Some crafts are tailor made for kids. Like this gumdrop ball, for instance. It was inspired by this gumdrop wreath and the wreath making party Alicia had at her shop a few years ago. I had some extra Styrofoam balls left over in my craft closet and I thought the kids would have fun poking the gumdrops into the balls with toothpicks. They really did love it. And, other than my trimming the toothpicks and attaching the ribbon, the kids made them completely on their own. Each ball ended up being pretty heavy so we ran a wire through the center of each one (looping it at the top and bottom so the wire wouldn't pull through the Styrofoam) and made sure to hang them from sturdy branches.
The peppermint candy ornaments (also a Martha idea) did not go as smoothly. The candies were supposed to stick together with royal icing and maybe it was my royal icing but I could not get the things to stick. I tried helping them stay together with glue but that was a disaster, too. When I finally thought I had it down, I hung six or seven of the finished ornaments from the tree and forgot about them. A few hours later, when it was dark and quiet and the kids were in bed, they started falling from the tree and crashing to the floor and I thought someone was opening fire and I nearly had a heart attack. They'll have to just live on in my memory, I suppose.
When I saw Kellen's lovely tree, I remembered seeing these button ornaments in a back issue of Martha Stewart Kids and it made me glad once again to be hoarding my old magazines for all these years. (MSL Kids was hands down my favorite magazine when it existed.) I thought the button ornaments would be a sure hit with the kiddos but they weren't so much. The kids loved how they turned out but were not interested in helping me make them at all (maybe it was because I stopped crafting with candy). Unlike the peppermint candy ornaments, these came together quite easily.
I loved making all of these ornaments with the kids and I hope that we carry the tradition on to next year. I hope that you're making wonderful holiday memories, too, and I hope that you have many more of them to come. Sending you heartfelt wishes for a very merry Christmas and I thank you very much for visiting me here, it makes me so happy that you do. xox
