3 Easy Holiday Crafts for Your Brain Health
The Holidays can already be stressful, so why not try an activity that can be good for your brain health, but also give you a decoration that you can benefit from during the Holiday season?
Creating is beneficial to us in a number of ways. Playing games, reading books and crafting could reduce your chances of developing mild memory loss as you age by 30% to 50%, according to a 2011 study published in The Journal of Neuropsychiatry. Crafting can be a great exercise for your memory, your attention span and rhythmic movements, while also challenging your creative side and problem-solving abilities.
1. Terra Cotta Clay Pot Snowman Candy Jar
Supplies needed:
- Terra Cotta Flower Pot
- Flower Pot base
- Paint – for base, eyes and nose
- Wooden round knob (find in craft section of department stores)
- Round vase (Dollar store has great options)
- Glue
- Buttons, ribbons, glitter, stickers (whatever your preference for decorations are)
Directions:
- Paint your flower pot and base whatever color you prefer, we recommend white for the pot because it is the base of the body and a different color for the base since it acts like a hat. If you want to give it a snow effect, add sand or glitter in on this step.
- While those are drying, paint your knob to match well with the base “hat”. Add the buttons with glue on to the pot and paint on the eyes and nose on the glass jar.
- With a strong glue add the glass jar to the flower pot base. You can use a frost spray paint on the glass jar to give it a more snowy effect. After 2-4 hours when everything is dried, add candy and enjoy!
2. Mason Jar Lid Ornaments
Supplies needed:
- Mason Jar Lids
- Scrapbook Paper or glitter foam sheets
- Ribbon
- Foam snowflakes or Holiday character button
- Hot glue and glue gun
Directions:
- Trace your mason jar lid on the back of the glitter sheet or scrapbook paper and cut out.
- If using glitter sheets, those are self-adhesive, but if using scrapbook paper, then glue those into the lid. Using hot glue, stick the lid into the band.
- Add your foam snowflakes, holiday character buttons, stickers etc. with hot glue.
- Use hot glue to secure the ribbon to the top of the band!
3. Easy Photo Snow Globe Ornaments
Supplies needed:
- Clear plastic fillable ornaments (department stores or Dollar store)
- Scissors
- Photos of pets or people
- Hot glue gun
- Mini bottle brush trees
- Epsom salt
- Ribbon
- Hook
Directions:
- You can cut the people or pets out or leave the photo as it is.
- Use the glue gun to adhere the bottom fold of the picture into the ornament on one side.
- Stick the mini trees into the other side of the ornament using the hot glue gun on the bottom of the tree. After the glue dries, fill this half with a half cup of Epsom salt.
- Put the two halves back together. To make sure it stays together securely and you don’t get salt all over your floor, you can add a couple of drop of hot glue when you are putting the two halves together.
- Attach the ribbon and hook to the top!
