Snowflake Ornaments

• Create beautiful snowflakes to hang on the tree, from the mantle or in the windows. Cut four toothpicks in half and paint them white for the kids before they start this craft.
  
  Glue a glittery white craft pom-pom to the pointed end of each toothpick half using craft glue. Let dry. Cover the back of another pom-pom with glue and arrange the uncut ends of the toothpicks in a radial pattern from this center pom-pom. Let the glue dry overnight. In the morning, tie a loop of ribbon around one toothpick arm to hang.
  
  Use aluminum foil and regular white glue to make window cling snowflakes. Draw a snowflake pattern on a sheet of tin foil with glue. Use plenty of glue to make each part of the snowflake as thick as you can. Sprinkle silver glitter on top of the glue. Let dry completely---the glue will be clear when it's done drying. Shake off the excess glitter. Peel the snowflake off the foil and stick to the window.
  
  

Gingerbread House

• No need to buy an expensive kit or make gingerbread walls from scratch. Use graham crackers in place of the gingerbread. Make a batch of icing by mixing milk 1 tsp. at a time with 2 cups confectioner's sugar until it reaches the desired consistency. Thicker icing works better for gluing together the house. Attach four graham crackers together to make the walls of the house and let the icing harden. Use more icing to attach two crackers to make the roof.
  
  Glue small candies on the house to decorate. Mix food coloring with icing to make different colors to decorate the outside of your gingerbread house.
  
  

Beading Activities

• Cut an 8-inch length of craft wire. Bend one end at a right angle ½ inch from the end to keep the beads from sliding off. Thread red, green and white plastic tri-beads onto the wire until there is only ½ inch of wire left. Twist the beaded wire into a loop then twist the two ends together to secure. Tie a ribbon in a bow over the wire ends to disguise. Attach another loop of ribbon to the wreath to hang it from the tree.
  
  Make candy canes the same way using red and white tri-beads. Instead of making a loop, hook the end of the wire into the candy cane shape. Twist the ends of the wire around the space between the last and next to last bead on each end to secure.