Keepsake Baby's 1st Christmas Star

I collected the tags and scraps of the wrapping paper from the presents each of my children received on their first Christmases. From these I made keepsake Christmas stars that we put on our Christmas tree tops each year. One day my kids will take their own special stars and put them on their own Christmas trees when they are adults with their own homes. (I hope!) Here's how I did it.

I traced and cut out a *perfect* 5 point star out of heavy cardboard (matboard or heavy cardboard from the back of used up notepad will work. I've used both.). I was nitpicky the first star and then every star after that I traced from the original so that I am sure my third kid's star is a lot less perfect. (That's what happens, right?) But, if you want to have a guide or are a little bit of a perfectionist, use a protractor to make a pentagon (the base of your star) with interior angles of 108*. Then extend your lines beyond that until they meet to make your star's points. My stars have a pentagon base with each side being about 2.5" with the end result being a star that has a diameter (you know, if you stuck it in a circle.) of 10". (My high school math teacher sister is cringing I am sure.)

You could also do something like this and use it as a template for your cardboard.

Now, let's forget math because we don't need it any more. That's right, now it gets fun.

Rip and tear your wrapping paper so you have nice larger pieces and smaller pieces to collage on your star. Swab on some modpodge* put down some paper (using the bigger pieces first for a base) and swab over it. Wrap some around your edges and do both sides. It helps to focus on one side and then when that side is dry do the other side. Paste of sticker tags in the same manor.

Card tags, open and mod podge both sides and let dry. Then modpodge the back onto the star and glue over the right side of the interior (where people usually write) so that the flap can be opened later and the message read.

And that's it. Really simple and sweet.

Out of a heavy gauge wire I made a spiral in the shape of a cone that could fit over the top of a tree. At the top I twisted two loops between which would fit one of the angles of the star. Hope that makes sense.

*You can make your own modpodge with equal parts white glue and water. Shake them together in a jar with a screw top lid.

Pony Bead "Glass" Sun-catchers

 

For Mother's Day (and yes, I realize that was a whole month ago, but that's the life I lead these days.) the boys and I (with the aid of a nap from the baby.) made sun-catchers out of pony beads. It's really simple and they come out very pretty. They're also long-lasting and hard to break. Winning combination. Even the Fox, who does not like to sit for art, loved making them and has since requested to make them for his teachers' gifts at the end of the year.

Here's What You Need:

• transparent pony beads (9 mm)
• metal muffin tin and/or metal cookie cutters and a metal baking sheet
• a grill (or an oven but it gets kind of a fumey for the indoors.)

Here's What You Do:

     1. Preheat your gas grill to high.

     2. Meanwhile, fill up your muffin tins with patterns (or willy-nilly) of pony beads. Keep it to one layer. Or fill up the cookie cutters set up on the cookie sheet.

      3. Heat up your designs on the grill until the beads melt, about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the cookie cutters because as the beads melt they might seep under the edges and when they cool it's a lot harder to get the plastic out of the cookie cutter. (I've read on other sites that you can do this in a 400* oven for about twenty minutes, but make sure that if you do, to have your windows wide open- the fumes are overwhelming!)

 

     4. Cool.



    5. Pop your creations out of their molds. I was surprised how easily the suncatchers came out of the tins. I thought for sure we were going to lose the tin, but just flipping it over and making a quick bang to the underside with a mallet made them pop right out.



   6. Drill a hole in the tops of your suncatchers and string a plastic thread through.


   7.Hang in a sunny spot and enjoy!

 Making these were a huge hit with my kids and a great gift for the grandmothers (and aunts and teachers and the Fox even kept one for himself that he carried around with him for a week.)
 


* No bake-ware was harmed in the process of this project.

Magazine Cut-Out Ornaments

This is a really simple ornament that's great for preschoolers (and something I made myself when I was in preschool- and my mom still has it!). It is simply two pieces of paper glued together with a string for hanging sandwiched between. We found a couple wintery images in some of our old children's magazines and traced around them with a tupperware container and pencil to make a nice circle. Then we cut out the circles. We brushed glue on the back side of one paper then positioned a length of looped yarn on it so that the ends would be sandwiched between the two discs or paper with a loop to hang hanging out. Then we slapped on the other paper so the winter image faced out. Just make sure your the string is coming out the top and your pictures aren't upside down. That's it. Easy peasy.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

These are a celebrated Christmas craft and you'll find recipes for these everywhere on the web. They'll vary a little bit but they're all basically the same thing: Applesauce and Cinnamon. Some recipes have white glue added for strength. We nitpicked through them and came up with this recipe which served us well and we got a dozen good-sized ornaments out of one batch.

Cinnamon Applesauce Dough:

• 1 1/4 cups ground cinnamon
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup Elmer's glue

Mix it all up until it resembles a sticky cookie dough. It'll be too sticky to roll right now, so let it sit for a half hour to an hour until you can work with it. Then roll it out to a 1/2 inch thickness (or a little thinner) and use cookie cutters to cut shapes. Set the shapes on a cookie sheet.

To make the holes, take a straw and stick one end through the "cookie" where you want the hole. Lift it out and the little hole should come with it. Blow the hole out.

Now you can dry these in a corner. They take a couple days to dry. I'm impatient. You know that. I baked mine. Set the oven to 200 degrees and bake for 2-2.5 hours until dry, flipping the ornaments half-way through. Even so I let them dry out more overnight before the kids decorated them with glitter glue.

Decorate, hang with a ribbon. Fun and done!

Easy enough for little hands and they make great home-made gifts. They just make your whole house smell of Christmas cheer.