Ho! Ho! Ho! Canvas Santa Silhouette {tutorial}

Posted on December 13, 2011 by frecklescrafts

I have a little shelf/coat rack in my front entry way that was in desperate need of some Christmas cheer! So what is a gal to do when she is in need of some last minute holiday decor? Make it of course! Here is a simple tutorial to make this Canvas Santa Silhouette perfect for a fireplace mantel, entryway or a bare wall that is just begging for some holiday decor!

Supplies:

Canvas (I used an 8×10 size for this tutorial)
Patterned Paper (two sheets in coordinating colors or patterns)
Scissors
Modge Podge
Straight Edge (craft stick, ruler, credit card)
Foam Brush
Ribbon
Tacky Glue or Hot Glue
Computer and Printer

Choose a festive piece of paper to use as the canvas background. Trim the paper as needed to fit the size of the canvas. Apply a thin layer of Mode Podge to the canvas, and to the back of the patterned paper, making sure to apply the mode podge all the way to the edge.

Apply the paper to the canvas and smooth out any air bubbles with a straight edge.

Print a silhouette of Santa from your computer. There are hundreds of great images online! I found a royalty free clipart image here for this tutorial. Adjust the size of the image as needed to fit the canvas, and print onto a sheet of plain paper.

Cut out the Santa image, and trace it onto the second piece of patterned paper.

Cut the Santa image out of the patterned paper. Apply a thin layer of mode podge to the Santa image, making sure to apply it all the way to the edges of the paper. Adhere the Santa image to the canvas, and smooth out any air bubbles with a straight edge.

Use your computer’s word processing program to type the words “ho, ho, ho” in different sizes. Print onto a sheet of plain white printer paper.

Cut out the letters and arrange them on your canvas so that it appears the words are being said by Santa! Once you have a design you like, mode podge the letters into place, and smooth out any air bubbles with a straight edge.

Use hot glue or tacky glue to attach ribbon to the plain canvas edge.

That’s it! Time to display your new work of art! I think it dresses up this plain shelf quite nicely!

I loved making this project and it only took about an hour to do. I plan to make a few more as hostess and neighbor gifts! It is just too cute not to share!

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Reindeer Cookie Pops {a tutorial}

Posted on December 12, 2011 by frecklescrafts

I am not much of a cook but I love to bake, and the holidays are the perfect excuse for me to get in the kitchen and try out some new recipes. I came up with this recipe for reindeer cookie pops because I love the oh so popular cake pops but they are way too time consuming for this gal to make! I like my recipes quick and easy! I think these cookie pops are just as cute as the cake pops but with a lot less work, and they make really cute gifts to boot! I hope that you enjoy this recipe, and that it will give you an excuse to get in the kitchen with your kids to start creating some wonderful holiday memories!

Here is what you need:

refrigerated cookie dough (break and bake cookies in any flavor)
craft sticks or sucker sticks
milk chocolate chips (1 cup for six cookies)
white icing
skittles
round pretzels
mini reeces peanut butter cups
microwavable safe bowl
spatula
waxed paper
baking sheet
ribbon
clear sandwich bag (not ziplock)

Pre-heat your oven to the temperature stated on your cookie package. Start by placing about 6 of the break and bake cookies on your cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie with your hand or with the bottom of a glass, and insert a craft stick into each cookie.

Break pretzels in half. Add one half to each side of the cookie to make antlers. Gently press the pretzels into the dough. Bake according to the times listed on your cookie package. They look a little strange now but they will shape up nicely when baked. I promise!

Here they are! Nice and round and starting to look a little more like a reindeer. Allow to cool, and then carefully transfer the baked cookies to a sheet of waxed paper.

Melt chocolate chips in a microwavable safe bowl. To avoid burning your chocolate, microwave it in 30 second intervals stirring the chips between each cooking interval. You will have nice evenly melted chocolate this way.

Yum! I love melted chocolate! Now comes the fun part. You can start decorating your cookie! Use a spatula or a spoon to evenly spread melted chocolate over the cookie.

Begin adding candies to form the face. I used skittles for the eyes and nose, mini reeses peanut butter cups for the reindeer snout, and some white icing with a dab of chocolate for the pupils. Finish it off by using a toothpick to draw a little mouth. Isn’t he cute?

Refrigerate the cookie until the chocolate is set. Remove from the fridge and place the cookie pop into a sandwich bag and tie closed with a ribbon. These turned out super cute, and will make great gifts!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. What are some of your favorite holiday recipes to make? I would love to hear about them!

Please feel free to share your comments below!

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Turkey Place Card Craft

Posted on November 17, 2011 by frecklescrafts

What do you do when you have a group of bored kids and a bunch of recycled wine corks? You make Thanksgiving Day Turkey Place Cards of course!

I came up with this craft a few years ago when I was hosting Thanksgiving, and wanted an activity that all of the kids (ranging in ages 3-13 at the time) could work on while the adults cooked dinner. The kids loved having a project, especially one that made a decoration for the table!

Supplies:

Corks (you can buy new or use recycled ones)
Tacky or Elmer’s White Glue
Wood Toothpicks
Scrap Pieces of Card Stock
Scrap piece of Felt
Google Eyes
Scissors (Fancy Edge Optional)
Sharpie

Cut a small triangle from the felt. This will become the turkey’s beak.

Cut several triangle shapes from the scrap pieces of card stock. It is best to cut the triangles tall and thin so that when glued together they will fit on the cork. In this tutorial I used fancy edged scissors to make the triangles look like ruffled feathers.

Glue the feather shapes together while overlapping each slightly to form a fan shape.

Glue the google eyes and beak to one end of the cork. I love using recycled corks for this project because the wine stained end makes the face of the turkey really stand out!

Cut two toothpicks in half using plain edged scissors.

Now you have four turkey legs! Hopefully the ones on the real bird have more meat on them, ha!

Poke the pointy end of each toothpick into the cork. Make sure they are spaced evenly so that your turkey will stand up.

Glue the feathers to the back end of the turkey. Now you have yourself a recycled cork turkey! Use your sharpie to write a name on the side of the cork and add these to the dinner table as place card holders.

These are a great addition to the dinner table decor that your kids will be very proud of!

How do you get your kids involved on Thanksgiving? I would love to hear your ideas. Feel free to leave a comment below!

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