Letter Craft

What You Need:

• Cardboard
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Recycled Christmas cards
• Glue

What You Do:

1. Who does your child want to make an ornament for?  Help her draw the appropriate initials on the cardboard.  If a letter is too small or narrow it will be hard to decorate.  Help her cut out the letters if she is using a heavier cardboard.
2. There are two ways to use the cards to decorate the individual letters.  The easiest way is to help your child find a card with a pattern, such as snowflakes, candles, or ornaments, that will look good when cut out in the shape of the initial.  Help your child position the letter on the card, trace it and cut it out. 
3. Glue the card cut out and the cardboard letter together. 
4. The second way to decorate an initial yields a tiled effect.  Help your child find numerous smaller images such as snowflakes, stars and small figures. 
5. Have your child cut out these images and glue them to the cardboard initial.  It is okay if the images extend beyond the edge of the initial.   Just make sure she covers the cardboard completely. 
6. Allow glue to dry and then trim around the initial.
7. Now its time to dress things up a little.  Help your child trace the edges of the letter with glue.  Sprinkle with glitter. 
8. She can also use glitter to highlight stars or candles or even Rudolph’s red nose.
9. When the glue has dried, tape an ornament hook to the back of the initial for easy hanging.
10. In addition to the initials of family members, your child could also spell out a variety of Christmas words such as Peace or Joy.  Soon she will have festive holiday decorations for every room of the house.