A couple years ago, I coordinated a Kids Craft Day at our church for moms with pre-schoolers. One of the crafts that we did was an imprint of each child's hand print in Crayola's "Model Magic" Modeling Clay. (PS - the clay comes in many colors, not just white)
This is a fast craft to do with your own kids and can easily be made into a Christmas tree ornament.
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One single package of modeling clay made three ornaments for me: one for each grandmother and one for my family to keep. I separated the clay into 3 lumps then rolled it flat onto a paper plate with a soda can. (smaller than a rolling pin and it worked better!)
Stamp the child's hand or foot into washable ink (it doesn't have to be washable, but it will take a few days to come off of the skin if it's not) and press into the clay. I held my kids' hand there for a second, pressing each finger firmly into the clay to make sure it imprinted.
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Lay the clay mound back onto the paper plate to dry. If you want to hang it on the tree, push a pencil through the top (about 1/2 inch from the edge - while the clay is still soft) to make a hole. Allow to dry for a day or two, then write the child's name and the year on the back with a marker. String a ribbon through the hole and tie with a bow and hang on the tree.
If crafts aren't your thing, an even easier personalized gift is a photo frame ornament. I unintentionally started this tradition when Ryan was born and LOVE that there are pictures of my sweet kids hidden throughout my Christmas tree. And this is totally something you can go back and do for past years, if you want. Last year, Mike was unemployed, so I was on financial lockdown and couldn't spend any money. I ended up finding some $3.99 ornaments for $.39 each in January at Target and bought two. (their 90% off Christmas sale was too good to miss!) Now all I need to do is print a favorite picture of each child from 2008 to add to the frames and hang them on the tree.
(Ryan, 2006)
(Kaylin, 2007...obviously)
(Jason, 2009)
This is a fast craft to do with your own kids and can easily be made into a Christmas tree ornament.
.
One single package of modeling clay made three ornaments for me: one for each grandmother and one for my family to keep. I separated the clay into 3 lumps then rolled it flat onto a paper plate with a soda can. (smaller than a rolling pin and it worked better!)
Stamp the child's hand or foot into washable ink (it doesn't have to be washable, but it will take a few days to come off of the skin if it's not) and press into the clay. I held my kids' hand there for a second, pressing each finger firmly into the clay to make sure it imprinted.
.
Lay the clay mound back onto the paper plate to dry. If you want to hang it on the tree, push a pencil through the top (about 1/2 inch from the edge - while the clay is still soft) to make a hole. Allow to dry for a day or two, then write the child's name and the year on the back with a marker. String a ribbon through the hole and tie with a bow and hang on the tree.
If crafts aren't your thing, an even easier personalized gift is a photo frame ornament. I unintentionally started this tradition when Ryan was born and LOVE that there are pictures of my sweet kids hidden throughout my Christmas tree. And this is totally something you can go back and do for past years, if you want. Last year, Mike was unemployed, so I was on financial lockdown and couldn't spend any money. I ended up finding some $3.99 ornaments for $.39 each in January at Target and bought two. (their 90% off Christmas sale was too good to miss!) Now all I need to do is print a favorite picture of each child from 2008 to add to the frames and hang them on the tree.
(Ryan, 2006)
(Kaylin, 2007...obviously)
(Jason, 2009)
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1 comments:
That is soo funny that you just posted this!
I am on a new crafting kick cause Kaiden is just at that age where he needs to start doing something crafty and watching less TV.
I was just at Wal-mart yesterday and picked up some finger paints, a gingerbread house (that we are going to decorate together today), and that molding clay to make....you guessed it, ornaments!!!
I was at a loss of what to get the grandparents this year and I love to give ornaments so I thought that would be a priceless gift! I then want him to finger paint on large paper so I can use it for wrapping paper for the gifts. It all sounds so good in my head, we'll see how it turns out!
I'll be posting our finished products later this week.
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