Today is December 8th and, as Italian tradition would have it, it is time to decorate the Christmas tree!!! That’s right. Not before and not after, traditionalists in Italy decorate on the 8th! (More on this tomorrow!)
I thought I would share the homemade Christmas decorations my little guy and I made together this year. Not sure if you were reading last year, but I’ve decided that each year we are going to make decorations together instead of buying them. These were last year’s decorations, that I have since recycled as bookshelf garland by adding a string of lights!
This year we had a LOT OF FUN making glitter animals, our tree looks like a Jurassic Zoo Sparkle Party!!
DIY Christmas decorations to make with a young child
Materials:
- 10 – 15 plastic animals and dinosaurs (10 if they are larger, 15 if they are on the small side). TIP: Look for smoother animals that don’t have moving parts and do not have holes in them as they will be easier to cover with spray paint.
- 1 can of white, pearlized spray paint. TIP: Make sure the spray paint is intended for plastic!
- An outdoor space for spraying
- A mask and rubber gloves for spraying
- White WASHABLE craft paint
- Colored or sparkle glue ( I used green glitter glue that dries transparent, but white glue is fine)
- Glitter
- 2 – 3 Paper or plastic plates
- Paint brushes
- Small lids to use as painting jars
- A Small espresso spoon!
- Christmas music
- Patience
- A child (optional!!)
STEP 1 : Prep the Animals and Spray (Approx time 24 hours)
Lay out all of the animals on a piece of cardboard or foam board in an outdoor environment. I can’t stress enough that this should be done OUTSIDE and not in a washroom with the window open or in the basement!!
I found that with one can of spray paint I managed to give about 15 small to medium sized plastic animals 2 coats on each side.
Spray strategy
Spray on one side, let completely dry for at least 45 minutes to an hour and turn over. Do not turn over if animal is still tacky to the touch.
Repeat 4 times until each side has received 2 coats and let dry OVER NIGHT!!
STEP 2 : The Fun Part, painting and glittering with a young child
Cover the table with a protective table cloth or a plastic bag and have your child wear craft clothes that you don’t mind getting filled with glue and glitter!
I filled cleaned lids with white paint and glue. I used green glitter glue because it is fun to paint with but dries transparent. I basically let my son paint all of the animals, and then add the glitter himself.
To add the glitter, place the animal that is STILL WET with glue / paint in a plate. Have your chld shake on the glitter, and then change sides.
Don’t worry about them using ALL OF THE GLITTER on the first animal. Use the paper plates and small espresso spoon (see original list of materials) to refill the glitter bottle as you go.
This activity occupied my son for HOURS. After he finished painting I added a few special touches to a few of the animals like the giraffe and elephant so their whole heads were covered in glitter!
STEPS 3 + 4 : Clean up & dry times and of course DECORATING!
Clean up time was only 5 – 10 minutes and it was a really easy and great activity!! Let the animals dry for AT LEAST 24 hours before decorating with them.
Originally, I thought of adding a string to hang them on the tree. But as my son (2 years and 8 months) discovered you could just have them sit in the branches and they stayed put just fine!!
We let the Christmas music play as we decorated the tree. He basically shoved them into his “Christmas Tree House” and is SO PROUD of himself for his beautiful glitter dino zoo!
This was inspired by our Valentine’s day craft painting session. My son deviated from the official craft and turned our session into something much more creative.
Please feel free to share and pin any of the images from the post. Please link back if you use this on your blog! Today is a holiday and we’ll be out with friends, so have yourself a very merry Monday!
