by Vickie Gross

Created on: October 30, 2009

From dipping pinecones and creating snow-people to building edible graham cracker houses, Christmas crafts for kids are often an easy-going and enjoyable time of huddling around the kitchen table. Decorative ideas for these projects can vary greatly by age, however, creativity is where the imagination blooms and shared laughter grows. You may find that you have a demolition crew where the graham cracker house is knocked down and eaten before it was even completed, but good times is part of the reason for providing easy Christmas craft projects for kids to enjoy.

Basic supplies for a graham cracker house include 1 container of vanilla icing, 4 cups of confectioners sugar and a box of graham crackers.

Directions for building a graham cracker house:

Mix half of the icing with 2 to 3 cups of confectioners sugar until the icing is firm enough not to melt between your fingers. Using 4 full graham crackers, dip each edge into the icing mix. Wherever you are going to place your house, align the edges to form a square box. Use 2 graham crackers and lay them on the top of the box. Dip the edges of 2 more graham crackers in the icing. Place these graham crackers in an "A" frame on top of the 2 flat roof crackers. You can break triangles to fill in the upper gaps or leave the top open to set gumdrops, miniature people, a snowman, birds, lights or other creative items in the attic. Allow the house to dry before adding extras. Use the extra confectioners' sugar and icing to make window frames, doors, and snow.

Edible Snow-people:

To make edible snow-people, use confectioners' sugar, icing or cream cheese and a lot of coconut flakes. Blend the confectioners' sugar and icing or cream cheese to your taste. Drop a tablespoon of the mix into a bowl of coconut flakes, use your hand to roll, squeeze and form a soft, but solid coconut ball. Use tooth picks to hold the snow-people in shape. Keep making these until you have as many snow-people as you like.

Styrofoam Snow-people:

Purchase a bag of Styrofoam balls in varying sizes. Use toothpicks to join the body parts together. Spray glitter can be used in place of spray snow. Personalize your snow-people as you like.

Dipped pinecones:

Plastic tubs of children's paint are excellent non-toxic and washable dipping paints for pinecones. Dip the pinecones half way down into the paint. Set it aside to dry. Turn the pinecone upside down and dip the other end in another color or use paintbrushes to make more colorful designs. You can apply glitter spray or glitter sprinkles while the paint is still wet. Once the pinecones have been dipped, painted and dried, string them together with fishing line to create Christmas ornaments, swags, wreaths, or grouped centerpieces.

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