Some Christmas Crafts

Like I said in my last post, we have been doing a lot of Christmas crafting the past several weeks.  Most are gifts but we made 3 easy ones to decorate the house that turned out great.  The first is a wreath for the front door.  I hung it on the inside of the door since it's made of candy and I would imagine it would melt or run if it got wet outdoors.

The supplies you need for this wreath are:

• A flat floral wreath
• Red ribbon (nothing fancy)
• 3 large bags of Brach's Starlight candies
• A nice red wire ribbon

I used 3 spools of red ribbon to wrap around the floral wreath and secured them with stick pins.  This covers the green or white color of the wreath and also prevents the wreath from melting under the heat of the glue gun.  Next I hot glued the candies around the wreath.  3 rows on the front and 2 rows each on the sides.  The girls were able to help by unwrapping the candies and eating any broken ones.  After letting the glue cool and dry I looped the decorative wired ribbon around the wreath to hang from a nail and tied a bow to the loop.  That's it!  I was really happy with how it turned out and hope it stores well to be used for future Christmases.

The next project we did involved some pinecones, red and white spray paint and some glitter.  Since I didn't want to be around the spray paint fumes, I sent Dan outside with the spray paint and Magnolia out with the glitter.  Dan sprayed on the color and Magnolia sprinkled on the glittler.  Fun for all!

Then I arranged them around some candle sticks and...

 added some fresh cut holly and greens from outside and some red candles.  I love how this turned out to use as a centerpiece in the dining room.

Lastly, we made candy Christmas trees.  I hot glued candies to styrofoam cones that I got from the craft store.  I've seen this done with other candies like gumdrops and and any other green, white or red candies.  Maybe before the end of the season I'll add some more to the mix.

So today 12/05, I'm thankful for little fingers and minds that love to create.  Making something beautiful and purposeful out of nothing.  Wait until I show you the cute Advent crafts they made at church this year.