“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” (and the busiest!) Moms are just as busy as Santa Claus this time of year, what with decorating the house, shopping for presents (then wrapping them!), organizing Christmas dinner, plus attending all those Christmas parties and events and the list goes on!
So to help busy moms like us I’ve come up with a few quick and easy DIY gifts any teacher would love to receive!
They’re fun to put together with the kids, so get them involved, and you can even take them shopping to help you choose the supplies.
And of course, the gift needs to be presented with a home-made Christmas card! Get creative and make different shape Christmas cards, not just squares and rectangles. Think Christmas trees, Snowmen, candy canes and ornament shapes.
So let’s get started and choose which of your 5 Easy DIY Christmas gifts you want to start with!
1. Hot Chocolate Rudolph
What you’ll need:
- A clear plastic bag used for icing / a piping bag
- Hot Chocolate powder
- Googly Eyes
- String or thread to hang leaves
- Brown or black Pipe Cleaner
- Red Pom Pom or round sticker
- Cling wrap
Instructions:
- Measure your desired serving size of hot chocolate mix into a plastic bag. The more you add, the bigger Rudolph will become! You could include a tag telling the recipient how many spoonfuls to use per cup.
Tip: Stand the piping bag up in a tall glass. This makes it easy to spoon in the powder. - Tear off some cling wrap and cut a square large enough for a handful of marshmallows. Again, add as many marshmallows as you think is needed for the mix. Put them in the centre of the cling wrap and seal by joining all 4 corners to make a pouch. (stealing only a few to eat!) This prevents the marshmallows from getting full of chocolate powder. Seal off the bag by adding a brown pipe cleaner to the top.
- Twist the top of the bag closed and wrap the pipe cleaner tightly around 2 or 3 times and then twist to secure.
- Curl the 2 ends of the pipe cleaner to look like antlers. I just twisted them around my finger, but you could use a pencil.
- Glue the eyes and nose to the front of the bag to make a face. (I used double-sided tape for the nose)
Doesn’t Rudolph look yummy! And how easy and fun was that?
2. Design a Christmas mug or dish
What you’ll need:
- Oil-based paint markers (or permanent, oil-based markers)
- Plain white/cream mug or flat piece of crockery
- Scrap paper for practising your design (very important!)
- Pencil & eraser
- Colour markers for drawing your design (optional)
- Nail polish remover & cotton wool (just in case of emergencies! I admit, I had a few and my 6-year-old had lots!)
- Rubbing alcohol (optional, to clean the surface first and after erasing mistakes!)
Instructions:
- Wash your crockery first and let dry.
- As an added step, which probably isn’t necessary, I wiped my mug and plates with rubbing alcohol on a piece of cotton wool.
- Practice drawing your designs on paper.
- When you are happy with your design, go ahead with the fun and draw on your crockery! (If you make a mistake, IMMEDIATELY wipe it off with nail polish remover. (Once the marker dries, it doesn’t come off with nail polish remover!) Tip: Try draw on your crockery with pencil, it worked on my mug but not my plates. Strange, I know!
- Let the marker dry completely. I left mine to dry overnight, but you could probably wait just a couple of hours. Especially now, the horrible humidity has finally dropped.
- Now place your crockery in your cold oven on the middle rack. Turn oven to 200 degrees celsius and let it “cure” for 30 minutes. Now leave it in the oven and ONLY take it out when the oven is cold.
- You can give them a soapy wash as usual with a soft sponge or cloth. Not recommended for dishwasher use!
Now, don’t you want to make more delightful designs?
I think black, red and green markers worked best. My gold marker faded after baking in the oven and lost its shine.
3. Festive filled glassware
What you’ll need:
- Oil-based paint markers (or permanent markers)
- Pretty glassware of your choice. Think, cute snack bowls, co*cktail glasses, champagne glasses, small drinking glasses, beer glasses etc
- Variety of colourful chocolates or choose just Christmas colours, M&M’s or mini marshmallows etc
- Christmas ribbon
- Clear cellophane or cellophane bags depending on your glassware (cling wrap also works!)
- Any other decorative items you think appropriate and Christmassy (optional)
Instructions:
- There’s not much to this step! Just fill your glassware to the brim with delicious chocolates.
- As an added step, which probably isn’t necessary, I wiped my mug and plates with rubbing alcohol on a piece of cotton wool.
- Wrap your glassware in clear cellophane. The ideas are that the chocolates stand out through the clear glass and cellophane.
- Tie some Christmassy ribbon around as a final touch.
Now wasn’t that easy? And they look so pretty!
4. Holiday Hamper
What you’ll need:
- A “manly” container like a wooden crate, canvas storage box or a wicker type basket
- Variety of items to fill your crate, chocolates, nuts, wine, beer, cheese, crackers, bottle opener
- Variety of colourful chocolates or choose just Christmas colours, M&M’s or mini marshmallows etc
- Christmas ribbon
- Clear cellophane
- Any other decorative items you think appropriate and Christmassy (optional)
Instructions:
- Decide what you think will fit nicely in your container. (It may be too small for a standard bottle of wine!)/li>
- You can fill small cellophane bags with tasty snacks such as nuts, pretzels, chocolates, candy, dried fruit etc. If a whole bag of nuts won’t fit use a combination of decorations and chocolates.
- Tie some Christmassy ribbon around as a final touch.
Don’t know about you, but I’d love a gift like this
5. Candy cane ornament
What you’ll need:
- Red pipe cleaner
- White pipe cleaner
- Scissors
- Christmas ribbon
Instructions:
- Bend the tips of the pipe cleaners over, so the ends are not sharp. Line up both pipe cleaners and twist the ends tightly together.
- Twist the stems of both pipe cleaners together to make an interwoven pattern. Twist the ends together tightly to secure it.
- Cut it in half, so you have 2 equal length pieces.
- To make the candy cane shape, bend one end over about a third of the way from the top to form a “U” shape. Repeat with the second piece.
And just like that, you’re done!
If you are looking for fun arts and craft ideas, check out the DIY activities on our blog. Or if you are interested in a convenient way to try a range of different art and craft activities at home with your kids in Hong Kong, why not subscribe to ActivityBox!
Sign-up for a flexible Monthly Subscription or get the full benefits from our 3-Month Program and 6-Month Program.
Each month you’ll receive a Box with 4 art and craft activities to do together with your kids at home. Step by step instructions and all the materials you need are included, so it’s easy to get started this weekend. And if you’re interested, learn more about our approach to creative thinking.
