Snowman Light Bulbs by James and Nick

The prettiest (last) one created as we learned how to do it. Christmas 2011

So this was not a complete failure and there were lessons learned.  I like the final result and I think next year these will be cool enough to give as gifts!

Needed:

• Spent light bulbs (they don't work but are whole)
• spray glue
• craft glitter
• puffy paing
• black
• orange
• Sticks
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Ribbon, raffia, or twine, cut to length desired to tie off at the top and attach to tree or other decorative area, maybe 12in
• Paper bag
• scissors

Directions:

1. Open paper bag and lay on it's side.  Holding the light bulb by the silver part, spray white areas completely with spray glue.
2. Immediately sprinkle glitter on wet glue.
3. Tie the ribbon around the base of the silver part, nearest the white.  Knot it.
4. Hot glue the arms in place.  Note: you may need to wipe away the glitter first.  Press the sticks into place.  Hold until the glue is pretty secure.
5. Using the orange paint, create the carrot nose.
6. Using the black paint, create the eyes, mouth, then buttons.
7. Hang somewhere nothing will disturb it until it is completely dry-- I have no idea how long it will take the paint to dry.  The glue was within about 15min.

Notes:
Do everything but the paint first--too easy to accidentally smear it.  I STILL have glitter spray glued to my fingers--not sure how to get it off.

Scooped from this website: http://kelseybang.blogspot.com/2011/11/deck-halls-with-christmas-jolly.html?showComment=1320823288629#c7428421163536952238

Hot Chocolate Dipping Spoons by James and Nick

James and Nick Created these, Christmas 2011

(Playing catch-up on some of our crafts this week).  Here we worked on the Hot Chocolate Dipping spoons--we made these into a bouquet to attach to the outside of our neighbor's gift box (with the candy cane wreath inside).

Needed:

• Chocolate (we used about a half a cup of semisweet chocolate chips)
• Candy decorations:
• we used marshmallows
• colored sugar
• dried cranberries
• edible sparkle dust
• broken candy cane
• Plastic spoons ( we had clear, but colored ones from the Dollar store or such would give a nice festive touch)
• Siran Wrap or plastic baggies (not zipper seal sort)
• Ribbon ( we used about 6in each, for a total of 42in)
• a book about 1/2in-3/4in thick

Directions:

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 15sec intervals, stirring after each 15sec, until the chocolate is mostly melted.
2. Temper the chocolate, if desired.  (  How to melt and temper chocolate )
3. Place back end of spoon on book and rest the bowl of spoon on counter or table--this will level the chocolate.
4. Spoon your melted chocolate into the bowl of the spoon.
5. Press desired candy decorations into the chocolate (if using other chocolate, make sure melted chocolate has cooled enough not to melt the new chocolate) or sprinkle with sugars.
6. Let cool.  We cooled to room temp first, then placed in fridge for a bit.
7. Once solid, wrap the chocolate ends with siran wrap or plastic bag and tie off with a ribbon.

Note:
The boys loved this craft and want to do it again with a greater variety of decorations, ie edible silver balls, cinnamon red hots, jelly beans, etc.

Scooped from this website: http://deliciousdeliciousdelicious.blogspot.com/2010/02/chocolate-party-spoons.html

Candy Cane Wreath Made by James and Nick

Made by Nick and James, Christmas 2011

The boys have been busy trying new Christmas crafts.  This was a success!  They each made a candy cane wreath for us to keep and decorate our home with and this one to give to a neighbor.

Needed:
22 wrapped canes (opt: extra for breakage)
hot glue
ribbon

Directions:

1. Using two canes, hot glue them back to back (with crooks pointed away from each other).  11 pairs should be the result.
2. Next, tie a length of ribbon onto each pair--this is decorative not functional.  Opt: Bows, ties, or, using curling ribbon, curly cues. 
3. Hot glue a pair of candy canes to another creating a "heart" shape" from the crooks.  Hot glue the bottom tips too.  Continue until all cane pairs have been added to the wreath.  Note: we found that sometimes we ended up with too much space at the top and not enough in the middle.  So, as can be seen in the pic here, we glued the last pair on top of the two other pairs where the gap was and used this as our anchor pair to attach the ribbon.
4. After all glue has cooled, use a long length of ribbon to hang the wreath.  We made a bow out of this wreath's anchor ribbon.  We found suction cup hooks at the Dollar Store to attach them to our front windows.

Note:  The more expensive the cane, in theory, the  more uniform the cane pairs will be.  The wreath is flimsy so be careful, but it will hold up once in place on the wall or window.

We are thinking it will be fun to get the mini canes, dewrap them, and make tree ornaments from them.  Probably have to toss them each year as I don't know if that will store-- but then again it might if they were stored in a zip lock  baggie first.

The idea was nabbed from here: http://www.beverlys.com/candy-cane-wreath/