Do It Together: A Family Holiday Craft Starring The Nutcracker

Add some festive cheer to your home with this fabulous do-it-together nutcracker craft designed by the oh-so talented Lindy Moran from Little Picasso Studio. This project is perfect to get those fine motor skills working with painting, cutting, pasting etc. and is suitable for ages 3 and above with your assistance. Little ones 8 and over can work independently.


What you’ll need:

– empty 1 litre milk or juice box (for body)
– 2 narrow boxes approx. 2 inch (for arms and feet) — we used Nespresso boxes, but toothpaste boxes would work
– newspaper (4 sheets of newspaper)
– white glue, paintbrush, masking tape and scissors
– craft paper or thick paper (for the crown)
– egg carton (one piece section for the top of crown)
– black felt, material or paper (for black beard/hair) or cotton wool (for blond hair)
– paint (acrylic is best as it’s quick drying and has the weight to cover laminated boxes, colors listed below)
– permanent market (to draw mouth and eyes, etc.)
– sequins (buttons), trims (for uniform decoration), googly eyes (you can paint or draw these)


How to make it:

Use our Nutcracker as a sample or collect other examples from websites or books.

Step 1 – The Body
1. Tape the top of the carton flat with masking tape
2. Paste glue all over one sheet of newspaper and roll into a ball (the head). You may need to repeat this and paste another sheet over the ball to enlarge the size for the head.
3. Tape this round paper mache ball on the top of the box
4. Cut two sections from your narrow boxes for the arms and tape to the box (approx. 3.5 inches). Tape the shoulder sections and leave the hand openings uncovered.
5. Paste glue on two half pieces of newspaper and roll into two small balls; tape one into each ends of the narrow boxes to make the hands. (This also gives it weight and helps the Nutcracker stand.)
6. Cut two sections from your narrow boxes for the feet (approx. 1.5 inch). Use masking tape to attach. To make the crown, cut out a crown from your craft paper and tape to head.
7. Add an section from an egg carton for the top of crown.
8. Add the hair, beard, etc.

Step 2 – Decorate
Paint using the follow colors:
Red (jacket, pants)
Black (boots, belt and outlines)
Pale Pink (face and hands)
Gold (decorative trim and belt buckle)
Draw or paint mustache, eyes, etc.
Paste on hair, beard, etc.
Decorate and paste on sequins, trims, eyes (optional)

Enjoy! And don’t miss Little Picasso’s Christmas Workshops which will include a number of great Christmas ornament crafts for your little ones. Go to www.littlepicasso.hk for the complete schedule. For Little Picasso enquiries and Holiday Workshop registrations please call 9861 0461 or email [email protected].