US seasonal

Christmas crafts for kids you will still like in January

Christmas crafts for kids should survive the tree coming down. Paper stars over a doorway. Snowflakes on the glass. One wreath on a wire ring — cedar, olive, a dried orange, a ribbon — that is built to last the season. Kids on the paper. Adult on the wire and the oven. No character ornaments, no shelf elf partnership. If it still looks right next to the recycling in January, you made the right one.

What you need

Heavyweight paper for stars. Ordinary printer paper for snowflakes. Flour, salt, and an oven for dough. Greenery and a wire ring for the wreath, which is a Saturday and a shop, not a junk-drawer myth.

Roll the gaps into one shopping list. Members can open a cart; anyone can check things off at home. Do not promise every stem is in stock every December. Buy what you can find.

Time, who is at the table, adult jobs

Stars and snowflakes fit a weeknight if the adult pre-cuts squares. Salt dough is a Saturday: mix, cut, bake, cool, string. The wreath is about an hour once the greenery is on the table — adult twists wire; kids hold ribbon and say when it is enough. Child scissors for older kids on paper. Adult scissors for small children and for wire. Ovens are adult. No hot glue on a wreath a child is holding.

Six makes, paper first

1. Paper star garland

Fold eight-point stars from heavyweight paper, pinch, string, hang over a doorway. Thirty minutes, beginner, including the argument about who punches the holes. Full steps: how to make a paper star garland. Leave it up after the tree. That is the point of January.

2. Cut paper snowflakes

Six-fold, small snips, unfold. Tape to a window. Coffee filters work if that is what you have. Adult does tight cuts for preschool hands. Sequence: how to cut paper snowflakes. They are a snow-day craft that also belongs in December. Photograph the glass in the morning light.

3. Paper chains, doorway length

The honest weeknight version still works in red, green, kraft, or whatever is in the drawer. How to make paper chains covers glue-stick versus tape and how many loops a doorway wants. Not fancy. Finished.

4. Salt-dough ornament

Two parts flour, one part salt, enough water to make a firm dough. Kids roll and cut circles or stars with a drinking glass. Adult stamps a hole with a straw, bakes on a lined sheet at a low oven until dry, cools fully, then strings twine. Decorative. Do not eat it. Skip glitter dumps; a crayon or a watercolor wash after cooling is enough. This is a keepsake if you photograph it before it chips in a box.

5. Evergreen wreath on a wire ring

The marketing bench already has a Solstice Evergreen Wreath: cedar, olive, dried orange, one velvet ribbon, built on a wire ring so it lasts the season. Adult binds bundles with floral wire. Kids pass bundles and choose ribbon placement. Hang it with a proper hook. No paper-plate wreath pretending to be this. If you have no lot, a walk for named evergreen trimmings — not from protected land, not from a neighbor’s hedge — plus nature crafts sense: wash hands, skip what you cannot name.

6. Folded paper ornament

A square, accordion fold, tied at the waist, fanned into a round. Same family as the stars, smaller, hung on a tree or a knob. If the fold fails, it is still paper. Try again. Thirty minutes for a small set.

How Crafty helps

Crafty on iOS holds the week’s make, the list, and the photograph. Seasonal sits in Discover. One project is typically free; yearly membership can include Apple Family Sharing for up to six. Finish photos are private unless you send a card. Use the phone like a recipe, then put it face-down while the dough bakes.

Start in November. Read this in July anyway.

US search climbs through October and November. Paper can start as soon as you have an afternoon. The wreath can wait for cold weather. In June, this page is still a paper-and-nature bench — hang stars for a birthday doorway if you like. They do not expire.

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