3 Unique Holiday Memory Making Keepsakes that WOW
The holidays are a wonderful time for family Keepsake-Making. Creating lasting memories through engaging activities that celebrate the season while commemorating your child’s creativity at an early age.
Here are some of our favorite Holiday Memory Making Keepsake ideas:
Ornaments
Salt Dough ornaments are an all-time classic craft that your kids will love to make. With a few dry ingredients and water, you can easily create keepsake ornaments that kids love to paint and decorate. Your littles will enjoy making these year after year. A special tradition to hang on your tree. Paint or write the name and year to make it more memorable.
Recipe:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups of warm water
Combine in a mixing bowl
Knead until the dough is firm and smooth
Roll out dough and cut desired shapes (use a straw to poke a hole for hanging).
Bake at 300°F until dry, approximately 1 hour; cool completely.
Cookie Cutter ornaments can be a perfect craft for older kids who are handy with scissors. With some inexpensive aluminum cookie cutters, festive paper, photographs, and glue. These are quick and easy if you need something in a time-sensitive time frame. They make lovely gift tags, too.
Tips:
Trace using your cookie cutter of choice onto the photo, wrapping paper, or holiday printed fabric
Cut to size and glue
Add ribbon or String
Hang and enjoy!
Keepsake Handprints-Snowmen
Make a batch of Salt Dough, (see above for recipe). Your kids can be involved by helping with following the instructions and measuring out the ingredients. Parents, you will need to add the warm water and wait until it’s cooled down before allowing them to help knead all the ingredients together to make the dough.
Eye how much you will need to make two handprints.
You will also need to:
Straw
Ribbon/String
Acrylic Paints (white, blue, black, orange(for carrot nose))
Marker Pen
Rolling Pin
Paint Brushes
Optional-Glitter
Tips:
Roll the dough out onto non-stick paper to make it easier to transport and flip in the oven to bake.
You want the handprint to be thick enough to be sturdy but not too thick that you are waiting forever for it to dry out.
Poke two holes 1-2inches apart on top for your ribbon or string for hanging
Place it in the oven on low heat. When done, get creative! Maybe add to it by painting 'snow', and turning your handprint into ‘little snowmen fingers’. Mix in fun glitter into your white paint if you have it. Create contrast with hues of blue for a sky background. Hint-use a thin paintbrush to create thin lines. Kids’ paint brush works great. Your child may want to keep it as is with no snow and that’s fine too!
Let each section dry (doesn’t take long) and then return to adding some detail to the snowmen. Then repeat adding snow falling or what background scene. Don’t forget the snowmans’ scarves and top hats too!
Once all dry, attach the string if you wish to hang it otherwise, it can display beautifully on a surface.
Puzzle Piece Frame
Wow the Grandparents with these adorable Holiday Puzzle Piece frames!
Glue 4 sticks together to create your frame shape. Be sure to do this ahead of time so it’s dry and ready for the kids to use. I used a hot glue gun so I wouldn’t have to wait too long for it to dry.
Have your child or student glue puzzle pieces around the frame. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.
Use kid-friendly paint. Use white paint to give it a good base coat. Once the base coat has dried they can pick any color to paint their frame.
Let the puzzle pieces dry completely.
Add the ribbon. Tie one piece of ribbon into a little bow and glue it on your frame. To hang, cut a piece of ribbon and attach it to the back.
Attach your child’s or family’s keepsake photo to the back of the frame with glue.
Write in pen on the back how old, and what toy or book was your child’s favorite that year.
Materials:
Popsicle sticks (Use any size, Jumbo works best)
Puzzle pieces
White paint and a color of your choice (Tempera paint or acrylic paint and a kids paintbrush)
Craft ribbon
Glue gun or strong liquid glue
Photo
Each year you pull out all the Memory Making Keepsakes you’ll be taken back in time when it was created. Some of the most treasured keepsakes are those that were handmade with love.
Thank you for reading this content. Here’s a FREE Thankful Tree and Cards printable for you.
Thankful Trees are a great holiday and thanksgiving tradition where you and your family can write down what they are most thankful for, on an ornament or cards and then place them on the tree as a part of an interactive seasonal display
Visit our Parent Advisor and The Buzz Blogs to learn more about related topics and parenting tips. You are welcome to join our private Parent Advisor Facebook group. It’s a growing community of parents and preschool teachers where you can learn and share more parenting tips.