Snowman doughnuts

For my daughter's "Frozen" birthday party, we made Olaf snowman doughnuts.
You need a package of the small powdered doughnuts (we used hostess brand), powdered doughnut holes, mini chocolate chips, pretzel sticks, and toothpicks.
Stack 2 small doughnuts on top of eachother, put in a toothpick so the point is sticking straight up. Then carefully stick a small doughnut hole on top. (The toothpick helps stabilize the snowmen. Without it, the head keeps rolling off if the plate is bumped.) Stick mini chocolate chips in as eyes and buttons. Snap mini pretzel sticks in half and poke in as the arms and nose. These were a huge hit with the kids!  Just be sure to take out the toothpick if serving to small children.

Snowman and Santa Pancakes

Jesus in the Manger ornament

Materials Needed

Green Card stock

Yellow card stock

cream card stock

Brown card stock

mini wooden craft sticks (available at Walmart & craft stores)

regular or jumbo wooden craft sticks

yellow yarn

foil star stickers

Glue (I used hot glue, but other glue will work.)

 Glue 2 mini sticks to the larger stick. Let dry.

 Turn the stable over and glue on 2 mini sticks to make the roof.

 Trace the shape of the stable on green cardstock. Cut out.  Turn the stable over again and glue the cardstock onto the to side sticks. 

Glue a loop of yarn to the back.

If you are doing this craft with children, an adult might want to prepare the ornament up through this step ahead of time.

Cut out a baby shape from the cream card stock. Cut out a manger from the brown card stock. Cut out a circle from the yellow cardstock. GLue the baby to the manger, then the manger to the bottom of the ornament.

Glue some cut up yellow yarn at the bottom, under the manger. GLue the yellow circle to the top and place a star sticker in the center.

Gingerbread House Party

We have an annual tradition of hosting a gingerbread house decorating party with a few families. It's fun for all the kids and is a great holiday tradition to start.
It is quite simple to host. You just buy the gingerbread kits they sell at the grocery store, Michaels, etc and a few extra bags of M&Ms, candy canes or other candies.  Pre-assemble the houses, put out the frosting and bowls of candy and you're all set! If you're not into candy, buy different types of cereal - shredded wheat, fruity cheerios, etc.

 You can get as fancy as you like. If it's little-kid-decorated, it may end up like the one above. The ones below are the Chicago Botanic Garden's versions. Pretty amazing, huh?

Joy of Baking's Red Velvet Cake

I highly recommend Joy of Baking's version of the classic Red Velvet Cake.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCake.html

For the holidays, you can spice it up with crushed candy canes as I did below. It adds a nice mint touch to the frosting.

Please note - Don't use candy canes/ circle candy cane candies because the red dye starts to melt off the candy cane and drips down the frosting. I made this cake the night before and the next day, it looked like it was bleeding! Argh!

Christmas Themed foods for kids

Snowman Mashed Potatoes
http://www.cutefoodforkids.com/2010/12/snowman-mashed-potato.html

Santa Jelly Sandwich
http://www.cutefoodforkids.com/2010/12/santa-sandwich.html

Rice Krispie Tree on a stick
http://www.cutefoodforkids.com/2010/12/rice-krispy-christmas-trees.html

Kids Snack - "Snowman" bagels

Felt Mitten Garland

Kids Craft - Making a Felt Mitten Garland

Materials Needed:
Different colored scraps of felt
cardboard
scissors
glue
hole punch
piece of yarn


Directions
1. Cut out shape of a mitten on a piece of paper.
(You can use this Template if you want - )
2. Trace the pattern on cardboard and cut out the mitten shapes.
3. Hole punch 2 holes by the wrist of the mitten.
4. Glue dots all over the cardboard mitten.
5. Press scraps of felt over the glue, leaving the holes exposed.
6. Let dry.
7. Cut out any felt pieces that stick out from the mitten shape.
8. String a piece of yarn through the mittens and hang!

How to make a snowflake

There is a great tutorial on how to make a cool paper snowflake on Kerli's site:
http://kerliandanimals.blogspot.com/2009/12/tutorial-how-to-make-lovely-snowflakes.html