Fun and free christmas crafts
By Martha E Bishop

Reindeer craft projects are great for children of all ages. And one of my favorite reindeer crafts is making candy cane reindeer. In fact, it is one of my favorite things to do for Christmas.

Candy cane reindeer are the most versatile of reindeer craft. They can be hung on your Christmas tree or used to adorn the top of a package. I've seen them swept into an "updo" hair style and tucked into pocket protectors.

Group them into a glass vase for an original holiday center piece or lay them on the plate as a place card holder. Candy cane reindeer, hot glued around a potted poinsettia turns an inexpensive plant into a gift with whimsical pizzazz.

Free Christmas Crafts
For this candy cane reindeer craft, you need to gather up your supplies:

• Candy canes
• Pipe Cleaners (I buy one pack each of black, red and white)
• Tacky Glue
• Tiny pompoms
• 4 or 5 mm jiggle eyes
• Tooth pick
• 1/8" grosgrain ribbon
• Tiny jingle bells
• Scissors

How to Make a Candy Cane Reindeer:

1. For this specific reindeer craft, DO NOT unwrap the individual candy canes.
2. Take the ribbon and cut one end into a long chiseled point. Seal the raw edge with Tacky Glue. Let dry.
3. At the tip of the candy cane's "crook," glue on a pompom. This is the nose.
4. About 1 1/2" up from the nose, apply the eyes, side by side and touching. Let dry.
5. When the glue on the ribbon is dry, string all your jingle bells on at one time, leaving 3 to 4 inches between each bell.
6. Snip the bells apart.
7. About 2" down from the crook of the candy cane, place a dab of glue. Center the jingle bell on the front of the "neck" and tie the ribbon in a knot. Push the bell and ribbon into your dab of glue. Let dry.
8. Take a pipe cleaner and cut off two pieces from the end, each 1 ½" long.
9. Take the long piece that's left and bend it in half.
10. Take the two short pieces and twist around each end, about 1 Ό" to 1 ½" in from the ends. Twist it snugly so it won't slip.
11. Before applying the antlers, round them a little bit - both the longer shank and the shorter points.
12. At the very top of the crook, place a dab of glue. Go under the "nose" and push the pipe cleaner up against the neck of the candy cane reindeer. On the top of the neck, bring the antlers together and twist - two times around is usually sufficient.
13. Reshape the antlers until they are pleasing to your eye.

Don't limit this candy cane reindeer craft to the traditional red and white candy canes. Reindeer crafted in the green and white wintergreen candy canes are lovely. Pale, pastel candy canes can add a new twist to this traditional treat.

Don't stop with making just one candy cane reindeer. Make a whole herd, and then share!

For other types of reindeer craft, go to: http://www.missbeesdesigns.com

By David Urmann

The fireplace is setting off, there is a breezy pinch in the air, and the delightful smell of cinnamon is simply imbibing! It's the favorite time of the year - Christmas! The Christmas season sets the mood for making a multiplicity of artistic crafts and fancy decors. It is good bonding activity for the whole family.

With paper crafting, you not only fashion fine-looking and inspiring ornaments for the home and tree, but you can create lovely gifts for family, colleagues, and friends. These free Christmas crafts projects made with paper can be completed in a fast and graceful way. You do not even need a pattern to make them as you can put your own design and creativity with every craft. What's more, paper crafts are inexpensive and your creativity is boundless.

Here is a couple of simple yet stylish free Christmas crafts with paper ideas that you and your kids can work together:

Christmas Gift Bags

Christmas gift bags are very appropriate for presents with irregular shapes. They are difficult to wrap because they don't take the shape of a box. These bags are inexpensive to make. You just need papers and some strings or ribbons.

Free Christmas Crafts Snowflake Bookmarker

Almost everyone take pleasure in reading a nice book. A bookmark with your personal touch can make for a lovely gift.

For this free Christmas crafts idea you will need the following materials:
• Construction paper (white or any preferred color)
• Navy blue cardstock or pasteboard (20 by 6 centimeters or a long rectangle)
• Paper punches in small and big sized snowflake shapes
• Hole puncher plus eyelet
• Transparent self-adhesive contact foil
• Ruler
• Pair of Scissors
• Glue stick
• Cording that suit the bookmark

Directions:
• First, thump small and big sized snowflake designs out of the construction paper.
• Organize and place these snowflakes onto the cardstock as you wish.
• Stick the snowflakes onto the pasteboard or cardstock using the glue stick.
• Cut a couple of pieces of the contact foil bigger than the bookmark. Stick them on the bookmarks' every side.
• Allot 5 millimeter margin around every side of the bookmark. Cut out the rest away to allow a smart foil edge.
• Put a hole in the bookmark's top and place in an eyelet.
• Fix a cording through the bookmark's punched hole.

For more information on Christmas Paper Crafts and Halloween Paper Crafts please visit our website.

---

Kids Christmas Craft Ideas.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year to indulge in a bit of "hands-on" action with your kids, whether it is baking cookies, trimming the tree or creating kids Christmas crafts for the home or gifts. Arts and crafts are a wonderful way to teach children about creativity and the spirit of giving, and it can be lots of fun to do together.

---