Paper Plate Christmas Trees – An Easy Christmas Craft for Kids

Last year, I had a great kid-friendly Christmas craft project all set to share with you guys.  The tutorial was written, the project was photographed, my kids were delighted.  And then, when the holiday season became too much for me to handle emotionally, I just never posted it.

This holiday season brings new beginnings and a much happier perspective.  So, I thought I’d share it with you today in case you wanted to work on it with your little ones over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Not five minutes after we finished washing Thanksgiving dishes, my six year-old son Zack was begging to start decorating for Christmas.  As it is for most children, this is the most magical time of the year for him.  This year, we spent Thanksgiving day making Christmas crafts instead of sleeping off our turkey and dressing coma.

Zack and I were challenged (by a blogger who no longer writes) to create a kids’s craft using paper plates.  We found some holiday themed plates at Target, and decided they would be perfect for the project that we had in mind – paper plate Christmas trees.

Along with the paper plates, we picked up some cute red and white striped straws and red cardstock that we cut into 2-inch wide strips.  I drew a spiral on the back of the plate and Zack got to work cutting it into a long “paper plate snake.”

My two year-old daughter Emma got in on the crafting action, too.  She is too young to know how to use scissors, but she tried to draw as many spirals as she could.

Once the spirals were cut, I used my hot glue gun to glue one of the straws onto the back center of the plate.  I had to hold it in place to make sure that it stayed straight as the glue dried.

Then, we flipped over the plate and I glued the strip of cardstock to the bottom of the plate where it rested on the table.  I glued the edges of the plate first and then secured the straw in the center of the cardstock with a dab of glue.  When the glue was dry, I cut off the edges of the cardstock that extended beyond the diameter of the plate.

The result was adorable paper plate Christmas trees.  We put some of the gifts that my mother had already sent for the kids (yep, she’s an early shopper) on the dining room table and placed three of the craft trees onto the gifts.  It looks so fun and festive and just cost me a few dollars to put together.

My kids love “their” Christmas trees, and they are both so proud of themselves.  I’m proud of them, too!

This was such a fun project to do with my kids.  I think we should do it again this year!