Teen girl DIY Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah Gifts
Want to have an eco friendly, low cost holiday?! Want to give your friends and family one of a kind holiday gifts? Here’s amazing low cost and eco DIY gifts for holiday celebrations across multiple cultures. Link to Christmas ideas are at the bottom and here 🙂
St. Nicholas Day on December 6th is Celebrated across Northern Europe and honors the Christian saint that sold all of his belongings & gave the money to the poor. Traditions include leaving small gifts and treats in shoes. Many of the traditions of ‘Santa Claus’ originated with the legend of St. Nicholas
GIFT IDEA:
Buy Marzipan from the grocery store, use food color & shape to decorate OR,
Make, shape, & decorate MARZIPAN to give away (trees? snowmen? Presents? stars?)
Marsepein (Dutch Marzipan)
-1 cup blanched almonds
-1 cup confectioners’ sugar
-1 egg white
-¼ teaspoon lemon juice
Grind the almonds. Add the sugar, the egg white and the lemon juice. Grind the mixture very fine. Let the marzipan stand for 24 hours, under a damp cloth. Form hearts, dolls, letters, animals and other fancy figures.
From The Real Dutch Treat Cook Book, by Rie Ykema-Steenbergen, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1949
For detailed directions on how to make this delicious treat for your friends, click here!
St. Lucia’s Day Celebrated on Dec. 13th in Sweden, Norway, parts of Finland, and Italy, St. Lucia’s Day typically includes a candle lit procession with traditional songs to remember St. Lucia, an early Christian martyr who was killed by the Romans in 304 A.D. Before bed children may leave out a sandwich for her and the donkey that helps carry the gifts, that they will discover in the am.
GIFT IDEA:
Homemade candles
Materials needed ($5-10):
- Wax (broken up into small chips or chunks)
- Use up old candles or buy up candles at a thrift store
- Use old crayons (combined w wax)
- Or buy candle making wax online/craft store
- Cotton twine or purpose wicks
- You can dip candles or pour the wax into jars. Try to use cleaned out food jars (jam, mustards, pickles, etc. remove jar label w hot water & dish soap)
- 2 pots one larger than the other (heat water in the bottom of the larger pot and set the smaller pot w/wax in it on top of the hot water- double broiler method)
For a tutorial on how to create UR candle, click here!
Las Posadas, a Mexican holiday, takes place between Dec. 16 & Dec. 24. The celebration honors the journey of Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The festival includes procession, Mass service and breaking open piñatas.
GIFT IDEA:
Make and give away Piñata tree ornaments
Piñata tree ornament supplies needed:
- 2 or 4 different colored paper, fabric or felt scraps
- Different colored cloth or wrapping ribbon
- Tape, hot glue, or super glue
- Small candies to fill the:
- Clear plastic bulbs at Michaels $0.39 each 🙂 https://tinyurl.com/2a58vw46
- Make 5 cones out of the paper or fabric
- Secure the ribbons so they will come out of the narrow end of the cones
- Fill the clear bulb with candies
- Attach the 5 cones around the bulb: 4 with glue/tape, for the 5th, pull the bulb’s hanging loop through the cone
For more detailed instructions click here!
Hanukkah, Dec 18-26 2022, is the Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean Revolt. Celebrations include meals with traditional foods, the lighting of the menorah, and eight nights of games and gifts. Blue & white are associated with Hanukkah (colors of the Israeli flag).
GIFT IDEA:
Clay Hanukkah Garland painted with Traditional images
Materials needed
- Quick dry clay
- Acrylic or tempera paints (lots of blues)
- Twin
Cut out round or other shaped discs & before the clay dries, press the sting into the back of each disk (spaced about 1 or 2 inches apart) & patch a small amount of clay on top of the string. Let the clay dry around the twine. Follow up with a reinforcement of tape, hot glue or super glue. Then paint each disk with a traditional Jewish image of the Menorah candles, Star of David, etc
Kwanzaa celebrates African culture & community. It lasts from Dec. 26-Jan. 1 and focuses on “The Seven Principles” (unity, faith, determination, collective work, creativity, cooperation, and purpose) through feasts, music, dance, and parties.
GIFT IDEA:
Beaded African colored bracelets (Flags of Africa colors: Red, Green, Black, Yellow)
And or Unity Cup
Materials needed
- Beads of African colors
- String, thin elastic or wire
- Stemmed cup or wine glass
- Glue
Bracelets:
String bracelets & tie off with knots or jewelry clasps
Unity cup:
Make large bracelets with elastic thread and slip over the wide part of the cup
Or bead a long string of beads & use super glue or hot glue to hold the ends in place
CHRISTMAS is celebrated by billions of people around the world on December 25th. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The legendary character Santa Claus arrives on his reindeer to leave gifts.
What might your teen girlfriends, boyfriends, family members & neighbors like? Here are 6 eco, low cost, useful & fun ideas:
Click here for all the details!!
- Homemade Strawberry Jam (super easy, 3 ingredients)
- Salt or sugar body scrub (who doesn’t like amazing post scrub skin)
- Rainbow candle (make a trendy relaxation candle)
- Seasoning salt (tailor your recipe, be unique, get creative, spice it up!)
- Easy bird feeder for your loved one to enjoy watching sweet birds
- Adorbs jewelry hanger using twigs & yarn