5 Kid-Friendly Recycled Holiday Craft Ideas

Cover Image
By Lori Melton

Making winter crafts with your kids is a great way to spend time together and celebrate the holiday season. Repurposing items you already have on hand helps save money and is also eco-friendly. Gather your little crafters and choose one or all of our five favorite recycled holiday craft ideas to do together.

Soda Can Snowman

Create one of winter’s most jolly characters using things you probably already on hand:

  • An empty soda can
  • Some newspaper
  • White and black construction paper
  • Fiberfil
  • Glue
  • Fabric scraps
  • Masking tape
  • White paint
  • Googly craft eyes or buttons
  • A small orange pom-pom or orange marker

First, make sure your soda can is clean and dry. Cover the entire can with white construction paper and use tape or glue to secure it. This will be the snowman’s body. Ball up newspaper to form a head, cover it with masking tape, then paint it white; let it dry fully and attach it to the “body” with more masking tape or glue. You can leave the construction paper as your body’s base or attach fiberfil around the can to make it look fluffy. Glue buttons onto the front of the “body” to look like coat buttons. And, you can use small buttons or googly craft eyes to make your snowman’s eyes. A small orange pom-pom looks cute for the nose or you can draw on a nose with an orange marker. Cut a small piece of black construction paper and form it into a hat and cut a thin strip of fabric to form into a scarf and your snowman is ready to display!

Pinecone Ornament

Pinecone ornaments add a wonderful natural element to your Christmas tree. Plus, they’re free and can be found in nature. You can paint or decorate your pinecones in multiple ways. Use silver or gold metallic paint on just the tips for an elegant look or decorate the whole pinecone to add a sparkly touch. You can use fabric scraps to make bows and glue or tape a looped string of yarn on top to hang on the tree. Get even more creative and make “pinecone people” with some wood beads, felt, ribbon and pom poms.

Coffee Filter Snowflakes

Here’s a fun new use for a household staple! Fold a coffee filter as you would traditional paper and have your young crafter notch holes in it with kids’ scissors to form a snowflake pattern. String some yarn through one of the holes to hang it on your Christmas tree as is. Or, glam it up with some glitter, or color it with crayons or markers to add some sparkly magic.

Cardboard Stocking

Give new life to an old cardboard gift box by making a cute Christmas stocking craft. Use a panel from an old gift box and draw a Christmas stocking on it, big enough so that your child can cut out the shape. (If your little one is too small, cut the stocking out for him).

Let your child decorate the stocking however he wants. He can color it, paint it, spread glitter on it, cover it with Christmas stickers, glue on fabric scraps, Christmas wrapping or construction paper. Once designed, personalize the stocking by cutting out a rectangle to glue horizontally to the top and have him write his name in marker.

Plastic Lid Ornament

Help eliminate waste and add some sparkle to your Christmas tree with this easy ornament craft. You’ll need a round plastic lid from a coffee can, peanut can, yogurt lid or any other lid you have on hand. Sticky-backed glitter craft sheets are great for this craft. Or, you can use construction paper, cotton balls, Christmas wrapping paper or other festive materials to completely cover the lid. If using the sticky craft paper, place your lid on the paper backing side, trace a circle, then stick to the front of the lid. Use tape or glue to attach other materials. Once your ornament is decorated to your liking, poke a hole in it, string a ribbon through the hole and hang it up so everyone can enjoy your crafter’s dazzling holiday creation!