C is for Christmas Cookie Cutter Crafts

We seem to have a lot of Christmas themed cookie cutters in our house.  How about yours?  More than any other theme our collection of trees, reindeer, stars and gingerbread people seems to grow all by itself.

So it seems a waste not to make use of this overload of festive cutters.  Here are 5 ways you and your kids can use your Christmas cookie cutters these holidays.  And they are not all cookie recipes!

Idea no. 1. For easy melted bead ornaments.  No need to carefully place the beads on the design trays before ironing to make a new ornament for the tree.  Follow these step by step instructions for Cookie Cutter Melty Bead Ornaments and make some really colourful, and sometimes interesting, designs like we did.

 
My favourite is the colourful star.  I love how it turned out.  I also like the tree.  The way the green beads curled when melted is pretty cool.

Just remember to keep these cookie cutters for ornament making from now on.  Best to be safe and not use them for food again.

Idea no. 2. For homemade wrapping paper.  Dip the thicker edge of the cutters in some paint on a tray and stamp it all over large pieces of craft or butchers paper.  Cheaper and more personal than store bought gift wrap.  For ideas on how to make your own wrapping paper The Imagination Tree has this post on Cookie Cutter Wrapping Paper and Gift Tags while over at Nurture Store you can read about their Homemade Gift Wrap with Christmas Scented Paint.



Idea no. 3. Salt dough ornaments/gift tags.  If you don't have any more room on your Christmas tree, turn salt dough ornaments into one of a kind gift tags.    Once baked and decorated you can write names and the year on the back of the ornaments and then use ribbon or string to tie them to the gifts.

An easy to follow post for making these ornaments is this one on Salt Dough Christmas Decorations from Be A Fun Mum. 

Red Ted Art used their Easy Salt Dough Recipe to make a gorgeous star garland.

Idea no. 4. Treats for your furry friends.  Make sure your pet dogs are in on the festive treats with these homemade dog biscuits.

Idea no. 5.  For Christmas Cookies.  Of course I had to include one regular cooking activity.  This is a great way to keep the kids busy in the lead up to the Christmas break.  Get them to help make a big batch of sugar cookies and then let them loose with the icing and sprinkles.  These would make lovely packages for neighbours or elderly relatives. We used our recipe for a basic biscuit dough but you could use your own favourite sugar cookie recipe too.

For more ideas on crafts using cookie cutters have a look at our Pinterest board.



Wishing you a safe and happy Christmas from the three foot cooks!

E is for Eight Maids-a-milking

Updated 27/12/2014.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - 8 Maids-a-milking.

We have joined with 11 other bloggers to celebrate the festive season by creating crafts and activities based on the 12 Days of Christmas. This blog hop full of Christmassy goodness is hosted by Silly Sparkles. Make sure you head over to the other blogs and have a look at the other 'Days of Christmas' too. Links are at the end of this post.

We chose 8 Maids-a-milking and I couldn't decide on whether to make Christmas milkshakes or Christmas ice cream.

With the really hot weather we are experiencing at the moment (hot even for Queensland in December) ice cream was the winner.

To make it a real hands on sensory experience for Bear and Bee I knew we had to try making Ice Cream in a bag.  If you haven't made ice cream this way before you definitely need to give it a go.  It's a great activity that is lots of fun to do and as a bonus uses up a little of the excess energy kids seem to have around holiday time.

Here's how we made our Christmas Ice Cream in a Bag.

Christmas Ice Cream in a Bag
Ingredients
300ml cream
2 tablespoons caster (or icing) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 or 4 candy canes
2 trays of ice cubes
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 large ziploc bag
3 small ziploc bags

Directions

1. Place the candy canes inside one of the small ziploc bags and then hit with a rolling pin until the canes are crushed into small pieces.
2. Pour the cream into one of the remaining small ziploc bags.  Place the bag into a coffee mug or small bowl to help it stand up and not spill over.
3. Add the sugar and vanilla to the cream and seal the bag well.
4. Place the bag of cream mixture inside another small ziploc bag to protect it well from the salt.
5. Put the ice and salt in the large ziploc bag and add the bag of cream mixture. Make sure the bag is sealed really well.

6. Now for the fun part.  Wrap a tea towel around the whole lot and start shaking and massaging the bags.

7.  Gloves are handy to protect little ones hands from the cold or you could put the whole lot (minus the tea towel) inside a large coffee can or baby formula tin and start rolling it around.
8.  Keep shaking or rolling for 5-10 minutes or until the cream mixture has thickened.  It will be like soft serve ice cream.  Ours took 10 minutes.
9. Remove the small bag of ice cream from the other bags.  Wipe carefully with a clean cloth to remove any traces of salt.

10. Use scissors to snip off the corner of the bag and squeeze the ice cream into cones or bowls.

11. Sprinkle with the crushed candy canes and enjoy.

A very happy Bee with her Ice Cream

If your kids like candy canes, add the crushed canes to the cream mixture in step 3.  Bear doesn't like candy canes and Bee does so I just added them at the end.

Click on the images below to follow each of the 12 Days of Christmas craft ideas!

Partridge In A Pear Tree by Silly Sparkles

Two Turtle Doves by Because Babies Grow Up

Three French Hens by Learning and Exploring Through Play

Four Calling Birds by Messy Little Monster

Five Golden Rings by Multi Crafting Mummy

Six Geese-A-Laying by Swords and Snoodles

Seven Swans-A-Swimming by Craft Ideas For Kids

Eight Maids-A-Milking by Three Foot Cooks

Nine Ladies Dancing by Making Memories In The Chaos

10 Lords-A-Leaping by Adventures of Adam

Eleven Pipers Piping by Play Explore Learn

Twelve Drummers Drumming by Learning and Exploring Through Play

C is for Christmas Playdough

Playdough that smells like Christmas.  Well sort of.  This Christmas Day Playdough from Nurturestore does smell Christmassy although it is a traditional European Christmas scent.  Orangey, cinnamony and cosy.  Which is really truly lovely. 

I would like to make an Australian Christmas scented playdough but I am not sure how to combine Eucalyptus leaves, hot summer day, beach and barbecues into a smell with out it ending up like a cleaning product!

So this year I am sticking to the Christmas Day playdough.  I also made a batch of Snow Playdough and scented it with Peppermint essence and some Green sparkle playdough using the same base homemade playdough recipe. 

I set them up for Bear and Bee as an Invitation to Play with rolling pins and Christmas themed cookie cutters.

And we also practised our rolling skills and made playdough candy canes.

What is your favourite Christmas scent?

F is for Fun Food for Christmas

Over the last few weeks I have been working on our family Advent activities for this year.  We will have an Advent Calendar as usual along with reading through our collection of Christmas stories.  This year I am also going to do a Jesse tree with Bear and Bee to take the focus away from receiving presents to more of the reason we celebrate Christmas.

I have nearly got our Advent Calendar finished - just need some numbers on the drawers.  In the past I have used envelopes and boxes but this year I finally found a set of drawers that I liked (and could afford).  I have the activities printed out ready to go in the little drawers.  I just need to buy a few small treats to go in there too.

If you haven't got your Advent Calendar sorted yet or you just want some ideas of activities to do with your children over the upcoming school holidays I have a list that should help.

Here are 24 food related festive activities that you can do with your children throughout December. **List updated 8 December 2014.

1. Make and decorate Salt Dough Ornaments. Change these Easter ones by the threefootcooks to more festive versions using Christmas shaped cookie cutters.  There are lots of ways to make salt dough ornaments.  This is our favourite one.

2. Build a Gingerbread House.  If you have plenty of time, bake the gingerbread and cut out the pieces.  If not, buy one of the many great kits available. I have my eye on an Australian outback shack from one of our bigger grocery stores. But whatever option you go for make sure you use this Gingerbread House 'glue' by Kids Activities Blog.  It is the best. In Australia you buy meringue powder from speciality cake decorating suppliers or subsitute Pavlova Magic from the supermarket.

3. Make Reindeer Food.  This idea comes from Parenting Fun Everyday. It will be a perfect and inexpensive gift for Bear's and Bee's kindy friends.  While you are over looking at this site check out the rest of Amber's great Christmas activites.  She has put together an eBook which you can purchase to make downloading easier or you can get each activity separately for free.

4. Whip up some Christmas Ice Cream.  Ice Cream is good in any weather right? We made Christmas Ice Cream in a Bag for the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop hosted by Sillysparkles.

5. Put together a food hamper for charity.  Non- perishable food items like rice, pasta, cereal, meals in a can and baby food are just some of the items that you can donate.  Have a look at this article on Food Drives from Foodbank in Australia for more ideas or contact a local charity in your town or city.

6. Have Breakfast for Dinner.  We use this simple tradition on a number of occasions throughout the year (like the start of school holidays) and you can make it extra special for Christmas with some simple touches.  Read about having Breakfast for Dinner over at Peace but not Quiet.

7. Bake Cookies for Santa or the neighbours.  These Christmas spiral cookies made with the threefootcooks are good.

8. Make Christmas Popcorn to eat while watching a Christmas movie.  This year we are going to try this delicious sounding Christmas flavoured sugar from Nurturestore.

9.  Make real hot chocolate. Or if it is summer where you live (just like it is for us)  make Iced Chocolate just like Bee did on threefootcooks.

10.  Bake a Christmas Cake together.  Dig out your mum's, aunt's, grandma's cherished recipe and have a go at making it as a family.  Here is my mum's recipe.

11. A great homemade Christmas gift is Cookies in a Jar.  Be a Fun Mum has a simple to follow version that would make delicious gifts for teachers, family friends or relatives.

12.  Bake some Homemade Dog Treats using this recipe from threefootcooks and take them to the animal shelter.  Check first with the shelter if they will accept these.  Otherwise find out what they do need like old blankets and towels, kitty litter or canned food and put together a donation basket.

13. Hold a Gingerbread Party Playdate just like this one from I Can Teach My Child.  I love how it includes the gingerbread creations going missing along with reading The Gingerbread Man story.

14. Make Christmas Cone Cakes with the threefootcooks.  Baking these cupcakes in ice cream cones in the microwave means they are quick and easy to prepare.  Leaving plenty of time for the kids to be creative with the decorating.

15. Challenge the kids to make these gorgeous Gumdrop Snowflakes from Tips from a Typical Mom.

16.  Bake a batch of Angel Halo Biscuits with your kids like I did with the threefootcooks.  They are quick, easy and delicious. 

17.  Mix up a batch of Christmas playdough and let the kids go crazy with the cookie cutter. We made this Christmas Day playdough from Nuturestore and it smells divine.  I love that it is scented using herbs and spices.

18.  Throw in some Kitchen Science by making these Christmas Peppermint Creams.  We made these a few years ago and they worked really well.  Follow the links to the original recipe on the Science Sparks site.

19. Make Candy Cane Chocolate Hearts with Be a Fun Mum.  Another great idea for school friend gifts.

20. Eat Dessert first.  Pavlova is a traditional dessert often included on Australian Christmas dinner tables.  How about getting the kids involved in making their own.  There's no need to make the pavlova base yourself.  If you do want to try making your own One Perfect Day has a recipe for Super Simple Never Fail Pavlova. Buy a box of mini meringues or meringue drops, cut up some fresh fruit such as bananas, berries, mangoes and kiwi fruit and whip fresh cream.  Lay it out on the table in small bowls and get the kids to layer up their own plates. 

21. If your children are breaking for school holidays soon this Christmas Tree Bread from Mess for Less would be a fun and tasty way to keep them busy.

22. Need some Christmas gift ideas? Try these Snowball truffles from Here Come The Girls.

23. Angel Cakes. A sweet take on the more well known Butterfly cakes, here's how we made Angel Cakes.

24. Turn your gingerbread cutter upside down and make these Gingerbread Reindeer from Martha Stewart.

A is for Angel Cupcakes

With the festive season in full swing, it can be tempting to try and do everything bigger and better. Often, however, the simple ideas can be the best.

Take these Angel Cakes for example.  They are a simple combination of vanilla cupcakes, vanilla icing and icing sugar.  But they make for the perfect Christmas treat.

Most people would have heard of, and probably made, Butterfly Cakes.  All you need to do to make these super cute Angel Cakes is make a batch of your favourite cupcakes as you would for Butterfly Cakes and reposition the wings.

How wonderfully delightful are these Angel Cakes?

Here is how we made them.

Angel Cakes
Makes 12

Ingredients
For Cakes
120g unsalted butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

For Icing
2 cups icing sugar mixture
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons hot water
extra icing sugar for dusting

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Line a cupcake tray with paper liners
3. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Mix in the vanilla.
5. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.
6. Add flour and milk and mix well.
7. Spoon batter evenly among paper cases.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
9. Allow to cool for a few minutes in tray before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

10. To make the icing, mix icing sugar and butter together in a medium bowl.
11. Add water and mix until a smooth paste forms.

12. To assemble the cakes, cut a disc from the top of each cake.

13. Fill the top of the cake with icing.

14. Cut the cake disc in half and gently stand each half upright in the icing to form wings.

15. Dust with icing sugar.