Salt Dough Hand Ornaments - ON THE FENCE

My good friend Octavia Zuniga tested this Pin on making Salt Dough Hand Ornaments that look like Santa Claus.  I think it's an excellent idea and I am so glad she shared it with me along with the photos and her experience with this crafty project.

I have had great experience with the Salt Dough Footprint Keepsake so I knew this would be an easy and fun craft to do with kids.

Her main grievance is that once the ornaments are completed, they are far too heavy to hang on a Christmas tree so the term "ornament" should be used loosely here. Also, that is why I have labeled this pin as "on the fence."  It was a great and fun project to do with her kiddos, but at the same time it wasn't the same as the pin suggested and the use of the "ornament" on a tree is out of the question.

She did say that if you were to add some string and use a suction cup they would look very cute hanging on a window or using a nail on the wall.  Her idea now is to do this every year and hang them up as a sort of "growth chart" for each child which I think is a fantastic idea!

What you will need (along with paint)

This project did turn out awesome and I think very cute, they will just be used in a different way than the site suggested.

All done and very cute!!

Reindeer Cupcakes - PROVEN

My good friend, Amanda Benn found this super cute recipe online and sent it to me.  From the first time I saw it I knew we would have to try it as soon as possible.

These reindeer cupcakes were very easy and really fun to make!!

We doubled the batch so we would each have 2 dozen to share with friends and family, or to devour ourselves!

Okay, hold on to your hats and get ready to laugh at me, but I have never made cupcakes before, ever.  Not that I recall anyway, I am sure I have watched and "helped" my mom when I was a child but not in my adult life. 

We used Sixlets for the Reindeer eyes

I was no expert on filling the cups, I got cake mix everywhere at which point Amanda took over for me.  I was just making too much of a mess!!

I recommend making sure that ALL the cupcakes are completely done cooking.  When it came time to frost them, there were about 8 (out of 48) that were crumbling and falling apart, so we decided just to eat those and not decorate them! DARN! :)

We used red peanut butter M&Ms for the noses!

 

I think that they turned out amazing!  It was an awesome time with my great friend, Amanda and we got these delicious and adorable treats!!

 



We liked them better as Rudolphs!

Wall Art from Christmas Tree Ornaments - ON THE FENCE

I saw this awesome idea on Pinterest to put cheap dollar store ornaments into a shadow box and ta-da you have yourself some pretty neat wall art.

I went to Dollar General that very day and purchased some multi-colored--but mostly pink and purple--small ornaments, since they were to be used as a wall decoration in my daughter's room.

When I got home I discovered that I had grossly overestimated the depth of my shadow box and the ornaments were too large, even though I purchased the smallest round ones available.  This is my fault and why I have labeled this post as "on the fence."  If I am able to find an alternative shadow box I will definitely try this again. 

For now, I stuck the ornaments in a glass boot and some mason jars with little battery operated candles, which is cute enough for now, it adds a nice splash of color to the counter and when the lights are off in the kitchen the candles create a nice warm glow.

I will try the shadow box idea if I can get my hands on one with more depth and for a reasonable price!

If you have tried this idea, please share your results with me!  I would love to hear your story!

Tomato Cage Christmas Decoration - PROVEN

I am pretty sure most of my friends have used this little trick already, but I thought I would share my experience.

When I saw this pin on a cool homemade Christmas decoration, I just had to try it!

I was able to borrow some tomato cages from my awesome cousins Shanna and Kevin ;) 
I thought I would need an extension cord, but the outlet I was going to use doesn't have a 3-prong socket so I was able to improvise.

 

 

Make sure you CHECK YOUR LIGHTS before you go through the entire process of wrapping them around the tomato cage.  I had tested mine about 5 days prior to this and figured I was safe.   I was wrong.  I waited until it was dark out and flipped the switch inside and nothing happened.  I checked everything and all the plugs were in order, it was the lights.  Something must have happened to them in the 5 days since I had checked them last.  Bummer!

 

Because of my mishap I had to wait until I had some more free time to re-wrap the lights and was just now able to complete my project 3 days later. 

 

 



My front porch has a light and last year I purchased a Light Socket Adapter so I had a good place to plug in Christmas lights.  Since I couldn't use an extension cord with the adapter I purchased I was able to prop up my "tree" on the grill ledge!  Love to improvise!

 

I am very pleased with the results and I would greatly recommend this project for you.  Really, all you need is a tomato cage and a a string of lights.  I guess you could doll it up a little with some tinsel, a star or some other decorations but I didn't want to risk losing anything in the blizzard-like Michigan winter.

 

Happy Holidays!!!