How to Make Hand and Foot Angel Ornaments

I smiled yesterday when my daughter cheerfully asked, "What Christmas activities are we going to do today?" My Christmas activity plan is working. Instead of just thinking about things to do with my children I'm actually doing them. That's a good thing!

So what Christmas activity did we do yesterday? We read a Christmas book, hung our Jesse Tree ornament and made hand and foot angel Ornaments.

To make a hand and foot angel ornament you need:

• white card stock 
• glue stick
• crayons, markers, tissue, paper, ribbon - whatever you want to use to decorate your angel
• ribbon to hang your angel

First, trace around one foot and both hands with fingers together. Next cut out the hands and feet. Now either glue them together or decorate and then glue. That part depends on how elaborate you decorate. It's really a simple and quick craft.

We aren't very crafty so my children just colored their angels. But you could use bits of ribbons, tissue paper, markers, paint. The skies the limit on decorating.

Another cute idea mentioned in The ADVENTure of Christmas is to cut out your child's face and glue it as the face of the angel. I'm not sure how angelic my children are but it would be sweet to hang up again next year and see how they've changed.

So is your Christmas tree filling up with all of these home made ornaments like mine is? There's always room for one more ornament!

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One Wintry Night

"The first Christmas happened almost 2,000 years ago," she began...But the story doesn't begin there. I couldn't have because the angel called Jesus a 'savior,' or a rescuer. Someone must have been in trouble.

To find out about it, we have to jump into a time machine and go back before Mary and Joseph were born..." - One Wintry Night

One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham takes the Jesse Tree concept and puts in children's book form. 

I love One Wintry Night because it sets the birth of Jesus in the context of the entire biblical story. As you read the book, you learn that God had been working down through time, all leading up to the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

One Wintry Night is not a quick read. It is 70 pages long and divided into 11 chapters. The illustrations are magnificent and definitely capture a child's attention. I like to read this book over a several days. It's great to use with a Jesse Tree or even in place of a Jesse tree.

I highly recommend you purchase One Wintry Night to read with your children!

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How to Make No-Bake Spiced Ornaments

This year I am all about ornaments that connect with a memory. Our candy cane reindeer ornaments remind us of a fun day spent together as a family.

Our no-bake spiced ornaments will remind us of a play date with sweet friends for years to come.

To make your own spiced ornaments you will need:

• 1 cup ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. ground cloves
• 1 tbsp. ground ginger
• 1 tbsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 cup applesauce
• 2 tbsp. white craft glue
• Food coloring (optional)
• A few tablespoons of all-purpose flour

Combine the cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Add the applesauce and glue. Work all ingredients until mixed thoroughly. If desired, add food coloring now.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough with cookie cutters. Bore a hole in the top of each ornament (a drinking straw works well for this).

Lay ornaments out flat to dry at room temperature for 3-5 days, turning over often. (If you or your child runs out of patience, you can always speed up the process by popping these in a 200* oven for 1 hour.)

When they are completely dry, thread short lengths of ribbon or string through the hole in each ornament. (Recipe found in The ADVENTure of Christmas)

Those are the official directions and here are my side notes: I used about 1/2 cup of flour keeping the ornaments from sticking to the counter. I also used my hand to flatten them out rather than a rolling pin. It took 2 batches of the recipe to make all the ornaments you see in the above picture.

Also, we baked our ornaments and then they set out for 3 days. I turned them over each day because the bottoms kept getting moist. And anytime I used the oven I put the ornaments back in after I turned the oven off. I might have made ours a little too thick but experience has taught me that thin dough ornaments DON'T stand the test of time.

Finally, we painted our ornaments with paint pens to add a little more decoration to them.

Have you made spiced ornaments? They make your whole house smell delicious!

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