A Barefoot Books Ambassador Blog
Bare-Footnotes will comment on the many amazing and exciting aspects of children's books and Barefoot Books, an independent publisher of children's literature, celebrating art and story! "Step inside a story", today!


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Make a Footprint Ornament!

Get in the Spirit of Barefoot Books and Make Your Own Footprint Ornament
I have been going through our Family's Christmas ornaments.  We have the handprints of our  kids when they were little.  They were made out of plaster paris in school.  If I had know then I would become a Barefoot Books ambassador I would have surely made this Christmas Baby Mistletoe Ornament.

Christmas Baby Mistletoe and Holly Craft
From the

The Good Stuff Guide

 

Christmas Baby Mistletoe and Holly Craft
Submitted by Angeliina Lawson
Angeliina Lawson created this Christmas decoration or tree ornament for her 10-month-old son David's 1st Christmas present for his relatives; and, she was nice enough to share the directions so you can make one too. Materials Needed:

  • 2 packs of oven baking clay in green
  • 3 red stem balls
  • 10-inches of red string to fold over
  • 1 straw
  • 1 hot glue gun
  • 1 glue stick
  • 1 sharp knife
  • 1 baking sheet
  • 1 Sharpie pen
Instructions:
Preheat the oven as directed on the oven baking clay packaging. Take clay out of packaging and flatten with hands to the size of your child's foot. Make sure the surface is smooth so the footprint comes out visible. Place your child's foot on the clay, pressing down on the heel, top of foot, and all the toes for a good impression. Lift straight up and check out the impression. You can use your fingers to fix areas or make them deeper to see better.
Take a sharp knife and cut along the footprint. Smooth out the edges and if you need to reshape the toes a little to make them more recognizable. Take a straw to make a hole at the heel for the string to go through after they are baked.
Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Let cool. Decide how wide you want the feet to be and line up the holes at the heels and use hot glue gun to glue together. Double the 10-inch string so its 5-inches long and string it through the holes at the heels. Tie a knot then tie another knot at the very end of the string so you are left with a small loop to hang the mistletoe.
Lastly, you take the 3 stem balls and with the wire attached to each red ball twist them together and use the now single wire to string through the holes in the heels. Take the wire and wrap it around thee front holly so that it secures them but also hides the wire. Write the child's information on the back so you remember who, when, and how old. Then hang the mistletoe where you would normally hang mistletoe for a kiss. This is great for gifts to the family and friends!