Here is a pair of quick and easy Christmas craft projects.

Is it time to do some Christmas craft projects? Raid the kitchen cabinets and the desk drawers in the living room. Those places likely hold the makings for a pair of quick and easy craft projects that will come in handy when preparing the house for holiday guests from near and far.

 

Chances are good you have close at hand the makings for these crafts. Retrieve some ribbon or gold cord from your sewing kit and then rustle up a dollop of creativity. Try your hand at one of these two unusual Christmas craft projects. Kids and adults alike will have some creative fun.

 

? A holiday decoupage centerpiece vase

? An embossed foil holiday greeting sign

 

Guests will admire your holiday decoupage centerpiece vase

 

Most homemakers keep things that remind them of warm days gone by. Stacks of Christmas cards usually are among the collectibles. Recycle them into something beautiful. A lovely centerpiece vase?ready for fragrant boughs of balsam or evergreens?is easy to make from cut-out Christmas cards. Add a collar of big bows made of gold cord or ribbon. Highlight the surface of the decoupage vase with some scrapbook details such as silver stars, glittery zigzags or gold-foil starbursts.

 

This holiday decoupage centerpiece vase is easy to make

 

Gather some old holiday greeting cards and cut out some of the most attractive images. Other materials you will need are sure to be found somewhere in the kitchen or maybe the basement.

 

? A bowl of water to soften the cut-outs

? Paper towels to blot the moistened cut-outs

? White glue or wood glue that dries clear

? A vase or other container suitable for use as a centerpiece

 

Instructions: Cut out a variety of holiday images from old greeting cards. Use Santa images, reindeer, wreaths, ornaments, elves, etc. Choose random sizes or stick with images of generally the same size depending upon the size of your vase.

 

Clip enough card pieces to cover every inch of your vessel. Get an idea of your preferred design by temporarily attaching the cutouts with rolled-up pieces of clear tape on the reverses. Rearrange as desired, and then remove the cutouts and set aside. Remove and discard?or save for use at another time?the little rolls of tape.

 

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Next, spread a good bit of glue on a dinner plate and add a touch of water to make a consistency similar to syrup. Set aside. Start affixing your cutouts. One by one, dunk the back of each cutout in the bowl of water just long enough to render it flexible. Very few will be ruined by a brief bath.

 

Blot each cutout on a piece of paper towel. Now, slide the reverse of each cutout into the plate that holds the thinned glue. Coat with glue, lift off the glue plate and place onto the vase. Smooth the cutout onto the vase so that it lays flat or curves to fit the contours of the vessel. Repeat until the vase is covered with these images of Christmas cheer. Let dry and later fill the centerpiece vase with holiday greenery for use at the dinner table.

 

Make an unusual embossed foil greeting or welcome sign

 

? Cardboard cut to size

? Tin foil or gold foil to cover cardboard

? White glue or wood glue that dries clear

? Thick cord or heavy string for forming letters

 

Instructions: Decide upon a phrase?or a word?of holiday greeting. Cut a piece of cardboard big enough to display your greeting which will be lettered out of glued-down string. The options range from a single word?joy, cheer, etc.?to a full greeting. It’s up to you to know how good you are at making loops and curves with string.

 

Spread out the tin foil so that it overlaps by a few inches the cardboard sign. Excess can be folded over the edges at the end of the project. Take up the foil and wad it up tightly so that it becomes wrinkled. Lift up and smooth it out carefully to prevent rips. Set aside.

 

The cardboard is your canvas and glued string will form your message. Practice writing your greeting upon the cardboard. Check that the spacing of the letters is okay. Then, go ahead and glue down the string to again spell the same words. Let the glued words dry on the cardboard.

 

Finally, smear glue all over the surface of the cardboard and over top of your now-dry glued words. Press the sheet of foil onto the cardboard?and string lettering?and carefully smooth down the textured foil until all words show up in brilliant foil relief. This is a simple project for kids or adults and it’s one that costs almost nothing. Now, that’s a relief.