You have this cheap material at home — and you can use it to make a tree that looks like it came from a designer store

Amazing cardboard

Cardboard is often free and offers many options. The brown color of the paper looks natural, reminiscent of wood or gingerbread, and after peeling off one layer, an interesting wavy texture appears.

The cardboard is strong, it doesn’t bend, so your creations keep their shape and last a long time. However, the material also has its disadvantages.

They cut out poorly or cut out complicated or too small shapes. It’s too much work for children and scissors. Therefore, it is better to stick to simple lines and choose larger pieces of material that are easy to work with. Ideally, cut the shapes ahead of time before you let small children work.

Tree of stars

What would Christmas be without a tree? You can cut and cut different ones from the cardboard, but you can also make several decorations in the shape of a Christmas tree of different sizes. Someone even makes a whole tall tree out of cardboard.

That’s enough cut out several stars from the cardboardsquares, circles or at least triangles of different sizes, which you then stick to each other or stick on a stick in the center of each shape from the largest to the smallest. A typical conical shape is created that resembles a tree.

You can color the finished Christmas tree as you like, decorate it with glitter, strings or small decorations. Children can handle basic gluing and painting, you can get down to details and color combinations.

Gingerbread house

Another classic is a house reminiscent gingerbread house. You need at least a roof and four walls cut out of cardboard. You can supplement them with a chimney, a garden with a fence and chickens or other animals.

The individual parts can be glued with classic white school glue of the Hercules type or with a hot melt gun. It is enough for decoration white markerwhich imitates sugar icing. You can get white for adults and older children paint in a tube with a narrow beakwith which you will apply the paint, as if it were a real egg white coating. Attention! Such a color will take a long time to dry.

If you want to create a whole street of houses, you don’t need to build all four walls of each cottage. This post from the YouTube channel Sky Goodies DIY & Paper Craft will introduce you to a beautiful cardboard decoration.

Nativity scene made of simple shapes

Nativity scene is a bit more challenging, but still suitable for beginners. Hold on better to finish simple shapes and details. Just cut out the silhouette of the barn, the manger with the baby’s head, Mary and Joseph. More daring creators can add animals, an angel, a star and three kings. it can certainly be colored or decorated with various glued details.

If you start production at the beginning of Advent, by Christmas you will have a nativity scene comparable to the one in Třebechovice.

Tips: How to make cardboard

• Hold on large and simple shapeswork with cardboard is faster and more efficient thanks to this. Use a carpet cutter or a scalpel from art supplies. Be careful not to cut the floor or furniture under the cardboard.
• Small children can focus on coloring and gluing, adults can handle cutting and more complex decorations.
• Don’t be afraid to combine techniques: layers, colors, marker details or strings.

“When I work with children,” explains Martina Kašparcová, mother of three children, “I care about how the final decoration will look in terms of color and style. That’s why I always choose all the colors and materials in advance, as well as various small elements that the children can easily glue or otherwise apply. The helpers are happy that no one tells them which colors are Christmas and they have a free hand. The result is original, yet stylish.”

Choose and offer enough options that you like, and don’t unnecessarily spoil your creation with well-intentioned but unsolicited advice.