Three last minute Christmas crafts (and a cookie recipe for good measure)

If you're like me (and you blithely declared you were going to hand-make all of your Christmas presents this year and are now feeling the burn of a deadline looming), you're looking for a few easy, low-maintenance kid-crafts to keep the wee ones occupied while you pull together those last few holiday loose ends.

Voila -- I give you three Christmas crafts that will keep even the littlest hands busy (and out of the way of grown-up projects). Bonus: they all look pretty festive around the house!

1. Baking soda clay ornaments




There are several recipes for baking soda clay floating around the internet; we used this one. Unbaked, the clay is a thick, playdough-esque consistency. Once it comes out of the oven, it is a beautiful matte white, and looks gorgeous painted or plain. We invited friends Z., A., and Miss Molly over to make ornaments with us and used cookie cutters to cut shapes, and rubber stamps and our imaginations to embellish them.

After we'd taken them out of the oven, our ornaments still needed to air-dry overnight, and so Anouk painted them with tempera paint the next day while I wrapped presents. We used a few of our favorites for gift tags, and the rest we hung on our tree, where I am sure to get misty-eyed at the sight of them for years to come.

2. Pinecone pom-pom trees



Anouk and I made these adorable trees when we visited Z., A., and Miss Molly at their house. Mini pom-poms + craft glue + pinecones = kitschy retro decor. We put the glue on paper plates for little fingers to dip the poms into and sat back to watch to see how each kid would interpret the idea of holiday decor. (Anouk's friend A. put one pom right at the top of each "tree" and that was it. So minimalist -- I love it!)

3. Cut-paper stars



These stars are a fun alternative to the traditional cut-paper snowflakes. They are also deceptively easy to make -- it only takes a few folds and one cut. Big kids can find instructions here (or a video tutorial here) and make a bunch on their own; I made a quick batch for Anne after breakfast yesterday morning and coloring them kept her entertained for a solid hour. Strung on a little bit of baker's twine, they make a festive homemade garland.



Aaaaaand, speaking of being in love with things, there's this Christmas cookie recipe, which produces the most perfect, easiest to handle/decorate sugar cookies on the planet. They lift up easily, they don't tear, they don't spread while baking, and they taste perfectly scrumptious. Highly recommended, if you've got cookie plans on the docket for this weekend.

T-minus five days...