As winter draws in, why not treat your windows to a frosty makeover? Decorating for the season needn’t be expensive. There are plenty of fun, cost- effective crafts you can do at home. Here are a few ideas which you can have fun trying with the kids.
Please note: These suggestions involve scissors and other craft materials. These should only be used with children of an appropriate age, at the discretion of the parent.
Icicles
Start with a piece of white paper the same width as your window. Leave a space of around six inches along the top of your paper then carefully draw icicles coming down the page. (For larger windows, you create smaller icicle ‘sections’ and stick them together later.)
Make them different lengths and keep going until you’ve covered the full width of the paper. If your children are old enough, they can help with this part. If they’re younger, you can create the icicles first and ask that they help you decorate them. Carefully cut along the line you’ve drawn. You should end up with a set of icicles, joined together by a strip of solid paper at the top.
There are lots of fun options for decorating your icicles. You could use cotton wool, to give them a 3D effect. Alternatively, you could make them sparkle with some glitter. Silver, white, blue would make for great icicle colours. For something simpler, you could colour the tips of your icicles with a blue felt tip pen. Lastly, tape the top of your icicle strip to the top of your windowpane.
‘Stained glass’ baubles
Create pretend ‘stained glass’ baubles for your window, using tissue paper. Start by preparing a flat ring out of craft card. The back of a cereal box would also work well for this. Draw one large circle and then a smaller one inside, to create your flat ring shape. You want the ring to be a couple of centimetres thick. This will ensure it isn’t too flimsy once you’ve cut it out. If you want to, you can also add a square at the top to look like the top of a bauble.
Next, lay out a selection of coloured tissue papers and some child-friendly PVA glue. Ask your child to stick sections of tissue paper from one side of the ring to the other. They should keep going until the hole is completely covered. When the glue has dried, stick your baubles up in the window. As the light shines through the coloured tissue paper, it will create a stained glass effect.
Snowflakes
Paper snowflakes are a fun way to make a seasonal feature of your windows. Each snowflake is made by folding a sheet of white paper several times. You then cut shapes along the folded edges. When you’ve finished cutting, you unfold the paper to reveal your snowflake. The exact method will change, depending on what type of pattern you want to create. Search online and find a tutorial that works for you and your children.
You could also try making different sized snowflakes. Try attaching several small snowflakes to a piece of string, then hang the lot vertically from the top of your window for a ‘falling snow’ effect. Complete the look by adding some ‘fake snow’ spray to the bottom of your window.
We hope you found this article helpful. For more inspiration, visit our windows gallery here.
[Photo by AnnaER]