Homemade Holiday Gifts
In this article, you will find:
Page 2
Project: Pomander Balls
Level: Easy
Age: 5 and up
Materials needed: Firm apples, oranges, pears, lemons, or limes, a skewer, whole cloves, orris root (This is a powder made from a root commonly used as a perservative or fixture in potpourris and pomandes. It is available from crafts or health-food stores or by mail order.), ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and/or allspice
If you're using an apple, wipe it with a greased cloth before inserting the cloves.
Insert whole cloves into the fruit skin so they touch each other, with no skin showing. Use the skewer to make a hole first in tougher skins.
Combine two teaspoons of orris root and two teaspoons of ground cinnamon or other spices. Roll the completely studded fruit into the mixture of cinnamon and orris root, patting the powder into the fruit.
Put the fruit in a paper bag and leave it in a cool dry place to shrink and dry. Rotate the fruit every three days or so.
After several weeks, look at the fruit and see if it's dried. Shake off the excess mixture, decorate it with ribbon, and pop it into a gift box. If you made an apple, tie a ribbon to its stem. Refresh with scented oil when the scent fades.
Project: Candle Luminaries
Level: Easy
Age: 5 and up
Materials needed: Colored tissue paper, empty, clean 2-liter plastic popbottles (clear), craft glue, large artist's paint brush, small plastic container, small glass jar (a baby food jar works well), votive candle, scissors or knife
Take off the bottle label.
An adult can cut the top and bottom off the bottle. This will leave a clear cylinder.
Tear tissue paper into small pieces.
Mix one part glue to one part water in the plastic container. Brush glue onto the cylinder and press on tissue paper pieces, overlapping the edges. Work around the top half of the cylinder, then turn it over and finish the bottom half.
When the bottle is covered, brush on a little more glue and smooth everything down. Trim away any paper that extends beyond the edges after the glue dries.
Put the candle in the glass jar and slide the finished cylinder over it.