Christmas food crafts are fun for everyone. This holiday season, teach your kids how to make edible decorations. With a little time and effort you can make great gifts, ornaments, and even a healthy meal.
With the whole family helping, this will surely be a Christmas to remember. Check out some of the great Christmas food crafts on the following pages.
You'll need to hang this Christmas food craft out of reach -- or it just might disappear! While traditional wreaths are usually made from pine boughs or pinecones, for this Wreath of Candy try something a little sweeter.
What you'll need:
Vinyl-coated wire hanger
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Red and green wrapped hard candy
Red and green twist ties
Red and green ribbon
Scissors
To make the Wreath of Candy:
Bend the bottom of the hanger into a circle. You might need an adult to help you with this.
Attach a twist tie to one end of each candy.
Attach the candies to the hanger by twisting the ties onto the hanger. Continue doing this until you have a wreath full of candy.
You can also tie ribbon bows onto the wire to make your wreath even prettier.
Make Candy Cane Cookies so people have something to eat. We'll show you how to make them in the next section.For more fun crafts and activities, see:
Add a new type of candy cane to your Christmas decorations with these Candy Cane Cookies. They're a great Christmas food craft to share with your family.
What you'll need:
4 cups flour
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2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Red food coloring
Sifter
Mixing bowls
Electric mixer
Cookie sheet
Measuring cups and spoons
To make Candy Cane Cookies:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar until the mix is light and fluffy.
Beat the eggs into the butter and sugar mixture, then add the vanilla and lemon extracts.
Add the flour mixture, in small amounts, to the butter and sugar mixture, until well mixed.
Divide the dough in half. Put half in a bowl; add enough red food coloring to make a nice color.
Make little balls of red and plain dough.
On a clean, floured surface, roll the balls into ropes. Dust your hands with flour if the dough is too sticky.
Twist one red rope and one plain rope together, and shape them into a candy cane.
Place dough on a baking sheet; bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until just slightly brown.
While you are making cookies, think about making Edible Angels. We'll show you how in the next section.For more fun crafts and activities, see:
These darling Edible Angels are almost too sweet to eat. With this Christmas food craft you can make your clay and eat it, too.
What you'll need:
1 cup peanut butter
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1 cup honey
2-1/2 cups powdered milk
Bowl
Snack chips
Thin licorice string
Raisins or currants
Colored or silver jimmies or cinnamon candies
To make Edible Angels:
Wash and dry your hands.
To make the clay, put peanut butter, honey, and powdered milk in a big bowl.
Squeeze and knead the ingredients together. If the clay is too sticky, add a little more powdered milk. If it is too dry, add a little more honey or peanut butter.
When you have a nice, smooth-feeling clay, shape it into a 3-inch cone to make the angel's body. Add a little ball of clay on top for the angel's head.
Carefully press 2 snack chips into the angel's back for wings.
Wind a small piece of thin licorice string around the angel's head for a perfect halo.
Use currants or raisins to make the face. Colored or silver jimmies or small cinnamon candies can decorate the angel's body.
These angels are guaranteed to fly right off the plate and into your mouth!If pies are your dessert of choice, try making a Snowy Nutty Pie. Learn how to make this snowy treat in the next section.
A Snowy Nutty Pie is easy and festive. With the snowy touch of coconut, this pie is perfect Christmas food craft for winter.
What you'll need:
6 tablespoons margarine
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8 or 9-inch unbaked pie shell
1 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut
1 1/4 cups maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
Small saucepan
Mixing bowl
Mixing spoon
To make a Snowy Nutty Pie:
Ask an adult to preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Have the adult help you melt the margarine in a small saucepan over low heat.
Sprinkle the pecans on the bottom of the pie shell. Cover the nuts with 1 cup of coconut.
Mix the remaining ingredients (except remaining coconut) together with a spoon or electric mixer, and pour mixture evenly over the coconut and nuts.
Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for another 25 minutes.
Let cool, and sprinkle the remaining coconut on top just before serving.
While you're waiting for the pie to cool, make Pasta Snowflakes. They'll shine, but sure won't melt when you decorate with them. We'll show you how to make them in the next section.
These Pasta Snowflakes won't melt when you hang them on your Christmas tree -- but they sure will shine! Make this Christmas food craft with your kids.
What you'll need:
Coffee can
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Pencil
Paper
Ruler
Waxed paper
Several kinds of dry pasta (wagon wheels, corkscrew, mostaccioli, spaghetti, elbow macaroni, bow ties, shell macaroni, ditali)
Glue
Toothpick
Spray paint
Ribbon or dental floss
To make Pasta Snowflakes:
Trace around the bottom of a coffee can to make a circle on paper.
Use a ruler to make lines across the circle, so that it looks like a pie cut into 8 pieces. This will be your pattern.
Put a piece of waxed paper over the pattern, and lay pieces of pasta on top of the waxed paper so that they are all touching. Use the circle and lines you drew to help keep the pattern symmetrical.
When you have a design you like, use a toothpick to dab glue between the pasta.
After the pasta is glued together, slide the waxed paper to one side and let the glue dry while you make more snowflakes.
When the glue is dry, remove the waxed paper and have an adult help you spray paint the ornaments.
Your snowflakes will be fragile, but if they break, you can glue them back together. You can hang your snowflakes with ribbon or dental floss.
When you are finished, make Candy Cane Doorknob Decorations. Learn how in the next section.
These Candy Cane Doorknob Decorations are the perfect additions to any holiday decorations. Turn this Christmas food craft into a great decoration that you can hang on your front doors.
Using the stencil, trace and cut out 4 candy canes -- two from poster board and two from white felt.
Lay the poster board canes on your work surface so the top curves face the center.
Starting on the left side, glue one felt cane to each poster board cane.
To make the stripes, cut the red felt into two 1/2 x 12-inch lengths. Then cut each length into four 2-inch lengths and one 4-inch length.
Before gluing, place the stripes diagonally on the canes with the 4-inch lengths at the top curves. The ends of the stripes will overlap the edges of the canes. One at a time, glue the stripes onto the canes.
Let dry, then turn over each cane. Trim any excess red felt so the ends are even with the edges of the white felt.
To assemble the doorknob decoration, overlap the canes at the top and bottom to form a heart shape.
Glue together the overlapping areas.
Cut the ribbon so you have 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-inch lengths.
To attach the bells, insert one end of the 3-inch length of ribbon through the red bell loop. Bring the ends of the ribbon together and glue.
Repeat using the 4-inch length of ribbon with the white bell and the 5-inch length with the green bell.
Glue the ribbon ends to the back bottom of the canes.
Tie the 6-inch length of ribbon into a bow, and glue it to the front bottom of the canes.
Next, learn to make Gingerbread Kid Ornaments. They are perfect to give and to keep.
3. Lightly sand both sheets of shrink plastic, then trace pattern on each sheet with the marker.
4. Paint pink circles for the cheeks, then paint the rest of the shape with a thin coat of light brown; let dry.
5. Cut out each shape.
6. Punch a hole in each, 1/2 inch down from the top of the head.
7. Place the cutouts on a foil-covered cookie sheet, then follow the manufacturer's instructions for baking. Let cool.
8. Cut two 14-inch lengths of rickrack.
9. Glue one length around the edges of each shape, applying glue to the back of the rickrack a few inches at a time.
Glue the rickrack to the edge of each shape.
10. Draw a smile with the marker on the gingerbread kids' heads. Use the tweezers to help you glue on the wiggle eyes, slightly overlapping the cheeks for a cute look.
11. Using the pattern, trace and cut out the tie from the green felt.
12. Glue the tie to the neck of one of the ornaments. Finish this ornament by gluing 3 red buttons down the front.
Glue three buttons down the front.
13. For the second ornament, begin by gluing lace across the waist.
14. Tie the ribbon into a bow, and glue it to the neck.
15. For hair, glue the center of two 3-inch lengths of rickrack to the top of the head. Spot-glue hair at the sides of the head.
Glue the hair onto the ornament.
16. For the hanger loops, cut two 8-inch lengths of rattail cord.
17. Insert the end of one length through the hole in the ornament and tie the ends together in a knot. Repeat for the other ornament.
Thread the ribbon.
You may want to make a few extra -- when people see these hanging on your tree they might want these cute ornaments for their tree too.
While you are making ornaments, make some Candy Cane Reindeer ornaments too. Learn how in the next section.
Make a Candy Cane Reindeer as a great family Christmas food craft. These little decorations serve a dual purpose -- they look cute and they taste great!
What you'll need:
Candy cane
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Brown chenille stem
2 wiggle eyes
Craft glue
Small red pom-pom
To make your Candy Cane Reindeer:
Take an unbroken candy cane, still wrapped in plastic wrap, and twist a brown chenille stem around the curve so the two ends are even.
Twist the chenille stem so it is secured to Rudolph's head -- we don't want Rudolph's antlers to slip! Bend the ends of the chenille stems to create the reindeer's antlers.
Glue a wiggle eye on either side of the slope of the curve of the candy cane.
Add a red pom-pom nose to the end of the curve, and spruce up your Christmas tree with your candy cane reindeer.
This candy ornament is as fun to eat as it is to make. But don't eat it too quickly. You'll want to enjoy seeing it on your Christmas tree.
For a treat that will be more filling, try making the Santa Salad. We'll show you how in the next section.
Dried fruit ornaments will look great on your Christmas tree. Or better yet, decorate a tree outside for the birds. Not only will these Christmas food crafts make great ornaments, but the birds will enjoy a winter treat.
Have an adult help you when using a cutting knife and the oven!
To make Dried Fruit Ornaments:
Have an adult cut the fruit into 1/8-inch-thick slices.
Lay fruit slices on cooling rack. Place rack on cookie sheet in 150 degree oven for about 4 hours, turning each slice over after 2 hours. When fruit has dried, remove the fruit from the oven and cool.
Squeeze a small puddle of glue at the top of each fruit slice. Place each end of a 6-inch length of ribbon in the glue, and press the ends in the glue with the point of a toothpick.
Cover ribbon ends with dried greens and flowers, adding more glue if necessary. Set aside to dry.
This Christmas you can help with decorations by making some of your own. Your parents will surely appreciate your help. Keep reading for a useful gingerbread house.
