These festive crafts are a great time for the whole family this holiday season.

Popsicle Stick Gingerbread Houses
All the joy of decorating without the mess.

Materials:
Popsicle sticks
Brown acrylic paint
Glue
Opt: ribbon to hang house on tree or magnet to display on fridge

Decoration ideas:
Stickers
Pop poms
Buttons
Sequins
Ribbons
Self-adhesive jewels
Beads
Tissue paper
Glitter
Pipe cleaners
Fabric straps
Seeds

Instructions:
Paint the popsicle sticks with acrylic paint.
Once your popsicle sticks are completely dry (will only take a couple of minutes as acrylic paint dries pretty quick), it is time to start assembling the gingerbread house.
Line up 10 popsicle sticks in a row, face down.
Use 3 popsicle sticks to hold your wall together. Glue one at the top, another one in the middle, and the third at the bottom.
Let them dry while you work on the roof.

Take two popsicles sticks and cut ⅓ of one stick and ½ of the other.
Your kids will need your help with this step. You can cut with regular scissors. Just be slow and steady to avoid breaking the sticks.
Arrange the sticks from small to big.
Use the ⅓ piece on top, followed by the ½, then the ⅔, and finally two full-sized sticks.
To hold them together, glue the remaining ½ piece to the back and let it dry.

Carefully, flip over the roof and the wall, and place them next to each other.
Glue two sticks at the sides of the roof to attach it to the wall. Let dry.

Glue your decorations with regular white glue and the help of a paintbrush to distribute the glue evenly.

The Upcycled Snowman
Here’s a great craft to make good use of all the holiday shipping boxes. Place this snowman at the front door to greet guests or move him throughout the home during the holiday season for a fun surprise each day.

Materials:
3 boxes (small, medium, large)
White paint (acrylic is easier to clean)
Black poster paint
Brushes or small roller
Paper plate
Craft glue or hot glue gun, double sided tape
Stones for snowman’s eyes, mouth and buttons or paper packaging
Carrot (If using a fresh carrot, replace every couple of days because of the heat) or paper packaging with orange paint
2 sticks for arms
Props to decorate, e.g., scarf, hat

Go for a walk and collect stones and sticks for snowman’s eyes, mouths, buttons and arms. Two stones for the eyes need to be slightly larger than the other stones.

Body
Tape all sides of the boxes closed and paint the sides white. Two coats should do the job.
Cut out paper packaging into circles or use stones and paint all black to look like coal. (Use a disposable plate to make cleaning up easier!) Leave the stones to dry for a couple of hours.
Glue or tape larger coal as buttons onto the medium and large box.

Face
Glue or tape the stones to the smallest box to make a face. Use smaller stones for mouth. Tip: Use double sided tape to secure the eyes as the stones may be a little heavy for the glue.
Use scissors to poke a hole for the carrot nose on the small box. Or, cut out paper packaging into a large acute triangle and paint orange, let dry.

Arms
Poke holes in the medium size box for the stick arms.

Decorate with hat and scarf.

Banana Leaf Doll with Ronnie Chameau
Courtesy of Bermuda Department of Culture

Materials:
Split banana leaves
Scissors
Hot glue with gun
Hemp string
Pecan nut or walnut
Sheep’s wool or natural material for hair
Dutchman pipe pods

Instructions:
Creating the doll’s base
Collect a bunch of ‘split’ leaves which are already shredded or split naturally. Fold bundle of leaves over your thumb. Take string and tie it around the top of the bunch. Cut the bottom of the bunch to give it stability so that it can stand up.

Making arms
Find a rectangular piece of banana leaf and roll it on an angle to create a tube-like arm. Glue the tube together and attach it to the sides of the doll’s base.

Adding a skirt
Use a dried and naturally decorative banana leaf that is pliable, and wrap the leaf around the doll’s base. Once the skirt is in place, twist the skirt slightly ‘to give it movement’. Tie the top of the skirt with hemp and use hot glue to tack the ‘seam’ of the skirt together.

The head
Make a hole with scissors through the fold on the top of doll’s base. The head can be a pecan nut or walnut. Using hot glue, attach a stick at the base of the head. Sheep’s wool hair can be added. Then, insert the stick into the hole created in the doll’s base. Use glue to secure it in place.

The blouse
Using a strip of banana leaf, start at the doll’s waist and hold the strip in place. Then take the strip over the doll’s shoulder to the back of her waist. Holding the strip at the back of the doll’s waist, twist the leaf so that it folds over the doll’s other shoulder from back to front. Glue the blouse at the front and back then trim the excess leaf. Add a belt around her waist if you prefer.

Accessories
Use Dutchman’s pipe pods with a skewer glued in the centre for a parcel.