Sunday, December 16, 2012

Make your Own Feather Ornament!



While I was perusing the aisles of the ornaments this year I noticed in the white section these beautiful feather ornaments.   I also saw  They were about $6 which isn't bad for an individual ornament, but after making my feather tree last year, I knew I had the supplies left over to make it myself.  I wish I had the time to make more than one this year, but I thought I'd share how to make them in case you did! 

 
Here are the supplies you'll need:

medium Styrofoam ball
string or ribbon for hanging
white feathers of assorted lengths
white craft glue
hot glue and gun
a champagne flute (or something you can stand your ball on while you glue on feathers)
 
Begin by gluing the string or ribbon to the top of the Styrofoam ball.  My ball had a little divot in the top making it a perfect place for the string to sit in - this is where you'll want to use hot glue.  
 
 
Then get out your champagne flue (or something small that the ball can easily balance on) and sit your ball on top with the string facing straight up.  Though this is not exact, it does look nicer if the feathers are uniform.  Begin gluing the longest feathers to the bottom half of the ornament.  Look for feathers that naturally curve in.  They should be covering the whole bottom of the ball.
 
 
Once the entire boom circumference is covered, begin gluing another row of medium sized feathers above the others.  Continue in this way until the entire ball is covered.  Save the very smallest feathers for the top and glue them on neatly around the string.
 
 
 
Make ornaments of all different sizes and hang them all over your tree! 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Sugar Ornaments




As we countdown to Christmas one of the nights was to make an ornament.  I found a really cute post for sugar ornaments here, but to be honest they didn't turn out.  We made them and waited and they just crumbled when we tried to remove them from the cookie cutters.  So I reworked the method and wanted to share with you how we made them today!

What you'll need: 
 
1/2 c sugar
1 T glitter (I used mica snow)
2 t water
cookie cutters
parchment paper
rolling pin
string or ribbon
 
 
1.  Mix the water, glitter, and sugar together in a bowl until it is combines and sticks together when you pinch it with your fingers.
 
 
2.  Dump the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper and begin to press it down until you have a flat surface of the mixture.  I rolled it a bit with a rolling pin at this point to get it really level.
 

3.  Then I picked my favorite Christmas cookie cutters that I just recently found at the thrift store.  An owl, a tree, a reindeer and a mini ice skate and cut them out of the mixture.
 
 
4.  Using a toothpick make a small hole in the top for the ribbon to go through.
 
5.  Move them to somewhere safe to dry overnight.
 
 
 
6.  Once they are dry tie a ribbon or some silver string through the hole. 
Hang on your tree and enjoy!
 
 

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Fortune Cookie Countdown






This year we are going to celebrate the countdown to Christmas with fun activities and events that we can do together as a family.  Fender and I put together a list of all of the things "Christmasy" we could do and I've added in a few bigger surprises for our family days off together. 



After I printed out the list (with specific numbers so that we weren't out late on a school night) I cut each of the activities into strips.  Then I whipped up a batch of fortune cookies and used these as the surprise inside.  I used this recipe here.



I left the number hanging out so that it would be easy for the kids to grab the correct one.  There are a few nights in there that I am very excited for (like ice skating and a movie at the drive in!) and can't wait to see their faces when they open them up!

 
 

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