Christmas Craft Idea

I originally posted this for a craft carnival, but due to a complete lack of original thought, I am also posting it for Works for me Wednesday! Yes, I know that's cheating, but it's been a rough week, involving a trip to the ER and severe anemia (2 points from needing a blood transfusion - yikes!), so I've decided that cheating works for me this week! ;-)

I've just discovered a blog called Just a Girl. She is currently having a blog carnival for craft ideas for Christmas. I got to thinking about something neat that I had done that was actually my own idea (as far as I know, anyway!!) and I remembered a craft that I did 5 years ago with my kids that I still treasure. I made Santas out of their hands. Now, please know that I am NOT a talented crafter, and I definitely have no artistic abilities, so someone else can probably take this to new heights, but I was happy with what I did. Here's how they look today, 5 years later:



Aren't they cute? And they are super-easy to make, because, if they weren't, then I couldn't have done them!!

I fashioned my ornaments out of salt-dough. It's very easy to find a recipe online, and it's also very inexpensive, as it's pretty much flour, salt, and water. I had each of my children (the youngest was barely a year old at the time) lay their hands out on the rolled out dough and, using a toothpick, I traced their hand outlines. I then cut the hands out with the tip of a sharp knife and transferred them to a cookie sheet. I baked them in the oven slowly to dry them, per the instructions with the dough recipe. After they were fully dried and cooled, I turned them upside down and painted them into little Santas. Here is a little closer picture of one to show the specifics of how I painted them:



I made the tip of the hat with the fake snow type stuff, and the rest was just paint. Over time, the paint has crackled just a bit, but I think it makes them look more country and cute. The fingers make the beard, and the thumb is the hat. I think these would make great gifts for grandparents. Maybe I should make some more for my mom - I couldn't possibly part with these, though!! Of course, the kids' hands have grown a LOT since 2003! :-)

If you give this a try, I would love to see where you take the idea. I bet someone can really do something amazing with the idea. Happy Christmas crafting!!!! And for more great Works for Me ideas, visit Rocks in my Dryer. Enjoy!!!