3 Easy Do it Yourself Holiday Crafts
The holiday season is one of the most magical times of the entire year. Everyone you meet seems to be a little happier as they share their holiday cheer with friends and family members.
The holiday season is also a great time to enjoy a few DIY crafts to decorate your home or outfit you for the cold winter months. Here are three DIY activities that won’t cost you anything at all:
1. Paper Snow Flakes
For this easy holiday craft, the only supplies you will need are: scissors and paper (can be colored or not). If you really want to make your snowflakes a little more colorful, you can grab markers and glitter glue to color in or add a little sparkle to your newly formed snowflake.
Take your paper and bring one of the corners over so that you’ve created a right triangle, and cut the excess edge off the paper. Next, fold the large triangle in half at the tip to create a smaller triangle. Continue this process three more times until you have an extremely narrow point with tips that juts over the top of the fold.
Cut off the edge that sticks over the top, and then proceed to cut out small shapes on the sides of the snowflakes. Make sure that you leave some of the edges intact so that the snowflake won’t fall apart. After you cut as much out of your snowflake as you want, you can unfold the snowflake and hang it up in your home or apartment!
2. Old Sweater New Mittens
This DIY is a little more labor intensive that the snowflake DIY. You’ll need a piece of paper, a sharpie or fabric marker, scissors, an old sweater, sewing pins, and a needle and thread (or a sewing machine).
To start off, trace your hand print using the marker onto a piece of paper, and leave about half an inch of space between the trace and your hand. Then, cut out the mitten hand shape using the scissors. Turn the sweater inside out, and place the bottom edge of the mitten print on the bottom ribbed edge of the sweater. Trace the mitten print with the marker onto the sweater, and repeat this process by flipping the mitten cut-out over to create a left and right mitten.
When you’ve traced both a right and left mitten on the sweater, use the scissors to cut out the prints. (Make sure to cut the top and bottom layers of the sweater, as your mitten needs two sides.) Next, use the sewing pins to hold the mitten together. Use the sewing machine (or needle and thread) to stitch around the edge of the sweater. Repeat for the other mitten, and then turn both mittens right side out. Now you should have a pair of cute, new mittens!
3. Braided Sweater Scarf
For this holiday craft, you will need three old sweaters (it works best if these sweaters have different patterns but complement each other), scissors, and a way to tie together the braid. You can tie the braid using a thick ribbon or piece of yarn, or you can stitch the ends together to create an infinity scarf.
Lay all three sweaters out on a flat surface, and then use the scissors to cut an one-and-a-half inch slit in the lower right edge of the sweater. Next, cut across the width of the sweater while slightly moving up the sweater in a spiral form starting at the top of the cut. Make sure to keep the width of the spiral at an inch and a half, and keep cutting until you reach the sleeves of the sweater. Continue this process for all three sweaters.
You should be left with three long pieces of sweater! Lay the three pieces out about a half inch apart, and then trim any excess length off the pieces. Start at the bottom of the pieces, and braid your way up the length of the three pieces.
You can sew the edges of the braid closed to keep the sweaters from unraveling, or you can stitch the two ends together to create an infinity scarf!
Enjoy creating these DIY crafts, and have a happy holiday season!