Below are some fun projects perhaps for the next snow day that both children and adults can enjoy. Create edible treat towers for your table or as a hostess gifts for the next party-thrower. Take ordinary oranges and transform them into top hat twirling snowmen. Recycle all the holiday cards you received and create tiles to make a table runner for next year. And if you welcomed a new addition into the family, save all the adorable holiday baby socks and use them to make an Advent calendar, a sweet tradition that you and your children can cherish for years to come.
Directions for crafts:
Gumdrop Trees: Stick one end of a toothpick into each gumdrop and then place the other end into Styrofoam cone. Photos courtesy of a friend that gave these treats to her family over the holidays.
Orange Snowman: Take three oranges, some toothpicks, a sturdy plate, and store-bought frosting. Stick the large orange to the center of the plate with a dollop of frosting. Poke a few toothpicks halfway into the top of the fruit and spear a smaller orange on top. Repeat with the third orange, and layer on frosting, a vanilla wafer, and peppermints to make a hat. Use candy-cane pieces for arms and a nose, cloves for the eyes, and red licorice for a scarf. realsimple.com
Snowy cookie trees: Make a base frosting by beating together six egg whites and 3¾ cups confectioners’ sugar. Spread a thin layer of frosting on a Styrofoam cone, then, working up from the bottom, overlap vanilla wafers (use straight pins to hold them in place until the frosting dries). Use a small sieve to dust each finished tree with confectioners’ sugar. realsimple.com
Holiday card table runner: Recycle this year’s holiday cards and make next year’s table runner. Place the cards facedown on a color copy machine (they should cover most of the glass). Next, put a piece of colored fabric or paper on top of the cards to serve as a border. Print out multiple copies (enough to cover the length of your table) on 11-by-17-inch paper. With double-stick tape, join the copies along the top and the bottom. If you worry about the paper getting torn, cover with a sheet a plastic vinyl or sheer fabric, both can be found and cut at your local fabric supplier. realsimple.com
Baby sock advent calendar: Gather 24 socks – singles or 12 pairs – in colors that go well together (vary the sizes, if you like). Lay them out in the order you want to hang them, leaving spaces in between. Cut the ribbon to the desired length; to find how long it should be, measure across the row of socks and add 12 inches (Martha’s was 72 inches). Use number stickers to label each sock. If one has a busy pattern, place the number on top of a solid round sticker so that it’s easier to read. Tack the ends of the ribbon to a railing or mantle; if you like, you can fasten the ribbon in several places to make a few swags. Use mini clothespins to clip the socks to the ribbon; overlap them if you need to save space. Next Advent fill each sock will a small surprise. marthastewart.com
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