Happy Christmas!

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

Painted Sleigh Ornaments

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

I really can’t believe that Christmas is a week away! I haven’t done any shopping and I am just really not understanding how Christmas came so fast this year, haha. Anyways, this week we are painting wooden sleigh ornaments for the Christmas tree. We bought flat wooden sleighs from the craft store but you can pick any shape and if you would like to paint something more 3D, then a ceramic ornament may be the way to go for you. 

What we didn’t do, but something that you should do, is to sand your wooden ornament before panting. We noticed that the paint spread thinly instead of absorbing, so sanding is definitely something that you want to do as prep before painting.

I had lots of paints in my craft box. There are lots of different colors that you can pick from at the craft store. You want to pick a paint that is suitable for ceramics and wood, so take a look at the label before you buy or paint. As I was saying, I have a lot of paints from craft projects that we have done in the past so I had a bunch of colors to choose from for our ornaments. Nicole went with the icy blues and silver and I went with the Christmas red and green and added in some gold. Down below we have some pictures to show some of our steps. It’s really pretty easy. Just pick some colors that you like and that go together and paint away. Make sure to let your layers dry before painting over them. Don’t forget to put something on the ornament so that you can hang it in the tree. We have some thin ribbon that we use to make cards so we’ve attached some of it to the back with the hot glue gun or you could try just using scotch tape if you don’t have a glue gun.

Jell-O and Meringues

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. 

It’s about time for a sweet treat week again! We decided to go with the bowlful of jelly line and a nose like a cherry and we came up with some sweet treats. You wouldn't necessarily eat these sweets as dessert but you could put them out as a treat to nibble on here and there.

Nicole came up with a meringue recipe that you can make into Christmas wreaths with some candied cherries to make it even more festive. You can also make a bunch of different non-Christmas shapes as well. So check out the recipe...

Christmas Wreath Meringues

2 egg whites

1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

2/3 cup berry sugar (or granulated sugar)

In a small deep bowl, beat egg whites with lemon juice until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Gradually beat in sugar, about 1 Tbsp at a time, beating well after each addition, until stiff shiny peaks form.

Pipe small rings onto parchment paper or foil-lined baking sheets, or drop batter by the teaspoonful.

Before baking, decorate the rings with slivers of candied cherries.

Bake in 250°F oven for 1 ¼ hours or until firm. Turn off oven; leave meringues in oven for 1 hour longer. (Meringues can be layered between waxed paper in airtight container and stored for up to 2 weeks.)

Jello-O is not everyone’s piece of cake. Some people are forced to eat it after they have had dental or mouth surgery so it doesn’t appeal to all, but this way I have for you is quite yummy and less jiggly. This recipe that I have is a family recipe that has been passed around for years now. We picked green Jell-O for Christmas but you can do this with any colour/flavour. We also went with various Christmas cookie cutter shapes but you can pick shapes to match the occasion you are celebrating, or you can even just cut them into squares or diamonds.  

Finger Jell-O

3 packages of 3 oz. Jell-O (we used Lime but you can do it with whatever flavour of your choosing)

3 packages of Gelatin

3 cups of boiling water

1 cup of half and half cream

Mix Jell-O and Gelatin powder together in a large bowl.

Add boiling water and let it sit/cool for 10 minutes.

Add in cream and stir. Pour into a 9x13 inch pan.

Let it sit overnight. Use cookie cutters or cut into shapes and serve.

Present Wrapping and Homemade Wrapping Paper

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

Wrapping presents is either a task people love to do or hate to do. Some people are super creative and skilled at wrapping, and then some people aren’t so much. Well, this week we are going to show you how to make your own wrapping paper and how to wrap presents. We’ve also included some examples of our homemade gift tags that we made to sell at the craft fairs. It’s really easy to make the gifts tags, just hunt through your scraps of cardstock and find some festive stamps, punches, and ribbons and then put on your favorite TV show or movie and make a bunch of gift tags. They can be as simple or as elaborate as you want to make them.

To make the wrapping paper you’ll need to find a roll of newsprint or brown paper bags work as well. You can get the kids involved for this. Pull out some markers and stamps and color and stamp away. There are no rules or guide to making the wrapping paper. Fill the paper up as much or as little as you like. Go with lots of colors or keep it simple with just black ink.

 

Below we have a picture guide to show you the steps in how to wrap your presents with all that wrapping paper that you created. Add some bows or ribbon like we did and you will have a present that will look like it was done by a pro!