Have you finished all of your holiday wrapping? I’m going to venture to say the answer is NO. I am all about simple wrapping paper (yes, butcher paper is my fave) with fun tags and decorations. But with the volume of gifts that we wrap this time of year, they can’t require too much labor.

When I started making this tag, I had the ornaments hanging from a glued-on stick. That felt too fragile. Then I created a tree branch out of yarn. That felt too laborious. So I tried it with this very simple design, using the circle stickers as ornaments to house each letter of the recipient’s name. Honestly, it’s really easy, fast, and you can let your kids help!

What you’ll need:

• Colored cardstock or scrapbook paper
• 3/4″ circle stickers (67 colors from InStockLabels.com!!)
• Small letter stickers
• Scissors
• Silver pen
• Skinny ink pen
• Hole punch
• String

Make It:

1. Cut tag to fit the recipient’s name. The tag should be about 2″ wide and for a 5 letter name, a 4″-long tag is the perfect size. Add a little length for every additional letter. (For names like Charlotte, Henrietta, and Jonathan, consider using just initials!)
2. Adhere one sticker to the far left in one color, then the correct number of stickers for each letter in the name (or initials) to the right of that in a different color.
3. Adhere the words “to” or “for” in the single colored sticker and the letters of the name in the following circles.
4. Use silver paint marker to draw a little square on the top of each circle. The draw a line up from that square off the top edge.
5. Punch a hole at the far left and thread string through.

Maybe this trend is so 2012 (don’t say 2011, please) but I can’t get past my love of feathers. I love them in decor, I love them in kids’ craft, and, really…who can resist a boa? There’s no reason in the world that feathers and Christmas can’t hang out together. Which is why I crafted these 3 different DIY feather ornaments. Here’s how you make ’em…

SUPER-EASY PAINTED FEATHER ORNAMENT

What you’ll need:

• White feathers
• Craft paint
• Paintbrush
• Glitter glue

Make it:

1. Paint stripes, dots, or zig-zags on your feather in various colors of craft paint. Let dry.
2. Embellish design with glitter glue.
3. Tie string to the feather’s needle and hang from the tree.

EASY PASTA FEATHERS

What you’ll need:

• Colored paper
• Linguini
• Craft paint
• Paintbrush
• Glue
• Scissors
• String

Make it:

1. Cut a leaf shape, about 6″ by 2″ (at the widest point).
2. Paint 7 to 10 pieces of linguini to match your paper. Let them dry.
3. Glue one long piece down the center to make the spine.
4. Glue short pieces from the spine outward, breaking them at the ends.
5. Leave some spaces between noodles to cut out little slits or sections.
6. Tie string to the spine and hang from your tree!

WASHI TAPE FEATHER ORNAMENT

What you’ll need:

• Pencil and paper
• 3-5 rolls of washi tape; various patterns of the same color
• Cutting mat
• X-acto knife
• Clear transparency
• Scissors
• String

Make it:

1. Draw a 6″ line on paper and lay transparency on top of it. You might want to tape it down to keep it in place.
2. Adhere 3″ pieces of washi tape to cutting mat and with a straight edge, slide the tape with X-acto knife into very thin strips, about 1/16″ to 1/8″ thick.
3. Begin laying tape from center line outward, tearing the middle pieces to about 1″ long. (You can lay a photo of a feather underneath the transparency as a guide.)
4. Work up and down the spine of the feather until it’s full.
5. When finished with step 4, adhere a 1/8″ by 6″ strip of colored tape on top of the drawn line to create the spine.
6. Cut out the feather shape from the transparency and tape a string to the center spine end to hang.

I’m a big fan of wine corks as a crafting supply. (This in no way reflects how much wine I drink. It doesn’t. Really. Ok maybe a little.) But I’ve never actually made anything with a champagne cork. (Bubbly gives me the hiccups.) After making this little elf, my mind is racing the the characters that a champagne cork can become. Bring on the Veuve!

What you’ll need:

• Champagne cork
• 2 skewers
• 2 toothpicks
• 4 beads
• Felt
• Scissors
• Scallop shears
• Black straight pins
• Tacky glue
• Washi tape

Make it:

1. Hat: Roll a small piece of felt into a tall cone shape and seal along the seam with tacky glue. Trim the bottom edge so it’s straight. Add a 1/4″ band from contrasting felt and glue it around the bottom edge. (I cut it with scallop shears, but you can use regular scissors.) Glue hat to the top of the cork.
2. Eyes: Push 2 black ball pins into the face about 1/2″ apart.
3. Scarf: Cut a 6″-by-1/2″ piece of felt and fringe the two ends. Tie it around the “neck” of the cork. Glue down if necessary.
4. Arms: Push 2 toothpicks into either side of the cork’s body and trim down to about an inch. Glue a small bead to the end of each as a hand.
5. Legs: Trim skewers to 3″. Wrap washi tape around them and press the points into the bottom of the cork. Glue beads on as feet.
6. Put your elf on your windowsill, your mantle, or a bookcase. Or fine, you can also put your elf on the shelf.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good time-consuming craft undertaking every once in while, but sometimes it’s fun to whip up a quickie with nearly immediate satisfaction. Like this Paper-Strip Christmas Tree Ornament, for example. You can make this with kids as young as 3 years old (my toddler son Oliver made one that looks more like one of these fake-tree-cell-phone towers), and you likely already have the supplies around the house! Here’s how you do it…

What you’ll need:

• Tongue depressor
• Green craft paper
• Scissors
• Glue Stick
• Glitter paper
• Enamel dot stickers (Doodlebug Designs: Sprinkles)
• String

Make It:

1. Cut green paper into thin strips, about 1/4″ wide to 1/2″ wide.
2. Use the glue stick to cover about two thirds of the stick in strips of green paper, overlapping as much as you’d like. Trim the edges to form a tree shape.
3. Cut a small slit into the ends of each strip (optional).
4. Adhere enamel dot stickers as ornaments.
5. Cut 4 1″ strips of glitter paper (you can use yellow paper or glitter your own if you don’t have this) and glue them together as an asterisk. Adhere a dot in the middle then glue to the top of your tree.
6. Cut a 3″ piece of string and glue it to the back of your tree ornament.

Come back for the next 9 days for more fun craft ideas to make these days before Christmas fly by!

You may not realize it, but your kids do—tomorrow marks the final 10-day countdown to December 25th. Need some distractions to make the time fly by? Starting tomorrow, come and visit daily for some new and spontaneous ideas!