Few things go together as the Christmas season and arts and crafts projects. Call it a perfect storm if you will. (Literally.) Cold, blustery weather shuts us indoors for weeks and Christmas inspires creativity and fun.
It’s the perfect time for family fun in the form of Christmas arts and crafts projects. What’s more, these projects allow you and yours to add some personal touches to your holiday: These projects make unique holiday decor items or even personalized holiday gifts for friends and family.
We’ve split this blog up into two sections. The first section offers you some suggestions for the different types of art materials you can use for your projects. The second section covers some of the art projects you can make with the recommended supplies list.
Cheap Art Supplies for Christmas Projects With Your Kids
While it’s certainly possible to make some higher-end Christmas arts and crafts projects, you don’t have to use expensive materials. You may have many supplies around the house already.
If not, your local dollar store has tons of cheapie art supplies that you can buy for your Christmas arts and crafts projects. Depending on where you live, your local dollar store may have miniature art canvases, acrylic paints, wooden ornaments, floral craft supplies and more.
Another option you have is to check out your local second-hand market. There you can find cool frames, ceramic bowls and mugs and more.
Finally, it is also worth your time to check out some art stores in your local area, because they may be having a sale on supplies. We have some suggestions for types of art supplies, too.
With no further ado, here are some lists of items you can use to create your DIY Christmas arts and crafts projects.
Surfaces to Paint On
- cardboard
- paper
- cloth
- wood
- metals
- shelving paper or wallpaper
- newspapers
- old books
- old greeting cards
- T-shirts and other clothing
- homemade flour and salt clay
- old dishes and coffee mugs
- old framed art
- glass jars
- Brown paper bags
Fun Art Supplies You Might Have Around the House
- house paint/ paint samples
- spray paints
- acrylic paints
- markers
- T-shirt paint
- crayons
- paint brushes and sponges
- pencils
- pens
- inks
- colored pencils
- glue
- paper
- stencils
- instant coffee
- paper towels
- crepe paper
- pine cones
- flour, salt and water for salt dough clay
- glitter
- ribbons
Palette Options
- cardboard
- paper plates
- wax paper
Holiday Arts and Crafts Project Ideas
Here are five Christmas arts and crafts ideas to get you started.
1. Create an Abstract Piece of Christmas Art
Many people love abstract art, because it’s easy to incorporate into their home decor. The thing about making Christmas-themed abstract art is that you can use many of the supplies above, supplies you probably already have, to create your holiday-themed art.
And if you choose colors, like red and green or blue and silver, you’ll create works of art that go with the season. However, if these colors also match your decor, then you won’t have to take them down once the holidays are over.
Here’s one more tip: If you create your “canvas” from materials, like cardboard, consider cutting it down to framable sizes. For example, if you found a large box that you’ve cut down to make a surface to paint on, then cut it in standard sizes, like 8” X 10”, 9” X 11” or 18” X 24.”
These sizes represent standard frame sizes, so it’ll be easy to find frames for your works of art once you’re done. If your Christmas arts and crafts project turns out to be stunning – and we know it will be – you’ll have art that you can easily frame in standard-sized frames.
If you’d like some tips for creating some abstract art with your kids, check out our abstract painting course. It’s a great gift for the artists in your life.
2. Christmas Ornaments and Other Tree Crafts
Many families like to collect a new ornament for their tree every year. While it’s fun to collect ornaments that are part of collections by famous artists or companies, it’s also really fun to make your own ornaments.
If you choose to do the latter, there are several options available to you for making these holiday-themed trinkets. Below, you’ll find a list of suggested ways to make Christmas ornaments for your holiday tree.
- Create salt flour ornaments made from homemade clay
- Make a citrus garland from oranges
- Make paper snowmen ornaments to bring the beauty of the snow indoors
- Add a spicy scent to the room with these cinnamon stick ornaments
- Use a little paint and some Christmas bulbs to make some splatter paint ornaments
3. Holiday Cocoa Set
This Christmas arts and crafts project is super simple to make and is an excellent gift to give on its own or to accompany a gift basket filled with artsy items, like art supplies.
To make it, you need:
- A jar with a lid
- Items to decorate it with, like paint, ribbons, glitter and other holiday-themed goodies
- Scissors
- Glue
- Cocoa packets and marshmallows
To Make This Christmas Cocoa Gift:
- Choose a jar with a lid. Clean it up if it’s not brand new. Mason jars work well for this, and many people have them in their homes.
- Decorate the jar with a Christmas theme using your various art supplies.
- Once the glue is dry, pour the cocoa powder and marshmallows into the jar and close the lid. Make sure that the inside of the jar is completely dry and clean before adding the cocoa. Otherwise, the cocoa will clump.
4. Christmas Gift Bags
Who knew that your brown paper lunch bags could become the foundation for a cool artsy project? This is a pretty simple project in principle. Essentially, you’re going to decorate some brown bags with holiday-themed decorations.
Once the bags are done, you can use them to “wrap” Christmas gifts in. They’re a great way to add a personal touch to the gifts you give to friends and family.
5. Artsy Christmas Table Napkins
Your T-Shirt paint decorates more than your favorite shirts and jackets. It’s the perfect thing to use to make some Christmas-themed table napkins.
These are fun projects to do free-hand if you want your holiday art project to be a bit more loose and free. Use Christmas-themed stencils if you’d like a more unified look.
Fun art supplies to use on this project include:
- T-shirt paint
- Stencils
- Faux rhinestones or sequins
- Ribbons
- Waterproof markers
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