Don't dread Christmas holidays this year! Keep your kids entertained with a fun DIY Christmas project. Do you need some new Christmas decorations for your tree? Why not let the kids help you make some unique and fun decorations to bring your tree to life. Trust us the kids will love it.
Christmas is a time of fun and happiness and having the kids involved is all part of the fun. Don't spend money on run-of-the-mill, boring decorations this year - make your own and let the kids help.
Follow these very simple steps and create a unique look for your tree this year.
What you will need:
2 packets of jungle animals
1 packet of 17mm eye screws (or the smallest you can find)
Rust-Oleum 2x Ultra Cover Spray Paint in the colours you would like for your decorations
A packet of Pom Poms
Hot Glue Gun and glue sticks
Coloured String
Scissors
Step 1: Screw eye screws into animals
The first step in creating your unique DIY Christmas decorations is to add some eye screws which can be purchased in the picture hanging section of your local Kmart store, to the animals. It may be useful to use a drill to put a small hole into the top of the animal however depending on how soft the animal is, you may be able to simply screw the eye screws in without the need of adding a drill hole first.
Be mindful of where you are inserting the eye screws as it will need to be in the centre of the animal to allow it to hang properly on the tree.
Step 2: Sort your animals into colour piles
The next step is to sort your animals into different piles for each colour paint that you have to ensure you have an even number of each colour. Depending on the number of spray paint colours you have, will depend on the number of piles you will need.
Step 3 - Add some colour
Now the fun begins and you can bring out the spray paint.
Using the Rust-Oleum 2x Ultra Cover Spray Paint which can be purchased from your local Inspirations Paint CQ store, apply the spray paint to each individual animal. This particular product is great because it bonds to plastic without primer and provides maximum coverage with double cover technology so you will only need one coat.
When spraying the animals, you should spray in a sweeping motion approximately 25-40cm away from the item for a more even finish.
Remember to be mindful of the area you are spraying in as you do not want to spray in direct sunlight as it can cause the paint to sweat and run leaving run marks all over your animals. You should also be mindful of overspray from the paint as you don't want it to go over your nice furniture or even the family car.
We used an old box to house the animals while we sprayed them to avoid having the overspray hit the surrounding buildings and cars that were parked nearby.
Another handy tip is to make sure if you or the kids have long hair that it is tied back as you don't want the overspray to hit your lovely long locks and get a tint of unwanted colour. Trust us it happens!
Step 4 - Let them dry
After you have finished spraying all of your animals, you will need to let them dry before you can continue further. It is usually best to allow at least one hour drying time but of course this will depend on the weather and where you have placed your animals to dry.
Step 5 - Add a touch of pom poms
To add a festive touch and some extra colour to your painted animals, add some pom poms. This is a very cute and on trend touch that the kids will love.
You may need to assist them with this step though as it will require the use of a hot glue gun.
Add a touch of glue to the bottom of the pom pom using the hot glue gun and stick them to the top of the animal. Depending on how well it will stick, you may also need to apply some glue to the animal as well.
Step 6 - Thread some string
The next step is to tie some string through the eye screws to create a loop that can hang onto the Christmas tree. To keep with the bright colours, we used coloured string that we purchased from the craft section of our local Kmart store, however you can use whatever string you like.
Step 7 - Add your new decorations to the tree
The last step is to decorate your family tree with your new DIY decorations.
And there you have it - pretty simply and fun way to keep the kids entertained in the lead up to Christmas.
Put some smiles on your kids faces this Christmas holidays with some DIY fun and let them help you add a colourful touch to your tree. Stay tuned for next week's blog where we will have more Christmas DIY ideas and tips for the kids.
