GEM Parenting: Parents building strong Children and Families

Welcome to the Creative Crayon Club!

There are three wonderful Christmas craft ideas here to give you some much needed time with your family and relieve the stress of Christmas!  Enjoy.

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Hanger and Christmas Cloth Wreath

You need:

• Wire coat hanger
• Yard of Christmas cloth
• Bag to keep cloth strips in
• Scissors

To do:
Tear the cloth in strips about 2 inches wide.  This is great fun for little hands.  You can start the tears and then you child can rip the rest.  Or you can each pull from different sides.

• Save one strip to be long.
• Cut or tear the strips to be about 4 inches long. 
• Put them in the bag right now.
• Bend the coat hanger into a circle.
• Take the long strip and cover the hook.
• You may need to do this with little ones. 
• To secure hold the strip over the end of the hook. 
• Wrap the strip around the end and work back to the circle part of the hanger.
• To secure the other end tie small strips over this end.
• Tie each small cloth strip around the coat hanger
• Do this until there is no space left to tie strips.

You can do this just about anywhere.  If you are going to do this out and about use a cloth bag so the hanger won’t split the plastic or paper.

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Hand Print Christmas Tree

You need:

• Poster Board
• Green paint
• Red Paint
• Large paint brush
• Christmas Stickers and star stickers
• Paper towels
• Newspaper

To do:

• Have poster board flat on paper towels where it can stay for a few hours.
• Paint your child’s hands.
• Place the painted hands to make prints.
• Start at the top with one print and work down making it wider with each row.  You know the shape of a Christmas tree

Use the red paint to write Merry Christmas

Use the paper towels to dry hands before leaving work area.

Let tree dry completely
Add stickers for tree decorations and presents under the tree.

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Clove Orange and Apple

You need:

• One naval orange or Macintosh apple
• Several bottles of whole cloves
• Yard of Christmas ribbon

To do:

• Cut ribbon in half
• Tie two pieces together in middle
• Tie ribbon around orange/apple so it has not at bottom and not at top with loose ends to hang it with.
• Push cloves in the arrange/apple
• Keep them slightly apart. 
• As the orange/apple dries out it will shrink

Hang –it will smell wonderful!

If you have a favorite Christmas activity that you do with your children and family, then please share with us!

• Get your free copy of the Momference publication of Guide to Surviving the Holidays! 
• Preview of the Thoughtful Thursday audio release at Thoughtful Thursday:  Don’t Get Snowballed by Christmas.
• Get your copy of “Don’t Get Snowballed by Christmas” today and enjoy the joy of the Christmas season again!
• FREE 8 PODCAST SERIES: “7 Deadly Mistakes Parents Make That Create Spoiled Brats!”  In this FREE Audio Parenting Series, you’ll learn the tested methods and strategies that produce the behavior your heart desires from your children.

For more information about how to use holidays to boost natural self-esteem or to learn about natural self-esteem go to feel free to contact Grace E. Mauzy at grace@gemparenting.com.