Christmas Crafts Made with Recycled Materials

by Yu Qing

Overview

Christmas is a time to celebrate with family. A smart and thoughtful way to use your time is to create Christmas crafts from recycled materials. Not only will you be teaching your children the benefits of being environmentally aware, you can also spend quality time with your children to create beautiful keepsakes for your home.
Recycled Christmas Ornaments

Creating Christmas ornaments from recycled materials is a great way to make keepsakes. You should make new ornaments each year, and save ornaments from years past to have a collection of memories on your Christmas tree every year. To make ornaments, take old light bulbs and use paint, cloth and ribbons to decorate them. Ideas include making Santa Claus or snowmen ornaments. Or, you can encourage our children to be creative, and have them paint their own paintings on the light bulbs. Wrap ribbon around the top of the light bulb in a loop so that the ornament can be hung on your Christmas tree.

Recycled Christmas Cards

Gather your children to help make Christmas cards from recycled materials for relatives and friends. One idea is to use old magazines. Cut out eye-catching photos to create collages that tell a story for each card. Use a glue-stick on the back of the cutouts to paste on white card stock. Using glue sticks instead of wet glue makes it easier--not to mention less messy--for children to handle. Another option is to use cloth scraps in place of magazine cutouts. To do this, sketch the figure you would like to cut on the piece of recycled cloth, and cut out the figure. Paste it on card stock with wet glue (glue stick may not be strong enough for cloth).
Recycled Christmas Stockings

Gather old clothing, such as clothes that your children have grown out of, to make recycled Christmas stockings. To do this, use a marker to draw a stocking shape in the cloth. When cutting, make sure you cut two layers of cloth at the same time (there should be a second layer of cloth under the cloth that you drew on). Sew the two sides of the stocking by sewing along the edge of the stocking. Leave the top open to place gifts and treats inside. Take advantage of recycled materials. For example, use old ribbons to decorate or trim the stockings. Sew one for each member of your family and encourage everyone to stuff the stockings with recycled gifts.

Overview