Easy DIY Photo Props for a Kid-Friendly Holiday Party

Craft a Silly Santa Mask

This simple Santa accessory is a two-piece mask composed of a beard and a hat. It's held together using 18-gauge wire. To begin, make the big man’s beard. Trim a piece of lightweight cardboard into an oval, and cut a small mouth space at one end.

Add white craft glue all over the surface, then place cotton balls one-by-one onto the glue. Set this aside to dry (it’ll need about an hour).

Next, cut the shape of your Santa hat out of a single 8-1/2" x 11” sheet of red paper, as shown. It may be helpful to back the paper with a piece of cardboard so it isn’t floppy.

Layer the two pieces together, and connect them with glue. Add cotton balls to the edges to trim the hat, and allow it to dry.

You’ll be able to connect the hat to the beard easily if you tape two 8” pieces of 18-gauge wire to the backside of the mask. This wire will be strong enough to hold the mask together, even though it might seem a little heavy-duty for ordinary crafting.

Create Elf Accessories

A tall triangle of red poster board trimmed with a piece of white paper makes for an easy hat. Tape yarn to the backside of the paper, and it will easily tie and untie to fit any size head. To mimic that notoriously sneaky elf who favors shelves, I made a decorative collar using a piece of white poster board. Trim the top edge of the paper like a wide “U,” and the collar will bend easily across the shoulders of anyone who ties it on. Like with the hat, tape two pieces of yarn to the ends so it’s easy to wear.

Design Your Reindeer Ears (and Nose)

Fold a piece of brown paper in half, and from it, trim two deer ears and antlers so they’re symmetrical and even (Image 1). Once cut, create a 1/4” crease in the base of the ear and antler so there’s a flat surface that will attach easily to the headband (Image 2).

Use hot glue to attach the ears and antlers to the headband. The headband is going to be sacrificed during this project, so don’t use your favorite one!

You may want to add extra detailing to the antlers; markers would work fine, but I added some texture and shadow using a brown acrylic paint stick, which dries almost immediately when in contact with paper. Test the headband on your dog, just for fun.

Rudolph’s red nose can be made from a 2” circle cut from red poster board, with a length of folded 18-gauge wire taped to the back of the paper. The tape should cover both ends of the wire on the back of the nose, leaving a long hoop that any child can safely hold.

Display the Accessories

Put props like these to use at your holiday party to entertain the kids, and create photo memories that can be cherished for years.

Family photo time!