Reindeer sandwich

My kids loved this lunch! Leave it to Martha to think that you could turn a gingerbread man cookie cutter upside down and make it look like a reindeer. Take a few extra minutes to make this lunch, and really get your kids excited for Christmas.

To make:

Melt a few tablespoons of chocolate chips in the microwave, on 20 second intervals, until the whole dish of chocolate is melted. Pour the chocolate into a small plastic bag, and cut the corner of the bag. On a piece of wax paper, pipe some small antlers. Place the wax paper in the freezer while you make the rest of the sandwich.

I made a ham sandwich for Claire. To make the eyes, I cut a mini marshmallow in half, and stuck a mini chocolate chip on each marshmallow. I placed a red smartie on the tip of the sandwich for the nose. Take the wax paper out of the freezer, and carefully peel off the antlers, and place on the sandwich.

That's it! I hope that your kids enjoy it as much as mine did.

Linking up with: Six Sister's Stuff &  Skip to my Lou & Tip Junkie & Weekly Kids Co-op & Tatertots and Jello  & Rust & Sunshine

cork stamped ornaments

I love these cork print ornaments that Claire and I made. They are not made using traditional Christmas colours, but obviously you could make these with whatever colours you prefer. They require a little planning, but don't take very much time to make.

Required supplies:
cardstock (I used 4x4 paper)
paint (various shades)
paper scraps for flag/pennant thing
sewing machine (OR staple a length of bakers twine or ribbon to the ornament)
scissors
black pen/marker
wine cork

To start, I cut my cardstock into 4x4 squares. Rather than let Claire go all willy nilly stamping the cork all over the page, I made a few very tiny, very light dots with a pencil where I wanted her to stamp the ornaments. She had fun choosing what colours went where.

When the paint was dry, I sewed a line from the top of the ornament to the top of the page. You could just cut a piece of twine or ribbon and staple it on the page. Draw little hooks on the top of the ornaments.

Use two paper scraps to create the flag/pennant at the top of the page. I used a couple of Christmas rub ons that I had. You could just write Christmas words, but I don't always love my handwriting.

I chose just to make these as decorations, but you could use a larger piece of paper, and make it into a card, or conversely, using a smaller bit of paper and make gift tags.

Linking up with: Six Sister's Stuff &  Skip to my Lou & Tip Junkie & Weekly Kids Co-op & Tatertots and Jello

sprinkle pudding cups

 I love this idea of lining a milk cup with sprinkles. It has been beautifully photographed here. As one of the kids Advent activities, we had a little Christmas tea party yesterday. I had a lot of Christmas sprinkles kicking around, and these cups only took a few extra minutes to make. They were definitely worth making, the kids LOVED them.

To make the glasses, grab whatever chocolate you've on hand. I used chocolate chips the first time I made them, and bittersweet chocolate the second time. Melt it in a double boiler, or in the microwave on intervals. Dip the glass in the chocolate, and then in a bowl of sprinkles. They will set quickly.

My sister (is law) brought over some of the whipped shortbreads that we love so much here. I made Christmas Rice Krispie squares, and homemade chocolate pudding. I used this recipe, but I found it a bit too chocolatey. Never thought that I'd say that! It would be just as nice with
whatever store bought pudding you like. Whenever we have tea parties here, I fill the tea pot with chocolate milk, and the creamer with milk. The kids love stirring the two together.

For our advent activity today, we're going to write and post our letters to Santa. The anticipation is starting to build...

Linking up with: Six Sister's Stuff &  Skip to my Lou & Tip Junkie & Weekly Kids Co-op & Tatertots and Jello