An easy craft for kids and one that uses lots of creativity. A little folding, some glue and a few sparkles will render some unique, handmade ornaments that your kids will love and you will too.

You will need:

*Sturdy paper - construction paper or thicker, white or colored

*Scissors

*School glue

*Sequins, sparkles, glitter, beads, gold or silver spray paint.

*Something round to trace the circles onto the paper. An overturned glass will do.

Trace circles onto the paper and cut them out. You will need 8 circles for every ball ornament. Fold the circles according to the diagram and when you are done folding, open it up and cut on one fold to the middle (the dotted line in figure 4).

Now, pull 1/4 over the adjacent 1/4 and glue together so that you have a little cup of only three sides. Do this for all the circles. When you have them all done assenble you ball by gluing them together to form a ball. You can either spray paint them gold or silver once assembled or have the kids individually decorate each piece before assembly using glitter, beads, sequins, anything they can imagine. It’s fun to assemble differently decorated cubes togather for interesting and unique ornaments.

When the ornaments are assembled you can punch a small hole at the top to attach a string or glue one to the middle of the cubes as you assemble them.

Christmas images flood our minds at this time of year. The smell of pine, home-baked cookies and pies and the excitement of decorating the tree. But stepping out into the shopping throngs can push all these wonderful Christmas memories out of our thoughts as we face the glitz, glitter and commercialism that await us at the mall. Why not give your children the true meaning of a family Christmas with crafts and creations that are fun, bring joy and become family traditions for a lifetime?

Rather than purchase expensive and flashy tinsel garland for the tree, why not make your own the old-fashioned way? A garland of popcorn and cranberries makes a wonderful addition to the tree and is fun for all to make.

You will need:

*Cranberries, fresh

*Popcorn - air-popped is best, or microwave popcorn that is natural and not salted or buttered. The popcorn you string should be a day old, fresh popcorn breaks too easily. Make extra as the kids will inevitably consume it as they work.

*Heavy duty sewing thread. Waxed dental floss is another choice for the string, it won’t break and can make it easier to slid the cranberries on.

*Sewing needle. If you don’t want the kids to use a needle, try a toothpick. Securing the string to the toothpick is trickier but can be done.

You will need long lengths of thread. Tie a knot at one end and thread the other end through the needle. Each child can work on one length of garland and they can be tied together when they are finished, just leave a couple of inches extra thread at the top when you tie off.

Push the needle through the cranberry and then slide it down the length of the thread to the knotted end. Next do the same with a piece of popcorn. Continue alternating cranberries and popcorn until you have finished the garland length. Tie them all together and hang the garland on the tree.

After Christmas, you can take the garland and drape it over bushes outside to give the birds who winter in your area a nice Christmas feast of their own.

For an individualized and complementary Thanksgiving centerpiece, make your own cornucopia. The materials and construction are simple.

You will need:

One cornucopia. Get the size that best fits your table.

Styrofoam block or ball in a size that will fit about halfway into the horn.

Silk flowers or ornamental plants. You can get these in traditional autumn colors or make them fit your dining room decorating scheme.

Place the styrofoam ball or block in the horn and push it down so that it fits snugly about halfway. Next just stick the stems of the flowers into the styrofoam and arrange to your taste. The only requirement is that you use enough flowers to hide the sytrofoam and make sure they are of varying lengths, but that some are long enough to drape elegantly beyond the rim of the horn and onto the table.

Make a Thanksgiving Wreath or Candle Ring with a few simple supplies and a lot of imagination.

Materials
* wooden craft ring 12″ size
* pine cones
* cranberries
* plastic or fabric ivy from the craft store

You can spray paint the craft ring gold or paint it hunter green or any other color you like. Hot glue the ivy around the ring. Then using your hot glue gun, place pine cones and cranberries around the circle. You can also add some sparkling beads or any other fanciful item you can think of.

For a wreath, it’s a great idea to make a bow out of ribbon to attach to the top or bottom of the wreath. If you like, you can also place this on your table with a pillar candle in the middle for a centerpiece. If you plan to light the candle, be sure it isn’t too close to the ring for safety and employ all the usual candle safety rules.