Super Secret Christmas Project 2012

Hello and Happy Friday! :)  First Friday of 2013!  Whoo hoo!

Now that all of the intended recipients have received their handmade Christmas gift from Annaliese, we can finally share with you what they were!  :)

While browsing Pinterest, I came across 2 fun and easy ideas to give as Christmas gifts from Annaliese.

First : A "Hand"-made ornament.

1/2 cup of all purpose white flour
1/2 cup of salt
Approximately 1/4 cup of cold water (I had to add a tiny bit more, but didn't measure)

Mix it and knead it with your hands and presto!  You have dough!

Roll it flat to about 1/4'-1/2' thick, get a hand imprint, then cut out the hand leaving about 1/4' around.

*If you're making them into hanging ornaments, make sure you make a hole for the ribbon before baking them.

Bake at 200 degrees for 4 hours.

Justin and I got creative and each made an ornament for Annaliese too 

Here's the finished product, after some acrylic paint, a sharpie and some ribbon!

We loved how they turned out and the family loved receiving them!  We are thinking of doing one every year and having them hanging in chronological order on our wall at Christmas time, but we'll see if that actually happens :)

Second : just for the grandparents, we bought some pre-stretched  canvas frames from Michaels and took Annaliese's foot prints and made them into pictures.  (Also inspired by Pinterest)

We're very pleased with how these turned out and Justin and I (and Annaliese too) really enjoyed making these for our family.  It was really inexpensive, very simple, very fun and most importantly, very treasured because handmade gifts from young ones are the best.  :)