Favorite Recipe for Hand/Paw Print Christmas Ornament

Another rainy day, another craft!!!  This one by far is the easiest.  Two 4 year old boys measured and mixed the dough to create their own ornaments.  Great gifts for grandma and keepsakes.

Recipe: per child, about 4 hand prints but depends on size of hands
Mix together
1 C flour
1/2 C salt
1/2 C water

Knead 10 min. to form firm ball.  If sticky, add small amounts of flour.  Great way to strengthen hand muscles!  Should be like play dough.

Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4" thickness.

Press hands or feet into the dough.  Use a cup or bowl to make into a circle shape and use a straw to poke a hole for ribbon.

Leave out to dry or bake in oven at 250 degrees.  Keep an eye on it!

Options:  add food coloring to the dough
Use cookie cutters or stamps
Paint  

 

Kneading the dough

Making a ball

Rolling the dough

Press hand - don't forget to poke hole for ribbon

I pressed baby's hand while he was asleep!  

Works great for paw prints too!

Homemade Ornaments Option #1

The holidays are upon us and we are stuck indoors due to the rain.  I did some research online and found two recipes, one of which I have used in the past.  Initially I wanted to do hand prints but I found this recipe best for using cookie cutters and stamps. (My next post will be the recipe for hand prints.)  That being said, this project was easy, fast and fun.  We were able to make these while my two month old napped.  I cut this recipe in half and it made about 10 ornaments.  Next time I will make the whole recipe.  Once air dried, we will paint and add ribbon to hang on our tree or attach to gifts,

Recipe:  yields about 20 ornaments
2 cups baking soda

1 cup cornstarch

1 1/4 cup water

1st xmas

 

Add ingredients and stir constantly

When it looks like mashed potatoes - cool with damp cloth covering it

Roll it out on a surface lightly dusted with cornstarch to about 1/4 inch, cookie cutter and stamp (optional), make hole for ribbon

Ready to play...done crafting!   

Air dry.  Paint, glitter  or leave white.

Popcorn Turkey Surprise

This year I brought in a turkey for my son's preschool class.  This wasn't your ordinary turkey, it was a popcorn turkey!  It was so fun to watch the eyes of the kids as the teacher carved the turkey.  They all enjoyed their Thanksgiving Feast!

The body of the bird was made from a large grocery bag turned inside out and stuffed with popcorn.  I folded the ends in and hot glued it shut.  The drumsticks were made from two lunch size paper bags.  I formed the bag around my fist first and then filled.  I put a rubber band around the end.  I took a white piece of paper and cut slits on it and attached it to the  end of the drumsticks.  Then hot glue the drumsticks onto the body of the bird.  Place on a platter.  YUM!!!

"Hand" and "Foot" Turkey craft

Gobble, Gobble, this turkey is one of a kind and has a lot to be thankful for this year!
You need construction paper (various colors) glue, scissors, and markers.
The body is made by tracing the child's foot on brown construction paper.
The feathers are the child's hand.  I had my son do 4 feathers to match his age.  He picked his favorite colors.
This craft can be done with any age and parent help varies with the child.  My son is not a big fan of crafts so I cut out the hand prints and did the writing.  He did the rest.  We used "teamwork."  It will be fun to do this project again next year to see what he is thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!