by Annette Bromley

Created on: November 22, 2010

CHRISTMAS CRAFT FUN for an OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS

For years, back almost as far as I can remember, I have enjoyed making crafts and especially for the holidays and Christmas in particular.   Children love getting involved and helping decorate and make the decorations and there is a very wide variety of crafts and craft materials you can use, much of which can be found right around your home.  I do a lot with Papier-mâché, Play dough, the homemade kind, aluminum foil, pieces of cardboard, old wrapping paper, coffee filters, yarn and crochet cotton and tie wraps, clothespins, a few colored markers, crayons, and other odds and ends and don’t forget the cookie dough.  If you are one to get outside and collect things from nature be sure to collect some acorns (caps included), evergreen boughs, twigs and sticks and even a few pretty stones, no larger than palm size. (Small is good) Add some colored construction paper, scissors, glue, glitter, buttons and you have the makings for a festive and fun decorating party.

I’ll never forget the year we decided to have a really “old fashioned” Christmas, the year we made all of our decorations and many of our gifts from scratch and at home.

Our tree was beautiful, even without those shimmering and sparkling electric tree lights.  We strung popcorn and cranberries to make garland and dried thin slices of apple, orange, lemon and lime.  The orange lemon and lime when dried look very much like crystal glass and we threaded string through them to hang them as ornaments; ornaments made of sliced fruit.  I have a food dehydrator but you can simply air dry them.  Thin slice them without removing the rind and just lay them on a tray to dry turning them every day or couple of days so they dry evenly and don’t mold.  They may curl slightly but this makes each piece unique.  If you lightly sprinkle them with salt it will help to draw the moisture out faster and leave them with a frosted look when they have completely dried.  I glazed the apple slices with clear nail polish to preserve them longer.  Do not peel the apple. Slice the apple crosswise to preserve the core and seeds.  They are beautiful when dried and glazed.  

We made aluminum foil icicles by rolling thin strips of aluminum foil.  Take a two inch strip of aluminum foil 4 to 6 inches in length and roll it tightly lengthwise shaping into a pointed tip at

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