Homemade Christmas Crafts

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Make Christmas Special!
Christmas is a very special time of year. It seems that this is the time of the year when we all feel a bit jolly ­ or a lot jolly. We all know and appreciate the true meaning of Christmas, but joyfully it has become even more than a religious celebration. It is also a celebration of friends, family, and even winter itself. We want every Christmas to be something special. Usually, after Thanksgiving, people start gearing up for the Christmas season. They drag out the decorations, cut down or buy a Christmas tree, and start making their homes festive. Those decorations help to truly get us `in the Christmas Spirit.' You could do what most people do. You could go to your local discount or department store and purchase your tree ornaments and other decorations. But how special would it be to make your own? Wouldn't this give each decoration and ornament more meaning than the ones that you purchase in bulk from the store? Of course it would! Making your own Christmas decorations isn't as hard as one might imagin
e. You don't have to be overly talented or creative. All you really need is some simple supplies and some basic decorations. Of course, this isn't to say that homemade Christmas decorations cannot be elaborate. They can be ­ and many people put in a great deal of time and effort to make such decorations. But you can also make simple decorations that will look great in any home ­ and on any Christmas tree. The main reason to make your own decorations is to have something that isn't really available in stores ­ something different and unique to your home something that makes Christmas even more special. Are you ready to make your home festive? Let's get started with some basic supplies that you will need.

 Supplies You'll Need
While some decorations will call for special materials, there are some basic supplies that you should have on hand before you get started with your own Christmas Decorations. Here is a checklist: · Glue, a hot glue gun and glue sticks for the gun. · Construction Paper and poster board (all colors) · Scotch Tape (regular and two sided) · A nice assortment of beads · Felt cloth and material remnants · Scissors · Pencil, crayons, and fine tip markers · Ruler and compass · Sewing Needle and Yarn Needle · Sewing Thread and yarn (white, red, green, gold, silver, blue) · Paint and brushes

These supplies can be purchased online or at any crafts store. Again, these are basic supplies. Additional supplies may be needed for certain projects. Be sure that you read the information for the project before getting started to make sure that you have all of the needed materials.

Make A Christmas Wreath
Making a Christmas Wreath is not only fun ­ but you really can get creative with them and make them extremely unique. Here are instructions for making a traditional holly wreath. With these instructions, you will be able to get the basic idea of how wreaths are actually made, and you can then decide what to do to make your own holly wreath special ­ or go with an entirely different kind of wreath. Materials: · A 20 inch wreath - This can be a plain foam wreath, a wreath that already has the evergreens on it, or a twine wreath. For a traditional holly wreath, the ones with the evergreens already attached are ideal. · 1.5 yards of ribbon ­ this can be plain red, plain green, or a red and black or red and green plaid. The ribbon should about 2.5 inches wide, and can be silk or felt. It's your wreath! · Pinecones ­ you will need about ten. Try to find ones that are well shaped and unbroken. · Pomegranates ­ six dried pomegranates will do. Don't get fresh ones! Or substitute other dried or good-looking plastic fr
uits. · Additional Foliage ­ you need more evergreens (to make the wreath seem fuller) berry sprays and berry clusters. · Construction Materials ­ scissors, hot glue gun, glue sticks, wire (if there is no hanger on the back of the wreath), sewing needle, thread (same color as ribbon).

If the wreath has no hanger, you will need to construct one with the wire. This should be done first. Make sure that it is secure, and that it can bear the weight of the wreath.