Four Fantastic Family Christmas Traditions!

Christmas traditions are some of the best parts of the holiday season. We love watching traditions evolve and grow along with the families that create them and pass them on to the next generation! As this year's holidays quickly approach, we thought we'd help you prepare for another wonderful season with some of these great family Christmas traditions!

Christmas Cookies
If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's how much we love Christmas cookies. There's something wonderfully special about baking a bunch of Christmas cookies and spending a few hours decorating them with your family. Using red, green, and white icing (along with red hots and sprinkles), your cookies can really come to life! 

Christmas Bucket
This is a new one to all of us at Ornaments for Keeps! With this adorable family tradition, kiddos get a bucket of small packages on December 1st. Every day, they get to unwrap a little present that holds another activity, one for every day until Christmas. The activities can range from writing letters to Santa, cruising around and admiring neighborhood Christmas lights, making homemade bread dough ornaments, and anything else you can imagine!

Gift Giving
Christmas is the season for giving. Encourage your kiddos to get in on the fun by planning a week or ten days of small thoughtful, giving activities that they can help you with. Bake cookies for your mail carrier, write a thank you note to their teacher, etc. Let your kids help brainstorm ways to give to others!

Personalized Christmas Ornaments
We all have our personal favorites when it comes to holiday traditions, and it should come as no surprise that ours are personalized Christmas ornaments! Don't fool yourselves into thinking that our beautiful handmade ornaments only serve as one-time gifts; getting a new customized Christmas ornament with your name and the year can be a great way to watch the years go by.

The holidays will be here before we know it. It's definitely not too soon to start planning your holiday traditions! How do you plan on celebrating with your family?

Connect with us for the latest inspired, creative ideas!

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Pinterest

Follow us on Google+

Phone: (573) 893-3272
www.ornamentsforkeeps.com

Simple Steps to Make Dough Ornaments with the Kiddos

Making these cute bread dough ornaments with your kids can be a fun family tradition.  I remember making these with my kids when they were young. Include extended family too so cousins can share those memories when they are older.

Here's a simple Dough Ornament Recipe for your new family tradition:

1 c. flour
1/4 c. salt
1/2 c. warm tap water

You can add colored tempera paint to your dough or you may paint them when baked.

Combine flour, salt and powder tempera (if desired).  Add part of the water, stir and add the rest as needed to make a ball.  Knead with flour till it is a soft ball that is not sticky but not too stiff.  TIP:  Since I make lots of ornament dough, I use a food processor, which is a great option but not necessary.

Now that you dough is complete, follow these simple steps to make your own personalized DIY ornaments!

Step 1 - Cutting process:  Lightly flour surface of cutting board, roll dough out to about 1/4 inch.  Take a cookie cutter and cut out.  With your spatula move to cookie sheet.  Continue cutting your ornaments till you have the desired number.  Take a straw and cut hole in top of ornament for ribbon to hang or add a small wire hook.

Step 2 - Baking process:  Bake at 225 degrees for 4 hours or until ornaments are hard.

Step 3 - Painting and finishing:  If you have not colored your dough, I used the following acrylic colors to paint my ornaments:

• Mitten: Ceramcoat Cardinal Red
• Tree:  Ceramcoat Christmas Green
• Star:  Ceramcoat White

For mitten:  After red has dried, use an unsharpened pencil dipped in white acrylic paint to apply polka dots.  FYou will probably want to dip the pencil for each dot.  Test it on a piece of paper before you start.  Allow the mittens to dry completely and then seal with a clear polyurethane sealer.  After the sealer has dried measure the white ric rack and glue onto top of mitten.

For Christmas tree:  After the green has dried, embellish your tree with a package of stars and dots that you can pick up at any craft store.  After these are dry you are ready to seal with a clear polyurethane sealer.

For star:  After white has dried, this ornament is ready to seal with a clear polyurethane sealer.  After the sealer dries, you can bling it up with glue and glitter.

Printable Tag

Now you are ready to cut the printable tags attached and have your child sign their name. Just click on the image to the left and print!!  Be sure and add the year and/or their age so you will have a special keepsake.  Cut 8 inch pieces of red ribbon and tie the ribbon and tag on the ornament.

Your children will be so proud of these!  They will make a great addition to your family tree or would make wonderful gifts for parents, grandparents, school classmates or special friends.  

How to store bread dough ornaments:

• Store in a cool, dry place
• Do not store in damp basement or attic
• I store all my ornaments in Rubbermaid type containers on the main floor of my home.

Happy crafting and I hope these ideas help!  Since my first craft show in 1981, customers here at home and from around the United States continue to add to their collections and to buy these personalized gifts for family and friends.

Connect with us for the latest inspired, 
creative ideas! 

Like us on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter 

Follow us on Pinterest

CONTACT US

Phone: (573) 893-3272
info@ornamentsforkeeps.com