Homemade Christmas Gifts

Since I was a kid my family has always participated in a gift exchange for Christmas. We all give everyone a gift. It doesn't have to be anything expensive but at least something for everyone. I wanted to include Jake in this gift giving tradition. Last year we started by making coasters for everyone. This year we are making ornaments. We mixed together some salt dough and rolled it out.

He did a great job using the cookie cutters. I moved them to a cookie sheet and poked holes in them. I used a straw to stamp a hole and let me tell you that is the way to do it! Super easy and perfect size holes.

We also made some hand prints. I saw the hand print Santas on Pinterest and knew I had to make some! I baked the ornaments until they dried out. We painted them the next day.

After the paint dried we used paint sticks to paint on faces. We then strung them with red yarn. I had Jake decide which ornament to give to which family member by showing him pictures of each person. We live away from all of our family and although Jake gets to see everyone often he is still only two years old so can forget who each person is. So I have an album with each family member's photo. We flipped through the album and Jake told me which ornament was for which family member. I then put them in a bag with a name tag. I will have him pass them out on Christmas!

As for the Santas, I decided to paint them because of the intricate design. I think they are really cute and a gift for the grandmas that they will cherish!

Merry Christmas!

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Structured Play

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