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TOLEDO, Ohio — As the family gathers for Christmas this week, WTOL wanted to give parents some options to keep the kiddos busy at home. Simple, fun, and homemade was the goal. We spoke to crafters at Jo-Ann Fabrics  Craft for some ideas.

“I feel like (crafts) brings the family a little bit closer together,” Chanda Gooden, manager at Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft on Monroe Street, said. “They make the crafter happy and the people buying the crafts happy.”

Gooden recommended a holiday classic: a gingerbread house. Most craft stores or grocery stores will have a ready to make gingerbread box. Construction is simple: the ginger bread cookies will usually already be shaped and cut if you're buying it prepackaged. All you have to do it use the icing like glue to stick them together, then decorate the outside with a variety of candies.

For another simple craft you can make your own Christmas ornament. Glue popsicle sticks together to make the “body” of an elf or Santa, paint them any color, and then use stickers for boots, mittens and hats. 

“Painting is relaxing,” Gooden said. “It just gets you in the mood of concentration, and it breaks all those negative barriers.”

Another easy, at-home craft includes "sew-less pillow covers." All you need is a small pillow, a medium size piece of fabric, and a scissors.

First, cut the fabric in half, then lay the pillow in between either side of the fabric. Then, cut four squares out of all four corners. 

Lastly, make about an inch width of cuts along all sides, and simply tie the top with the bottom to create a knot.

“The things you can make out of crafts is so remarkable,” Gooden said. “Just think of taking paper and making cards, making gingerbread houses out of cookware or no sew pillows with fabric. The possibilities are endless in a craft store.”

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