Today we made our holiday gift for our parents. I think they are beautiful. As a parent, I would be thrilled to receive one of these cute little trees. I wanted to share with you how to make it.
In the past we have always used wood because it was cheap. My husband would cut it, sand the edges, and then the children would have to paint it. This all had to be done before we could begin. They were adorable as well, but this was much easier.
First we went to Lowe’s and found these tiles.
They were only 69 cents each. One of my teammates chose the square tiles which were even cheaper at 49 cents each. Square tiles!
Check out how cute they are… (I snuck in while they were working so they weren’t quite finished.)
Next, we purchased some holiday scrapbooking paper. Any paper will do. I love to see the different colors each of us use. You will also need Elmer’s glue and Modge Podge, a small bottle is plenty.
I had the children come back to our big picnic table and design their tree first. Once it was laid out, they glued it down with just regular Elmer’s glue. After it had time to set, they went over it with a layer of Modge Podge.
The great thing about Modge Podge is that it dries super fast. We did this craft in the morning and we were able to wrap them up this afternoon.
Here we are busy at work. Messy but fun!
As an alternative to a tree, you could also do a Snowman. Depending on your classroom you could do one or the other or both. This year all of my students celebrate Christmas and one celebrates Hanukkah. I offered both options to all of them but only one student chose the snowman.
Finally, one last thing to mention. I would have a few extra on hand to make for families of children who are divorced. It is nice to offer the project to both parents and it is such a short project, there is plenty of time to do 2.
Check out some of our adorable pieces of work!
