Finger printed giftcards

We made there cute gift cards for A's teachers last night.
I cut 7x11 cm rectangles to make the cards, and A dipped his ring finger and thumb in acrylic paint (we practiced with an ink pad to work out which works best) to make the snowmen. Afterwards, he drew faces, arms, feet ect on the snowmen with a black marker, and I painted on the orange noses. The one in the middle is everyone's favorite!
We look the idea from Fiona Watts' wonderful 356 things to make and do book which we both love so much!

CANDIED ORANGE PEEL

We usually make candied orange peels in the winter, more specifically as Xmas gifts for friends  right about the time I make my Spiced Orange jam... However, this year I found such a great recipe for orange jam after we ran out I wanted to make some more to last us until the next orange season... So I made the orange jam and decided not to throw the peel away but rather make candies for Easter! To make things a bit more interesting - and also because I have recently found a huge bar of baking chocolate in the cupboard- I also dipped the orange peels in chocolate...


Step 1: I thoroughly washed the oranges. I put the orange peels in a large pot and let them sit for 3-4 days changing the water a few times a day. (If you do not want to wait that long you can let them sit for 2 days and bring the water to boil 2-3 times before candying them)
Step 2: Cut the orange peel into strips

Step 3: make a syrup consisting of water and sugar. (For about the peels of 2kgs of oranges I used 0.5 liter of water and 0.5 kg of sugar) When the sugar has dissolved, add the peels.

Step 4: Let the orange peels cook, this can take over an hour. stirring occasionally so the sugar does not burn.

This is what it should look like when the water is gone, at the last stage it is best to stay near the pot and stir.

Step 5: Lay the peels on a cloth covered tray or backing sheet to dry, place then so that they will not stick together. You can stop here, the candied peels are great as snacks or for baking cookies/cakes.

 Step 6: Melt dark chocolate in a shallow pot over boiling water

Step 7: Dip peels in chocolate and place on baking sheets- it important to use a non-stick surface so it is easily removed after chocholate dries. I left peels on tray overnight

Here is the end result... they taste a lot like like Terry's Chocolate Oranges!

 

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FELT CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS
I made over a dozen of these as gifts. It looks even better with a green dotted ribbon.

When I first went to the fabric store they were out of all felt that had an even remotely Christmas-y color, so I ended up buying orange... originally I had the idea of making Matrioshka dolls, but as I was later informed this can also be mistaken for a -rather festive- baby Jesus.

I made this for a friends son who loves bunnies- can be reused for Easter...

This tree is meant to be a doorknob ornament. I got most of the buttons from my grandma's stash. Before she throws out old clothes she always removes the buttons.

Another doorknob ornament. I used transparent thread to the secure gingerbread man and only used regular thread for "icing" because the figure was so small.