Christmas Craft Time

I will be posting a lot of photos and there will be many different posts going up today.  I seem to run out of time for some reason. LOL!  But I want to share all this with you. So, Here we go. 

First I want to share some photos of the boys making gifts for family and friends.  This craft is amazingly easy and very affordable. They are making Salt Dough Ornaments.  I helped them make a list of people they wanted to make them for, then we picked out cookie cutters that they wanted to use for each person.  All you need is 1/2 cup Salt, 1/2 cup Flour, and 1/4 cup water. 

 You mush it all together.  I used a fork cause it was easy for the kids and I.  When you get the water mixed in you can then use your hands to make it more like a dough.

 Then you can roll it out like sugar cookie dough.  I would make it a bit thicker though.  If it is too thin, they will crumble easily. 

 Then you cut them with your cookie cutters.  They can stay close to each other because they do not rise or spread.  They stay the same as when you cut them out.

 Then you bake them at 200* for 3 hours.  If you bake them any higher, they will get air bubble and turn an awful brownish color.  So stick with the 200*. :)  Also, a side note, Don't make them too thick or they wont cook all the way and the back will be a little doughy.

 After they cool for a bit, you can then paint them.  I used an acrylic water based paint.  I got the 2 oz bottles on sale for $.69 each.  Picked out a few different colors.  We still have a bunch left and We all made them.  Plus I did ornaments for the Church as well. (scroll down for photos of those).

 When they are all done you do not really need to do anything.  They can be done, but they look a bit dull in the color.  So I got a spray gloss to get them all shiny.  That was the most expensive part of all this.  But I used a coupon and cut the price in half.  All you do is put a ribbon on them and they are ready to go. :)  The boys had a ton of fun.  I also did their handprints and we did this project in JR. Church.  It takes a few weeks to accomplish, but the kids really enjoyed it.

 Here are the ones I made for the Church family.  I really like them. :)

  Here is how they hang after I tied the ribbon.