Our Ten Favourite Arts and Crafts Ideas for Winter

Get Creative this Winter with These Ten Fun Activities 

Looking for something fun to do this winter? How about some mug art, a 30 minutes pouch, marbled clay coasters, glitter-dipped wine glasses or ceramic square pot planters? These are just some of the entertaining arts and crafts activities we’ve curated just for you. Read on! 

1. DIY Art Mug

Who doesn’t like a personalised mug? (Plus, no more disappearing mugs from the tearoom 😊.) Get creative with a Sharpie and your porcelain mug or cup of choice and design away! There’s no limit to the possibilities of style and colour! 

And the team at Ideas2live4 has compared various DIYers’ techniques to come up with a method to produce great results! Six straightforward steps - and all you need is a cheap, oven-safe porcelain mug, rubbing alcohol, a regular Sharpie or porcelain paint pen and (optional) krylon spray. 

Head across to Ideas2live4 for design ideas that are sure to get people talking. Also great for gifts, tailored to suit any festive occasion!

2. Flower Votives

If you’re looking to add a special centrepiece to your table next time you have people over, then it’s hard to go past the delightful votive flowers suggested by Ama at Dream a Little Bigger. 

Just dig out some of the glass votives you’ve probably got stashed away in the back of a cupboard, grab some coloured paper, a pen, scissors, a compass, some tape and glue, and you’re set to go! Nine easy steps and voilà!

The fun is also in changing colours for different seasons and occasions – like, white and gold for Easter, red and green for Christmas, red, white and pink for Valentine’s Day – to create a festive look everyone will love!

3. 30 Minutes Pouch

This idea for some winter fun requires a sewing machine and a little bit of sewing skill. Once you’ve got those sorted, then your days of losing odds and ends in the bottom of your handbag are over! These very cute pouches are perfect for carrying and storing all types of things and – you guessed it! – take only 30 minutes to make!

Over on the OhOh Deco site, you’ll find a step-by-step DIY tutorial, which, together with scrap fabric, a 20 cm zip, scissors, a ruler and pencil (and your sewing machine), will have you turning out any number of beautiful pouches in no time!

What we also love about these pouches is that they’re a great way of using up scrap and recycled fabric. Oh, and they make fantastic gifts and reusable gift wraps!

4. DIY Bamboo Chopstick Bowl

Fancy an eye-catching bowl that’s way beyond the norm? A New Bloom shows you how, with just three core materials, you can make this stunning bowl, perfect for your fruit or any manner of things.

If you’ve never sourced beads before, you’re in for a treat! Just head into a specialist craft store and select from their extensive range the 64 beads you’ll need to get this activity underway!

In addition to the beads, track down 30 pairs of wooden chopsticks (we found them widely available and inexpensive) and thin copper wire. Then, with a drill, small bit and wire cutters at hand, follow the five steps to produce your very own bamboo chopstick bowl!

Erin from A New Bloom suggests that smaller fruit, such as grapes and cherries, look very pretty, which makes the bowl perfect for the Christmas season with all its delicious summer fruits!

5. Marbled Clay Coaster

Such a stylish addition to any table, the marbled clay coasters by Better Homes and Gardens are a personal favourite! Here’s an example prepared earlier 😊:

Forget the expense and heaviness of marble! These beauties are made of lightweight polymer clay, which ranks much higher on the affordability scale and is widely available throughout Australia. 

Following the BH&G technique, all you’ll need is:

• Polymer clay in white and two contrasting colours

• Rolling pin (don’t use with food) or clay roller

• Circular cookie cutter, at least 10 cm in diameter

• Baking paper

• Parchment paper

• Acrylic paint (e.g., gold)

• Artist’s fine paintbrush

Then in straightforward steps of rolling and shaping, marbling, baking and final-touch painting, you have eye-catching coasters, the envy of any host or hostess! They also make fantastic gifts, in sets of four or six, tied together with a bright bow!

6. DIY Boho Vases

Notice a common theme of tabletop décor running through this blog? Well, here’s another gem, promising an hour or so of easy entertainment one wintry afternoon!

DIY Boho Vases, found at Design Improvised, turn simple terracotta planters into distinctive pieces with the simple addition of a ribbon or two. What’s more, they cost less than $10 each, all up!

To get your project underway, invest in two or three terracotta planters (a combination of square and cylinder looks good), some strong, sturdy ribbon in different designs and some hot glue. Then, following the easy steps at Design Improvised, create inviting new homes for your flowers, faux houseplants or anything else begging to be put on display!

7. DIY Heart String Art

If you’re up for a bit more of a challenge (if you count using a hammer and nails!), then Heart String Art might be just the project for you! What we particularly like about this activity is that you can reuse items commonly found about the home - a piece of wood, some nails, a hammer, coloured string or acrylic yarn, a pencil and scissors. 

Once you’re set up, follow the steps at Reuse Grow Enjoy, which simply involve hammering nails into the board in a heart shape (following a template, so no guess work!) and criss-crossing yarn in a methodical, quite therapeutic manner!

You can also let your imagination run wild, changing sizes, shapes and colours to create your own personalised objets d’art! How about a brightly-coloured name plaque for a child’s bedroom? A pretty lid for a storage box? Or a ‘Merry Christmas’ sign for your front door? Once you get the hang of it, the options are limitless!

8. Glitter-Dipped Wine Glasses

These bright, glitter-dipped glasses immediately caught our eye. And what a fun addition to your next party table! The gold-coloured glitter really sets them apart and Kara at Kara Creates even matches them with wine bottle gift tags. 

Whether it’s wine or any other drink you fancy, all you need to do to create these happy glasses is gather a few materials (glasses, painter’s tape, dishwasher-safe craft glue, a paint brush and extra fine glitter), invite a friend or two over, and start crafting!

Worried about unwanted glitter tracking throughout the house? Never fear! Kara’s method includes ample drying time between coats, plus a few tips for avoiding any glitter runaways!  And, take away the drying time - an hour or two between coats and 24 hours before use – the actual craft time is only a few minutes for each glass! Six vibrant glasses, here we come!

9. Upcycled Storage Containers using Glass Jars

Staying in the glass medium a little longer, hands up if you have any storage jars lying around that could do with some TLC? If so, it’s hard to go past Kara Creates’ fun upcycle project of turning old glass jars into fetching storage containers just like these:

This is a fun, easy and practical activity that gives new life not only to jars but to drawer knobs of all shapes, colours and sizes. And, just like with the beads for the bamboo chopstick bowls (#4 above), drawer knob hunting is great fun, with an unbelievable range of options available in many hardware and specialist stores. (That is, if you haven’t been hoarding them like some of us have!)

There are four easy steps to follow and all you need in addition to the jars and pretty knobs is acrylic paint, a paint brush, sealer, a drill (or screw driver and hammer) and a hacksaw. And here’s another cool thing – painting the lids means you can coordinate the jars with the colour scheme of any room in the house!

10. Indoor Ceramic Planters

Finishing off our selection, the indoor ceramic square pot planters at Craft Invaders are an impressive way to dress up a side table or entryway. And taking only ten minutes or so to make (plus drying time), you can create dozens of them if the mood strikes you!

Let’s say you decide on three pots, then all that’s required is 12 square ceramic tiles, 1 rectangular ceramic tile for the base and a very strong glue. Choose wisely when it comes to the glue! You’ll need one that is super strong, fast drying and suitable for ceramics. (We’ve learnt from experience the importance of inviting the right glue to the party!)

As for the pot tiles, the ones in the picture are 5 cm square, 1 cm thick and made of marble. They’re so pretty, particularly with the contrasting colour tile, and a great place to start your pot creation fun!

Sarah at Craft Invaders provides clear directions for assembling, drying and attaching the cubes to a rectangular base to create your very own window sill planter. She even shows how to fill them with mini cactuses, although any number of succulents or small plants would flourish here. And there you have it – another eye-catching and individual touch to your home!

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We hope you enjoy these arts and crafts ideas as much as we enjoyed selecting them! Not surprisingly, given that we handmake all our bonbons, we are very fond of craft projects! And we wish you hours of endless fun and entertainment this winter, creating things at home, by hand and with love!