Making Ornaments

The other day, my mom came over and we made ornaments of my kids hands with the kids (well, duh...can't make ornaments of their hands without them, huh?) And then we made a gingerbread house.

The kids had a blast with Gran mixing and kneading the dough for the ornaments. We had flour EVERYWHERE! It was so fun. Course I had to be there with the camera...so I'm trying to not get flour on the camera.

Here they are mixing and kneading the dough....you can see that they are intent on what they are doing, but they can always flash mommy a big smile!!

Had to get one with Gran in there! They love their Gran!

Now, they each got a turn at rolling the dough out flat. Above is Reidster and below is Cole-dog!!

Ella is very intent as well. We were laughing so hard at her because every single time I called her name...no matter what for...she assumed I was going to take her picture and this is the smile that she flashed at me. I mean that's total "Say Cheese on demand!" Mom and I couldn't stop laughing at her. She is for sure the biggest ham in our house!

Now, we move to cutting out their handprint...no worries, she didn't cut any of them!! We had to do them each I think at least 2x to get it right! But the kids were excited to get their turn.

And of course, sweet Ella....she flashed me her smile. Honestly because she kept doing it, I just kept saying her name.

Below you will see the finished product. I have to get a spray to put on them that will give them a glossy finish and help preserve them. They will go on the tree next year. I still have the one that my mom made of my hand when I was 5...it's really cool to look back over the years and watch how fast they grow. And I love that ornament even to this day of my handprint. Brings back some good memories.

Once this project was complete, we went on to make a gingerbread house. It took about 20 minutes to put together and about 5 for them to tear it apart and eat it! GROSS, I know.