shout out to JOANN Fabric and Craft Store for sponsoring today's post!
Here are a few links to all the supplies I grabbed from the JOANN website: