Christmas Mod Podge Christmas Votive

So I had tried different versions a few months back with trying to punch out Christmas/Winter Shapes and well it was very difficult so I put the project to the back of my brain.

Last week, I decided to revisit the idea and went looking for votive holders.  I know our local dollar store has them, but probably wouldn't have 48.  I just happened to get my weekly email from Hobby Lobby and listed right there were cute little Roly Poly Votive holders.  They were originally $1.49 and were on sale for $0.74.  Woo Hoo....off to Hobby I went and purchased 50 and they still had a shelf full when I left.

So the little holders have been sitting waiting for me to come up with a plan.  Well last night inspiration hit, why don't I just rip little pieces of tissue paper and make it like a little mosaic?

I think the kids at Gift Making day will have to work on this first so that they have plenty of time to dry.  I think it came out pretty cute.

Ribbon Christmas Trees

If you follow my foodie blog, Life of a Foodie and Her Family, you will notice how much I love Pinterest.  Well our church has an annual Gift Making Day for Kids.  I wanted the kids to make something different that what I demonstrated last year.

So that of course led me to Pinterest.  I wanted something that would be easy for all ages to do, yet something "nice" and not childish, if that makes sense.

First thing I found was little ribbon Christmas trees made out of Styrofoam cones.  Well off to Hobby Lobby I go and found a two pack of cones and lots of different ribbon.  Hello 50% off Christmas Ribbon!

The cones were kind of pricey at 4.50 for two.  So I searched online for a bulk supplier and found The Craft Place.  I ordered 48 cones that are 4 inches by 2 1/2.  They are 1.16 each.

Oh so lets get back to my sample.  It is a bit larger, but that is ok. It is pretty self explanatory.  I cut pieces of ribbon that were 3 inches long, folded it over gently and used a Dress Maker's Pin to pin the ribbon onto the cone.  Repeat and overlap the layer just a tiny bit. 

I wasn't really sure what to put at the top, but thought maybe a sparkly pom pom would look ok, so Miss V and I went to Hobby Lobby this morning and picked up a couple packages.  Used another dress makers pin to attach the pom pom.

I also have a TON of cute scrapbook paper and cut them into strips that were 1/2 inch wide and 3 inches long and attached them with the pins.  

I think they both look adorable.  I love that each child will be able to switch up the colors and patterns and make a truly personalized gift for someone they love.

I think I am going to put these little cuties on our fireplace.

So what do you think of them?????  I would love to hear your feedback.

Reindeer Food 2010

Here is the new poem label that I created this year for Magic Reindeer Food.  I designed it in PaintShopPro8 and the orignial size is 1524X1524.  For this since they are kind of small you can paste the picture into a word doc many times and print them on card stock.  Cut them out and staple them onto snack size ziplock bags.  The digital kit is called Santa's Workshop and can be found at GottaPixel.

Ingredients:


1 cup rolled oats
2-6 Tbsp red colored sugar
2-6 Tbsp. green colored sugar
1 - 2 Tbsp glitter

Preparation:

Mix the ingredients together and place in a plastic bag, adding as much colored sugar as you like for a festive effect.

Sprinkle this reindeer food outside tonight.
The moonlight will make it sparkle bright.
As the reindeer fly and roam.
This will guide them to your home.

Enjoy!

Snowman Soup 2010

Miss V wanted to make her classmates Snowman Soup again this year and two for her teachers.  I came up with two different designs.  I create them in PaintShopPro8.  The orginal size are 2032x2032.  I print them on Avery Postecards #8387.

Here is the "recipe" for Snowman Soup

The recipe for Snowman Soup:


1 individual pack hot chocolate mix
3 Hershey's chocolate kisses
10-15 mini-marshmallows
1 Candy Cane

Place all in a pretty Christmas clear ziplock bag or "goody" bag.  Attach the poem with a festive ribbon.

The first one is the one I designed from the Snow Fun Kit on Gottapixel.  This one was for her classmates.

This is the one I designed for the teachers, it was from the Winter Frost Kit at Gottapixel.

The poems are a little different at the beginning.

 
For the two teachers, I found plain white ceremic mugs at Target for $1.99 each.  I also picked up Snowman Gift bags in the $1.00 spot.  For the kids I just used small paper snowman goodie bags and stapled the poem to the fronts.
 

Here she is with all her Snowman Soup gifts.  (for her own protection I did block out her face)

Christmas Pageant Angels

I volunteered to help make costumes for our Church's Christmas Pageant this year.  I used the same McCall's Pattern 2854 as Miss V's Trixie the Halloween Fairy costume.  I did make them in the full length.  I also used a pretty white crushed panne' velvet.  It wasn't a stark white, but more of a winter white.  I ended up making five Angels with this pattern.  At the last minute one of the girls had to switch and be a Wiseman.  For the wings and halo, they were purchased through Buy Costumes.

For Gabriel's costume I used Simplicity 4797 pattern since the young lady playing him was a bit older and taller.  I made the dress and put gold trimming on the bottom of the dress and down the sleeves.  For her belt I used a gold twisted rope.  The wings and halo also came from Buy Costumes, but a different style.

Here is a close up of the gold trimming.  It was very pretty.

I totally forgot how that I love to sew simple things.  I even told Miss V that I found a pattern to make pajama pants and she wanted of course MONKEY ones.  On one trip through Joann's she found every single fabric that had monkeys on it.

Tin Can Santa

The kids are making this tonight at our last Christmas workshop. I made some changes to the directions though.

Supplies:

1 empty, clean metal can
white, peach and pink acrylic paint
medium pink pom pom
2 small wiggle eyes
Cotton balls
6-8 medium white or silver sparkle pom poms
1 sheet red glitter felt
2” wide x 8” long strip of white glitter felt
White craft glue
Hot glue gun

Paint entire aluminum can with white paint.

Paint a section in the front of the can peach (or whatever skin tone color you like) for the face. I used Folk Art 949 Skintone.

Take one cotton ball and stretch it out so that fits all the way around the rim of the can. Glue in place about ½” below the rim. This is Santa’s hair. (I actually used two)



Lay strip of white glitter felt on the table. With hot glue gun, fold over edges and tack in place on both sides. This will create a thick and smooth brim for Santa’s hat that will not show any uneven cutting lines. Set aside. (I tried it and it was just a little to short so I used another strip and didn't fold it over.)

Position the red glitter felt around the top of the can, above the hair (stretched cotton ball). Glue in place and let dry. You will finish Santa’s red hat in a later step.

Meanwhile, glue the white felt in place over the top of the red felt and the cotton to form the brim of Santa’s hat.


Using white craft glue, add Santa’s beard by gluing cotton balls all around the can, leaving enough room open for his face. (I did put a staple in the end of the hat just to keep it together)

To complete Santa’s red hat, tuck the red felt into a cone shape, using hot glue to tack in place if you like. Fold felt over the side of the can and hot glue to the side.

Glue wiggle eyes in place.

Glue the pink pom pom on for the nose.


Use an extra cotton ball to dab on the cheeks, using a small amount of pink paint. (I skipped that step)

Hot glue the silver or white glitter pom poms to the end of the red felt.

I also did not like the look of the plain white can so I took a few cotton balls and pulled them apart and glued them on to the back to give Santa some more hair.

Instead of hot glue, I used fabric tac. It worked pretty good.

So what do you think? Oh the reason for the green felt, was because the store didn't have a lot of red left so I bought the rest and some green.

Magic Reindeer Food

The kids will also be making some Magic Reindeer food to use on Christmas Eve.

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats
2-6 Tbsp red colored sugar
2-6 Tbsp. green colored sugar
1 - 2 Tbsp glitter

Preparation:
Mix the ingredients together and place in a plastic bag, adding as much colored sugar as you like for a festive effect.

Tie with a ribbon and attach the following poem:

Sprinkle this reindeer food outside tonight.
The moonlight will make it sparkle bright.
As the reindeer fly and roam.
This will guide them to your home.

They will be putting it into a ziplock bag. I also printed the the poem onto Avery Business Cards.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Ornament

This is what the kids will be making this week, during Rudolph Week.

It is the same basic instructions as the black cat that we made.

Find out how to make this fun cat craft using a clothespin and a few other supplies.Age Guideline: 6 Years and UpTime required: 30 minutes (Does not include drying time)

The above age and time guidelines are estimates. This project can be modified to suit other ages and may take more or less time depending on your circumstances.

Materials Needed:
3 Flat, One-Piece, Wooden Clothespins
Small Pom-poms
Wiggle Eyes
Ribbon
Craft Paint
Glue
Paint Brush
Scissors

Instructions:

Paint the three clothespins whatever color you want your reindeer to be. One of them will be the reindeer's head and the other two will be the legs and body.

Start out by gluing two of the clothespins flat sides together so the prongs line up as they will be the reindeer's four legs.

Glue the third clothespin, flat sides together onto the two clothespins you previously glued together; however, you will turn this one so these prongs face the opposite direction of the other prongs. These will be the reindeer's ears.Now you can add the finishing touches! Glue a pom-pom onto the rounded part of the head clothespin to be the nose and glue the wiggle eyes just above it.

You can also add a cute bow by the ears or under the chin. Don't forget to add a white pom pom for the tail.

If you want to use this clothespin cat as an ornament, cut a piece of ribbon about 10-inches long and tie the two ends together to make a loop. Glue the loop to the back side of the reindeer's head.



I think we need to make a mouth somehow, maybe a white gel pen.

Jesus Candy Cane Ornament

I bought this kit through Oriental Trading. I am not exactly thrilled with it. The pieces are super tiny AND both kits I opened are missing pieces. I think I better bring a couple pieces of craft foam with me next week to the class party just in case.



I think they are really cute and I didn't even use the raffia that came with it. I used mini glue dots for all the pieces except the hood and the front of the star where the glitter is.

Snowman Pin version 2

I bought this kit on Oriental Trading for the younger kids in my workshops. It was much easier to put together than the full beaded pin.

The only thing I am not thrilled with, is the beads are plastic.

Snowman Soup

The kids at work will be making Snowman Soup to bring home. I made a cute set of labels/postcards to go along with it. I put four of this pictures on a a sheet of notecard paper or you could just use a good cardstock.

The recipe for Snowman Soup:

1 individual pack hot chocolate mix
3 Hershey's chocolate kisses
10-15 mini-marshmallows
1 Candy Cane

Place all in a pretty Christmas clear ziplock bag or "goody" bag.

Attach the poem with a festive ribbon.

Santa Face Beaded Pin

Ever since I discovered beaded pins, I am always looking for more cute idea patterns. I found this one a few weeks ago while looking for Santa crafts for work. Isn't it adorable?

I did use a 1 1/2 inch coiless pin to put all othe regular safety pins on.

14 - 1 1/16 inch Safety Pins 1 - 2 inch Safety Pin Seed Beads (see picture below for colors needed)

Each number column represents a pin; for example, your first pin will have 10 green beads on it. Your second pin will have 2 green beads, 1 red bead, 6 white beads, and 1 green bead on it. When you thread these beaded pins onto your larger pin, start with pin number 1.

Cinnamon Ornaments (non-edible)

cinnamon Ornaments (NOT EDIBLE!!!)

We made a similar recipe last year when Victoria was in 1st grade. Our nephew Mikey is down for the weekend and helped decorate the tree. When I pulled Victoria's ornament out from last year it still smelled so great. Everyone asked if we could make some this year. Sure...I had to run to the store to pick up some stuff so I picked up a few big bottles of cinnamon.

Making Cinnamon Ornaments are a perfect holiday fun activity for kids. The ornaments are easy to make and their aroma lasts long after the holidays are over.
Makes 12 to 15 ornaments.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 1/2 hours or 1 to 2 days drying time

Ingredients: 3/4 cup applesauce
1 bottle (4.12 ounces) McCormick® Cinnamon, Ground

Supplies needed:
Cookie cutters
Drinking straw
Colorful ribbon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 200°F.

2. Mix applesauce and cinnamon in small bowl until a smooth ball of dough is formed. (You may need use your hands to incorporate all of the cinnamon.) Using about 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll dough to 1/4-inch to 1/3-inch thickness between two sheets of plastic wrap. Peel off top sheet of plastic wrap. Cut dough into desired shapes with 2- to 3-inch cookie cutters. Make a hole in top of ornament with drinking straw. Place ornaments on baking sheet.

3. Bake 2 1/2 hours. Cool ornaments on wire rack. (Or, to dry ornaments at room temperature, carefully place them on wire rack. Let stand 1 to 2 days or until thoroughly dry, turning occasionally.)

4. Insert ribbon through holes and tie to hang. Decorate with opaque paint markers, found in arts and crafts stores, if desired.

Tips:Test Kitchen Tip: If a different size bottle of cinnamon is used, measure 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cinnamon.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: DO NOT EAT

Victoria and Mikey having fun with the dough.




All cut out and ready to go into the oven to dry. About 90 minutes into the drying I took them out and flipped them over. Then put them back in for another 60 minutes.

Here they are this morning, all dried and ready for ribbon.

Snowman Beaded Pin

I made this pin to show as an example of what we will be making during Snowman Week.

Snowman Pin
13 -1 1/16 inches Safety Pins
1 - 2 inch Safety Pin
Seed Beads (see picture below for colors needed)

Instructions:

Each number column represents a pin; for example, your first pin will have 3 light blue beads, 1 black bead, and 6 light blue beads. Your second pin will have 3 light blue beads, 1 black bead, 1 light blue bead, 3 white beads, and 2 light blue beads. When you thread these beaded pins onto your larger pin, start with pin number 1.