Gift Crafty for Gift Giving...and...It's Almost ELF Time!!!

I am so thankful for this weekend...it gave me time to....

prepare and finish Thanksgiving gifts for my sons' school friends!

I always like the boys to give their friends a little gift each holiday- not just Christmas.  I didn't want to overload them with candy after we just escaped the MOUNDS of Halloween candy, so I decided on play dough...ok...my original idea was those cute 'Turkey Toes' you see on Pinterest, but since I didn't plan far enough in advance and buy the harvest corn in August when it came out, there was NONE to be found!

These were actually VERY easy to make!

Step 1: Gather supplies!

I used the 'medium' size play doh containers.  I used Educlips Build -A-Turkey clip art to make the printable and some tape!

(Did you see the 'hyperlink' on printable?  YUP...I have it for you!!!)

Step 2: Make 2 tape rolls- one on lid and one on container 

Step 3: Stick the turkey body on the tape. 

Step 4: Center the feathers on the container 

Step 5: Secure each side of the feathers with a piece of tape! 

DONE!  See....so easy! 

 I saved the boxes the dough came in for 'safe travel!'

 They are packed in good and tight!

And about 1.5 hours later (start to finish including cutting) an entire 'flock' of 56 are ready to be delivered!

But my gifting didn't end there...I need to show the teachers, daycare providers and bus driver we are so THANKFUL for them too!  I found these packs of Starbucks Hot Cooca in Christmas Tree Shoppe for $1.29 each.  I whipped up a little tag and they are all set to go! 

I still had some 'spare time'...and you know who will be arriving soon.....

Our Elf!!!

Check out my guest post on The Primary Pack (it goes live at midnight 11/24) which details how to make this adorable Elf Craftivity 

You can download all the pieces to make him, along with an adoption certificate and Magic Elf Dust poem for FREE from my Teachers Pay Teachers store:

I LOVE having the elf do fun things around the house and leave things for the boys...and somewhere between doing laundry, dishes and cleaning this weekend, I thought of having the elf leave them 'Elf Hat Candy!'

Naturally I had to give it a try to see if my 'vision' would work...

So I gathered the supplies...

Hershey Kisses would be the 'hat' and they would be covered with some festive chocolate.  I thought the candy wafers would work as the base, but they were too small, so I improvised...see below!

Unwrap the kisses (you can also 'cheat' and purchase the candy cane Hershey Kisses- throw them in a bowl or on a plate and call then Elf hats- I won't tell that there was another, more time consuming, way!)

Melt the chocolate- if it is too thick, add a touch of vegetable oil to make it thinner!

 Press the kiss into the melted chocolate...

And to make them more festive, dip in sprinkles! 

Be creative..there is no wrong way to make an elf hat candy! 

 

Now to my improvise...I simply 'blobbed' chocolate onto waxed paper!  Add a few sprinkles if you want! 

Before the 'blobs' harden, drop the Hershey Kisses onto the blobs- WALAH!  You have a hat! 

You can add a 'blob' of chocolate to the top as a tip, but not necessary! 

If you are in a rush, slide the wax paper onto a tray and put it in the fridge or freezer to harden.  Otherwise you can leave them out to harden.  

Once hardened, it is time to have your elf serve up a sweet treat: 

And here is a close-up of one of the hats...HOW cute are they???!!! 

As for me....I must now go hide the evidence!  That pic of our elf Rudy was taken down in my basement on the sly...he doesn't make his appearance for another week.... he looked quite upset that I shoved him back in the box and covered him up with stockings and placemats!  SORRY RUDY!  I promise...it is almost time!!!!

Don't forget to download the elf craftivity!

I'd love to hear about some of your elf fun!!!

Until next post,