Paper Christmas Light Garland

I love Garland!! I don’t know why I just do. I was actually making these for ornaments originally, However last-minute turned it into garland. So really these cute little paper light bulbs would look great anywhere. Be careful when string them or hanging them as the ends are pretty flimsy.

Well let’s get started.

Supplies Needed:

• 1 sheet of red construction paper
• 1 sheet of white construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Red glitter
• Silver glitter
• Gold glitter glue
• Hole punch
• String
• Black puffy Paint

Instructions:

1. Draw or take a template of a classic style Christmas light bulb and trace it 10 times on each color construction paper.
2. Cut out your light bulbs
3. take all your red colored light bulbs and brush your glue on just the light bulb section of the light bulb.
4. After you glue about 3 or 4 take your red glitter and sprinkle it over the light bulb making sure to cover all the glue.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 or the rest of your red light bulbs.
6. After you are done putting the glitter on the bulb take your gold glitter glue and cover the part of the light bulb that would screw in.
7. Set aside all your red bulbs to dry for about 30 min.
8. While your red bulbs are drying repeat steps 3-7 for the white construction paper light bulbs using the sliver glitter for the bulb part and continuing to use the gold glitter glue like you used for the red bulbs.
9. After your 30 min or so are done for your red bulbs take your black puffy paint and draw 3 lines across the bottom part where the bulb would screw in.
10. Then set aside again to dry for about 4-6 hours
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 for the silver bulbs.
12. After your drying time has passed take your bulbs and repeat the whole process on the other side.
13. When everything is done drying it’s time to string your bulbs and hang them up. Watch them sparkle.

 Total time should take around 8-10 hours, However 90% of it is drying time.

For the people who are following me or are just finding this blog I have spent a total of  $20.00 on supplies to make all the Christmas decorations and crafts for 2011. This will make the 13th project working off the same materials. The supplies consisted of:

• 200 sheets of construction paper (Large Pack $3.49)
• Big bottle of Elmers glue ($1.10)
• 1- 4 oz bottle of red glitter ($2.25)
• 1- 4 oz bottle of silver glitter ($2.25)
• 1 -4 oz bottle of gold glitter ($2.25)
• 1 -sm Tulip puffy paint black ($.97)
• 1 -sm Tulip puffy paint red ($.97)
• 1 -sm Tulip puffy paint white ($.97)
• 10 pack- of glitter glue ($1.00)
• 50 sheets of christmas colored tissue paper($2.99)
• 1 pack of Christmas colored fuzzy sticks ($1.00)

 total $19.24 then add some tax.

Everything else was stuff I found lying around my house or was given to me for free. I just wanted to show for a small amount of money you can really make your house full of beautiful decorations and keepsake gift ideas.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please comment back and share your paper Christmas bulbs. I would love to see what you did with them.

 Happy Holidays!

Snowman Pop-up Christmas Card

 

 

The other week I was trying to decide whether to send out Christmas Cards. This was always something I had wanted to do but just never got around too. Well this year was no different. With finals just wrapping up this last week I felt like I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I am so glad this semester is finally over. Now on to the week before Christmas and I only finished one card.  Now that all my crafting material and crafting area is set up in an accessible area, I feel a lot more organized then I did before I started this blog site. My wonderful Husband arranged things so I would be able to have my area where I can still see whats going on with our little one if he is playing with his toys. With all this in mind I fully intend on getting those Christmas Cards out next year!!

Well on to the tutorial…I took a few pictures with this one because I think that a picture might better explain the process.

Supplies Used:

• 1/2 Sheet of Blue Construction Paper
• 1/2 Sheet of White Construction Paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Glitter
• Markers or Crayons
• Ruler
• Pen

Instructions:

1. I had taken a Piece of white printer paper and cut it in half the long way.  The White Computer paper really was  just  not strong enough which is why in the supplies needed I suggested to use white construction paper. Oh and I had gone back and straitened my edge also. Write down the length of the White Paper.
2. Cut between 1/8 to 1/2 inch on each short end of the white paper.
3. The next step is to fold your white paper in half. You will also want to take a measurement of the width of the white paper at this time.
4. Then take out your template of whatever shape you want to pop out of the card and trace it on to the white paper. I used a snowman and then free-handed the trees. You can freehand the thing if you want. I just so happen to have a bunch of these templates from other projects that I just recently made.
5. Next bend your objects forward slightly and the access paper to the back.
6. Open card slightly and tuck your object inside and make sure your access is still sticking up
7. Then cut out off the access.
8. On fold the entire thing so that it’s stretched out to its full length.
9. Fold your card back up so that the object folds inside to the 2 solid white cover pieces.
10. Next take your Blue colored Construction paper and cut this in half the long ways also. The width of the blue paper should be measured between 1/8 to 1/2 inch wider then the blue paper and 1/8 to 1/2 inch longer then the white paper.
11. Fold your Blue piece of paper in half.
12. Then stick in your white paper inside the blue paper to make sure your blue paper is sized up correctly with your white paper. 
13. Take your white paper out and place it on a scrap piece of paper or table.
14. Color, Glitter, Decorate your object and write your message on the bottom or right hand solid section of the white paper. Set aside to dry if needed.
15. Decorate and embellish the front of your blue paper.
16. If your paper needed to dry or even if it didnt now you can take your white paper and glue it inside your blue paper.

 I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on the pop-up snowman card. It was really fun to make. I just wish I would have had more time to get the rest of them done so I could have sent them out to the family. Please comment back and share your christmas pop-up cards.

  I hope you and your family have a great holiday season!

Santa’s Elves Entrance

This was such a fun project to work on with my little boy. He is still in the age where anything that lights up or is special is like magic. I was trying to find something for us to do that was different from making decorations for the tree or the walls. I had a big box left over from when we bought our carpet cleaner and decided to use it instead of sending out to the recycling bin. This project ended up looking so nice that we are using as a center piece in our house layout. When we host Christmas this year the food table will be set up near the elves door way and north pole sign. There are also some snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, and the entire house is lit up in blue LED’s. Anyway the kids will love creating this project and it will remain loads of fun for them while it’s on display. It will also make for a great conversation piece with all your friends and family. You can really decorate the house with whatever material you like and design it so that it fits your Christmas Theme. I worked with some materials that I had extras from other projects.

 

Supplies I Used:

• 1 big box
• 8 sheets of plain red tissue paper
• 2 sheets of red designed tissue paper
• 4 sheets of white tissue paper
• Glitter
• 1 half piece of white construction paper
• Christmas Lights

 

Instructions:

1. Take your box and stand it so it’s the tall way.
2. Then take a scissors and cut out your door, just make sure you don’t cut it all the way off.
3. Then cut out the bottom of the box.
4. Take your roof paper and glue that on to the top of the box.
5. Then glue on the siding
6. The next step is to glue on the paper for the door.
7. With the card board that you cut off earlier cut a strip and fold it a few times to make a square for the chimney and glue that on top of the roof paper
8. Take a smaller strip of card board for the door knob and brush a coat of glue on it
9. glitter your door knob and then set aside to dry.
10. Then with your half sheet of paper make your sign for the door. Ours read Santa’s Elves Only, However yours can say whatever you would like it to say.
11. I decorated our sign with glitter also
12. Then glue on your door handle after its done drying
13. The last step is to finish adding whatever little touches you would like to add to the house. For instance, I added Christmas Tree Lights. If you would like the pattern and instructions for the lights please leave a message for me in the comments section of this post. Thank you

Thats It. Jesse loves this house and plays with it everyday. I really liked the way it turned out and I would be really excited to see how your Santa’s Elves Entrance turns out!!

 

Paper Christmas Tree Sun Catcher

This turned out to actually be a nice looking decoration for the windows during the holiday season, or really anywhere that is well lite. As this project seemed to be a little more detailed and time-consuming then a few of my more recent projects, it was still just as fun!! This is a project where really you can use anything you want to decorate the tree, whether it be little foam stickers, crayons, or paper. The kids will love it!

The whole idea of this project is to make it appear that when the tree is held up to light that the holes where the tissue paper belong act as the tree lights. So then let get started!!

Supplies Needed:

• 1-2 sheets of green paper (depending on how large you want your christmas tree, However just remember you have to get a whole punch around the tree)
• 1 sheet of brown paper
• 1 sheet of yellow or gold paper
• 1 sheet of each color tissue paper you want for your lights
• Scissors
• Glue
• Glitter (For the tree garland, your choice in color. I used gold)

 

Instructions:

1. Take your 2 sheets of green paper and trace of draw 2 identical Christmas Trees.
2. With the brown paper cut a small rectangle for the tree trunk.
3. On the yellow or gold piece of paper  draw or trace a small star.
4. Cut all your pieces out
5. Then take your 2 green trees and line them up so the edges are lined up evenly all the way around.
6. After your edges are lined up take your single hole punch and start punching a few holes scattered in different places around the trees(Make sure your holes line up on both pages). To punch some holes in the middle you will need to lightly fold both pieces of your paper without making a hard crease in the process.
7. After your holes are punched take one of the trees with the pen traced side up and lay it in front of you. (It’s time to put the lights on the tree!)
8. Take your colored tissue paper and cut little squares about 1 inch by 1 inch.
9. After you cut out your tissue paper to the number of holes you put on your tree lay them out they way you want them.
10. When you are done laying out your lights glue them down to the tree. (Warning don’t use a lot of glue when tacking these down the tissue paper will start to dissolve.
11. If you prefer your lights to have a deeper color and a little less light shine through copy the same pattern on the other tree just make sure you put the tissue paper in the right holes so they colors and the tree still line up.
12. After you have glued your tissue paper down to you trees and let them dry a little its time to assemble the tree together. lay you first tree so the tissue side is the up side then glue your brown rectangle at the bottom of the tree for the tree trunk.
13. Then glue on the other tree tissue side on the down side. Make sure when you lay this down all your edges line up so the light will shine through the tissue paper covered holes.
14. Now its time to decorate the tree!!!
15. Take your glue and draw wavy lines across the tree where you want the garland to go across.
16. Then sprinkle your glitter over the glue making sure to cover all the glue areas. Shake off access glitter.
17. Color or stick on your tree ornaments and add anything else you would like for your tree decorations.
18. Now take your yellow or gold star and glue that to the top of the tree.
19. I added some light gold glitter glue that I had left over from a past project to the top of the star for a little extra texture but that’s up to you.

That is it!! Take your tree and hold it up to the window or a light and watch your Christmas Tree Glow. My little one really thought this was a neat decoration, seeing how Christmas lights are one of his most favorite things to look at this time of year.

Please comment back and remember to come back and share your Christmas Tree Sun Catcher Projects.

Family Hand Wreath

This was a project that even my Husband got into working on with us. So on one of his nights off we all sat down tracing hands and cutting them out. I still have not let my little one use a scissors yet, however he is showing great signs that he is ready for his first pair of safty scissors. Im sure this will be another proud moment is this crafting moms life. The layers in the wreath im sure are obvious as they go my little boy, myself, and then my husband.

Christmas Family Hand Wreath

Supplies:

• Average amount of sheets of paper per adult 6-10
• Average amount of sheets of paper per child 2-6
• 1 sheet of white paper
• glue
• clear tap
• glitter (red or silver)
• scissors

Instructions:

1. Trace your child’s hand onto the piece of construction paper. ( It is best if you trace one and cut it out and then use that as a template for the rest) Make sure you try to utilize as much space as to fit as many hands on the paper as you can. My son is 4 yrs old and I was able to get 4 hands on a piece of paper and my husband was able to get 5 so try to sqeeze as many as you can to save on paper. I used 12 in my wreath. Do the same for every member in your family. For the adults you wont need as many hands because they will cover more space.
2. After you have traced all your hands then cut them all out.
3. After you are finished cutting out your hands be sure to place them all so that the ink side is facing you. If you wish to have your child color the wreath let them color the hands at this point then when they are done place them all so that the coloring side is face down.
4. Now it is time to form your wreath. Start by working from the front to the back (securing each layer before moving on to the next.(steps 5 and 6)) Place your hands in a circle making sure you leave an empty space in the middle. Try and get the hands around the circle as evenly as possible.
5. Now use your clear tap and place little pieces of tap around the inner edge to keep the hand wreath in position.
6. Then take your glue and glue down the hands to each other.
7. When you are finished gluing turn the wreath over and glue any other parts of the palms of the hands that are flopping around.

Thats it for the wreath. If you would like to add a paper bow the instructions for the bow are below

Bow Instructions:

1. On your white piece of paper draw the shape of a bow and cut it out
2. brush on a coat of glue on the entire bow
3. sprinkle your glitter to cover the whole bow
4. set aside and allow ample amount of drying time.
5. When dry glue your bow onto the bottom of your wreath

Thats it!! Please comment back and I would love to see your Christmas Family Hand Wreaths