Happy holidays everybody! This holiday craft for kids is super festive and involves no mess! I’m really excited to share it with you. If you’re kids love glitter and you feel the exact opposite, this may feel like a holiday present and in that case, you’re welcome. It’s my pleasure. Have fun!
You will need…
Supplies
cardboard
glitter
glue
tissue paper shapes
a big shallow tub (my favorite is this one from ikea. I have 5 of these babies)
THE NO MESS SECRET TO MY SUCCESS EVEN WITH GLITTER….
ART IN A TUB
Yup, a tub. Just get a shallow large plastic tub and put all the supplies inside. Paint, in the tub. Brushes, in the tub. GLITTER, in the tub! It’s so easy to stay clean and keep clean. After the craft making, just hose down the tub and you’re done. We didn’t even have to put a tarp down underneath. I know not everyone is reading this from sunny southern California. It’s 80 degrees here today?! The best thing is you can do this inside or outside.
Ok, so maybe hands get messy but if thats got you worried, just keep a small bucket of water by the tub, along with a towel, and kids can wash their hands as they go or after they are done. We use water buckets all the time for easy clean up so we don’t have to track painted hands into the bathroom. Like these little hands below. You can put the tub on a big towel on the floor if you’re inside.
Step 1.
For this holiday craft I precut some triangle shaped trees from this white cardboard I scored at Trash for Teaching. Any type of cardboard will do the trick. Then I gave my girls paint, lots of glitter, brushes and glue and said “Who wants to decorate some trees?” You don’t really need glue because the glitter will adhere to the tempera paint. We added some painted beans to ours but they are a little heavy for the contact paper so you may want to leave that part out.
The idea for the little presents came from my girls. I thought it was super cute. We made a little drying area and let our holiday decorations dry overnight.
Step 2.
The next day I put up a big strip of clear contact paper on the wall, about four feet long sticky side up, and invited my girls to stick up all the holiday crafts. Still no mess. Ok fine, a tiny bit of glitter got on the floor but is that so terrible? Easily swept or vacuumed.
After the trees and presents we added precut tissue paper shapes
And that’s how we made our no mess art in a tub, holiday craft. What do you think? Willing to give it a try even if you’re normally like hell to the no on the glitter? I swear, the tubs are great. I just did a whole art class with 7 three year olds and a crazy amount of paint and not one drop got on the floor. We did everything in tubs. I have a big crush on art in a tub. You are sure to hear more about it from me.
Thanks for following along everyone! Wishing you all a happy and healthy and SAFE holiday. xo Meri
If you’re looking for some holiday gift ideas, here is my list of best art supplies for kids. These are my absolute faves.
