Complete Gingerbread House Kit

A VERY easy way to kick-start family creativity (and impress Christmas guests!) Build and decorate a beautiful, traditional gingerbread house with this complete set. Contains pre-baked gingerbread to make the house, along with icing, decorations and instructions. May contain nuts. Gingerbread House measures 12cmH x 14cmW x 14cmD when assembled. £15

Gingerbread House - make your own! £15

Paper Snowflakes

Paper snowflakes are really good fun for children to make and easy too. You can vary the designs with different cuts, different paper or by colouring the snowflakes in. Put them on the window or against black card to create a homely snow scene.

1. Just get a square piece of white paper and fold it in half and half again.
2. Snip out small sections – these will cut through the paper four times.
3. Unfold the paper and see what you have.
4. Try again until you like what you see.

Note

The only thing that can go wrong is if you cut too much out and the paper falls apart.

Christingle

Christingles are symbols used in Christmas church services to help children understand the meaning of the Nativity. They were devised by a German pastor in 1747 and introduced to the Anglican Church in 1968 by John Pensom of the Children’s Society. Traditionally, collections are held at Christingle ceremonies to raise money for this charity. The name comes from the prayer that accompanied the objects: “Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these dear children’s hearts”.

You will need:

• an orange (to represent the world)
• a red ribbon (representing the blood of Jesus)
• dolly mixtures and raisins (representing the fruits of the earth and the four season)
• cocktail sticks
• a small white candles (representing Jesus, light of the world)
• clovers (representing Jesus’ thorn crown, his suffering on the Cross and the spices used to embalm him by the two Mary’s)

Christingle Ceremony

Method

1. Wrap the red ribbon around the orange and tie it in a ribbon or seal the ends with wax.
2. Push the candle into the top of the orange – if it is too hard, make two incisions in a cross-section and then try pushing the candle in).
3. Put the dolly mixtures and raisins onto the cocktail sticks, then stick the cocktail sticks into the orange (not all the way around as you will need to hold the orange as well).
4. Cover the rest of the orange in clovers (sometimes leaving a space to hold it).  This will preserve the Christingle until well after Christmas and make it smell nice.

Salt Dough recipe – 4 parts plain flour, 1 part salt, 1.5 parts of water.
Day one;

Christmas Tree Cutters

1. Make the dough by mixing all the ingredients, then roll it out, and cut all kinds of shapes using pastry cutters (gingerbread men, hearts, stars, e.t.c.). There are Christmas tree shaped cutters from Robert Dyas for £2.99.
2. Make holes in them for threading ribbons through to hang them with, using the end of a plastic straw,
3. Decorate with all kinds of indentations or by adding lumps/ bits of dough.
4. Bake in a low oven (gas mark 1) for 2 hours.

Next day, colour using poster paints or felt tip pens. Allow to dry.
When completely dry, coat with clear varnish. When this is fully dry, thread with ribbon and hang on the tree proudly.
NB – they will be quite heavy, but unique and special!! Keep away from naked flames in case the varnish is flammable.
These will only last for one year,as they absorb water eventually and go soggy.