Hello everyone!
I have some exciting news for you! Yesterday I was visiting an Owl friend at his nest a couple trees over from me. The inside of his nest was decorated with home made Christmas Crafts! They looked so wonderful, so I thought I would share them with you, and you too can make your nest beautiful as well! Some materials you might already have at home, others you can find outside and some materials you will need to buy. But do not worry, you can always substitute materials for other ideas you have as well! Try putting on some Christmas music while you work, or your favourite Christmas movie to get into the spirit!
Ornaments & Decorations:
Snow Globe
Materials: Instructions:
-1 Glass Jar Clean out the glass jar, making sure there is nothing left over. Glue your
-A Plastic Toy plastic toy to the inside of the cap, using very strong glue. Fill the jar
-Baby Oil with baby oil and glitter. Add glue along the inside ridge of the cap,
-Glitter tighten the cap onto the jar as well as you can and wait till the glue
-Strong Glue dries before turning over.
Q-Tip snowflakes
Materials: Instructions: -30 Q-Tips(estimated) Spread wax paper over your table top for a working space. Using the
-Glue Q-tips, design a snowflake, you may bend or break into two. Using the
-Waxed Paper ends of the Q-tips with the cotton to touch. Once you have finished your
-Glitter design, use the glue to attach all the ends together. Before the glue dries
sprinkle the glitter on top.
Time Capsule Ornament
Materials:
-Fillable clear plastic ornament
-Double sided tape
-Paper cut into strips
-Markers
-Small photo or other memorabilia that fits inside the ball
-Ribbon
Instructions:
-Separate the two halves of the ball. Apply a strip of tape around the outside of the wider half. Carefully press the ribbon to the tape so that it’s close to but not touching the outer edge.
-Write notes on the strips on paper and tuck them into the ball. Add pictures and other mementos if you like. Put the ball back together, and then tie the ribbon and a tag with the year written on it.
Edible Decorations: When cooking make sure you have the help of an adult
Meringue Snowflakes
Ingredients:
-2 large egg whites, at room temperature
-1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
-1 cup confectioner's sugar
-1/4 teaspoon flavoured extract such as lemon, peppermint, orange, or almond
-2 tablespoons coloured sugar or edible glitter
Instructions:
- Heat the oven to 200 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy, about 3 minutes. Then beat the mixture until it turns fluffy, another 3 minutes. This is easier to do with an electric mixture, but still possible with a whisk and good old elbow grease.
- Add the confectioner's sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue beating until the egg whites are stiff and glossy, about 5 minutes. Then beat the extract.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a pencil to draw snowflake patterns on the paper. Stick the parchment paper ink side down into the backing sheet with a little meringue in the corners.
- Using a pastry bag, or even a zip-lock, fill the bag with meringue. Cut a corner at the bottom if using a zip-lock bag. Pipe the meringue onto the paper in between the lines of the snowflakes. Sprinkle the meringue with colour sugar or edible glitter.
- Bake the snowflakes until dry but not browned, about 1 hour. Slide the parchment paper onto a wire rack and let cool
- Cut between the meringue snowflakes and gently peel the parchment paper off. The meringue will stay crisp for up to 2 weeks if stored in an airtight container, do not refrigerate! Makes about 20
Gingerbread Lantern
Ingredients
-THE GINGERBREAD -THE ICING
-1/3 cup butter -1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
-1/3 cup sugar -1 tablespoon meringue powder
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda -2 to 3 tablespoons warm water
-4 teaspoons water
-1 2/3 cups flour, plus extra for rolling
-1 ¼ teaspoons ginger
-1/4 teaspoon allspice
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-Hard Candies, such as Jolly Rancher
Instructions:
1) To make the gingerbread, heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar. Stir the baking soda into the water to dissolve it, and then add this to the butter mixture. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon in a medium bowl, and then stir dry ingredients into the butter mixture a little at a time. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let chill for 1 hour.
2) Roll out the chilled dough to a ¼ inch thickness on a large piece of parchment. Sprinkling on some flour if the dough sticks. Then, using a 4- by 7-inch piece of cardboard as a template, cut 4 rectangles from the dough, removing any scraps. Transfer the gingerbread pieces to a cookie sheet.
3) To install the windows, use cookie cutters dipped in flour to cut and remove a few shapes from each gingerbread piece. Unwrap candies in similar colours (you'll need about 2 to 3 for each 21/2-inch cut out) and place them in doubled freezer bags. Hit them gently with a hammer to crush them, and then generously fill each cut out with crushed candy. Bake the gingerbread for 12 minutes, and then let it cool for at least 1 hour. (The candy windows will be extremely hot! Do not touch them until they have cooled completely.)
4) Finally, construct the lantern by beating together all of the icing ingredients in a small bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until blended, then increase the speed to high and beat for 4 to 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Using a pastry bag or a plastic bag with 1 corner cut off, pipe icing along the long edges of 2 of the walls. Assemble all 4 walls vertically on a platter or a piece of foil-covered cardboard, filling in any gaps and decorating the edges with more icing. Allow the icing to dry overnight. Set the lantern in a safe spot, then place a small candle inside and light the wick (parents only).
Puffy the Polar Bear
Materials: Instructions:
-Toothpicks Using a toothpick, attach the two large marshmallows
-2 large marshmallows together to make the body and head. For each arm,
-6 mini marshmallows thread two mini marshmallows onto a toothpick and poke
-2 white jelly beans, halved each into the body. For each leg do the same but use one
-Royal Icing one marshmallow and half a jelly bean for the foot. Using
-1 brown mini M&M royal icing, glue two jelly bean halves for the ears and the
-Scissors M&M for the nose. Use black licorice for the eyes.
-Black shoestring licorice
Mmm-Moose
Materials: Instructions: -2 chocolate wafer cookies For the body, glue together the wafer cookies with icing.
-Royal Icing Poke four toothpick legs into the body and add circus
-Toothpicks peanut half for each foot. With a toothpick attach the
-2 orange circus peanuts, halved two caramels together and glue them to the body using the
icing. Poke two pretzel pieces into the caramel for antlers.
Using icing, glue on an M&M nose and pretzel tail.
I wanted to let everyone know about the current exhibit at the Centre for Conversation, which features our very own Great Lakes! The exhibit is called War on the Lakes, and it's all about the War of 1812 which is so fascinating! An artist from Windsor Ontario, named Peter Rindlisbacher, who is known for his marine paintings, documents this historical period beautifully. The exhibit features many not so famous naval battles that took place during the War. I am sure a sense of surprise will arise at all the wonderful prints and one original painting of our very own Great Lakes, during pinnacle battles such as the Battle of Lake Erie. ATTENTION All Brock Students!!! Sir Issac Brock is featured in the Battle of Queenston Heights October 13th 1812, and you can find artist images and posters in the gift shop! Better hurry on over to the Centre for Conversation because the exhibit will not be displayed forever! It runs from November 20, 2010- February 4, 2010
Admission: Adults.$5.50, Seniors/Child $4.00, Car Max: $15.00
