1. Masterpiece's Title: Cristal Christmas Tree
What is it? It's a delicious tree-shaped candy holder made from a few paper plates, an old wine bottle and a lot of green-covered chocolates.
Usefulness factor: Not every student has the funds, or the space in their dorms to assemble their own Christmas tree, so why not make your own candy holder in the shape of a tree. Not only is it a space saver, it's also a crafty way to satisfy your chocolate cravings.
Materials needed:
• An empty wine bottle
• Three paper plates
• Tape and glue
• Scissors
• A package of chocolates, preferably ones with green wrappers
• A red scrap of paper or fabric
Get Started:
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1. Cut a slit into each of the paper plates. To make the three layers of "branches" for the tree, cut holes into the center of the paper plates, varying the sizes of the holes depending on where you will be positioning the plates. For example, the base of the tree will require a larger hole in the paper plate because it will be placed at the base of the wine bottle.
2. Place the paper plates around the wine bottle and overlap the sides to create a slight cone shape. Use the tape to adhere the two sides of the plate together. Repeat for the other two plates. Secure the plates to the bottles with tape.
3. Tape candy to the paper plates and wrap felt or red paper around the base of the bottle.
4. Use golden-wrapped candy to create a star and place it at the top of the wine bottle.
Cost: We used a lot of candy for this craft, which isn't exactly cheap, considering each package set us back about $2.
Challenge level:
On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a four. We had a rough time trying to get those delicious little chocolates to stay on plates. (Whether this was due to the fact that we kept eating them is a mystery.)
Our Thoughts: What better way to disguise those remnants of a drinking party than to dress it and create a tree to decorate your living space for the entire holiday season, or at least until the chocolates are eaten.
2. Masterpiece's Title: Hallmark-free Holiday Cards
What is it? It's a scented holiday card and envelope made from a few magazine pages and an old shoe box.
Usefulness factor: Who has the cash to spend on a Hallmark holiday greeting? With a little time, glue and a snip of the scissors, you can create unique and not to mention free, cards for your friends.
Materials needed
• A magazine
• An old shoe box
• Glue
• Construction paper
• Markers
Get Started
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1. Select a few pages from the magazine to make your card. Advertisements usually have the best images and we used the latest Gap ads that feature the pop-up gift boxes.
2. Cut the images out and glue them to a folded piece of construction paper. As an added bonus, we snipped a few perfume adds and wrote our holiday messages on the exterior of the ads to give the cards a scented touch.
3. Next, cut the shoe box and paste the construction paper to the box to make the cards have a little more weight.
4. Create your own envelopes for the card by folding an advertisement spread into the shape of an envelope.
5. Scribble your warmest of sentiments into the card and give it to a friend.
Cost: Free.
Challenge level
On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a one. Cut, paste, write, repeat. Yep, it's that easy.
Our Thoughts: Most likely, any card you give your friends will eventually end up in the garbage, so it makes sense to save your cash and create some holiday cards as easily as you can.
3. Masterpiece's Title: Periodical Purse
What is it?: It's a shoulder bag made from a few pages from a magazine and an old shoe box.
Usefulness factor: If your friend is in need of a new purse, but you don't have the cash to spend on one of those Louis Vuitton bags, or subsequent knock-offs, than this might be the perfect holiday gift craft for you.
Materials needed:
• An old shoe box
• A magazine
• A stapler
• Clear tape
• Lamination sheets
• Two sheets of black felt
• Ribbon
• A knife
Get Started:
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1. Peruse a magazine and select a picture you want on the front of your purse. Tear it out and laminate both sides of the image.
2. Tape the lid to the shoe box and, using the knife, cut out one side of the shoe box for the opening of the purse. Stand the shoe box up as if it were a popcorn box.
3. Tape the laminated image to the front of the top of the shoe box.
4. Staple the two sheets of felt together and wrap it around the back and sides of the shoe box. Staple the felt to the sides of the laminated image.
5. Use the ribbon to hide the staples and to create a shoulder strap for the purse.
6. Sling this craft over your shoulder or fill it with holiday candy and give it to a friend.
Cost: The lamination sheets were about $4 for a pack, but the rest of the materials for this craft were common items found around the house.
Challenge level
On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a two. We spent more time selecting a picture for the front of the purse than on the craft itself.
Our Thoughts: Most people would think a shoe box purse would just scream trashy, but the Periodical Purse is surprisingly cute and was relatively easy to create.
4. Masterpiece's Title: Sweet Snowman
What is it? A candy-filled snowman made from Slurpee lids.
Usefulness Factor: When just a little gift of candy is enough, this snowman is the perfect solution. Rather than handing over a bag of candy, put it inside a snowman's belly.
Materials Needed:
• Six Slurpee lids from 7-Eleven in three different sizes. Two each of the small, medium and large.
• Clear tape
• White tissue paper
• A bunch of miniature or bite-sized candies
• A black marker
• Embellishments such as little pompoms or pieces of fabric
Get Started:
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1. Line each lid with white tissue paper, and crumple it up a little to give it a fuller look.
2. Start with the largest lid and fill it up with the small candy pieces. Put the matching lid on top to create a circle and tape it together along the middle.
3. Do the same thing with the other two size lids. At the end you should have three balls of different sizes filled with candy and lined with white tissue paper.
4. Arrange them on top of each other, with the largest on the bottom and the smallest on top. Tape them together.
5. Draw on eyes, a mouth and buttons. Add fabric or pompoms for a scarf and hat.
Cost: This craft will only cost you the price of the candy, which shouldn't be more than $2. The folks at 7-Eleven won't mind you taking a few extra lids with your Slurpee purchase.
Challenge Level: On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a two. The only slightly tricky part is getting all the lids to stay stacked on top of each other.
Our Thoughts: This craft is perfect to give to children, or in addition to a larger present. The receiver will appreciate the effort put into creating a display for their candy.
5. Masterpiece's Title: Carbonated Christmas Cut Outs
What is it? It's a set of Christmas ornaments made from a few empty pop cans and scrap pieces of fabric.
Usefulness Factor: Sing with us: "Deeeccck the dorm with trash from the dumpster. Fa la la la, la la la la."
Materials Needed:
• A few empty pop cans
• Scissors
• Glue
• Scrap fabric
• A marker
• Paper clips
Get Started:
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1. With the scissors, remove the tops and bottoms from each of the cans.
2. Cut down the sides of the cans and flatten the sheet of aluminum.
3. Using the marker, trace fun holiday shapes on the cans. Cut out each pattern.
4. Flatten the shapes and glue each one to a scrap of fabric.
6. Using the paperclips as hooks, poke holes through the top of the fabric and hang the ornaments on a tree or around your dorm room.
Cost: A total of 30 cents in lost pop can deposits.
Challenge Level: On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a one. This craft is something even a kindergarten student could master.
Our Thoughts: At about 10 cents a pop, these Carbonated Christmas Cut Outs are a cheap and simple way to decorate a drab dorm for the holidays.
6. Masterpiece's Title: Chow Down Count Down
What is it?: It's an advent calendar made from an old pizza box.
Usefulness factor: If you want to keep track of the days until Christmas and you're tired of those old pizza boxes piling up in the corner of your room, then this might be the craft for you.
Materials needed:
• A pizza box
• A knife
• Scissors
• An assortment of candies or small trinkets
• A magazine
• Construction paper
• Tape
Get Started:
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1. Finish your pizza and scrape off any old pizza remnants.
2. Using the tape, adhere the construction paper or pages from a magazine on the inside of the box.
3. Cut 12 pictures from a magazine and tape them to the top of the box.
4. Using the knife, cut around each picture to create flaps into the top of the pizza box.
5. Tape small trinkets or chocolates underneath each of the flaps.
6. Prop your advent calendar up and begin your Christmas countdown. For all those who don't know how advent calendars work, each day the holiday draws near, rip off a flap from the box and eat the inside chocolate.
Total cost: We bought a bag of candy for about $2.
Challenge level
On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a one. This craft was assembled in about five minutes.
Our Thoughts: What better way to remember your Christmas spirit than with the Chow Down Count Down, a calendar to check down the days until the jolly old fat man creeps into your house.
7. Masterpiece's Title: Milk Carton Dreidel
What is it? A fun novelty dreidel made from a small milk carton and a pencil.
Usefulness Factor: This dreidel might not be useful enough to play with, but it can be used as a decorative piece or can be used to hold candy and then given as a gift.
Materials Needed:
• A small 8-ounce milk carton, the Totally Takeout cartons work fine.
• Stapler
• Paint
• A paintbrush
• A pencil
Get Started:
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1. Rinse out the milk carton and, if you want to give it away, fill it with candy or a small present.
2. Staple the top shut
3. Paint the carton and decorate each side with a different Hebrew letter. Look them up online to see what they look like.
4. Poke a pencil through the bottom
Cost: Totally free because we used a Totally Takeout milk carton and paint we already had.
Challenge Level: On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a two. Painting can be a little difficult, especially with the Hebrew letters.
Our Thoughts: This large milk carton dreidel is easy to make and can make a great tabletop centerpiece or ornamental item.
8. Masterpiece's Title: Photo Gift Bag
What is it? A personalized gift bag with the receiver's picture on the front.
Usefulness Factor: Small paper shopping bags with handles are often useless after a trip to the mall. Use them to create small gift bags for the holidays.
Materials Needed:
• A small shopping bag, such as something jewelry, makeup or accessories come in.
• A photo of yourself and the gift receiver, or just the receiver.
• Scissors
• Tape
• Glue
• Glitter
Get Started:
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1. Draw a square, circle or other shape you want the photo to be on the bag. The shape should be drawn over the store's name or logo.
2. Cut out the shape.
3. Tape the photo into the inside of the bag so the picture looks framed from the outside and the tape doesn't show.
4. If there are any other store logos or pictures on the bag, cover them up with glitter, another photo or stickers.
Cost: This craft is completely free.
Challenge Level: On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a one. Anyone should be able to cut, tape and glue onto paper without major problems.
Our Thoughts: Instead of buying gift bags or expensive wrapping paper, why not try making your own? You won't even need to write a gift tag because the gift receiver's picture is on the front.
9. Masterpiece's Title: Do-it-yourself Wrapping Paper and Candy Holder
What is it? Wrapping paper made from an inside-out potato chip bag and a candy holder made from felt.
Usefulness Factor: You have an hour before it's time to go to that big gift exchange party. Your gift is still not wrapped. What do you do? Empty a bag of potato chips. Add a bonus to your present by giving them chocolate disguised as a holly leaf.
Materials Needed for Wrapping Paper:
• A large bag or two of potato chips
• Clear tape
• Scissors
• A present to wrap
Materials Needed for Candy Holder:
• Two different colors of felt, red and green
• Scissors
• Candy
• Marker
Get Started:
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1. Turn the empty potato chip bag inside out so the silver foil side shows.
2. Wipe it down with a wet napkin to get rid of any crumbs or grease left on the bag
3. Cut it so it becomes one large piece of flat foil
5. Wrap your present and tie on a bow or ribbon to complete the gift
Get Started
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1. Trace a pattern of a holly leaf onto the green felt and the shape of a bone on the red felt.
2. Cut the patterns out and cut a hole into the center of the green leaf.
3. Place both ends of the bone shape through the hole.
4. Stick candy or napkins inside the newly created ring.
Cost: Besides the cost for the candy, this craft is free.
Challenge Level: On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a one. It might even be easier than dealing with a large roll of expensive wrapping paper.
Our Thoughts: If you don't mind a little potato chip grease, this 10-second wrapping paper craft presents a prettier display than wrapping your present with the comics section of the newspaper.
10. Masterpiece's Title: Last-minute Lava Lamp
What is it?: It's a poor college student's take on the traditional lava lamp made from an old juice bottle and vegetable oil.
Usefulness factor: If you don't have the money to run out and buy a lamp for each of your friends, consider this craft as an alternative to emptying your wallet in long lines at the mall.
Materials needed
• An empty glass or plastic bottle
• Vegetable oil
• Food coloring
• Water
Get Started
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1. Fill the bottle halfway with water.
2. Add food coloring, secure the bottle cap and shake to mix the color.
3. Unscrew the cap, add oil to the remainder of the bottle and secure the cap again.
4. Wait for the oil to settle and gently shake the bottle to create a wave effect.
Total cost: Frugality at its finest, this craft is free.
Challenge level
On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a one. This craft only had three steps.
Our Thoughts: Okay, so it's not as magnificent as those fancy store-bought lava lamps that both you and your parents enjoyed viewing at parties, but it's a cheap gift to give your friends and the end result isn't as bad as you would think.
11. Masterpiece's Title: Spirit of Milwaukee's Best.
What is it? What could be a more perfect last-minute craft to give your beer drinking, aviator loving friends than a model airplane made from a few empty beer bottles?
Usefulness factor: If you're strapped for cash and you need a quick holiday gift to give to your friends, you can always rummage through your trash and dig out this craft, which is all the buzz.
Materials needed:
• A small empty glass beer bottle
• Two empty beer cans
• Four beer bottle caps
• Glue
• Scissors
• A marker
Get Started:
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1. Print off a picture of a small airplane and use it as a reference.
2. With the scissors, cut the cans down the side and remove both the tops and bottoms. Flatten both cans.
3. Using a marker, and using the picture as a reference, trace shapes for a propeller, rudder and wings for the plane.
4. Using the scissors, cut out each of the plane parts and carefully fold the edges to create smooth pieces with the beer label showing.
5. Turn the glass bottle on its side and, using the glue, start adhering the plane pieces to the bottle. The neck of the bottle will be the back of the plane.
5. To make the plane's engines and wheels, glue the bottle caps to the wings and sides of the bottle.
6. If you have extra scraps of aluminum from the cans, you can make a miniature cockpit and place it on top of the bottle.
7. If all plane pieces are in place, all systems are go to give this craft to your friends.
Cost: Ignoring the lost deposits from the beer bottles, this craft is free.
Challenge level
On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a five. Now we understand why humans have been flightless for thousands of years, this little craft was both tedious and confusing.
Our Thoughts: The Wright brothers may have been genius engineers of flight, but do you think they were crafty enough to create an airplane out of a beer bottle? We think not.
12. Masterpiece's Title: Marshmallow Menorah
What is it? A simple menorah made with marshmallows and birthday candles.
Usefulness Factor: If you want to add a Jewish touch to your dorm room for Hanukkah, but can't afford an expensive menorah, make your own with a few materials you might already have.
Materials Needed:
• About a dozen large marshmallows
• Food coloring
• Glue
• Nine birthday candles
• A shoe box lid
Get Started:
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1. Line up nine marshmallows in a row on the shoe box lid and glue them down. Add an extra one or two marshmallows to the middle ones so they are taller than the rest.
2. If you want, you can paint the marshmallows with a food coloring and water mixture.
3. Stick a birthday candle in each marshmallow and you're ready to display your marshmallow menorah.
Cost: $2-3 for the marshmallows and birthday candles.
Challenge Level: On a scale of one to five, with five being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a one. This might be a fun craft to do with a young cousin, niece or nephew. It only takes a few minutes and doesn't require any skill.
Our Thoughts: This temporary menorah is perfect for any dorm or student housing during Hanukkah before going home for the holiday.
