Need to keep kids busy? Get crafty.

Moms and Dads everywhere are beginning to have visions of wonderful holiday down-time with the kids. What they don’t look forward to is hearing that plaintive whine, “I’m bored”, and trying to dream up something fun that doesn’t involve spending money or turning on the TV.

When that happens (and that's when, not if) Wendy Russell of HGTV's She's Crafty, has some ideas that will help. Russell has teamed with Bounty paper towels to create some easy-to-execute crafts that require simple materials you’ll have around the home.

“Making crafts are a great way to inspire and encourage creativity and over the holidays it's a super fun, easy activity the entire family can enjoy doing together,” says Russell.

 Look below for instructions for a fun craft, or look for others at the Bounty Towels site.

What you need:

Paper towels

Potatoes

A roll of butcher paper

Cardstock for the place cards

Crayons and markers

Acrylic paint

A bowl of water

Small cookie cutters in various holiday shapes

Scissors

What you do:

Cut the potato in half with a sharp knife. Press a small cookie-cutter shape into each half of the potato. Cut away the area around the shape so the potato is now a stamp.

Pour paints into containers. Dip the potato stamp into one colour of paint and press the stamp down firmly on the butcher paper. (You can use it for a table runner or wrapping paper, or make Christmas cards with blank card stock. Or try out the instruction for table place cards below.)

Clean potato stamps with water and dry them with paper towel before switching to a new colour.

For the place cards, trim white cardstock to the size you want and fold it in half lengthwise.

While stamping, make sure to leave enough room on the card to write the names of your guests once the paint dries.