He’s Got Me Leg!

The hooligans love looking at “their” ornaments each year as we decorate the tree. I remember my brother and I were the same way when we were small. Heck, I’m that way now!

I was struggling a little with this year’s ornament for the kids, but yesterday creativity struck and here they are.

The kids think these cookie cutters are hysterical. I bought them a few years ago from SpoonSisters.com. You can, too…they still have them. They’re called ABC Cookies (Already Been Chewed…aaah, the humor of elementary school never fails).

If you don’t want to buy them, you could use a regular cookie cutter, then use a scalloped biscuit cutter or plain ol’ knife to cut off appendages.

I used Sculpey Oven Bake Clay in Brown, White, Red, and Blue. Just roll out the borwn as you would cookie dough. They’re between 1/8” and 1/4” thick, and 1 package made 3 ornaments with a but left over. Cut them out like cookies and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Decorate with the other colors (and get out that need to play with clay). Bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes. They’ll still be a little flexible when done, which is fine. Overbaked means they’ll shatter easily. Don’t ask how I know.

After they cooled, I wrote the names and year on the back using a white gel pen and made a hanging loop from red and white baker’s twine. And you thought I wasn’t going to sneak in any Stampin’ Up! products today! The pen and twine both are.

Now I have to go make 24 of these, out of actual gingerbread dough, for Princess Thundercloud’s preschool party on Thursday. When I picked her up last week, she was crying inconsolably and the teacher could not figure out what was wrong. Nor would she tell me. She did let us know she wasn’t hurt or sick, but that was it. On the way home, she finally deigned to tell me. They made a gingerbread boy at school, and when the teacher went to get him from the kitchen, he jumped up and ran away. AND THE FOX WOULD CATCH HIM AND EAT HIM!!!

I finally convinced her he was fine and hiding in the playhouse in the playground, and her teachers confirmed it at the next class. So all was well, but we have to make more gingerbread men that are unable to run away, she says!

I hope your day is not fraught with drama and foxes. It’s much too close to Christmas!

Dolphins in the Snow

My boys’ school mascot is a dolphin. Of course it is. What else would it be here in the middle of rural Wisconsin? Anyhoo, I found a very cool dolphin stamp in a small local store this fall and grabbed it, knowing I could find something to do with it for teachers.

I wanted an ornament to tie on the homemade granola we’re giving as teacher gifts this year, and wanted to use that stamp. I think they’re super cool, and my kids love them, of course. The drawback here is that plastic ornaments have WAY too much static cling for the glitter, so I had to use glass. Hopefully they’ll make it to school without breaking. Perhaps I better help deliver them. And, by the way, if a school can have a dolphin mascot and think it's appropriate 2000 miles from the ocean, then I can certainly use it in a Christmas decoration!

To make these, stamp your image using Stazon ink on transparency film. Cut out a circle the same diameter as your ornament, centering your stamped image. Roll the circle into a tight tube and slide it into the neck of the ornament. I used the flattened circle ornaments rather than just spheres. The transparency is a little more stable that way and doesn’t shift around as much. Can you tell I’ve tried way too many times to get these things to work? But it was fun experimenting. I rolled up a paper into a funnel with a very small opening and taped it, then used that to pour some glitter in front and behind the transparency. I used white and blue glitter, since the school colors are blue, gray, and white.

Then I just replaced the ornament cap and tied on a stamped tag, jingle bell, and ribbon using silver elastic cord. I also wrote “2011” using a silver Sharpie, but it’s hard to see in the photo.

The granola recipe we use I found in Rachel Ray’s magazine last Christmas. It received rave reviews from everyone we gifted it to last year, and the kids really liked helping make it.

Berry Christmas Granola Recipe - Every Day with Rachael Ray

For now, it's back to the giftwrapping coal mine for me. There's an end in sight. I hope and pray.