Fun with Felt and what Christmas is all about!

Fun with felt, who knew?  After seeing something similiar on Pinterest (YES, i'm a Pinterest ADDICT and I am willing to admit it:), I decided to try out our own version of the project below. 

Our family is having so much fun with Eli this Christmas season because it's the first year he is really aware of all that is going on.  It truly makes my heart dance when I see his face light up with excitement at all the lights and festivities that this beautiful time brings :)

We want Eli to first and foremost understand that Christmas is about Jesus and God loving us so much that He sent His Son so we could be with Him forever.  We want him to realize that this is a time to refocus our hearts on the true meaning of what life is about and to shift our eyes off of ourselves and onto others.  We don't ever want this time to become all about the presents, Santa, and "me" or "us" focused driven.  Yes, Eli thinks there is a Santa and we don't discourage it because we love seeing the excitement of his imagination, yet we aren't giving him credit for this season.   I find as a parent, its a great time to re-emphasize what we should be doing throughout the year, loving Jesus so we may love on others and give of ourselves not just through money but our time, resources and friendship.  Of course we LOVE to put up a Christmas tree, decorate, make cookies and even buy gifts for people, but when it comes down to the end of the day, I want my heart to be set on Him and not the hustle and bustle of this busy and stressful season.  May we all find true peace in the midst of all that life brings!

With that said, here is a quick, easy craft that is fun for the kiddos.  They can have their own interactive tree that can be changed up whenever they feel like it.  Eli was wanting a tree for his playroom and because of limited space I thought this would bring a new element of fun where he can learn hands on about his shapes and enjoy doing it at the same time.  He was thrilled and as a mom, so am I.  Here are the materials needed:

1. A large piece of green felt.  I found this in a package at Michael's for $3.99 and used a 40% off coupon, which made it around $2.50.  I bought a few pieces of felt to make ornaments which were 29 cents each.  I drew the Christmas tree free hand to give me an outline but as I cut it out, it took it on its own shape.  The great thing about it looking the same on both sides is that if your marker lines show on one side just flip it over and tape the back instead.
2. Marker to trace your shape, scissors to cut it out, and tape to put up Christmas Tree.  The beauty of felt is that it sticks to itself :)
3. Any cookie cutters or outlines to trace.  I used canning jar lids for the circles but anything circular would do.  I drew the star, gingerbread men, and candy canes free hand and the other felt shapes were left over ornaments from our main tree.  I bought these last year for 50 cents a pack at Target after Christmas.  The kids will not care if they are not perfect, so have fun and be creative :)

I put the tree up last night when Eli went to bed (taped it to the wall.  I used masking tape because it holds well but doesn't take paint off) and decorated it in the pic above.  When he woke up, I took all the ornaments off and let him have at it.    He had a blast decorating his "own" tree and allows him to let his own creative juices flow.  He can rearrange all day long if he wants.  After Christmas, this project is easy to fold up and store in a baggy for next year.  I love things that you can reuse year after year and becomes a tradition and great memory from childhood.

Eli's finished product!!

Let me know if any of you try this and how it comes out!  I will be back later today or tomorrow with a post on a "Christmas" sign I made with free printables! Happy Wednesday!