Fun and simple crafts for a wonderful

winter

By Sutton Archambault, Reporter

Paper Snowflakes – Rating: 8/10

FROSTY. Snowflakes are an original, but cool holiday craft. These crafts are fun and festive for the winter season and can be used in many different ways.

Paper snowflakes are a classic holiday decoration. They are simple and don’t require much creativity but are super relaxing to make. They have a winter aesthetic, along with giving the holidays a little extra excitement. If you are looking for something exciting to spice up your holiday, this is it! All that is needed is paper and, if they are to be hung up, add some string. If you want to make it more complicated and interesting, try using a pencil and outlining where you want to cut, rather than free styling and looking up more complex patterns is a good idea. They are hard to make if you want it to look nice and almost professionally done, but these are easy for kids to make too once you learn the basics, and even if they don’t look perfect, that’s the fun of it.

Popsicle Stick Wreath – Rating: 7/10

Popsicle stick wreaths are one of the best wreaths that you can make. All that is required is glue, paint, paintbrushes, popsicle sticks, and if you want to make it more festive, ribbon. How to make it is simple: paint popsicle sticks green (or your color of choice) and then glue them in a circle of any size. Lastly, add cut up ribbon for extra decoration. Popsicle stick wreaths can be made in all different shapes, colors, and sizes, and there is no limitation to what you can do. They are easy to make and are a creative activity both on your own and with others. Though they are very simple and if you are looking for something a little more challenging then this might not be the perfect craft, but it is nice for downtime.

Pasta Christmas Tree – Rating: 8.5/10

PAINT. Paint and decorate this holiday mason jar. This mason jar is very artistic and clever, you can decorate them however you want, plus they have lots of uses.

A pasta Christmas tree is the perfect way to get food involved with your holiday traditions, even though they are not edible. A pasta tree is a project that combines creativity and messiness for little kids. This project is simple yet fun to get the holidays off to a good start. You can add different things to the pasta Christmas tree including ribbon, glitter, or even other food items. All you need is glue, curly pasta, paint, paintbrushes, and paper for a base. Paint the pasta green and then glue the pasta to a piece of paper in the shape of a tree. Add special add-ons if desired. This is one of the best crafts that you can make for the holidays. Also, if you babysit, you might want to carry this idea in your back pocket just in case because it is easy and great for kids. I loved making this and would make it again.

Christmas Themed Mason Jars – Rating: 6.5/10

Christmas themed mason jars are mason jars decorated to have a theme, which are very artsy and clever, and there are a variety of ideas of styles from which one can choose. You could go with a candy cane theme, a Christmas tree theme, or even a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer theme. All of these are equally fun and festive for the holiday season. With each one, there are different types of materials that are needed to create the mason jar of your choice. You could paint it a color then put on stickers, add ribbon, etc. This is a wonderful craft for the winter and can still be used as a regular old mason jar. You can put some treats in it, art supplies, or cake mix in a jar. However, this isn’t as festive as the other projects and is easy but also boring to make. This wasn’t my favorite craft but still a good project for a cold winter day.

Pinecone Gnomes – Rating: 8/10

CREATE. Create this Pinecone Gnome on a cold winter day. Pinecone Gnomes are a great holiday craft to make the season more cozy.

For all of those cottagecore fans, this is the craft for you. This pinecone gnome is an enjoyable, yet challenging craft to make. You can put this gnome anywhere, from the windowsill to a bedroom shelf to even a spot on the Christmas tree. All that is needed is a pinecone, felt—or other materials for the hat—a pom pom for the nose, and a hot glue gun. Cut out a gnome hat shape from the felt, and hot glue it onto the top of the pinecone. Then, place the pom pom right below where the hat begins and hot glue it there. This is one of my favorites, though it also takes more effort as finding the right proportions of the hat can be difficult; unlike the previous crafts, it includes finding the pinecone from outsize and making the perfect sized hat. If you don’t like putting in a little more time into a craft, then this isn’t for you. Despite this, the pinecone gnome is still one of the best crafts on this list.