The blog in which it's some holiday tutorials for fun with the kiddos.

I am a minimalist, at best.  I am the anti-hoarder.  However, I have my soft spot- pictures.  And all those Christmas/Chanukkah picture cards we get year after year.  Well, this year, I finally gathered, hole punched and put onto a round, metal ring that I glued shut and added a bow, and viola'- a sweet coffee table piece that both my migits look through each day.  Come December 26th, it will be packed neatly away.

Cinnamon salt dough ornaments... not super scented, however, easy and nice little addition.  Water, flour, salt, and cinnamon.  That's it.  

Flame less, homemade Advent Wreath.  Today is the first Sunday of Advent.  We started it last night though.  

(This is our second or third year of this same advent wreath and candles.  They have really lasted.  I just replaced the batteries this year from some of the unused flame less tea lights in the box.)

I bought a big package of these, and painted three purple, and the fourth one is pink.  (Those are the traditional candle colors for the wreath.)  I even thought that we might make a faux menorah using this new fan fangled technology.

We decided to make cinnamon salt dough ornaments to attach to handmade gift packages, as well as the crystallized pipe cleaner shapes.  We made stars, snowflakes, round ornament shapes, candy canes, hearts, and my son swears one is a fireman, but I swear it's like looking into one of those psychology inkblot tests and I can't stick it in the Borax/water solution because it is too large.  However, I will crystallize a smaller picture frame I made out of the pipe cleaners.  The ideas are as endless as the imagination will take you.

$1.47 for these six cookie cutters that we made all the cinnamon ornaments out of.  

Borax/water crystallized pipe cleaners. I would have to say, I did make these many times this past week, and not sure what the exact formula is, but sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.  Directions online said per each cup of water, use 3 tablespoons of Borax.  I heated the water and then mixed in the the Borax.  Sometimes it crystallized in a few hours, sometimes it sat over night and didn't work at all.  Hmmm...
The cinnamon salt dough ornaments are two cups flour, one cup table salt, about a cup or less of cinnamon, and at least one cup of water.  I used more than one cup of water, but not sure how much more, since I just added until it seemed right.  Directions say to cook at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, for about an hour, or until dried.  I have read that they can dry by being let out, but I did not have patience for it.  That recipe made a lot.