Brighten your holiday with some homemade seasonal crafts!

During this holiday season, take some time to make memories with your family. What better way to bond with your children than by creating some homemade holiday-themed crafts? Crafting is a great way to be creative, spend time with one another, and decorate your home. Let the Granite City inspire your festive creations.

Crafting can be good for your health.

You may wonder why crafting is something you should incorporate into your life. Studies show that crafting is great for your mental health because doing a craft you enjoy can be relaxing and calming. Many people say crafting helps calm their anxiety, and many use crafting as an escape from the doldrums of the day. Crafting can also engage your brain, which can help those who suffer from dementia. Whether you choose to tangle with yarn, produce with paper, or choose popsicle sticks as your medium of choice, let your creativity flow, and bring the family together to create some holiday crafts to adorn your home. Crafting has no age restrictions, so get the family involved!

Now, let’s get to crafting!

Smile-Inducing Holiday Greeting Cards

Everyone loves a good hand-made card, especially around the holidays, so grab some paper and begin your card making. Get creative with the types of materials you use to decorate your cards, which can be anything from markers and crayons to glitter and tissue paper, and even small little objects to glue on, like buttons and string that can be used to make holiday shapes.

For advanced crafters, you can make the paper into fun holiday shapes, like trees, snowflakes, or reindeer. Let the kids go crazy and get creative with how they want to decorate the cards.

Holiday crafting can be a way for children to work on their motor skills too. Children who are learning their letters can practice tracing holiday greetings that parents have written. If your child is big into shapes, have them cut out a holiday design that was pre-traced on paper.

Let your kids create cards for grandparents, other family members, and even friends in the neighborhood, and you can deliver them all by hand while singing holiday carols if the spirit is bright!

Toothpaste Tube Cutlery Sleeve

Are you looking for a craft that will allow you to finally make good use of your used up toothpaste tubes? You can make cutlery sleeves, where your silverware can rest on your table! Once you’ve gathered up enough toothpaste tubes for guests that will be at your table, start by cutting off the top of your toothpaste tube after it has been used and clean and dry the tubes. Using scraps of fabric, measure the length of your toothpaste tube, then glue the fabric around the toothpaste tube. Next, you can decorate the newly wrapped tubes with jewels, ribbons, bows, or any holiday-themed trinkets you wish. Once you are ready to set the table, slide the cutlery into the holder, and now you have silverware that is just as festive as the rest of your table settings!

Themed Holiday Wreaths

Let your imagination run wild with easy to make holiday wreaths! The best thing about holiday wreaths is that they can be made with just about any material, and they can be themed around just about anything you imagine!

An easy wreath for the little ones can be made by gluing popsicle sticks together in a round shape. From there, your child can paint the wreath, if they want, and then decorate with pom-poms, ribbons, and even glitter. Let their imagination run wild!

For the older kids, have them use a premade wreath and challenge them to decorate it in a theme. At Metro East Dental Care, your Granite City dentist, we love everything dental themed. So, we make ribbons with dental floss for our wreaths, and we add a couple floss picks and empty mini mouthwash bottles, as well as travel sized toothbrushes. If your child has a favorite cartoon character, find mini action figures or print out photos on scale to the wreath, and glue them on as decorations. The possibilities are endless.

Healthy Holiday Treat Jars

During the holidays, many people give cookies, fruit cakes, and other sweets as gifts to their loved ones. But if you’re looking for a gift that is healthier and light on sugar during the holidays, think about making a holiday treat jar. A holiday treat jar is easy to make. All you need is a clean, empty mason jar, and the goodies you want to fill it with! Think of adding your favorite nuts, which are high in protein and vitamins for healthy teeth, as well as dried fruit, especially apricots, or a more seasonal choice, like cranberries. You can also add in seeds, like pine nuts. Have your children help by pouring in the ingredients, one by one, to make lovely layers. Once filled up, screw the lid on and add one of your smile-inducing greeting cards with a dental floss ribbon, and spread the holiday cheer!

Metro East Dental Care is ready for the holidays.

The holidays are a whirlwind of festivities, family, and fun. Get ahead of the rush by scheduling your dental checkup to ensure your smile is picture ready for those holiday snaps. The team at Metro East Dental care is your partner in oral health and we can’t wait to see you this festive season. Contact us for an appointment today.