Rain or Shine Mamma

There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes

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Nature-Inspired Christmas Crafts: Making a Santa from a Piece of Wood

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December 16, 2013 By Linda McGurk

Arts and crafts seem to come naturally to some people. In McGyver-like fashion they’ll make a crib mobile out of two empty toilet paper rolls and an old dish cloth and make it look like a million bucks. Unfortunately, I’ve never been one of those people. My ‘A’ in ninth-grade Art class hasn’t done me any favors for years and my home decor is more likely to come off the shelves of IKEA than from a craft room in my basement.

Nature-Themed Christmas Craft: Make a Santa from a Piece of Wood

Homemade, nature-inspired Santa – mommy’s version.

But for the sake of my kids and to get into the holiday spirit I’ve tried to get over this ineptitude and have some fun creating a nature-inspired Santa craft over the weekend. What’s so liberating about doing these things with children is that they usually let their creative juices flow without getting competitive or judgmental (though this is not quite true for my oldest daughter, who was quite adamant in pointing out that her Santa was far superior to her little sister’s). And they’re not afraid to break from convention. If they want Santa to have a yellow face and a sparkly hat, then that’s how it’s going to be.

My version is a little more traditional-looking but however you want it to look is fine. Some of my Swedish readers may recognize it as something they did in preschool – at least I know I did. It’s a great craft for those days when it’s too cold to stay out very long!

Materials:

  • 1 round piece of wood, approx. 2-3 inches in diameter
  • Paint (we used acrylic – as long as it sticks on wood you’re fine)
  • Cotton balls
  • Other accessories of your choice, for example acorns, sequins and seeds from trees

    santa_craft01

    Step 1: Cut the pieces of wood at an appropriate angle. These are approximately 60 degrees. If you want the Santa to have a bigger body, make the pieces longer and leave more of the wood under the cut.

santa_craft02

Step 2: Paint!

santa_craft03

Step 3: Add sequins or other accessories as desired.

Nature-Themed Christmas Craft: Make a Santa from a Piece of Wood

Step 4: Let the paint and the glue dry, and admire the finished product! Write your child’s name and the year underneath the Santa, so that you can add to your collection every Christmas.

For more fun ideas on what to do with your kids this holiday season, check out the ideas of some of these outdoor bloggers:

Go Explore Nature:  25 Christmas Nature Activities for Families 

The Magic Onions: How to Make a Pine Cone Garland

Active Kids Club:  How to Celebrate an Outdoor Christmas

Travelling Mel:  25 days of fun (or our Advent Activities) 2013

Cragmama: 5 Homemade Ornament Ideas for Outdoor Trees

Cragmama: Birdseed Wreath: Wintry Decor for your Feathered Friends!

Adventure Tykes: How to Make an Ice Decoration

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Related posts:

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Filed Under: Make with Nature, Nature Arts and Crafts 6 Comments

Comments

  1. Jenny says

    December 17, 2013 at 5:37 am

    Love it! This cannot be just for Xmas! We have used pieces of wood shaped like different things. My parents painted some wood to look like a watermelon and it made a cute yard ornament. We have a piece of wood that resembles an owl. The wood was just found in nature or piece from already cut fire wood.

    Reply
    • Linda McGurk says

      December 17, 2013 at 9:19 am

      That’s true, it can be done any time of the year:o) There are a lot of interesting shapes in nature and I’ve noticed that the kids enjoy trying different textures, versus always painting on paper.

      Reply
  2. 911shazza says

    December 17, 2013 at 1:17 pm

    These are so cute!! I can totally see this idea being used year round depending on the holiday at hand!!

    Reply
    • Linda McGurk says

      December 17, 2013 at 11:45 pm

      Thanks, Sharon!

      Reply
  3. Michelle says

    November 19, 2019 at 5:17 pm

    My daughter will love this… she’s been on a real kick lately with making crafts out of bits of trash (jars and cans and things like that) or things from outside like sticks and rocks and leaves. This is right up her alley 🙂

    Reply
    • Linda McGurk says

      November 21, 2019 at 12:22 am

      Sounds like a perfect activity for her then!

      Reply

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I’m not going to lie - there are times when my c I’m not going to lie - there are times when my children’s dawdling drives me nuts. Like when they take 45 minutes to finish breakfast even though we’re running late . But I also envy their ability to be completely unhurried and present in the moment, and I realize that it’s a quality that I need to protect🐌

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A follower recently asked me when she could start A follower recently asked me when she could start hiking with her kids, to which I responded that I’ve always hiked with mine, ever since they were babies👶🏻 I kept going after they graduated from the carrier, but obviously “hiking” with a toddler is a lot different than hiking by yourself and I think it’s important to be prepared for and accepting of that, or nobody is going to have a good time.

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Yes, it looks cozy around the fire and it was🔥 Yes, it looks cozy around the fire and it was🔥 What the picture doesn’t show is us making a wrong turn and losing the trail, resulting in a 1.5-mile detour with heavy packs and sunset closing in on us before we finally reached our campsite🙈

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In this case, the wrong turn was just a minor misstep that we were able to correct by backtracking, but it was a good way to test our reasoning skills and resilience at a point when we were both starting to get a little tired.

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I think it’s safe to say that if more of us trie I think it’s safe to say that if more of us tried to see the world through a child’s eye, this Earth would be a much more loving and compassionate place❤️

Thanks @awilderchild for your amazing nature poetry🙏🏻
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