Fast and easy Christmas craft ideas to decorate your tree

When it comes to traditional Christmas crafts, ‘easy’ and ‘fast’ aren’t always the words that spring to mind. But there are plenty of quick, creative decorations you can make together as a family, all guaranteed to get you all in a festive mood. Here are two of our favourite Christmassy things to make using everyday recycled items.

2 decorative Christmas crafts for children

These simple crafts are fun for everyone – dads, mums, and boys and girls alike – so make sure everyone has the chance to get stuck in and help out!

magical snowflake | toilet roll Santa

How to make a magical snowflake

1. Flatten the toilet roll with your hands. Using a ruler and pencil, divide it into 10 sections, measuring around 1cm-wide each, and carefully cut out with scissors.
2. Paint the sections white. Leave to dry, and then add a second coat of paint.
3. Take five sections and stick them together, side by side, to form a flower shape. Leave to dry.
4. Add the other five sections in between the first, and stick in place. Allow to dry.
5. Add a layer of glue if the paint has already died and sprinkle the snowflake with white glitter. Allow to dry before tying a loop of silver string to the top.

How to make a toilet roll Santa

Among the truly classic crafts for Christmas, our cheery Santa decoration complete with big fluffy beard will be a big hit with younger crafters … simply grab an empty toilet roll, a tissue, some paper and pens and get making!

While you and your little ones work on these handcrafts for Christmas, remember to glue down the edges of your papers so they line up. This will make your Santa look much neater!

1. Measure and cut out a rectangle of pink paper that’s the right size to wrap perfectly around the toilet roll, which will form Santa’s body - use the tube to measure the right height, cut the paper down, then wrap it around and stick with double sided tape. Then measure and cut a rectangle of red paper that’s half as wide as the pink. Wrap it around one half of the tube and stick with double sided tape- this will be Santa’s suit.
2. Cut out two strips of white paper and one strip of black, measuring about 1cm wide and 15cm long. Wrap and stick the white strips to the top and bottom of Santa’s red suit, and the black strip to the middle to make Santa’s belt.
3. Tear some extra-soft tissue into thin strips and scrunch (the kids will love doing this part). Paint some glue in a U shape around Santa’s face and stick some scrunched tissue in place. Add a moustache if you wish, and leave to dry.
4. Draw a buckle on Santa’s belt with the gold pen, and two eyes, a nose and a mouth on his face with the black pen.
5. Place a small bowl on a sheet of red paper and draw around it, then cut out. Fold in half, and then cut along the folded line to make two semi-circles. Take one of the semi-circles and roll into a cone shape big enough to fit Santa’s head, and stick in place with double-sided tape.
6. Carefully use a needle and gold thread to make a loop in the top of the hat. Neatly cut and stick the loose ends inside the hat with some sticky tape. Then paint some glue around the rim and a little on the top of the hat, and add some fluffy scrunched tissue. Finally glue the hat to the top of Santa’s head and leave to dry.

Once you’re finished, help the kids lead the clean-up process, wiping up any spillages with some moistened paper towel. Then step back and bask in the warm glow of Santa’s festive spirit, or start making him some friends! It’s easy to adapt the method above to make reindeer, snowmen and elves, so before long, your house will be looking a lot like the North Pole. When the real Santa comes, he’ll feel right at home.