Crafting with my kids - Out Fave crafts!

By Debbie Hatumale-Uy

As a small business owner and a mum, the festive season can sometimes be extremely overwhelming, especially with the pressures of school holidays, constantly finding things to entertain the kids, as well as giving great gifts and creating a fun and festive environment!

I’ve been successfully running my crafting and craft blanks business, Only The Sweet Stuff, for many years now, and I’m here to tell you that sometimes taking it back to basics with your kids during this time of year is more fun and a ‘hellavuh’ lot easier.

A precision cutting machine is a machine that cuts all kinds of shapes and creations from various materials from vinyl to felt; you name it!

You’ve probably heard of the brand Cricut and Silhouette before? They’re the leading suppliers for these machines in Australia.

One of the favourite activities I like to do with my kids any time of the year is craft! There’s just so many things you can do from personalising all of your Christmas decor like stockings and ornaments to even making your very own craft Christmas cards. We also like to do a heap of New Year school preparation and we do up all of our stickers for the new school year!

With the help of Canva (free) and a precision cutting machine, there is so much potential for you and your kids to connect over crafts. Here are six examples of craft projects you can do with your kids these holidays:

Craft blanks are anything with a blank canvas for you to get creative with! Think cups, mugs, shirts, bags, pillows, pens, notebooks, and more!

1:SCALABLE VECTOR GRAPHICS OR SVGS

: You can create cuttable designs on Canva using different elements and fonts! Download your file with a transparent background or as an SVG and import in to your machine’s design software! These can go onto anything from shirts to pillows to mugs to posters! You name it; your creativity is the limit!

2: GREETING CARDS:

Canva offers a wide range of templates for greeting cards, including birthday, anniversary, and thank-you cards. You can add your own personal touch by customising the colours, fonts, and graphics. Perfect for Christmas!

3: PERSONALISED PRESENTS:

When it comes time to say goodbye to our friends and favourite teachers at the end of the school year, my kids and I like to personalise a present for our teachers to say thank you. We make a personalised keychain, pencil case or a binder for teachers.

4: ORNAMENTS OR PERSONALISED CHRISTMAS DECOR:

Santa Sacks! Who says Christmas presents are just for Christmas Day? My kids and I, and my crafting community, love crafting personalised decor and gifting it throughout the festive season. Personalised baubles and Santa Sacks are always a cute gift too and can become a tradition if you decide to do them every year. A bonus with the Santa Sacks - no Christmas present wrapping with one of these babies! The trick for personalising items is finding good quality blanks.

5: WALL ART:

Choose from motivational quotes, botanical prints, or abstract designs. Once you've created your design, you can print it out and frame it for an easy and inexpensive way to decorate your kid’s room and give it a fresh feeling for the New Year! My kids love personalising their rooms and this time of year is always a great time to do it!

6: STICKERS:

With Canva, you can design your own custom stickers. You can upload your own images or use Canva's design elements to create a unique sticker that reflects your brand or personal style. Once you've designed your sticker, you can print it out on adhesive sticker paper and import it into your precision cutting machine’s design software to cut them out for use as packaging, or add to notebooks, water bottles, or other items. Get ready for school!

If you and your kids are creative and you do have the passion and time, adding a cutting machine to your tools really can be a lot of fun with limitless potential. It can also save parents a bit of money in the long run too!

Only the Sweet Stuff is the supplier of choice for craft blanks for many crafters across Australia. For tips and tricks on various crafting hacks and how to get the most from your machine, visit www.onlythesweetstuff.com.au or you can follow me on www.instagram.com/onlythesweetstuff.com.au