angathome

Photo credit: my 11 year old son!

Christmas is fast approaching and with it all of our advent crafts and projects. In line with our focus on blessing others throughout the month of December, we will be making these beaded crosses for all of the ladies who attend our high tea. They are economical and very simple and require only a few items to make.

You need:

• Two nails (One larger than the other)
• Approximately 1 metre of thin wire (Make sure it is flexible – the wire I originally tried was too thick to easily bend around the nails)
• Thread/ribbon for hanging
• Beads of choice (Check that the diameter of the holes will fit on your wire.)

Anchor the two nails together by winding the wire tightly several times diagonally around the point at which they cross. Leave the wire attached to the centre and thread a few beads on at a time, winding it around one section of a nail heading out from the centre. As you wind back towards the centre, cross the wire over the part you have just beaded to anchor it tightly in place. Don’t forget to make a small loop of wire at the top of the centre nail to attach the string for hanging.

It took me around 10 to 15 minutes to make one cross from scratch and anchoring the nails was a little fiddly so if you are doing this craft with young children it may be a good idea to anchor the nails for them ahead of time. I expect that it will take my children around 30 minutes, depending on how many beads they decide to add. Seed beads will obviously take a lot longer.

You can vary the colour and size of beads you use and even the size of the nails for a different look. Small crosses would work well for bookmarks and larger crosses for Christmas tree decorations.

Filed under: Celebrations, events & festivals (Christmas, birthdays etc.) | Tagged: advent, beaded nail cross, Blessing Buddies, Christ-centred Christmas, Christian, Christmas crafts for preschoolers, Christmas traditions, handmade Christmas decoration, Montessori activities |