Winter break crafting

The holidays are coming upon us fast and that means lots of time off for the kids.  And although they may be occupied with family occasions or special activities part of the time, there’s bound to be down time at home when a craft project or two will be a fun activity with you and keep little hands busy. 

I was inspired for this first project by a promotional card I received in the mail.  It was a hexagonal “ball” that could be pressed flat to fit into an envelope.  I found that my kids were just as fascinated by it as I was.  In fact, it frequently disappeared from my office to end up in the hands of one of them.  So of course, I felt compelled to take it apart and figure out how it was made....he, he.  And with a few Fiskars tools you can make this pop-up creation too. 

Start by printing the template on the wrong side of cardstock two times– the printed side will be inside the ball and not be seen.  Then use the Ultra ShapeXpress™ and Super-sized Circle Shape Templates to cut the 2 - 6” circles.  Use the Pointed-tip Kids Scissors to cut out the 6 wedges indicated on each template circle.  With a ruler and the Dual Tip Stylus, score along the dotted lines in the smaller circle as well as the outer circle. 

Use the 1/8” Circle Hand Punch to create 2- punched circles on opposing tabs as indicated on the template.  And cut a small slit from the punched circles to the edge.  This is where the rubber band will be attached from one side to the other. The rubber band enables the ball to pop up and maintain its 3 dimensional shape.  Once you have both pieces cut and scored, lay them wrong side (printed side) up and fold the scored lines and crease.  Apply adhesive to all the tabs of one piece– be careful to not cover up the punched holes and slits cut into the tabs where the rubber band will be secured.  Now flip one over so that wrong sides of both pieces are facing each other.  Match up the tabs on one side that have the punched holes; and adhere tabs together.  Slip rubber band through the slit and into the 1/8” hole. 

Now match up the tabs on the opposing side that have the punched holes/slit; and adhere tabs together.  Again, slip the rubber band through the slit and into the 1/8” hole so that the rubber band stretches across the inside of the ball.  Press the ball flat and line up each remaining 4 sets of tabs; and press firmly to secure.  The hexagonal ball is now complete.  Use as is or decorate as you wish.

For this project, we covered the “petals” with patterned paper from Heidi Grace Designs’ Reagan’s Closet collection.  The center is an Extra Large Squeeze Punched circle with dimensional stickers, rub-ons and alpha stickers added.  My daughter plans to write a message on the bottom and send this one to her BFF over Winter Break.

Other variations: My son likes the ball made from colored cardstock and adds stickers, rub-ons or simply draws whatever is in his imagination.  He’s used it in many creative ways - as a ball, a Frisbee, and even a mini Death Star when he’s on his Star Wars adventures.

Whether it’s before, during or after the holidays my kids are willing to decorate with paper chains.  And if you’re looking for a super simple project for younger children this activity is perfect.  Use your trimmer to cut paper strips 2” wide and 10” – 12” long.  Then pull out various decorative blades for your trimmer, border punches, and decorative scissors to create interesting edges on each link.

Have them use their chains to decorate railings, doorways and windows.  Make shorter/thinner links for lighter chains.  Turn it into a game and see who can make the longest chain. 

Making puppets is a popular rainy day craft.  This final project is a no-sew cone puppet project with a little vintage charm.  Made of cardstock, fabric and felt this Snowman can peek in and out of the cone using a dowel to twist and pull.

Use the cone template to create the cone from cardstock.  Cut the shape out and adhere edges to form the cone – note: the bottom has an opening for the dowel.  Set the cone aside.  I used Fiskars Craft Drill to enlarge the hole in the bottom of the wooden doll head for the dowel and then used the Fiskars Glue Gun to secure the dowel in the opening.  Paint the head with white acrylic paint.  Once dry, create his face using paint, pens and a orange felt nose. 

Use the Snowman body template and cut 2 pieces from white fabric. Fiskars Glue Gun along the edges indicated by the dotted line and leave a small opening for the dowel at the top as well as the arms (see x’s).  Once the glue has dried on the fabric, turn right side out and insert 3” pieces of chenille stem for arms.  Add a small amount of glue to secure and let dry.  Glue bottom of snowman body to upper edge of cone and let dry.  Insert dowel through top opening of Snowman body.  Apply glue at the neck to secure the head to the body and let dry.  Cut out mittens, scarf and hat from felt.  Glue mittens to stems.  Snip ends of scarf and tip of hat with scissors to create fringe.  Glue hat to Snowman’s head; add buttons and trim around top edge of cone.  To hide the snowman, turn/twist and pull down the dowel. 

You can create any character from this basic design.  Santa, an elf, dolls, a clown, animals.... whatever you can imagine.

Be creative and have fun!

By Patti Milazzo