Christmas

17 Recycled Christmas Ornaments To Make

Making Christmas ornaments from recycled materials is a great way to use up things that you have around the house that you might otherwise just throw away. The list of items used in these projects includes things such as single socks (because we all have lots of single socks around the house!), old CDs, Christmas cards, used clothing, puzzle pieces, corks, can lids, and newspaper.

Christmas Card Ornaments

Christmas Card Ornaments use old Christmas cards and the outcome is worthy of giving as a holiday gift. All that’s needed for this is greeting cards, a pen or pencil, scissors, glue, a hole punch, and string or ribbon.

Plastic Shrinky Dink Ornaments

This viral activity has now been made by tens of thousands of kids. It’s easy to set up, extremely inexpensive to make, and the results are lovely. All that’s needed to make your own Plastic Cup Ornaments are clear plastic cups, markers, a hole punch, and some string or ribbon.

I love how each one is so unique. This craft is great for all ages from preschool up to adults.

More Christmas Ornaments from Recycled Materials:

Simple Ornaments made from Recycled Materials from Teaching 2 & 3 Year Olds

Cork Snowmen from Red Ted Art (pictured)

Paper Mache Tree Ornament from Buggy and Buddy (pictured)

Mixed Media Christmas Ornament from Sunshine and Hurricanes (pictured)

Christmas Tree Ornament made from Old Clothes from Teach Me Mommy (pictured)

Snowman CD Ornaments from Happy Hooligans (pictured)

Puzzle Piece Snowflakes from Red Ted Art (what a great thing to do with old puzzles that are missing pieces!)

Sparkly Tinsel Christmas Ornaments from Powerful Mothering (pictured)

Puzzle Piece Frame from Buggy and Buddy (pictured)

Button Snowflakes from Red Ted Art

Wrapping Paper Ornaments from Simple Fun for Kids (pictured)

Glittery CD Ornament from Happy Hooligans (pictured)

Cupcake Liner Christmas Tree Ornament for Kids from Raising Little Superheroes

Sock Snowmen from I Heart Crafty Things (pictured)

Recycled Can Lid Snowman Ornament from Things to Share and Remember

Gluten Free Candy Cane Playdough

By Sharla Kostelyk

Growing up, one of my neighbours had the Playdoh Barber Shop, you know the one where you could make their hair grow by pushing play dough in and then cut it with really dull plastic scissors! We played it almost every time I was over. I also had a friend from school who had the Playdoh McDonald’s set and I had fun playing it when I went over to her house. My parents didn’t have extra money for things like play sets, but my aunt used to make us play dough that was perfect in its consistency and I had just as much fun playing with a rolling pin and cookie cutters with homemade play dough as I did with their fancy play sets!

Gluten Free Candy Cane Playdough

My aunt’s play dough recipe has been my go-to for making play dough for my kids. I’ve altered the basic recipe to create a few of our own favourites such as our calming lavender playdough and our delicious smelling chocolate playdough.

Usually for the holidays, I make the kids gingerbread playdough but I thought I would change things up this year and attempt to make gluten free playdough, something I’ve never tried. We have a lot of different gluten free flours because Einstein is on a gluten free diet so I reasoned that I could adapt my aunt’s recipe and make some scented candy cane dough.

Gluten Free Candy Cane Playdough Recipe:

1 cup rice flour
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup salt
3 Tbsp. cream of tartar
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. or more peppermint extract or 10 drops of peppermint essential oil
1 cup boiling water
food colouring or food paste
optional: glitter

Mix the dry ingredients in a pot and stir in the oil, peppermint extract, water. Note: If you are only making one colour, you can add your food colouring to this step but if making multiple colours, knead the colour in at the end.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, being sure to scrape the sides and the bottom. Cook until the dough forms a ball. Remove from heat. Place it on a piece of wax paper. Knead. If you are adding glitter, this would be the time. Let cool. Store in an airtight container or in a resealable bag.

Working with the gluten free dough was quite different than regular dough. I made one attempt at a non-cook version and ended up having to repeatedly heat it up in the microwave so went back to the stovetop method. The rice flour doesn’t bind the same way regular flour does so if you find it is too sticky, try adding more cornstarch.

Scented Gluten Free Candy Cane Playdough I only made one recipe and split it into three sections. I left one white, made one red and the other green. Between the colours and the peppermint scent, this dough is perfect for shaping into candy canes, candy sticks and holiday wreaths.

Looking for other playdough recipes and ideas? You may be interested in following my Playing with Playdough board on Pinterest.

Follow Sharla Kostelyk’s board Playing with Playdough on Pinterest.

Gingerbread Playdough Station

Free Printable Playdough Mats

Calming Lavender Scented Playdough

Christmas Fun with Disposable Cups

By Sharla Kostelyk

All you need for a bit of Christmas fun are some disposable cups. You can create decorations, play games, serve snacks, and make your own Advent calendar and all just using cups. These are great ways to reuse cups. Simply wash the cups out after your holiday party and use them for these other projects.

The idea of using plastic cups to store your ornaments until you need them again is such a smart one. This keeps them separate and cuts down on breakage and helps with organization. I am planning to do that this year when we take our tree down.

Plastic Cup Shrinky Dink Ornaments from here on Chaos & Clutter (pictured)
Lighted Nativity Ornament from I Can Teach My Child (pictured)
K-Cup Advent Calendar: Make it a Thoughtful, Thankful Holiday from Teach Mama
Christmas Ornament Storage Idea from Come Together Kids
Santa Snack Cups from Sugar Aunts
Snowman Popcorn Cups from Creative Kid Snacks (pictured)
Super Simple Advent Calendar Idea from Red Ted Art
Simple Neighbour Gift {Christmas Potpourri with free printable tags} from East Coast Mommy
Christmas STEM Activities Christmas Tree Theme from Little Bins for Little Hands
Snowman Craft from Foam Cups from Kids Activities Blog (pictured)

If you are looking for more ideas for the holidays, you may want to follow me on Pinterest and sign up for email updates.

Holiday Jingle Bell Slime

By Sharla Kostelyk

This Jingle Bell Slime is one of the first slimes we ever made. It’s a pretty basic slime recipe, but the holiday twist makes it extra fun.We love trying out all different kinds of slime recipes. When I came up with the idea to make holiday theme slime, the kids were all in!

When I was out shopping for the ingredients (a very short list!), I had trouble locating liquid starch. I googled “where to find liquid starch in Canada” on my phone while in the laundry aisle at the grocery store and found an awesome article. She writes about an alternative to liquid starch for those who live in places where it is hard to find.

Jingle Bell Slime Recipe:

8 oz. Elmer’s washable school glue*
about 1/2 cup liquid starch
green food colouring
brightly coloured jingle bells

*Important note: don’t bother trying to make slime with cheaper glues. Elmer’s is the most consistently reliable when it comes to slime success, so just stick with that. Pour the glue into a bowl. Add some drops of green food colouring and mix it well. With slime, I like to use wide craft sticks for mixing so that I can throw them out after.

Add some liquid starch into the glue mixture about a Tablespoon at a time while stirring. Continue to add liquid starch until the slime doesn’t stick to the side of the bowl. This will be about 1/2 cup total, but may be a little less or a little more.

Once it’s pulling away from the sides and forming a bit of a ball, knead it by hand to finish mixing. Once it’s been stretched and pulled and pushed and folded until it has reached slime consistency, add in some jingle bells and start playing. It adds a bit of difference and texture interest if you use different sizes of jingle bells.

When the slime isn’t being played with, store it in an airtight container. If you’re a “slime mama”, chances are all of your Tupperware containers are full of slime already so in a pinch, a resealable plastic bag will do.

After playing with it for quite awhile, the kids asked me if it was the same as the Flarp Noise Putty that they get every year in their stocking. When I thought it was similar, they decided to put it to the test and sure enough, it makes the same noise. (I guess we won’t need to buy Flarp this year since we can now make our own!)

Once they made this discovery, there was a lot of laughter going on at our house! I had to tape this short video five or six times because the other kids were laughing so hard that it was impossible to hear the noise of the putty!

Check out these other holiday theme sensory activities:

Peppermint Scented Christmas Playdough Christmas Sensory Bag

5 Things Kids Can Make with Old Christmas Cards

By Sharla Kostelyk

It always seems like such a shame to throw out old Christmas cards. Sometimes I cut out the message inside to keep in a scrapbook if it’s something especially personal and I keep the family pictures that are often sent with cards in the same scrapbook but often even the front of a card is pretty enough that I don’t want to just throw it away.

Last year, the kids and I made ornaments using old Christmas cards and they turned out so well that we gave them as gifts to many of our friends and family. I was looking for ideas of what we could do this year to use the pile of cards that is sure to come in and some of my blog friends were happy to share their ideas.

Here are 5 things kids can making using Christmas cards. These projects are also a good way to talk about reusing items that we might otherwise have thrown out.

Projects Kids can Make with Old Christmas Cards

Christmas Card Ornaments (The Chaos and The Clutter)
Christmas Card Gift Boxes (What’s Up Fagans?)
Handmade Vintage Diorama Ornaments (KC Edventures)
Recycled Cards Fine Motor Skills Tray (Little Bins for Little Hands)
Make a Holiday Collage (the Jenny Evolution)

What have you done with old greeting cards in the past? I’d love to hear your ideas!

I’ve partnered with 30+ fabulous bloggers to bring you a special holiday series packed with crafts, activities, and festive family traditions. We’ve put together a phenomenal giveaway to help knock out your holiday shopping. From 11/3–11/17, you will have the opportunity to win 1 of 4 prize bundles for men, women, kids, and babies! The 4 prize bundles, valued at over $1,800, include gift certificates, toys, jewelry, and more!

Check out these Creative Christmas Posts from other Festive Family Bloggers:

5 Easy Christmas Crafts You Can Make from Bare Feet on the Dashboard

Christmas Art Projects for Kids from Handmade Kids Art

7 Simple Lego Gifts Your Kids Can Make from Lemon Lime Adventures

Simple Things to Put in Clear Plastic Ornaments from P is for Preschooler

Paper Winter Village from Planet Smarty Pants

Christmas Countdown with Wooden Blocks from Adventure in a Box

Pinecone Angels from Peace but not Quiet

Transitioning to a Make-Your-Own Christmas Tradition from Multicultural Kids Blog

Fine Motor Christmas Crafts, Activities and Games for Kids from Still Playing School

Healthy Holiday Baking from Gypsy Road

Bottle Cap Christmas Craft from Sugar Ants

Homemade Christmas Crackers with Scripture Verses

By Sharla Kostelyk

When I was growing up, we always went to my Grandma’s house in Vegreville on Boxing Day to celebrate Christmas with my aunt, uncles and cousins. There was a kid’s table and at each place setting there was a Christmas cracker so I associated them as part of the holidays and wanted them to be a tradition I incorporated into my own family someday.

When I was a young mom of two kids and The Husband was a student, we didn’t have an extra penny. We had moved back to our hometown to be closer to family when our baby was sick with kidney complications and The Husband had gone back to school. That year, I had worked hard making crafts to sell at a sale in our basement so that we would have money to buy food and a few gifts at Christmas so there was certainly no chance I could afford to buy Christmas crackers. I decided to make them.

I added a numbered strip of paper into each one that had a part of the Christmas story. When put in order, they told the story. I used scriptures from different gospels and pieced them together. At our Christmas Eve celebration that year, we all (adults too) opened our Christmas crackers and read our scripture verses in the right order to retell the story of Jesus’ birth.

This year, I slipped strips of paper into the crackers that all said the same thing. “For unto us a Child is born.”-Isaiah 9:6

To make the crackers, you need:

empty toilet paper rolls
tissue paper
small toys or candy
paper
ribbon, tape or string

Fill the empty toilet paper roll with candy or little toys or trinkets. I used to also make crowns out of tissue paper and fold them tightly to fit them in just like a store bought Christmas cracker. Slip your paper with the scripture verse or encouragement in.

Roll the cardboard tube in tissue paper. Secure the ends by tying ribbon (or tape or string) at the ends of the roll, leaving some tissue paper sticking out each end. Decorate using ribbon. You can also curl the ends of the ribbon using scissors.

Sometimes the most obvious answer is right in front of you. If you look closely at the picture of the single Christmas cracker, you may notice that the decorative strip around it is made of tin foil. I cut a thin strip of tin foil, wrapped it around to decorate and secured it with a glue stick. My friend Christie was here at the time and gently pointed out that I could always just use ribbon which would be much easier! I decorated the rest using ribbon! I tell you this only to say that if you didn’t have ribbon and wanted to add some flair to your crackers, you could use tin foil.