I'm not really fond of crafting for crafting's sake, and there aren't many crafts that a one-year-old can participate in and actually enjoy. But these both were inexpensive, fun and turned out usable items.

The ornament on the top is the seed ball off a sweet gum tree--you could use almost any well-dried, sturdy item you pick up together out-of-doors. We then dipped it in glittery gold paint (a tub is about $6 at Walmart) and let it dry. (This part made a HUGE mess, and of course I had to keep an eagle eye on her to make sure she didn't put anything in her mouth. But she enjoyed it nonetheless, except for having her hands washed afterwards.)

I tied a gold cord around the ball when it was dry. She helped hold the cord while I cut it. These will be her gifts to everyone.

The second thing we did was make Christmas cards. I helped her stamp her thumb on a green ink pad and then--as much as I could persuade her, in clusters--onto blank ivory cards. I stamped my pinky, too, to blend in. When she was done and washed up, I drew dots for berries and stems on with markers. (I tried having her help with one and she didn't get the dot concept.) I really liked the look--they have a sparse, almost Japanese look to them. And this project wasn't messy at all.