Make Your Own Holiday Crafts

Making quick homemade crafts for the Holidays is much easier than you think. It only takes a few minutes and a few ingredients to make each of these items. They are both easy to clean up, require no heat or cooking and are so easy a child could make them. In fact, both of these projects are geared towards small children, though you will definitely want to supervise them for each project.

Both the Reindeer Food and the Chocolate Christmas Tree are sure to put a smile on a child's face and make the adults who visit you wonder where you got such creative ideas!

What You Will Need:

• Dried oatmeal
• Sugar
• Plastic bags
• One medium bowl
• Spoon to stir
• Craft glitter (optional)

• One small or medium cone-shaped Styrofoam piece
• Enough tin foil to cover the cone
• Toothpicks
• Individually foil-wrapped chocolates

Making the Reindeer Food:

• Measure out ½ cup plus 2 tsp of oatmeal for each child who will be spreading the reindeer food
• Measure out ½ cup plus 2tsp of sugar per child
• Measure out ¾ tsp glitter per child if you so desire. This 'food' will be spread on your front steps and lawn, so only add glitter if you don't mind your home's entrance having some glitter for a few days
• Pour all ingredients into a bowl. Stir with your spoon until well combined
• Spoon out equal amounts into plastic baggies, one for each child
• Wait until Christmas Eve and instruct children to spread the 'food' across the steps and/or lawn in the front of your home. Tell them that it will help Santa's reindeer to find your home in the dark.

Chocolate Christmas Tree:

• Wrap the Styrofoam cone in tin foil
• Using the toothpicks, spear several pieces of individually-wrapped chocolate candy
• Take the speared chocolates and begin to place them into the foil-wrapped cone, being sure to space them out evenly.
• Add ribbons or any extra adornments if you so desire. Some like to put a small star on top to make it look more like a Christmas tree.

Tips, Tricks and Cautions:

• For the reindeer food, you can substitute coloured sugars in holiday colours to make them more festive.
• The wind and/or rain generally will wipe away all traces of the reindeer food but if it does not, the food is easy to sweep up with a broom.
• For the chocolate tree, any foil-wrapped candy will do, but chocolate is the easiest to spear. We used chocolate kisses in this example in holiday colours but again, any colours will do.
• It is perfectly fine to let guests eat the chocolates. If you have a holiday party, the chocolates will often be gone by the end of the night, making cleanup a breeze. You may want to have a small bowl or dish nearby so that people can discard the toothpicks and foil wrappers without littering.
• Be careful not to break the toothpicks when spearing the candies, as splinters or finger cuts can occur. If this does happen, seek medical advice immediately and resume the project only after you are sure it is safe to do so.

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