Gingerbread Face Cookies
What You'll Need:
- Your favorite gingerbread cookie recipes
- Candies for decoration such as gumdrops, nonpareils, sprinkles, decorator icing, M&M's, Skittles, etc.
How to Make It:
- Make cookie dough and use large round cookie cutters or a drinking cup to create circles. Bake as directed and allow to cool off completely.
- Place different types of decorations (candies) into small bowls.
- Use decorator frosting to draw on rick rack.
- To glue on eyes, cheeks and nose, dot some decorator frosting onto the cookie, then gently press the decoration on top of it.
- Cut gumdrops in half, use the top half for eyes and bottom half for cheeks.
- To make colorful hair, cover top of cookie with decorator icing then dip into nonpareils or skittles.
Tips:
- If you would like softer cookies, do not roll the dough as thin and bake for a few minutes less.
- If you have several children participating, be sure to set out enough bowls of decorations and place them within reach.
- This is a perfect photo opportunity! Be sure to have your camera ready when the children begin to decorate.
Homemade Christmas Ornaments: Lightbulb Rudolph
What You'll Need:
- Burnt out lightbulb
- White vinegar
- Paintbrush
- Acrylic craft paint: brown, white, black and red
- 1 small jingle bell
- 6'' thin gold ribbon
- 3 brown chenille stems
- 1 black chenille stems
- Black thin tip marker
- Red or silver glitter glue
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
- Sealer Spray
How to Make It:
- Rinse the lightbulb with white vinegar and let dry.
- Paint lightbulb brown and let dry overnight.
- Paint lightbulb with a second coat and let dry for 2-3 hours.
- Put a dot of hot glue on the screw cap where it meets the glass of the lightbulb. Place the end of a brown chenille stem on the glue. Wrap the chenille stem around the screw cap, gluing as you go.
- Before continuing with the second chenille stem (it will take two full chenille stems to cover the screw cap of a standard lightbulb), bend the black chenille stem in half. Glue the open ends of the black chenille stem onto the brown twists you just added (to create the ornament hanger). Now continue with the second chenille, wrapping around the ends of the black chenille, covering them up.
- Bend the third brown chenille stem into the shape of antlers. Squeeze the bends so that the bends are touching each other. Glue the antlers to the back of the chenille covered screw cap.
- Dip thumb in red paint and gently press onto the large end of the bulb for the nose.
- Dip your pointing finger into white paint and dot the eyes. Let the nose and eyes dry before continuing.
- Meanwhile, thread the jingle bell onto the gold ribbon.When the bulb is dry, turn it over and glue the ribbon to the back of the bulb, you want the jingle bell to hang down just below the bottom of the bulb so that it appears your reindeer has on a collar.
- Use the handle end of a paintbrush dipped in black paint to dot on the blacks of the eye.
- Put a little silver glitter glue on your finger and smear it over the top of the red nose.
- When dry, spray the entire lightbulb with sealer spray and let dry by hanging somewhere safe.
Tips:
- Jingle bells are available at discount department stores and craft supply stores.
- Watch for sales on ribbon after every holiday.
- Save burnt out lightbulbs for these types of projects. If you save the packages they came in when new, mark the outside of the box "burnt out" and store them in there so they won't break.
