Last year, we made salt dough ornaments. After giving some away as gift tags on our presents and losing others to play (Audrey likes to run around the house, clanging ornaments together), a small sampling have survived for this year's tree. After running across this post, we decided to try our hand at clay this season.
We used Fimo Air clay (it dries overnight, no baking) and a few tools: a rolling pin, wooden skewer (to poke holes for ribbon), cookie cutters, a bowl of water, and a butter knife that Audrey insisted on using to chop up her clay.
And, of course, our hands.
A project like this always highlights each participant's individual creativity. I made a wreath and star before segueing into another clay project (more on that later). Audrey was a fervent believer in the decorative abilities of the wooden skewer (the snowflake below with all the poke marks is hers) and then turned her attention to more abstract designs. Jason used his imagination and no cookie cutters to make a couple characters he thought Audrey might like for the tree (the snowman and Santa - referred to as the Santa gnome on an occasion or two - pictured at the bottom are his).
Sadly, Santa gnome didn't last long on the tree. He was a little too beloved and broke early as Audrey tried to take a lap around the house with him. The snowman has been moved to a higher branch for safer keeping (his ribbon is threaded through the top buttonhole, for those wondering).
Six messy hands, one fun evening, and a trayful of creative characters to add to the tree. Christmas is coming together.
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