Handmade Ornaments, You Still Have Time, Really!

Only days remain, yet these ideas don't take more than an hour.  You could collect the supplies in a cute bag or basket to give on Christmas morning, then share craft-time together that day and sew a memory of the holiday together.  

Who can resist a well decorated tree?

Download the free pdf tutorial here

The turorial shares how to make the ornaments with very young children who sew the needle through both pices of felt at once and add decorations to both sides. For the pillow-version, children decorate each side seperately. Then children sew around the edges, leaving a space for stuffing. Add stuffing and sew shut. 

Or heart?

I love shiny happy beads and sequins.

Another quick idea that keeps children busy for awhile, and makes charming decorations for tree or windows (or gift tags), is God's Eyes.  Once children pick up on the wind around pattern, they are hooked and will make one after another.  The Magic Onions has a lovely tutorial posted here. 

Trees and grandparents and parents love handmade ornaments.  Have fun!

Oh, and just to share, our fairies from the Dragonfly Class (these take more than an hour):

Sending you sparkles and magic as you enjoy the season!

Christmas Fairies

These faires were created by our kindergarten and first grade students at the Nevada City School of the Arts.  We provide guidance, but they provide the magic :).  Each fairy becomes a sweet reflection of the child who created her (or him).  We made seventeen over the past three days.  We hope you enjoy this glimpse of Fairyland.

Using the Waldorf tradtion of allowing children to imagine the faces . . . this boy liked his fairy to keep his fairy whimsical.  I used to leave all of the faces blank, but students walked away and drew a face with the nearest pencil, then came to me crying when it wasn't what they imagined.  So we compromise and I draw faces for most students.  

And one Christmas Goblin (my student's words as he wanted red eyes)

Happy Holidays!  

The tutorial to make the girl versions of these fairies is available in our Etsy shop.  If you're interested in the boy version, send me a conversation through Etsy and we can figure out a way to help you (I haven't created his tutorial yet :)).  

Many thanks to Miss Becky, Miss Marin, and Asia for helping make Fairyland possible!