I’ve written before about my love of Martha Stewart’s Handmade Holiday Crafts: 225 Inspired Projects for Year-Round Celebrations
Now it’s time for a roundup of my favorite Hanukkah and Christmas crafts from the book, with links to the instructions for each of the crafts on the Martha Stewart Living website.
Here are the Hanukkah and Christmas projects that I’m most excited to try from the book:
Glittered Dreidels – transform plain wooden dreidels into glittery Hanukkah decorations. Use them to adorn presents, garlands, or create dramatic centerpieces by filling a glass jar or hurricane with a variety in a number of different sizes. (link)
Kids’ Glittered Menorah – a fun menorah making project involving a piece of wood, metal nuts, glitter and glue. (We’re in the process of making a similar one using wooden spools instead of the metal nuts.) (link)
Paper Evergreens made from graduated paper circles, gently folded, and adhered to wooden skewers with hot glue. (link)
Embellished Tags use natural materials to dress up ordinary paper solid-colored tags — LOVE LOVE LOVE! (link)
Enjoy these crafts ideas? Peruse the craft section of Martha Stewart website for more ideas or pick up your own copy of Martha Stewart’s Handmade Holiday Crafts
and 
, two beautifully illustrated books containing hours of paper-crafting entertainment. We’ve had such fun assembling toys from 
featuring a CD with music by Peter, Paul and Mary. 
and her award-winning recipe site, 
that was published earlier this year. 
, full of hot chocolate, warm snuggles, and thick layers of blankets and clothes, reminds us that winter doesn’t have to feel cold.
explains in lyric prose what the winter solstice is and how it has been observed by various cultures throughout history; additionally it shows how many contemporary holiday traditions were borrowed from ancient solstice celebrations.
, from the 
, 
, and 
, three other tales by Cynthia Rylant celebrating holiday traditions such as caroling, feeding the birds, baking cutout cookies, and snuggling in front of the fire. Such simple yet joyous activities that resonate with kids.
, a beloved tale from my childhood, about a little girl on a late night winter walk with her father in search of owls. (We’ve been reenacting this story in our living room all week, but in our version there’s an owl baby too!)
tells the tale of a family celebrating Christmas on a small farm in rural southern Michigan in the late 1800′s.
and 
feature her beautifully detailed illustrations that convey a story in themselves!
just because we live in a place without snow doesn’t mean we can’t go on a snowy adventure with this classic winter tale.
a must buy for the artwork alone (even though I prefer Jan Brett’s version, above, more overall for the quality and clarity of the story).
and 
, both of which our daughter adores and we find ourselves reading all year, not just in the winter.
for hours of eye candy and riddling for kids of all ages.
a simple, beautiful poem about winter by Cynthia Rylant.
is full of tips about creating a more eco-groovy holiday, including gift ideas, tasty recipes, and many holiday projects relying on recycled materials. One of my favorite holiday books for sure!
contains many creative, festive and repurposed projects; I especially love the idea of 
contains lots of eye candy and easy decorating ideas to celebrate Christmas Country Living style.