It's official — the start of the holiday season is upon us, and it's a great time to channel your creativity into crafts for family, friends and home.
There are so many options that it's a virtual certainty you can find one to make your holiday season more festive.
Amy Poccia of Fairport has reacquainted herself with crafting now that her 2½-year-old daughter, Taylor, is getting older and can appreciate the activity.
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“This year I am going to make cards and snowflakes from paper with Taylor, as well as a gingerbread house,” Poccia says. “Crafting makes the holidays fun for the kids and creates a family tradition for us.”
Local craft stores are offering a variety of crafting classes throughout the holiday season.
Your best bet is to call around or visit stores and find out what classes are being offered. If you prefer reading, writing and 'rithmetic to instructor-led training, you can research crafting options online or simply wing it. (See the sidebar for a list of local and online resources.)
Here are some ideas to tempt your artistic palette:
Home decor
The home can be spruced up this holiday season with some simple and quick crafting.
One idea is to make festive candle wreaths. Place a candle in the center of a clear glass plate.
Arrange a variety of seasonal decor on the plate around the candle. Collecting pine cones, berries, evergreen branches and chestnuts from outside is a low-budget way to achieve this look.
Turn your home into a winter wonderland by coating the wreath with spray-on snow.
The candle wreath will create a fabulous, festive centerpiece for the holiday season.
Cards
Make your holiday greetings stand out by producing one-of-a-kind pieces.
Think about it: How many store-bought, mass-produced cards does a person receive in a single holiday season? The answer: too many.
For making cards, most any paper will do, but heavier stock will stand out. If you want to set a luxurious tone, opt for a unique paper type, like linen.
When creating the cards, try to steer clear of materials that are messy and difficult to control. Options like glue and glitter may not be the best choices because they can't be applied easily.
A quick way to create your own holiday cards is to buy a simple stencil and use it to create a focal point, or create a cut-out in the shape of your choice.
Spend more time and less money to make your holiday cards stand out in the sea of Hallmark greetings.
Frames
Put those coveted pictures on display by creating festive frames.
You can do this any number of ways. For instance, buy a ready-made frame and embellish the surface. Or cut your own frame out of foam board, and glue interesting pieces to the surface to complement the picture you'll display in it. Puzzle pieces are a great option for this because they create pattern, color and dimension when the pieces are glued on top of each other.
Use a glue gun to apply difficult-to-adhere pieces and those requiring strong support. For other pieces, using regular glue will work great because it's easy to apply and provides sufficient adhesion for most objects.
No matter how you make them, custom frames make gifts that are personal and inexpensive.
Gift-wrap
Handmade gift-wrap will take a little extra time and a little more effort on your part, but the results are well worth the fuss. Instead of slapping on the usual ribbons and bows, spice up your packaging. Learn how to make your own bows or gather nontraditional items to decorate your gifts. Materials such as cinnamon sticks, straw and lace are easy embellishments that will produce jaw-dropping reactions, even before a gift is opened.
Taking the time to make a card, picture frame or gift-wrap more personal will speak much louder than simply throwing the bucks down this holiday season. So give it a try.
