Easy Sand Dough Ornaments

I think we've found our new Christmas tradition!

Best shot I have -- the kiddos haven't painted theirs yet!

Sand dough ornaments!

A friend of mine gave me the recipe, and honestly? This was one of the easiest and most well-received crafts I've done with the kiddos. They think they're cookies, but the dough comes together MUCH quicker than any cookie recipe I've ever used. Plus, it was really two crafts in one -- first, making, cutting the dough, then painting/coloring after they've dried.

Ready for the step-by-step? You got it.

1. Mix together 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt and 1 cup warm water until the dough looks like a pie crust.
2. Place the dough on a well-floured surface and roll out to 1/4" thick. If you do it too thin, it may break easier once dry and will also NOT hold up to a handprint.
3. Cut out whatever shapes you have on hand with cookie cutters and place the shapes on a Pammed (I verbed Pam) cookie sheet.
4. Use a straw to poke a hole through each ornament and remove the center. This is where the ribbon will go after you paint to hang on the tree.
5. Bake for 6 hours at 200 degrees. Let cool overnight, then paint, marker, color away!

If you want these to last years, clear coat them with polyurethane.

Fun! 

Christmas Ornament Wreath

So, we had the crafting day yesterday and it was a lot of fun! I meant to take pictures while I was there, but it didn't happen ... too much chicken salad dip and chickpeas.

My favorite thing we made was this:

A Christmas ornament wreath! I know technically I should have filled in the gaps with smaller ornaments, but I got frustrated with the glue gun and just stopped.

All you do is take a wire hanger and form it into a circle, then string the balls along the hanger until it's full and pretty -- and oh, so festive!

Also, I made a few more makeup bags:

So excited for Christmas!

Zippered Makeup Bag

Zippered makeup bags. Love. I first saw this here.These are so easy, and I'm obsessed with making them. Hello, Christmas presents.

Want to see?

Of course you do.

She made them with the intention of using them as pencil bags. Not being a student, I immediately saw travel makeup bag.

I talk so much about HobLob, you'd think I owned the place. If I did, I'd have a much bigger house.

BUT -- I got everything I needed for these gems at HobLob. I bought a $.25, 9"x12" piece of brown felt, and a 1/4 yard of this fabric (on sale for $1.22), which gave me enough for two of these bags with scraps left over. You could certainly use any scrap you have laying around in that size. Or patched pieces of scraps. Or an old skirt. These are just my ideas ... :)

For $1.99, I bought the zipper, and the charms came in a 2-pk for $1.47. Basically, these are cheap. Less than $5 for each one.

Hello, Tarte powder. I love you. Never leave me, OK?

Really, really easy. Check out her site for the full tutorial. I'm a fan.

Today I'm having a craft night with some of my favorite friends. We've got a whole host of ideas of things to make.

Wait until you see what I do with these beauties I picked up from our summer lake trip to eastern Oklahoma.

Get excited!